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GIF

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Es Devlin 

changing over time - getting rid of colour….

Erasing 

saccharine 

Wes Anderson 

St Vincent (new York) 

Over exaggerating 

Projecting colours - objects 

Position of screen? Closer - extreme 

Design costumes of characters. 

plastic/fake feel

Everything blends into everything -  everything ends up the same colour? - white? 

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Es Devlin

Using colour to portray that the idea that an object is fake 

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Multi media - using colour to change the perspective of an object

Some colours worked out better than others but I am quite happy with how it turned out 

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Catalogue type images from John lewis

Images that I will use to portray what I think their life is like from the play

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First set ideas

- Think about the projection as a catalogue, because its what they are imagining. So maybe there could be numbers/prices a list of catalogues type images. 

- Think to a catalogue - flipping over background projection like a page 

- Find a catalogue with these images? Ideas

- An idealised version of something 

- Surface that projections are on

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Water effect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTOGMneu1DI

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Gauze

The gauze, which is generally not used as a fixing device for performance venues, is a translucent curtain made of thin cotton cloth or chemical fiber with reticulated holes. It is widely used for the holographic projection or gauze projection.

http://www.dhntop.com/analysis-on-the-application-of-gauze-projection-technology-in-holographic-projection.html

Gauze holographic screen can be extremely fine barbed wire mesh, can also be not easy to be seen by the naked eye of meticulous gauze and so on. Different materials and colors also make them different in effect, which based on the effect of the holographic displays.

1. Holographic projection to create virtual realistic sceneBecause of the light transmittance of the gauze, the transparency of the screen can be changed by adjusting the projection point of the light source to form a secondary imaging, looming actors and images, and form a kind of dreamy virtual scene. Casting light from the front to the gauze can show the image painted on the gauze; when the light is cast from the back of the screen to the gauze, the image drawn in front of the screen appears to cease to exist. To a great extent, it enhances the stage tension of the performance and makes the audience feel the magical world brought about by multimedia dance images.

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Feedback from 27th Sept

My idea - All going to be projected as I believe it is all up in the air.

- Shows that its not exactly set in stone  - Search up Gauze, think of layers - Is the projection video or image. Flash back - think of removing 1 colour - Look into rear projection - someone behind the screen could then create shadows.. could be more shadows = more than 1 person - Where is the projection? Back wall, everywhere, what about wings? - Think about site lines  HOME - show from NZ film festival  ADASTRA - Movie/lighting  DRAKE

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Review of The Writer

Ella Hickson’s play The Writer is a meta-theatrical drama about a young writer who challenges the status quo but discovers that creative gain comes at a personal cost. It was first performed at the Almeida Theatre, London, on 24 April 2018 (previews from 14 April).

The play starts in a theatre auditorium with an encounter between a Young Woman, who has come to watch a play, and an Older Man, who is part of the theatrical establishment. Pushed to say if she enjoyed the play, the Young Woman concedes that she has a different view of theatre from that which prevails: she sees it as a sacred space with a political purpose, and rails against the patriarchal orthodoxy that sexualises female performers and fails to reflect real life. The Older Man responds by suggesting she might write something herself, and in subsequent scenes, operating at several different levels of reality, we see how the suggestion plays out as the Writer faces up to the many obstacles in the way of realising her vision.

The Almeida Theatre production was directed by Blanche McIntyre and designed by Anna Fleischle. It was performed by Romola Garai, Michael Gould, Lara Rossi and Samuel West.

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Philippe Quesne Paris

Philippe Quesne is an idiosyncratic theatre maker with a visual arts background, who has participated in the running of the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers since 2014. In 2016, Quesne tours all over Europe with a new and ambitious theatre project. La nuit des taupes plunges the audience into a world of allegorical giant moles and other fantastical creatures who have sought refuge there. An arts centre threatened with closure goes underground, into a space that is a cross between a prehistoric settlement, a fallout shelter, and Plato’s cave. In the cave, an ‘ecosophical’ theatre is inscribed, where the human perspective is balanced against that of the animal. With La nuit des taupes, Philippe Quesne links into the genre of social science-fiction. He makes of the theatre a utopian refuge and takes the audience on a journey to the centre of the earth, where dreams can stimulate the consciousness. How does our own world look from the cave?

