Father Red's box of tricks!

Well hello there gorgeous Redettes.

Hoping you all had a very merry christmas indeed! Blimey, I can't believe it's all over and the new year is almost upon us. What a busy year I have planned! The ever so charming (if akwardly obese) grey haired chappy was incredibly generous to me this christmas and has laden my little red haired arms with lots of street theatre goodies to keep me busy in the year ahead. How exciting!

I was thrilled to find a spinning plate in my christmas stocking, a skill which took me the majority of boxing day to master and yet a days worth of not practicing to lose! Hey ho, I'm sure I'll remember how I did it at some point. Along with this I have been trying my hand at my wonderful glow in the dark poi and was entertaining the masses with them on christmas evening on our front lawn. Alright, mainly just my family and a nosy boy from across the road. They all sat eagerly awaiting me to clonk myself around the noggin with them as the poi were brought to a grinding halt. I seem to be VERY good at this 'trick', performing it repeatedly as I'm sure my siblings will confirm. Suffice to say I enter the new year with a few less braincells than I had before the festive season...ouch!

I was over the moon to receive some lovely latex adornments for my face including 4 sets of false teeth and half of an... (ahem) larger ladies face which puts me in mind of a certain mask-based comedy programme. As of yet I cant talk with these glorious bits and pieces on but am going to work around using them in a street arts performance in the future, so watch this space!

My favourite of all the false teeth!

I was also incredibly lucky to receive a new teeny-tiny-techno-phobe-friendly camcorder too which I plan to use for recording Well Red comedy sketches and popping online in the future for people to get a flavour for the work I can create. This is a project I am really looking forward to.

The odd bit of free time (around working) I have been spending catching up on my juggling and other circus skills- skills in which I am determined to master in the coming months so by next christmas I have a fantastic one woman show ;) There is however, so much to learn and do and I feel like I still have to play 'catch up' with my glorious second year peers who already banked the skills I am learning when they were in their first year. However, onward and upward, must prevail and all that...those clubs won't juggle themselves.....oh, now theres an idea!

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone! May it be filled with success and love and warm fuzzy feelings of greatness.

x x x

Losing my street arts virginity...ohh er missus!

The corporate puppeteer

Well, it's been a crazy week for the street arts gang and I. It's the last week of uni before the festive season and we have been cracking out street performances like ITV cracks out manufactured pop acts! 

Inspector and driver of the very funny 'Tour Bus'

On Monday we managed to distract a few christmas shoppers from the hustle and bustle of lunch hour in a local shopping centre with two twenty minute performances. My group's work was based on a political intervention regarding capitalist society and the great corporate machine whilst the other group based their piece on authority and power...(I know, bit heavy for yuletide shows huh?). As my first taste of perfoming on the street, I must say that I was less than relaxed when we were making our way to the site. I was worried that I would be the somewhat weaker member of the group as everyone else has had previous street performing experience whereas I have only ever done black box style performances. That said, I absolutely loved it! It feels far more rewarding to earn your audiences attention and far more like they are taking notice of what you have to say than if they were nodding off in a theatre seat, nose well immersed in their expensive glass of Pinot Grigio. Although it was only my first stab and I obviously have alot to learn, the fact that we gathered and subsequently maintained an audience reception was simply wonderful especially at this time of year and not within the safety of an advertised street arts festival.

Authority figure gets a good dusting off from Boris!

Doll face happily leaves ransom notes with 'power' quotes around the centre for passers by.

The university campus performances that took place today were equally as fun and I feel we managed to break the boundaries a bit more than Monday. The girls and I had great fun dressing as grotesque yet vein, 'popular girl' types whilst we wore controversial signs and created grotesque poses and sounds in our walkabout / installation piece. Sadly I couldn't take a photo of this but I can confirm that my monobrow was divine and that peanut butter makes for an excellent vomit looky-likey!! Yum.  

The boys on the other hand gave a sterling comic walkabout with their tour bus which I thoroughly enjoyed and was an excellent example of the high quality work we are trying to create on the course. As we pottered about in their little cardboard bus and waved at lecturers and students enjoying their Wednesday morning powerpoint presentations, I had an overwhelming sense of feeling very lucky. Today marked the end of my first semester on the course and I couldn't be more thrilled with the work we are encouraged to produce, the way we are taught to make our practice a success and the opportunity to be educated about our busioness too.

Last week a friend asked me what course I was doing and he looked confused as he said 'So, what are you planning to do with that afterwards then? Because you wouldn't want to work on the street, would you..'.
At the time I just smiled and muttered something under my breath about probably working in the theatre again. Regrettably, and I am not sure why, but I felt almost embarrased to say that was exactly what I was intending on doing. I think people often associate street arts with grime, poverty and scratch performance that has little or no quality.
Well, this week has just confirmed to me that this is certainly not the case and if he asked me again I would have no problem in telling him otherwise! Yes, that is exactly the plan actually. Nothing could be closer to the plan in fact. And I firmly believe that street performing is the way forward and it just might be all thats left when the arts funding fecal matter really hits the fan, a lesson this week that (on a personal level) has rung only too true. So yes, yes I am going to perform on the street so you can put that in your buskers hat and smoke it! Maybe I'll tell him when I see him next...and then follow it with a cheery Merry Christmas.

