Devising Theatre: a practical and theoretical handbook (Alison Oddey, 1994)

Preface

• P. xi-xii What I most enjoy about devising theatre is being with a group of people, exploring and experimenting with the nature of performance.

1. An introduction to Devised Theatre (P.1-23)

• P.1 Devised theatre can start from anything. It is determined and defined by a group of people who set up an initial framework or structure to explore and experiment with ideas, images, concepts, themes, or specific stimuli that might include music, text, objects, paintings, or movement.

• P.2 Companies devising theatre constantly have to address the changes brought about by the socio-political and cultural climate of the time. [Wonder it is true or not. There are so many topics can be devised other than socio- political and cultural climate]

Virtue in Eclectism?

• P.3 It [Devising] can produce more creative solutions than other forms of theatre, although this is fundamentally determined by group dynamics and interaction.

• However, There are some unclear boundaries within the subject of devised theatre, around which there are many areas of disagreement amongst theatre practitioners. Must devised theatre always be considered as a group activity, for instance, of a solo performer collaborates with another artist but is not part of a company? How do we define a devised play script in terms of authorship and ownership between a writer and company? [It is really a problem of copy right and ownership, so terms should be very clear in the contract.]

• P.4 The written play script has been the starting point and basis of British theatre production. Therefore, the dominant tradition of theatre and criticism has always been about the relationship of writing and performance.

• Devised theatre is concerned with the collective creation of art (not the single vision of the playwright), and it is here that the emphasis has shifted from the writer to the creative artist.

• P.5 Devised theatre offered the opportunity to groups of artists to try out ideas or notions that were not text-led. It provided the potential for a designer, choreographer, or performer to initiate a concept or starting point for performance. In turn, this encouraged the development of a performance language that included non-verbal forms. [Devised theatre is broadening the level of performance, and avoid making things too literal]

An example

• P.5 The People Show, a group of artists (not actors) who came together in 1966 to work collaboratively towards devising a visual theatre product in performance.
• A touring performing group, The People Show offered an alternative to text-based theater, in terms of providing experimental visual performance rather than productions of new plays and writing.
• P.6 The relationship of process to product was determined by the individual artisits' interests and interpretation of ideas, rather than an agreed group vision of a show.
• A key characteristic of their working method was to place great emphasis on the relationship between actor and audience, which meant that the 'first night' was simply the beginning of a show.
• P.6-7 The People Show and its early shows were significant in establishing a unique working process of individual artists in collaboration with each other, using the resources within the group to make, construct, and continually develop a theatre product in performance.

Beginnings

• P.7 Devised theatre can start from an infinite number of possibilities, such as an idea, image, concept, object, poem, piece of music, or painting, and the precise nature of the end product is unknown.

Politics [role of the company members]

• P.9 The relationship between individual specialist members are different from the production hierarchy of a text-based theatre.
• P.9 -10 This form of theatre provides wider opportunities and possibilities for all the members of a group. It encourages and enables new working relationship between the roles of writer, director, designer, technician, musician, and performer.

Technology

• P.18 Devised theatre addresses questions of how to utilise a non-theatrical space in terms of the actor-spectator relationship, and visual use of the playing environment. The created space or use of visual metaphor is important in terms of reflecting the company's intentions or reasons for making theatre, and offers the possibility of a multi-disciplined arts approach. [The potential and flexibility of devised theatre is huge]

Audience

• P.20 Devised theatre has the potential to address specific issues with a community, or to create performances for a non-theatre-going audience.
• A company's initial intentions or objectives for devising theatre are crucial to how the performer-spectator relationship is set up, and to the function or purpose of devising a theatrical product, spectacle or event.

Oddey, Alison. Devising Theatre: A Practical and Theoretical Handbook. New York: Routledge, 1994.