Convener: Simon Bowes
Participants:
Joanne Hartley; Steve Ryan; Bethany Pitts; Alex Lehman; Matt Ball;
Daniel Pitt; Ros Williams; Maddy Costa: Dachel Davies; Steve Pitman (and
others); Greg McLaren
Summary of
discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
Note that the session was called
to try and identify a dissatisfaction with two (seemingly pervasive)
orthodoxies, the FIRST: Edinburgh-once-a-year-or-you’re-invisible;
the SECOND: Scratching-it-will-make-it-better:
This is what we come up with: Maybe we NEED urgency – bound up with who you have to ask for the money –
gestation periods can be too long
(lost-in-gestation!) – “...being okay with your shit ideas” – “we should be practicing all the time”
(perhaps a painter who produces one painting a year is automatically going to
be a shittier painter than one who produces
ten a year) – Scratch culture often ensures that by the time an artist
“…considers the work finished, everybody’s seen it…” – Can early-career /
emergent artists afford to work privacy? Is there an alternative to scratch
that is artist-led, rather than venue-led, fairly enclosed, invitation-only,
free, not pay-what-you-can? EXAMPLE Uninvited Guests just can’t do anything
quickly (Mr. Dufty and Mr. Clarke have FULL TIME JOBS) – necessitates short,
infrequent working patters (presumably with plenty of time for reflection) –
they might not be prolific but they maintain their profile and never look seem
to look hungry – how do we find dedicated
time? – TIME IS ECONOMIC – Who says audiences knows better than artists what
the work should be? – Audiences notice things the artist may have overlooked,
but often give artists BAD ADVICE about how to develop their work – contrast
all this with EXAMPLE Song of the Goat (Poland), or other comparable European
companies: length of time spent developing the work permits depth and intricacy
– “What’s the life of a show?” / “2 years to make, 2 years to show” / crossing over
– “‘time’ is a question of efficiency…”
– “wider than one individual process” – “there is no ladder to climb” – “…we’re
not footballers (only as good as our last game)|” – No! – “…We’re as
interesting as our entire body of work…” – but if let’s say, the reviewer /
writer sees a bad one, they might miss a show or two before they go back –
WRITING ABOUT THEATRE – “…you’re as good as the last thing you did and the
thing you’re going to do next…” – is it possible to write to support a work /
artist in another way? – getting a little review (well-starred or not) isn’t
always that helpful – “…I’m discovering that I’m a slow thinker and a slow
writer…” (becoming Okay with that) – SPILL Festival salons/ dialogues /
‘stings’: commissioned writing – all pretty encouraging – cut – EXAMPLE:
“…Frayn had a five year hiatus before ‘Copenhagen’…” – MONEY BUYS TIME – but
fuck the money – “…you have a duty of
care to the work…” (you have a duty of care to the audience) – long timeframes permit continuities, sustaining
the discourse around the work (documentation, critical thinking) – “…the little
commitments make up The Big One…” – if we want to slow things down, there’s a
value in that…if we make the process part of the show…a long process doesn’t
necessarily mean a slow process – “the luxury of time” – “…we’re working in an
industry where everyone wants to be working in that industry…” – “if you’re
going to do something, really fucking do it” – “…if you can do it for £300, try
getting 6…” – talking about getting Lyn to see your stuff: “…be sure that
you’re ready to invite me along…” – A CULTURE SHIFT of TAKING YOUR TIME –
generosity towards emerging artists (or: to an emerging / developing work, even
if it’s made by an old artist) – giving time to something can buy you out of
that economy EXAMPLE: Simon from Rough Fiction – a permanent ensemble, by
consensual agreement – free space donated by the Actor’s Centre, for six hours
every Saturday – core artists working on skills, founded in an open space,
leading to a deep sense of collectivity – nobody got paid – has resulted in a
finished show developed over eighteen months, equivalent of nine weeks of
rehearsal spread out – in some circumstances the work itself is its own reward
– what else are you spending / investing in, if not time – some kind of
TRIANGLE DIAGRAM, like an equation Quick = Money, Good = Time – yeah: it can’t
be cheap AND good AND quick! – you’ve
got to GIVE THE PROJECT WHAT THE PROJECT ASKS OF YOU – “…long time-frames are
all well and good, but you’ve got to have outcomes, and you’ve got to stand by
them…” – the work asks you: what kind of
artist do you want to be –
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