Dramaturgy / how to write a community play
Sometimes you may want to write your own play but need a little help to help realise your vision, or to create something that will respond in the best way possible to the space in which the show is to be performed. We have worked as dramaturgs on a number of shows and Andy Barrett has written nearly forty community plays, the majority of which have been for Excavate. He was introduced to the community play as a teenager, performing in three plays in the early eighties created by Ann Jellicoe and the Colway Community Theatre Trust, in many ways the birthplace of the modern idea of what a community play is. He has also completed a PhD that has explored the work of the writer of the community play across it’s forty five years of history and so knows more about how to write a community play (and to explore ideas of culture, heritage, and place) than anyone else!
Andy is able to offer talks and run workshops on many aspects of writing for community theatre, and on how to create scripts that allow communities to investigate their past, present, and future.
Working with Arts and Heritage
Arts and heritage are becoming ever more intertwined. But there are many issues around this work, especially around the merging of fact and fiction. How do you go about gathering research material? What are the ethics of doing audio recorded interviews and creating texts based on people’s memories? What is the best way to preserve what may end up being a substantial body of research that may have uses in the future? What kind of digital archives can be created from this work?
Over the years Excavate have developed a way of working that has lead to the creation of a vast pool of knowledge and information about the history and identity of communities. And increasingly we have found ways to share this using other forms than live performance (although this is always at the heart of what we do). This has included the making of films, websites, audio recordings, books and smartphone apps.
We are able to offer talks or design workshops based on these issues which may help you or your organisation to realise the potential of using heritage as the base for an arts project, as well as to explore the ways to get the most out of such a project.
Mentoring
Putting on your first community play can be a daunting process. As well as researching, writing, rehearsing and staging the event there are many other issues to consider, especially for site- specific work. Over the last years we have mentored a number of organisations and companies, some of whom have gone on to produce work of their own on a regular basis. We are happy to act as mentors for any project you may be involved in. This could be as simple as offering an afternoon of advice, to working alongside you during the duration of your project.
Heritage Research Techniques
Investigating heritage is something that many more people are engaging with. If you would like some help with understanding the best ways to carry out interviews, with using recording devices, in learning how to edit audio using free downloadable software, then we are able to assist with this. Many of our projects begin with an in depth research process that involves engaging with archive material as well as in interviewing people, and we have much experience of working with projects funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Site-Specific Theatre
What exactly is site-specific theatre? What are its challenges and what are its rewards? How do you shape a narrative to embrace the space in which it is played? How can performers be heard? What kind of risk assessments are necessary? Where do you get power to the middle of nowhere to light the performers?
With over twenty five years of producing work in some of the most challenging, evocative and unusual spaces imaginable we are able to offer talks and workshops that look at the demands of site specific work.
If this is something that you or your organisation are particularly interested in developing then we can design a workshop or residency with you (anything from a day to a week) to create a site specific work which will help you develop the necessary skills and knowledge to create larger projects in the future.
The Street-Audio Provocation Workshop
This highly successful workshop allows for up to fifteen participants to work intensively over a day to create a site specific audio installation. We identify and record sounds from the immediate locale, work with audacity to layer these into an evocative soundscape, write and add text to create an intimate audio performance for an audience of one (at a time), and then set up a public performance space for passers-by to listen to the work that has been made.
This workshop explores the ways in which we ignore what is going on around us; about how we rarely truly listen to the specific sounds of the places where we live and work; and about how engaging with a stranger for a few minutes can be a magical experience. It’s a workshop that always leads to interesting encounters and conversations, and the creation of often very surprising work