This speech is released on this blog at the same time as I'm making it - so there maybe some changes and if it is a little rough, please forgive me, this has been finished in a bit of a rush.
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Hello Everyone, welcome to The BIG
Project Launch – I’m just going to talk for a little bit to make sure the
online connection is working... [AD LIB]
The name The
BIG Project is a total misnomer – what I’m about to talk about is big, but
it’s less a project as a way of life.
It’s a lot of little things. But
collectively they are BIG. It was only
the other day that someone (who was in the know) pointed out it should have
been called Project A.I.R.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the bar, of
the online world, I am delighted to finally announce that I am the first ever
Quay Theatre Artist in Residence.
I started residing here a few weeks
ago, I just haven’t been able to tell anyone.
This means that I’m going to be producing a seriously large amount of
Art – theatrical, physical, mental. With
the emphasis on the mental.
The residency is to last until the end
of 2014, and though I’m going to be doing a fair amount in the fag end of this
year, the real meat begins on January 1st 2014. A lot of what I’ll be doing for this
residency will be a bit random – we’ll see what comes up as I go along. There will be live theatre, online audio
work, street theatre, performance art, installations perhaps. The Quay has given me the space, let’s see
how I fill it.
But I wouldn’t get you here for
vagueness - there are also lots of solid plans.
To guide you through what I’m going to produce, and what I’d like you to
help me do, I’ve broken the residency into four themes - Something Old,
Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue.
Something Old
The first project of the residency has
already started and is a holistic, rolling project which will hopefully have a
long life over the next five / ten years.
It’s called BEFORE SHAKESPEARE
Twitter Feed: @B4Shakespeare
Before Shakespeare there were hundreds
of years of dramatic evolution across the British Isles. Apart from a few noble exceptions these plays
are often passed over, ignored or simply unknown. Much is simply lost. This Project is about what came before
Shakespeare, about the plays, fragmentary and extant, that shaped the
theatrical world that shaped our dramatic history – and it will explore this
world through the words and the sounds of those words. Though these plays do get performed
occasionally, they are often not recorded, they disappear from sight in a way
that Shakespeare and many of his contemporaries do not. So, in a small way, I will begin creating
recordings of speeches, scenes and (hopefully) full audio productions of plays
rarely experienced away from the page.
Accompanying these recordings will be
additional material, discussion and talks on the plays and anything else that
comes to mind at the time. I’ll
hopefully be joined by other actors, directors, academics to help create new
recordings and feed your interest. I
hope that others will join in, creating their own versions and share them.
I’ve already started recording some
pieces – bits of The Summoning of Everyman, the play God’s Promises by Suffolk
lad John Bale and hope to
begin on the plays of John Heywood and The Chester Mystery Cycle over the next
few months.
Not only will I be producing these
online, there will be live versions – I’m reviving my production of The
Summoning of Everyman (more on that later) and producing with the Guildhall in
Lavenham a show called Fit For A King – presenting two Tudor Entertainments
from the Court of Henry VIII - The
Pardoner and the Friar & John, John and His Wife Tibb. That’s performing at The Lavenham Guildhall on Friday
24th January 2014 - ticket Information Coming Soon
But, to be honest, exciting though the
Before Shakespeare project is, it is just the side show – the occasional
thing. I’ll pootle away at that for
years. Now for the meat. We’ve covered something old, now for
something new
Something New
I have been playing it safe. For the last few years I’ve been letting all
the crazy ideas stew inside my brain, now is the time to let them out! Starting on the 1st January and
lasting for the whole of 2014 I’m going to write and perform the works that
should never happen, in as many different ways as possible – online as
audio/video/text as well as live on stage in diverse venues - from theatres, to
function rooms, to your living room – if you invite me in.
This is
Project 10/52 – Ten Shows in Fifty-Two Weeks – One Man, One
Year.
Each of the Ten Projects are
completely new, never seen or heard before works and will be accompanied by
texts, audio recordings, books, downloads, videos and any other medium I can
manage to record and disseminate beyond the four walls of a traditional theatre
space. I want these projects to be
available to people around the world.
Today’s live streaming, still relatively low tech at present, is a
declaration of intent. The live
performances will be mostly be in very small spaces – ticketing will average
only ten to twenty people a night – but many will be available to all thanks to
the internet. Not only that, all live
performances will be Pay-What-You-Want where possible, so you can judge how
much my work is worth.
Project 10/52 all kicks off on January
1st with the first instalment of a weekly audio work broadcast
online every Wednesday. Project One is
The Trolls Trilogy.
