Reading with music on is second nature to me, and often unintentionally narrates the story along with the author’s words. Just like a film’s constant underscore, here is my ‘official’ soundtrack for my adaptation of TIOS. 1. Corner – … Continue reading
Category Archives: Video
IT’S WORLD BOOK DAY!
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Today, the 6th March, is world book day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Weq_sHxghcg
“Boys in books are better”
Telling a story, or even living through one, is one of the most human creative and personal experiences. Be it either told through word of mouth or written on a page, storytelling is, in my opinion, one of the most magical capabilities of the human imagination. Although the words on a page remain the same, they hold the power to affect everyone who reads those words differently; holding an imagination to ransom while sculpting emotions and individual responses, creating an fully fledged world which we inhabit while the book is open. Making us fall in love with the villain or protagonist, cry over those who came to be out best friends when they die or meet an untimely end and ultimately leave us screaming out in frustration while we wait for the sequel to be published because we need to know if the uprising will be successful/who will survive/will they fall in love/when will the zombies appear. All this because of a connection to created to the words placed in front of us.
I am not alone in my love of books (and indeed their respective protagonists). From early literary characters such as Mr Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) and Mr Rochester (Jayne Eyre) to modern ones such as Augustus Waters (The Fault in Our Stars) and Charlie (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), our expectations of men has been forever tainted by these dark, mysterious and ultimately heart-melting fictional characters. While also challenging our perceptions of male characters and healthy relationships, literature also allows room for role-models to emerge with strong female leads such as Hermione Granger (Harry Potter), Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games), Jayne Eyre (Jayne Eyre), Celie (The Color Purple) and Hazel Grace (The Fault in Our Stars). So while encouraging the imagination through the creation of new worlds, reading can also help craft and construct consciousness, developed, independent and strong personal qualities.
To fall head over heels with a fictional character to then have t0 finish a book and leave them in their universe leaves a strange void in a readers life (well, mine anyway). Trying to cherish the last few pages of a story, knowing that as you turn the last page your adventure in the created universe will come to an end. Yet knowing you can pick up where you left off, having the option to re-live the entire adventure by simply opening the book again. The opportunity will always be there.
Creating their own worlds, within their own genres, authors allow their readers to live multiple lives through the lives of the characters. Jumping from monster to pirate, heaven to a dystopian future, running from an infectious virus to worrying about passing an exam. Living in different decades and places, books offer you the gift of time-travel, giving you the chance to become completely immersed in a new/old time period of your choice.
The immersive world of a book is something which amazes me, and an ability which I am grateful for when reading. It is this immersive atmosphere which I want to create during my solo performance – allowing the audience to feel comfortable and at home in a space where they can become engrossed in a story, surrounded by images from different stories and created worlds, being welcomed into a space where characters and fiction collide with reality.
Works Cited
Fletcher, Carrie Hope (2013) Boys In Books Are Better, dir Carrie Hope Fletcher, Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80r-ifiy53U (accessed 18 February 2014).
It’s all Goode.
Going back to the roots of solo performance, Chris Goode -in his piece The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley– produces a piece “storytelling at its finest”.
Chris Goode PowerPoint
Though Wound Man is not Chris’ first solo performance, I believe that it is one of his most touching, and although not strictly grown from a autobiographical root, there are aspects of this piece which appear to have been influenced and crafted around certain events which had great influence on his past.
Creating and telling a story without unnecessary grandeur is something which Goode does with ease; making the audience feel at ease and welcome within the space he inhabits while telling a heart warming and engaging tale.
Although Chris Goode is not the only solo performer to still use this technique, his work comes as a breath of fresh air (alongside such artists as Tim Crouch, Laurie Anderson and Spalding Gray) compared to other performance artists whose techniques don’t stem from the idea of story telling: artists such as Marina Abramovic and Stelarc. Although viewed by some as art and as ground breaking material, the work these artists produce, for me, is at times questionable. What makes an ‘artist’ is a label which is almost always in contention when being applied to new/different/abstract pieces of work. Through investigating artists from varied practices, although all appreciated within their own merit, as an ‘artist’ now myself, I am leaning towards taking my work in a storytelling route.
Telling stories is, I believe, the most important aspect of being a performer. Stories come in all sorts of media and forms, and it is the generic area of storytelling which I want to explore as my process and into a final performance. Although an exact idea will inevitably change and morph beyond its original conception, the captivation which I feel when recounting/reading stories will be the foundation of ideas and concepts of my final solo performance.
Works cited
Hull Truck Theatre (2013) The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirely, dir. Chris Goode & Company Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud5jsvC1x4g (accessed 4 February 2014).