End of Term Report

Being, as we are, a University project, ttpo# now faces two weeks without workshops, and given how we have been struggling to link together the different improvised scenes today's workshop given by Justin Audibert couldn't have come at a better time. Justin is currently assistant directing up at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds where he has most recently been working on the well-received The Grouch. He came in tonight for the second of our professional-led workshops (thanks to funding from CILASS), and after a jumping, clapping warmup that would be the envy of even the most energetic gospel choir, he truly kick-started the proverbial loom, encouraging the group to improvise a string of five scenes: if you'll excuse further metaphoricalising, he's shown us how to water and fertilise the seeds we've sown.

I also found myself pushed to explore the full technological limits of our rehearsal space, linking up a DV cam to the lecturn PC. This meant we could not only record most of the rest of the proceedings (video coming soon...), but project live video onto the wall as well.

As I have previously mentioned we are at the end of the spring term and now half-way through the second semester. Time is therefore not on our side, and of the seven weeks we have left, only five of them will see us physically meeting up as a group.

We'll therefore be switching to collaborative online software, namely Google Docs, and concentrate on using our Facebook Groups to develop our ideas and plan the roadmap to performance.

If I was to give the collective a grade for the term, I'd say we've just about pulled a last minute 2.1 out of the bag, but we have a lot of work ahead of us if we're going to realise our ambitions for this project.

Some of us are off to the National Student Drama Festival (NSDF) next week, so will be posting from the glamorous beaches of Scarborough to a screen near you before you know it...

The Audition Workshops

I'm writing from the lectern in CILASS 7 where we are currently holding the first of our two "audition" workshops - having had difficulties persuading students to overcome any fears they have about being involved in our project, we felt we needed to use the word "audition" as a way of encouraging new people to get involved. We weren't looking to eliminate people, just see how different people fit in to the group dynamic. You can see some of the stuff we got up to in the video below...



Many thanks to Dan Balla for being the guest leader for the first workshop - and giving us a lot of ideas for the second, including "Autocue Improv"... more on this later!

Workshop Auditions

This Wednesday we will be holding workshop auditions for the performers for Surveillance, which if you missed it is the title of the final piece we will be performing.

It needs to be stressed that with this project the journey is far more important than the destination, and that being involved with ttpo# will be an opportunity to be part of a pioneering student-led IBL project, after our successful grant application that will allow us to bring in professional experience and take our work to conferences, festivals and across the world-wide web.

We're looking for a mix of creatively-minded undergraduate students of all levels of experience with theatre to work on researching and devising a show exploring the implications of increased surveillance at all levels of modern society, focussing in particular on the effects on both the watcher and the watched. As an official project of CILASS, (Centre for Inquiry-based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences), we will be blending professional-led workshops with devising sessions, discussion forums, video shoots, hands-on technical training, and a collaborative online organisational system; this will be a huge opportunity for anyone interested in theatre, sociology, collaborative research, and improving their research and information skills.

We will be running two sessions (open only to members of the University) on Wednesday 20th February 2008: 2pm-4pm and 5pm to 7pm (14:00-16:00 & 17:00-19:00). Anyone interested in joining the project need only attend one session. There is a chance we may be oversubscribed, or that you may not be able to make either session. If this is the case, either contact us by email/text/phone, or let us know in the comments and we'll get in contact ASAP.

Please wear comfortable clothing (and clean socks!), and make sure you bring your U-card to access the building.

So, to sum up...

Location: CILASS 7 (Level One of the Information Commons)
Day: Wednesday 20th February 2008
Session One: 2pm - 4pm
Session Two: 5pm - 7pm

Facebook Event Page

Launch Workshop Tomorrow! (Wed 12th Dec)

Shit me things have been busy recently! Sorry to anybody who's been waiting eagerly for news, especially about when we're getting started. Things have been happening, but due to a hectic schedule and the fact that it's just me blogging at the moment (though this will soon change) I haven't kept things up to date on here (slapped wrist!).

First and foremost, then, details of the workshop...

Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm / 16:00 - 18:00
Location: CILASS, Information Commons, 44 Leavygreave Road, Sheffield

Only 24 places available, first come, first serve. We're looking to recruit our entire team (cast and crew) as early as possible, so all participants will be invited to get involved with the show in some way, shape or form. That said, there are no strings attached, so don't be afraid to come along even if you don't want to commit!

Now for what you need to bring:

- Comfortable clothing (and clean socks!)
- Your U-card (so you can get into the building - sorry to non-students!)
- Digital Recording Devices (laptops, cameras, camcorders, mp3 players/recorders); N.B. any equipment you bring is at your own risk.
- A random item of costume (in the broadest sense)
- A mask, a prop, or some kind of unbreakable object
- We'll also be asking you to fill in a couple of forms, so make sure you know your contact details, and bring your measurements if you happen to know them.

Facebook Event Listing

We're also running one next week (at a slightly different time), so check the event listing for more details of number two.

Other than this, I have been meeting up with various directors, performers, and lecturers, have seen performances at the RSC and at the Capital Centre (another CETL, a bit like CILASS), and have been to a "Network Event"(!). Will write up all of this and more, but for now hope to see some of you tomorrow!