Right, *gets off high horse* I'm off to write some comedy for a set at The Railway tommorrow night. Rest assured, it will be much more cheery than this although I cant promise it will be funny ;)

Adieu for now my lovelies x x x

A Well Red Poem

I’m proposing a small intervention

To see if what I am thinking is right

Cause if I’m right in thinking

Your interest in me’s shrinking

It may well be gone by the night.

So I’m planning a small intervention

To just check you can still see me here

I might dance around

With my pants on my head

Or cover my body in beer.

I might sit in front of the telly,

Or put one extra sugar in your tea

So when you look up

In glucosed disgust

All you’ll see there is little old me.

I might send you six million postcards

With photos of me on the front

And on the back of each one write a story

Though that’s quite an extravagant stunt.

I might ask you outright to tell me or

To see if you’re quick to dismiss

Or I might write a small little poem

And post it on a blog

Just like this.

Warm and fuzzy street arts tasks!

What can get your heart racing, give you warm fuzzy feelings and potentially annoy the christmas jollies out of others, all at the same time?  No, not being in love. It's street arts of course you crazy Red-ette bunch! This is what we managed to achieve in today's lecture. The lecture started with a brief explanation of the interventions we were about to create on the street in order to communicate with our potential audience. The proposed tasks included small acts or happenings that to the regular shopper may be completely overlooked and go absolutely unseen but to those with a more open mind at the time of passing, could be more visible and influential.

* Above:one intervention included all pointing at nothing in particular. Obviously.

* Note- my gorgeous street arts peers as we carried out our mini exploration, pictured above.

One of the acts carried out by our lecturer included entering a bookshop and singing. This, surprisingly, was actually very well received by the staff and customers who either smiled or continued about their literary shop completely ignoring him. I could actually talk for days about how interesting I find the varying reactions of the public to street theatre (but dont worry, I wont). The 'if i dont look at you, its not happening' look being my favourite which is akin to those I expect homeless people get alot. I think, however, the positive reaction here was due to the choice of song, time of year (people being more open to festive cheer and all that in late November) and the fact that my lecturer has an incredibly nice voice.

Another of the tasks included the applausing of members of the shopping centre we met on our way and again, surprisingly this turned out to be quite a crowd pleaser! The man doing the grouting seemed positively made up that he had received such a big hand, so much so in fact, I heard him telling whoever he was on the phone to about it later. The security guard slightly less so, but he smiled all the same.

Our final task was to make a connection with a member of the public, including something small such as a smile or even eye contact. Interestingly enough, despite having the best will in the world to make a positive connection,my heart was still racing with this task. Walking towards an elderly chap ( who looked like he'd had his fill of festive shopping) I decided to shoot him a smile and though he took a few seconds to respond, he did all the same. I then went in for a full blown 'Merry Christmas' (despite it being late November, but didnt really know what else to say!) and to my surprise he grinned and replied 'Merry Christmas'. He seemed so taken aback as I walked past that anyone would think I'd just given him the winning ticket to the lottery!  I was pretty happy too and had that weird little fuzzy feeling in my tummy when you've done something good to make someone else smile. And it made me think, I mean, sod the street arts for a mo...wouldn't the world be even just that tiny bit better if we all just smiled at each other and gave people a 'merry christmas' in November...well, not just that obviously but it's a start.  

Most importantly though, I learnt that just because you're a street artist doesn't mean that you can just waltz in and declare the attention of the audience around you. You have to earn that from them, moreso than you would in an auditorium where people have paid to be there and will find it difficult to leave! People have real lives, real shopping to do and may not want to watch you doing some contemporary dance piece on the current economic crisis. They may just want to crack on with buying new pairs of novelty socks for their sisters and old spice for their dads. And that, I believe is one of the most important things I will take with me....(not the Old Spice, the moral,innit.)

x x x

Some well festive radio!!!

Hello again you lovely lot!

Well, this evening I am full of the joys of christmas! In fact so much so, I am ready to hang my baubles, stuff my turkey and erect my tree. I have just returned home after having the pleasure of performing in an incredibly funny radio play written by my uni peer which was a comic adaptation of Dickens 'A Christmas Carol'. I was fortunate enough to have played the well spoken Ghost of Christmas Past, the barmy Mrs Cratchit, a dodgy beggar and the little boy at the end who buys the turkey! 

(Photographs by B. Way)

I have never done any radio/voice work before so this was a lovely insight into it. There is something truly liberating in not having to 'physically' act and instead just using your voice as your means of characterisation. Performing in front of a live audience too is also a treat as you get the reactions you would when on stage to give you that extra little bit of oomph!

