An Orgy Of Thought - Week 3

In week 3, the group began to explore the use of music in theatre; starting in examining music as a personal and emotive form of expression.

Our task was to listen to an individual piece of music, with each group member bringing in a piece.
We were asked to listen to each track, and take mental notes on how the track made us feel.
Some members sat quietly, some lay down, some walked around and some used pen and paper.

We then discussed our interpretation with the group.


Every member of the group brought in a piece of music to listen to:

Mike: Zero 7 - When It Falls (2004)
Nat: Bird on A Wire - Leonard Cohen (1969)
Em: Close to me - Blood Red Deep Blue
Rhiannon: A Short Ride On A Fast Machine - John Adams
Tash: Beirut - The Gulag Orkestar



With the careful listening to of each song, we discussed how we felt the piece could be interpreted as a theatrical piece. What emotions, images, feelings and scenarios the piece suggested to us in our minds eye.

The following is a brief description of responses:

Mike's Piece:

When It Falls, Zero 7

This piece is very chilled out and relaxed. the group responded to this by imagining free flowing situations with ambiguous communications of image, sound and interaction.
The group felt that they would want to take an audience through a journey of self discovery through a piece of theatre that would invoke the mood of this piece of music. A journey which wouldn't necessarily go anywhere or do anything, but would be simply enlightening and enjoyable in its essence. Comparative to sitting in an empty field of daisy's in the height of summer.

A piece of theatre that would be

"like floating through the northern lit skies"

The group imagined:

• A slow changing of seasons
  
  
• New awakenings
  
  
• A female essence of intimacy, clarity, tactility, the sun, wide open spaces, a tiny figure
  

Nat's Piece:

Bird on a Wire, Leonard Cohen



This piece led the group to feelings of nostalgia: an almost gray scale vision of a traditional time of days gone by.
The group imagined...

• Empty Promises
  
  
• a self portrait of one's self - hugging one's knees, feelings of comfort.
  
  
• An old drunk at a bar; content with all he is and happy to just be.
  
  
• A singer giving a song to the world, from the very depths of their being, in what is ultimately a futile effort and hope to achieve happiness.
  
  
• An old couple who, despite loving each other, still have a struggle together.
  
  
• A confessional end of the line attempt to cut losses and open up.
  
  
• A representation of an individuals personal resignation to accepting everything just for what it is.
  

Em's Piece:

Close To Me, Blood Red Deep Blue

"A stark silhouette of a song"

Conjuring raw images of nature and exposure.

The group imagined:

• A lone female.
  
  
• A rural shack in a remote village that was an almost depressing and earthy attempt at a nightclub.
  
  
• An individual standing on a cliff edge exposing themselves the the raw capacity of the elements; mighty forces that can not be measured, possessed or controlled.
  
  
• A warm scene by a crackling fire at night, and the passing on of stories from old to young.
  
  
• Uncomfortable silences
  
  
• Sadness: The image of a beautiful, delicate butterfly that lacks the ability to take off any fly
  
  
• A hard old woman in a space who represents a persona that has the ability to strip anyone down and expose their vulnerabilities.
  
  

Rhiannon's Piece:

A Short Ride On A Fast Machine, John Adams




Rhiannon's piece emoted very strong feelings of industry, working and frenzy in a chirpy and almost slapstick mood.

Described as an "industrious train with human cogs, happily steaming along"

The group imagined a busy scene of people going about their daily business, interacting, working and living their daily lives in an almost automated fashion.
At the same time, the music had enormous energy which excelled beyond the monotony of repetition, which suggested a musical theatre-esque piece with high energy, singing, dancing, and bright lights to razzle, dazzle 'em!


The group Imagined:

• A space landing.
  
  
• Empirical entrance / festive build up to the crechendo.
  
  
• Images of war and fierce cavalray charges.
  
  
• Office workers & industry (a human machine)
  

Tashs's Piece:

Beirut, The Gulag Orkestar



The most distinctly "traditional" of the pieces we explored today, Tash's music was of Eastern European roots, which was something the communal mindset could feel. This piece was a very European feeling:

"An orchestral feast for the ears."

With images of working class, communist bars, excited family parties in small Eastern village halls, shots of Vodka, fresh food and excited grins lining smokey rooms.

The group imagined:

• A solitary journey
  
  
• Elderly people saying goodbyes
  
  
• Eastern Europe - "poverty", "seedy"
  
  
• Oppressions
  
  
• Sadness & Nostalgia
  
  
• A contemporary war scene of the dead rising up and transforming in to a street of shoppers - mimicking today's society and the notion of our inability to escape living potentially hollow and repetitive lives.
  

In Conclusion:

This session brought about some real imaginative ideas form the group. Our imaginations were fired up, and our enthusiasm accelerated like a rocket ship to the moon.

In the next session we will be physically exploring how to communicate our thoughts and ideas from week 3, exploring time, space, movement and considering how an audience may respond to and interpret such manipulations of such fundamental elements of our daily experiences.