La nuit des taupes is part of Welcome to Caveland!, a two-part project in two stages. Firstly there is poetic fiction, with the performance La nuit des taupes. In a second phase, the cave becomes a stray installation. Like a travelling circus or a fairground attraction, Welcome to Caveland! treks from town to town seeking refuge in theatres and at festivals, finding room there for performances, workshops, and other activities. The cave is an ideas laboratory, a safe and private microcosm, an open space for furrowing, excavating, and digging; a utopian place where dreams can come to life and the world can be viewed with fresh eyes.

NXTSTP partners: Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), steirischer herbst (Graz), Théâtre national de Bordeaux en Aquitaine (Bordeaux), Alkantara Festival (Lisbon), Baltoscandal Festival (Rakvere)

www.nanterre-amandiers.com

https://www.nxtstp.eu/philippe-quesne-0

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John Lewis

John Lewis & Partners is a chain of high-end department stores operating throughout the United Kingdom. Concessions are also located in the Republic of Ireland and Australia. The chain is owned by the John Lewis Partnership, which was created by Spedan Lewis, son of the founder, John Lewis, in 1929. Wikipedia

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Images of BATS

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BATS

Back in the day...

BATS Theatre is an intimate venue located in the former Manchester Unity Oddfellows building at 1 Kent Terrace in central Wellington.

The building itself has had a long and varied life, being built in 1923 for the Oddfellows Britannia Lodge. From 1944 to 1976 it was owned by The Savage Club, and used as a dance hall and venue for amateur theatre. From the 1940s until 1975 Unity Theatre staged productions at 1 Kent Terrace. The Unity Theatre was a society with a tradition of left-wing political affiliations and a penchant for work by obscure European dramatists. Unity had a strong core membership which went on and contributed to the growth and success of both Downstage and Circa Theatres.

From 1976 1 Kent Terrace was owned by The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, a fraternal society that originated in London’s Theatre district in the early 1800s.  Originally comprised of stagehands and technicians, membership to the group became more open over the years.

From 1979 to 1988 the theatre was administered by the BATS Incorporated Society. The Buffaloes used the upper floors of the building for their Lodge Room, games room and offices, while BATS occupied only the performance space at the rear of the ground floor.

BATS is an acronym for the Bane and Austin Touring Society, named after Rodney Bane and David Austin, BATS’ original founding members. BATS began as a prolific amateur theatre company, producing school tours and shows, achieving a string of main-bill successes. In the early 80′s however, commitment waned and BATS Theatre simply became a venue for hire, administered by BATS Incorporated.

During these years, BATS became the home for New Zealand Drama School productions and was used by a number of different co-operatives. In spite of its shabby cult status, neglect and a lack of funds meant that BATS was deteriorating rapidly.

To hear more about BATS' incredible beginnings, listen to this great  interview with Ken Duncum, recorded by Radio New Zealand in conjunction with the release of the anthology, BATS Plays, a collection of seminal plays produced at BATS in the eighties and nineties and co-written with Rebecca Rodden which you can buy here

Building a new BATS

In 1988, while in his last year of drama school, Simon Bennett became aware of the BATS predicament. After many a drunken night spent with Simon Elson while working on King Lear, together they formulated a proposal to save BATS Theatre. Operating as NOMIS productions (Simon spelt backwards), the two Simons negotiated a lease from BATS Inc. and from November 1988 until April 1989 they worked organising sponsorship, money, materials, redesigning and rebuilding the foyer, stripping back and redecorating the auditorium, redesigning the access ways, cleaning up and redecorating backstage and lobbying all the right people for support.

Their policy for BATS was to rekindle the popularity and accessibility of theatre for young people and to provide a venue, a training ground and a way in for young people struggling to forge careers in the difficult world of professional theatre. These aims were achieved by:

Keeping ticket prices for students on a par with cinema admission and video hire rates.

Programming the theatre with entertainment value as a priority

Ensuring a consistently high standard of work

Keeping the doors open for young theatre practitioners.

Promoting the theatre along the lines of ‘cheap but good’ entertainment

BATS Theatre reopened as a professional venue on 1st April 1989. The opening shows were Baby with the Bathwater by Christopher Durang directed by Guy Boyce and JISM by Ken Duncum and Rebecca Rodden, directed by Simon Bennett.

