thejennawatt
Documenting my new theatre work over 2012.
www.jennawatt.co.uk
twitter.com/thejennawatt:
Last week I was finally able to visit the space that my Fringe show FLÂNEURS will be performed in at Summerhall. I was supposed to see it back in March but I had my accident days before the meeting.
FLÂNEURS will be in the Dissection Room, an incredibly atmospheric space that was once used as a dissection lecture theatre, with a drain in the floor and an iron carcass hook, see photo above, which of course made me think of Stelarc. It has beautiful wooden seats, steep sight lines, a deep playing space and floors that can be hosed down. It’s a hugely inspiring space and I can not wait to get in there and use it properly, i’m desperately trying to invent ways to use the drain in the middle of the floor.
It reminded me how much I enjoy working in unusual spaces and how important it is to make use of the ‘gifts’ it has to offer you. Summerhall are letting me rehearse there for short time in July, during which I intend to get the staff involved in some of the more visceral aspects of the show as well as pull it all together ready for the Fringe.
I’m feeling so excited /inspired / encouraged - I’m gonna smash it.
- Charles Baudelaire,
The Painter of Modern Life
- , New York: Da Capo Press, 1964
Over the last two weeks I’ve staged two ‘WIP’ performances of FLÂNEURS, first one being at a Scratch night during the National Theatre of Scotland’s REVEAL program at the Citizen’s Theatre and last week at the Tron Theatre as part of Mayfesto.
Through these performances I have discovered:
- Some people want to intervene
- Some people like to watch
- Some people hate
- Having a flaw is more interesting
- Gentleness vs Agression
It’s official, thanks to the support I have already received on Sponsume, people buying my stuff on ebay, selling my old iPhone, and a bake sale hosted by Scottish actress Ashley Smith; I can definitely hire a technician to operate my Fringe show at Summerhall.
My next priority is raising money for marketing and print material.
A massive thank you to everyone that has supported the project already,
you are A M A Z I N G
Hi folks, quick update.
The cast is off - I’ve upgraded to a moon boot and it’s great. The functionality of the moon boot way out weighs its aesthetics, so I care not that I look like Darth Vadar / Transformer. Washing my leg after it being in a cast for 4 weeks was possibly the best feeling i’ve ever experienced. Shame I can’t point my toes yet, sometimes I sit and stare at my ankle like Uma Therman in Kill Bill and will my ankle to move. It worked for her after being in a coma for however long so surely it’ll work on my little ‘wonkle’.
Right, here are some work in progress performances for FLÂNEURS that are coming up:
MAYFESTO
Saturday 12th May, 8pm - £2.50
Tron Theatre, Glasgow
SUPPERCLUB
Saturday 9th June, 7.30pm - £8
The Basement, Brighton
Oh and if you can spare £10 and want to help make the show happen, go and visit my Sponsume page, powa’ to the peppo!
Go on, have a look, spare a tenner…
ABOUT FLÂNEURS
FLÂNEURS is the latest project by Edinburgh based Live Artist and Director Jenna Watt.
FLÂNEURS is the first project that Jenna has taken to the Fringe and she is delighted to be presenting this work at SUMMERHALL during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2012 with 22 performances.
FLÂNEURS is a new devised piece of experimental theatre that explores the effect of violent acts in public spaces. This new work draws upon the practice of psycho-geography to explore the oppressive nature of violence in Edinburgh and London, in particular, an urban subway in Edinburgh’s city centre and an overground line in London. This work has been inspired by real life events including the attack of a close friend in London, who is contributing to this project.
Flâneurs seeks to understand why we don’t intervene in emergency situations and whether we can do anything as a society to challenge the Bystander effect. The Bystander Effect being the name given to a theory that suggests that the larger the crowd witnessing a violent act, the less likely it is that anyone will intervene.
Flâneurs also asks questions about psycho-geography, how our memory of violent acts in public spaces effects the way we move around our cities, how we sometimes become victims, and whether we can change the residual feeling we have for a place associated with a violent act.
This project seeks to begin a dialogue with its audiences regarding the Bystander effect and interventionism, can we as individuals do more to protect each other? Can we become Flâneurs in our own cities? Can we stroll, wander, re-imagine and reclaim our violent streets?
