The Rules

Hello all! 

Here are some of the rules that we drafted up. Maybe we should look back and think about why we have picked them AND how they have changed / shifted. I have starred the ones i think we need, or already have, rethought.  

> Until the dice changes you must continue your designated action ***

 > Performers have no agency.

 > Once you are out you are out.

 > Nothing exists outside of the grid.

 > The grid is sealed off ***

 > The changes should be obvious, the reasons not.

 > Each action is definite.

 > Each post is independent.

 > We are there to undertake tasks.

 > The rollers cannot see the performers ***

 > Each rolling post must be manned at all times.

Love,

Matt xxx

Changes since December

I think it might be helpful to list the changes we've made since our work in progress. Just want to remind ourselves that we have come a long way, even if our explorations in some areas seem to have gone full circle to arrive back at the same place. The following directions we have taken show a response to the vast majority of feedback from both the q&a and our recent practical experiments.

1. We have developed more focussed posts. New preference for the task based, and those that evolve either us, or the space, to emphasise duration through accumulation. We have introduced alcohol as one of these tasks, which gradually debilitates the performer.
2. The emphasis in our approach to the execution of tasks has shifted from an uneven blend of theatricality and performativity to one that favours performativity. We are leaving behind the ego of the performer as we enter the system, and with it the drive to be entertaining.
3. The audience have been brought into the performance, have been given a crucial role that places them in a relationship with us as group on group, and also in a closer, one on one relationship that forms through the negotiation between each roller and player. Their responsibility transforms the whole nature of the piece, and the way it feels to participate as an audience member.
4. The time has been extended to give things a chance to evolve/make things tougher for the performer/allow the audience more freedom to come and go at will/underline the impossibility of repetition.
5. The rules have been complicated so that they are much less transparent to the audience, so that changes occur to keep things fresh and interesting, to maintain a certain mystery and curiosity about what is causing changes.
6. The performance has been moved to a site to give better viewing angles for the audience/resonate with the real life nature of the tasks we are doing/remove the performance further from the theatrical/ make use of an appropriately mathmatical, statistical space with relevant signs visible and a grid floor.


Can we think of any more? Anyone disagree, want to add anything?

Rules of the Piece

Rules
- Until the dice changes you must continue your designated action.
- Performers have no agency
- Once you’re out you’re out.
- Nothing exists outside the grid
- The grid is sealed off
- The changes should be obvious. The reasons not.
- Each action is definite
- Each post is independent
- We are there to undertake tasks
- The rollers cannot see the performers
- The audience must roll once before they enter the space, but they are then free to go between spaces as they please.
- Each rolling post must be manned at all times.

Questions-

How easily understood was our chance system? Would it have been more interesting to have a system in place that was less obvious as audience member? What about a combination of systems?

Did you feel that the posts needed to have a more common theme (eg all testing the audience, all to do with creating different combinations of sound/image all of varying durations...)

How do you feel about your placement as an audience member? Would you have preferred a different view of the performance? Would you have preferred to have been IN the grid with/instead of the performers?

things

1.jigsaw
2.change.
3.radio
4.garment of clothing
5. Alphabet backwards
6. spinning
7. pen/pad for drawing the audience
8. (Knife)
9.

--------- I only had 5 on saturday, i can't think of what the last two were that i needed, i did have the knife, have we decided on something else?


questions: were you bored? did you yourself want to interact with what was happening in the space? could you see any clear system? to what extent did you see us as 'acting' or simply performing?

nick

Possible questions for the audience:

How engaged/bored were you? Was your patience tested at any point?
Did any themes or narratives emerge for you from the perfomance?
Who or what would you like to see inside the grid?
Can you suggest any developments or changes?
Did you feel there was enough nudity?

x

Things

1) Sparklers

2) Weights

3) One item of clothing

4) 52 Cards

5) Pen and paper for automatic writing

6) Camera

7) Bowl of warm water to wash in (and towels)

8) Obituaries (smaller and more varied)

9) List of facial expressions

10) Watering can (any suggestions for that one?)

Question for audience:

Was the system clear for you, as an audience member? Did you understand how the performers interacted and moved around the space? Does it need to be more apparent/the interactions more defined and disciplined?