Simon Bennett quickly discovered that theatre management and directing are mutually exclusive occupations. He resigned from the active management of BATS in May that year to pursue a career in directing, leaving it in the hands of Simon Elson.

Simon ran BATS for a year maintaining its high profile and ensuring a string of successful productions that somehow allowed him to balance the books without substantial external funding. During that year BATS hosted Simon’s brain-child The BATS Fringe Fest which grew into today’s New Zealand Fringe Festival; the biggest Fringe in the country with a rapidly growing international reputation.

Burning the house down

On 16th April 1990, just one year after BATS opened, fire raged through the backstage at 5.15am killing the theatre cat Cyclops who died of smoke inhalation. The fire started through an electrical fault in old wiring and left walls charred damaging dressing rooms and the auditorium. The Visitor by Full of Piranhas dance company was due to open the night of the fire and thousands of dollars worth of tailor-made costumes and props for the show had been destroyed.

On 13th May 1990 a variety concert at the St James Theatre was organised to raise funds to put BATS back on its feet. The concert was called Got A Light? and included such luminaries as the Topp Twins, Paul Holmes, Lynn of Tawa, The Six Volts, Gary McCormick, When the Cats Been Spayed, Kate Harcourt, Alice Fraser, Te Rakau Hua O Te Wau Tapu, Helen Moulder, Full of Piranhas and many other celebrities and theatre practitioners, all giving their time for free.

Wellington companies came to the rescue too, donating labour and materials for the rebuilding project. Circa and the Depot held benefit shows at Downstage Theatre. The Wellington City Council made the St James available for the concert. It attracted 1100 people and raised $22,000.00. Phoenix the new BATS cat was presented by Fran Wilde.

BATS reopened on 14th June with Ken Duncum’s Blue Sky Boys directed by Simon Bennett and starring Tim Balme and Michael Galvin.

BATS spreads its wings

In 1999 BATS took over the lease of the two small spaces on either side of the BATS foyer. Roy’s, the old fish n’ chippy, became home to the BATS office and what was previously Don’s Car Insurance Office was magically transformed into The Pit Bar, which was fondly referred to as Wellington’s smallest bar.

Since 1991 BATS Theatre has been managed by a growing number of full time staff, with the help of a broad base of contract workers and volunteers. Many ex-BATS staff have gone on to key and creative positions in the Arts industry. And with the help of Creative New Zealand BATS has introduced other new initiatives, such as the revolutionary annual STABcommission and the Young and Hungry Festival of New Works.

Over the years STAB has evolved from a fund that supported multiple new works into a commission for a single ambitious show and STAB Lab, a separate development fund focussed on developing an innovative new idea without the requirement to present a finished show.

Many innovative and memorable new works have sprung out of STAB including Apollo 13: Mission Control, Demeter’s Dark Ride, Sniper, Live at Six, Pandemic and WATCH.

In 2011, BATS landlords for 22 years, the Buffaloes, placed the BATS building on the market. Faced with the unprecedented opportunity of securing the long-term future of the theatre at 1 Kent Terrace, the BATS staff and Board rallied to build financial support for purchasing the building, but given the extremely limited timeframe it looked as though it wasn’t going to be possible to raise the required amount.

At the eleventh hour, celebrated filmmakers Sir Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh stepped in, offering to purchase the building and issue BATS with a long term lease.

BATS: Out of Site

At the beginning of 2013 BATS moved to a temporary location upstairs on the corner of Cuba and Dixon Streets while the 1 Kent Terrace landlords undertook a massive earthquake strengthening and renovation project on the 80+ year old building.

After a mad dash to find a temporary space the former infamous “Big Kumara” student bar (previously Barney’s and Bojangle’s) was transformed in a matter of weeks into a pop-up studio theatre of 74 seats and a grungy bar space which was dubbed Understudy.

Despite limited funds for renovation, which made for a cold and at times leaky experience, the venue thrived. In 20 months “out of site” BATS presented 139 shows across both the theatre and bar space and welcoming over 40,000 audience members through the doors.

Flying BATS Home

In April of 2014, shortly after the theatre's 25th birthday, BATS launched a public Fly BATS Home fundraising campaign, kicking the project off with a campaign launch concert at Shed 6 on Wellington’s waterfront with musical support from Fly My Pretties and Flight of the Conchords.

