Week Two with Talking Birds

Monday came along and we started with lots of games to get our energy up; beginning with a props game, we were aiming to use them in many different scenarios. We started to run out of ideas and energy, with it being a groggy Monday, so we decided to sit and note how each character in Gnit may hold themselves, using the form of Commedia dell Arte for reference. This is always a great way to start out character building, which lead to more embellishment when it gets more and more detailed. Despite knowing that we were moving away from the script, having it as a reference was incredibly useful as it meant there were things to start building from. The characters from the text could be clearly used for all sorts of things and were a great starting point for any improv activities we did following that.

The next day, we were trying to make some good photo opportunities for social media, and this is exactly what sparked a new idea. We had a photo which played with perspective, and Kieran posed for a photo lying on the floor, taken from top down and staged in a way where it looked like he was sitting on a chair. This reminded us instantly of 'Whose Line is it Anyway' and their game 'Sideways scenes'. So we started exploring how exactly that worked, and what was possible to show from the floor. We did a few basics first; trialling different positions of standing, sitting, walking, eating etc, whilst taking pictures to reflect on and see what needed changing. 

With the floor work we tried to figure out how we would move on the floor and make it look like we were moving standing up. To do this we filmed ourselves trying to walk on the floor, then we'd watch it and see which parts work and which don't. This helped us to practise and try to perfect the floor work. During one session of floor work Finley and Gabbii were doing floor work and given a task, by Kieran, to try to go over, under and through each other. The one that caused the most issue was through. As they were struggling on the floor, Keiran mentioned one of the scenes from 'Whose Line is it Anyway' where they passed each other as if it was a really tight corridor. Having a resource to fall back on and reference helped Finley and Gabbii to figure out how to go through each other. This then led onto the idea of creating a short film based on these principles, where we took scenes/monologues/characters from Gnit, and tried them out on the floor. 

Throughout the two weeks we found new ways to play around with and without the script. Especially during the second week we were figuring out different ways to perform, stage and adapt the script and our devising. This led to some really great ideas that we have noted down and plan to use later on in the process. Whilst we were playing we were using lots of workshop activities that we had encountered and eventually decided to use them to make our own workshop that we can take to schools, community centres, etc. We most likely wouldn't have gotten this idea if we hadn't been encouraged to play more and this will help us later on down the line, when we perform at a venue we can offer a workshop as well to show our process. 

A huge huge thank you goes to Talking Birds and the Nest for having us in the space for the two weeks. We learned so much about how the processes of R&D go and how to get the most out of working time. So many ideas were born from this process; we went from one idea of a traditional show, to ideas for short films, shows and workshops we could offer. The Nest really is an incredible place to work and get inspired, with some amazing support on offer if that was needed. We hope to be back soon with some new ideas to try out, as we all really enjoyed this residency experience.