I wrote a storyteller show a couple of
years ago called The Natural History of
Trolls – I’m going to write the rest of the Trilogy, starting with Lost Tribe of the Trolls, which will be
broadcast January to June ish, followed by The
Paper Moon Trolls until the end of the year. And for those who missed the first part of the
trilogy – that will be available free online this Christmas. Over the year the online broadcasts will
build, with omnibus editions once a month for easy catch-up, ending with a
special performance of the whole trilogy here at the Quay Theatre in December 2014 – which will also act as the end of
Project party! Follow me as I meet a
Recording Angel, the lost Trolls of Luton and the adopted son of the Trolls,
Peter Git. And for actors out there -
casting for this project is now open.
The second project will perform here
in February – it’s called You Have Been Watching.
It’s an exploration of surveillance
culture and I’ll be looking to involve local performers in this, as the way we
use cameras in day to day life has largely impacted the young. Not only that, I want the audience to use
their mobile phones, ipads, cameras of any sort, to record the performance in
progress – then share that material online to create a palimpsest version of
the show. These will stay up
individually, and hopefully be used to create an “official” version which I’ll
share after the show. This is a show
that maybe more installation / performance art than traditional theatre/drama –
if it doesn’t head off that way, then I will record an audio version to go
online as well.
Project 3 will appear in March and
will be straight theatre – it’s a play called Hang for reasons that will become clear if
you catch the show. It’s a collection of
stories about what we consider normal – how our attitudes to normal can be
incredibly fluid. Take the story of
Brian. Brian wants to be a zebra. He’s passionate about his case, but he is
obviously a freak. But then the world
turns inside out - people are starting to turn into animals and no one knows why. How do the new people fit into this brave new
world. This will be available online as
an audio drama at least, a video version would be lovely, but let’s not run
before we can walk. Casting for this
play is now open.
Project 4 I have an exact date for its
first performance – it’s Wednesday 23rd April 2014 – otherwise known as
Shakespeare day! It’s his 450th
Birthday next year and so I’m writing two plays which touch on his work. This first is The Juliet Inquiry and will be performed at the Lavenham
Guildhall. It’s a complete re-imagining
of the play where the two families are close friends until Romeo and Juliet get
together – only then does the feud start.
Set during and in the aftermath of the 2011 riots, this is a story of
how love and desire can destroy as well as heal. Again, there will be an audio version, and
casting is open now. In June there will
be a what if play about Shakespeare himself, Historic Crimes, which won’t please
the purists.
And while I’m on the subject of
Shakespeare, online as part of my residency, I’m producing a year long series
of recordings called Shakespeare the Poet.
Over Shakespeare’s birthday year I
will be performing every single piece of non-dramatic poetry Shakespeare wrote,
as well as a few choice pieces from the plays as well. Starting with the sonnets and mixing in other
verse, there will be a different bit of verse to listen to online, available on audioboo. Mixed in with that will be the the Narrative
Poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. Special pop-up performances of these works
and The Sonnets and other short verse are also planned, hopefully in odd venues
and with very little prior warning. Unless
you’re a contributor, then you’ll get loads of notice, but that’s something I’ll
talk of later on.
Back to Project 10/52
I’m not going to go into detail of all
the productions planned by Project 10/52. There’s my homage to B-Movies Beware of Blob in May – for which I
will need a lot of volunteers to blow up balloons. Historic Crimes, as mentioned, in June
and in August my response to the anniversary to the declaration of war in 1914
– Metal Harvest – a piece that will explore
how people are still being killed by that war.
But I will make a special mention of Project
7 which will be available for performance anytime and anywhere (within reason)
from the latest July till 31st December 2014, I call this project Home Invasion
of the Storyteller and it’s a way of spreading my work beyond Suffolk and
the internet, without the cost and hassle of organising a tour. This is a touring show travelling to a venue
near you – your house! Anyone can invite
me to give a private performance, so long as you supply guests, reasonable
refreshment and (if a long way away from Suffolk) and sofa to kip on. I’ll tell two stories – one from my ganderbag
of past work and a brand new piece written specially for Project 10/52 –
Attack of the Christmas Squirrels is
not a Christmas show. Don’t you just
hate it when adverts for Christmas start – even in the middle of summer? Well, that’s what the show is about. The hero of the story – Reg – hates Christmas
adverts and decides to save Christmas by training a crack squad of squirrels to
remove all trace of Christmas and return it to something special. But can Reg stop himself from going too far,
destroying Christmas completely?
I won’t charge a set fee for the show,
just politely ask the guests to give what they can, as with the other shows on
offer. If the performance is far away
you will need to give up a sofa for a over-night stay. NB: This show is NOT for children’s parties -
though children can be guests so long as adults vastly outnumber them.
So, that’s... almost everything... but
before I mention the last few shows, I have to get to the vital part of this
gathering. It’s all very well being the
artist in residence – but I can’t do all this alone. I need help.
