PUBLISHED: January 6th, 2011
Writing Performance
22nd September – 3rd November 2010
Total Theatre were commissioned by PANeK to develop a project to develop theatre writing in Kent. The project aimed to develop for local practitioners and writers:
* an imaginative approach to writing about non-literary theatre
* new ideas about the forms and functions of critical writing
* new languages that engage with unusual performance.
Eight people attended the project which was delivered in three stages:
I Wed 22nd September, 5 – 8pm at the Hazlitt Theatre, Maidstone
The introductory seminar session discussed approaches to critical writing, analysing current practice and debating models through facilitated discussion, practical exercises and analysis.
II October 2010 – Mentored theatre trips to performances at Canterbury Festival
The group were offered 3 theatre trips each to appropriate productions at Canterbury Festival, in groups led by one of Total Theatre’s writing mentors. Each trip was framed by a different writing exercise set by the mentors, including documentary, personal and practical criticism. The whole group attended one performance – Forkbeard Fantasy’s The Colour of Nonsense. Other shows attended were Burn My Heart (Trestle Theatre), Operation Greenfield (Little Bulb), The Dreadful Hours (Timesis Theatre) and The Storeroom (The Kosh).
Each writer submitted a draft response to their mentor who commented on / edited it. These written responses plus their edits formed the basis of the final session’s conversation…
III Hazlitt Theatre, Wed 3rd November, 5 – 8pm
A three-hour sharing of work and round-table discussion of the process of writing on the shows visited, and an analysis of work created, in a mutually supportive and exploratory atmosphere led jointly by both mentors. Questions investigated included:
* What is the relationship of the critic to the audience?
* How can language shape understanding of a show?
* How can we connect the critical with the personal?
An account of the project and some samples of the writing produced are included in Total Theatre Magazine Volume 22 Issue 04 Winter 2010. Published by University of Winchester in association with Total Theatre. See the Total Theatre website for availablity.
Project Leaders were:
Beccy Smith, Reviews Editor
Beccy runs the Reviews section for Total Theatre Magazine, supporting and editing a group of around 20 writers to cover a broad range of performing arts activity across the country. Additionally she leads the one-year Writing for Performance course as part of Professional and Community Education at Goldsmiths, University of London and is a core member of the Editorial Group for Animations Online, the UK’s only dedicated journal for contemporary puppetry.
John Ellingsworth, Deputy Editor
John is the Deputy Editor of Total Theatre Magazine, the News Editor for Animations Online, and the owner and Editor of Sideshow, an online magazine covering contemporary and theatre-based circus. He has mentored reviewers as a project of Total Theatre Magazine and the Circus Development Agency, and is in turn mentored by Guardian critic Lyn Gardner. He contributes occasionally to the Guardian’s Stage blog and works for creative producers Crying Out Loud as a house writer and blogger.