It was a brilliant experience and the best bit was that the script was fresh, new and incredibly funny, from a writer I can see going as far Mr Dickens himself! Its so very exciting to think we are all here, creating new work together and right now, in this cosy little bubble of university life, it feels as though we could achieve anything. Having been a full timer before my studies, I am under no illusion that this is optimistic in comparison to the actual working world, but hey, for now, I can dream ;)

*Sighs and reflects on the evenings endeavors* Right, now where did I put my nutcracker....

x x x

Oh, almost forgot! Keep a look out for the podcast version of the play coming soon!

Angelic Intervention?

As part of our course this week we were set a task to create an 'intervention'. The aim of this was, in short, to produce an idea that made people think...about something...anything, not even particularly what you were thinking when you had the idea. 'That's intriguing', I hear you cry! Well, indeed.

Now normally, I can get very stuck into projects like this and come up with something almost instantly (I know, I'm so terribly modest) but this time I got rather stuck for ideas. It was very late at night and I was pondering what I would do when I just happened to glance up at the halo that I had worn for my sisters hen night, placed precariously on my dressing table. We have a chapel on our university campus and I thought it would be a splendid idea to stand outside the chapel with a halo on my head. I have no idea why, it was late, I was tired and I thought it would lead to a completely open interpretation for passers by. I certainly didn't want to offend and likewise I wasnt trying to make a statement about Christianity. I have no problems with the Christian faith and nothing much to say about it, on the contrary I just wanted to make others think.

This morning however, in my 6am coffee fuelled state, I thought I might spice things up a bit by obtaining some form of christian based book for the angel to be reading and when picking one out from the library I found a jolly little book on Satan and how rubbish he is. In this respect the book was actually FOR Christianity despite it looking at first glance like a 'Devil Worshipping for Idiots Guide'.

After speaking to my lecturer, I decided to start by sitting slightly away from the chapel so as not to directly force ideas into my audiences minds and on the contrary give them space to ponder. This also limited the possibility of negative response and was all in all, more respectful to a faith I have limited knowledge about.

I must say I received rather mixed responses! One chap just stood in front of me and said 'Well, how bizarre.' He then called his friend over and they had a little giggle together which was quite sweet in a way.

As a lady passed me she retorted, 'Thats an excellent book', then walked a little further and then stopped and turned back. 'May I ask why you're reading it?' she said with a smile, almost disregarding my Poundland halo. On explaining the task I attempted to remain neutral and tell her that I had no motives of what I wanted the audience to feel or think, rather to give them a stimulus for thought. Interestingly though, she then proceeded to tell me about her faith as a Christian, before thanking me and walking off.

Another lady asked if she could take my photograph when she saw the title of the book I was reading which again was very interesting to me. What will she do with that snap I wonder?... *flashforward to tomorrows Daily Echo front page spread 'SCANDAL : UNI STUDENT IS NO ANGEL'*. Na, probably not...

But all in all it was a very interesting task and I learnt a hell of alot about street art from it (excuse the pun). Respecting your audience being the biggest thing. They are, after all, your audience and without them its a bit like Eastenders being on with no one watching it ; a darned waste. Also, this work is primarily about change and you cant change the world on your own!!

As a side note, I am just sat in the library and noticed someone has defaced a sign by crossing out words and writing 'RED' on top of it. No, no it wasn't me....too much to think that word of my blog is getting around the uni though eh? ;) er......probably.......hehe

x x x

Doing it like a dude...

THE SERIOUS REASON I DRESSED AS A CHAP : One of our current street arts performance tasks at uni is based on the idea of consumerism, capitalism, corporations and the current economic crisis the country is in. In short, it's a despressing look at our world today. It has posed some really interesting discussions in my lectures about how we got here and what we could do to get out of it and interestingly enough, it was us (the students) who presented the subject matter as a worthy performance topic.

The character I play is supposed to emulate the 'big cheese' (or 'big knob cheese' I guess) who started and maintained this ridiculous capitalist society that we live in. The character represents all those who have done their bit to get us where we are. The character is both the puppet and the puppeteer and yet...I have no idea whether the character is male or female. And thus, the cause for this evenings explorations.

The issue I face is that it has taken BOTH genders to reach the current situation that we are in. However, it is often men who are associated with business and power, whereas women can sometimes still be seen to be hitting the 'glass ceiling' and all that jazz. Yet, on the other hand, many believe a certain Iron Lady as being the one who suggested we were onto a jolly good thing here. Originally and in our initial presentation to our lecturers, I established my character as a woman, more for conveinience than anything else *gestures to mammories*. However, I feel like I am taking the easy way out in doing so and I cant quite work out in which direction to go with it. Maybe the character is some sort of strange hybrid of both woman and man... Is it even important?? Am I thinking more about this than is required? Does the fact I'm doing so say more about me than it does about the situation??

I havent a clue, but I fully intend to pick my groups brains about it tomorrow. One thing is for sure however, either way...I make one ugly bloke.

x x x