And that brings me to the third theme...
Something Borrowed
Help!
I’m looking for actors, collaborators, helpers, balloon blower uppers,
witnesses and the kindness of strangers.
As I work I’ll use social media to call out for random objects, props,
and sometimes just someone else to be in the room. Making yourself up to be a zebra is weird if
you do it by yourself, it isn’t when there are friends.
So, don’t be a stranger, you think all
this is interesting – send me a Tweet, or email or whatever – if I can get you
involved, then I will. If I can’t –
then, what harm has it done? You said
“HELLO”. I like hello.
And then there’s the question of
budget. I need help there too. There will be a financial return for me from
these shows, but it probably won’t be much.
So I’ve started a two pronged approach to fundraising – there are to be
some live events this year and also there’s an online campaign, which I urge
you all to please give sometime to. I’ve
started a crowd source fundraiser with wefund and I’m asking for £2000 – which
for a year’s work is nothing. If
everyone in this room and everyone online gave £10 / 20 then it’s done. And if you give, there is a return – ten
pounds gets you a thank you and priority booking and updates on pop-up shows
but twenty pounds or more gets you a copy of one of the scripts/making of books
that accompany Project 10/52 as well as other content no one else gets.
And then there’s all sort of other
grovelling thank yous I can devise. I
want anyone who gives to feel part of the project – so if you’ve given then
you’re part of the conversation, you are a stake holder. I want to make sure I have an audience before
I begin, to have people who want to engage with the work I’m producing, as well
as helping me to transmit the work further online to the rest of the
world. Your support now means I have a
budget, an audience and support before I go to the dread market.
The live fundraisers are in London and
Suffolk. Firstly there are (currently)
two performances of The Summoning of Everyman – one at the London Theatre on Saturday 26th
October and here at the Quay on November 11th. Obviously, as fundraisers, I’d hope you give generously.
The other live fundraiser is here, in
this very room – a one-to-one Storytelling show – on Saturday lunchtimes called
The Storyteller Will See You Now. You book your slot and get a personal,
one-to-one story told in my little story tent.
Sign up sheets are available here, online people there will be an email address to contact for your slot. I’ve got two
dates for that at present - the 12th & 19th October, from 12.20 at 20 minute intervals until 2.40pm - but if there’s more demand, more slots will appear. Again, it’s Pay-Want-You-Want as you leave. Cross my palm with silver.
And now to the last theme – we’ve had
something old, something new, something borrowed...
Something Blue
Milk Bottle Productions has now adopted an official rating
system.
Red Top – Skimmed Milk – fine
for all. This is for shows like Attack
of the Christmas Squirrels and Beware of the Blob. Harmless and silly.
Green Top – Semi-skimmed – some language but
not excessive.
Blue Top – full fat. I.e. Potentially obscene. I have decided that it is time to stop
censoring myself, and so there are two projects which may – they may not – not
be your cup of tea. If so, don’t
come.
They are - Project 9 – projected
for September – which is called The Single Source of All Filth. According to the Rev. Jeremy Collier
(deceased) the single source of all filth was the theatre – so time to prove
him right. It’s going to be a Cabaret of
Censorship and, well, filth. Open minded
auditionees welcome.
And less light hearted is Project 10 –
projected for October – called Shiny Medusa.
This is a serious look at the male mind,
in light of modern feminist campaigns about the depiction of women. It’s a nightmare of fantasy made manifest, of
dreams taking revenge, of turning yourself into something plastic and shiny...
the Shiny Medusa. Again, open minded
casting is open.
To conclude – there’s a lot going
on. A lot of it is me pootling, a lot
involves others. For those worried that
my recent health issues might get in the way – let me assure you this has been
taken into account. It is because I’ve
been ill for the better part of two years that I am grabbing this good health
by the scruff of the neck – and I’ve got understudies if I fall ill.
For the professional actors on the
tinernet, I’m looking for people now. I
can’t give full break downs as much of this is unwritten, what I’m looking for
are people I can work with, who I click with artistically. The work is sporadic, so, though fee paying,
is not going to get anyone rich, but that means it should fit round other work
commitments. If you’re interested send
me an email and a CV and we’ll meet up and go from there.
Local people, don’t have to make such
an effort – I’m here, I’ll tell you when I’m in the building – just collar me.
So, lastly, there is information to
take away – on my blog or here physically – and there are things to sign up for
– performances (there are reservation sheets) and pledges to give online. I’ve got till November to find the money,
otherwise it’s prostitution. So, sign
up, sign in, get involved. Follow me on
Twitter @RobertCrighton or my blog, email me, get in touch.
Thank you all so much for your
patience. This is Robert Crighton,
Artist in Residence, signing out.