Over the subsequent months BATS received phenomenal support from the community, trusts and other donors which helped cover the cost of the theatre-specific elements of the renovated building, including updated technical equipment and furnishings. Over $600,000 was raised including $32,500 crowd-funded from the community.

The refurbishment undertaken by the Wellington Film Properties Trust was extensive, and many changes were made in keeping with the art deco style of the building. A back staircase was added to the building, allowing access between the old Buffaloes Lodge Room (now The Heyday Dome) and BATS dressing rooms. A new stained glass dome tops off the central stairwell, and the central corridor on the building’s ground floor was opened up into a roomier bar space.

On 22 November 2014 BATS reopened at its original 1 Kent Terrace home which has been beautifully refurbished and now offers three performance spaces, a renovated bar and foyer, and shiny new backstage, dressing room, kitchen, Green Room and office facilities.

2015 and 2016 were the busiest years to date. In 2016 alone, we presented 128 seasons made by nearly 1000 artists across three performance spaces, and welcomed over 30,000 audience members into the theatre.

Despite the huge changes and opportunities presented by the refurbished building the fundamental philosophy of BATS has stayed true to its original ambitions.

BATS constantly seeks to build a new young audience for theatre by presenting diverse, relevant and challenging theatre. BATS focuses on being accessible for both its audience and incoming theatre companies, giving support to developing arts practitioners and new New Zealand work.

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Lemi Ponifasio

About

Lemi Ponifasio was born in Samoa and founded his company MAU in 1995, proceeding to work with diverse cultures and communities from around the Pacific and from around the world. ‘Mau’ in Samoan means a declaration to the truth of a matter. MAU is a cultural and creative centre hosting lectures, workshops, symposia and celebrations in collaboration with international and local communities. Lemi Ponifasio is a High Chief of Samoa, he holds the title Sala.

Lemi Ponifasio is known for his radical approach to the theatre; his ceremonial visual stagings intersect and transcend conventional ideas of theatre, dance and civic activism. Ponifasio presents his work at major theatres and festivals internationally including Theatre de la Ville Paris, Holland Festival, Southbank Centre London, the Venice Biennale, the Lincoln Center New York, Edinburgh International Festival and also throughout the Pacific Islands.

Tempest : Without a body

An arresting work of sombre beauty, Tempest: without a Body is a response to the post-9/11 political climate and policies aimed at crushing personal liberty. This piece by Lemi Ponifasio, a Samoan choreographer living in New Zealand, bears his distinctive signature of combining elements of Oceanic culture with social activism and stunning visuals. A powerful work by a major artist.

Life emerges from the shadows as strange chanting seems to be tolling the death knell for a world on the road to ruin. A man thrashes about in a cloud of ashes. An angel with wings too small for flight bellows with helplessness. A wildcat paces in circles in a cage of light. A group of people start to dance in unison. In a world where past and future are jumbled together, the characters form a collection of minimalist, highly stylized tableaux as they present a slow, enigmatic and very moving ceremony.

Standing in time

Lemi Ponifasio’s most recent works include Standing In Time (2017) a mauopera with MAU Wahine,  the example of a  symphony of pain,  speaks as well of abused women, the victims of history and colonial genocide.The play features an empty stage where raw fluorescent lamps aim directly at the audience. On the far right, we see a chorus of women dressed in black and seated on a bench. On the far left, there is one single singer who leads the chorus.  Between them, they have placed a pile of rocks, the central focus of this minimalist staging. What follows is a theatrical reimagining of a murder, a burial, and a morning ritual,  where the world is at war. People fight either with each other or with the universe. There is always a victim,  it is a woman, and there is no justice.  no hope, only despair, and death.

Lemi Ponifasio is not a story-teller. His directorial language is that of a metaphor focussing on a  human being left alone to fight and to make peace with the universe. Singing, dancing, and the underlying electronic soundscape are the main devices of this performative ceremony. Constructed on the contrapuntal principles of juxtaposing singing of the chorus to solo recitals, the play crosses the boundaries of contemporary dance, choral work, ritual, and theatre.

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Where I got my final idea from

Our shower cleaner in the flat gave me this idea of erasing something.

Instead of the shower cleaner I will carry on using the toothbrush to paint the foam/clean the glass screen and the erasing technique will come from the shower cleaner but will be completed with the toothbrush yet again.