Rehearsal and Production notes so far

Hello Team 'Devised-performance-about-birds-and-stuff' (may need a better, more concise team name?) 

I thought it best to put some notes from my head, the rehearsal and production meeting, down here for scrutiny. 

It seems that we are focusing on 'Birds'! 

I think it is important that we are not too literal with this so that design elements can be consolidated more easily. From what has been produced so far it seems that some of the ideas we are interested in are: 

i) Birds having a 'birds eye view' of humanity across time - humans making the same mistakes over and over again

ii) Birds having a freedom that we don't have. A unique view that we don't have. 

iii) Restrictions we place upon ourselves (like working 5 days a week!). Our underlying need to nest and also feel free. 

Here are some notes i made. 

Birds

Migrating - birds treated as illegal immigrants - go where they need to be - where it is natural - why aren’t humans the same? Where do our borders come from - where have our nomadic tribes gone - western civilisation has imposed boundaries on other cultures 

Borders/boundaries - lines drawn in the sand, chalk, paint, rope, string, jails, fences 

Murmurations - starlings 

Story of the cranes that fly over everest even though they don’t need to! (Dan Jenkins) 

Carrier pigeons - magnetic response

Scenes

Physical scene - Hands and people creating a corridor that someone is trying to get through - providing steps and tunnels etc

Physical scene - people flying, experiencing liberation - walking on hands or possibly counter balancing one another.  

String (decoration/bunting/floral/red tape/police tape etc? Decorative or restrictive depending on context) being unravelled in celebration/oppression then cut down with someone with shears - representing a nest and/or a cage. 

Sand - drawing lines in the sand or making lines with sand - great escape - marking a path or creating a landscape (use a video camera to magnify it - project it - like Faulty Optic show) 

Production Meeting notes - Weds 25th Feb, 2015 

Flying stuff?
Seating arrangement? 

Follow spot? 

Send tracks - Sound fx - to Callum (palette of bird sounds + traditional Russian music) 

Photo-shoot - date? week of the 9th or 16th March 

Chase up Mary Tennant - Marketing 

Initial make-up ideas by next week (to play with) 

4pm - costume wardrobe (meeting) 

Next 1.30pm (Production meeting) 

Production Meeting notes - Weds 4th March 

Risks? - overhead galleys 

End-on - gauze - in the round? 

sounds/sfx - get a copy from Callum or Callum to come to rehearsal? 

Set design - nests? 

Birds/Birds/Birds!! 

Costume - Jazz shoes or Pumps?

poster - email poster girl doing it asap. Lisa has made something  

Next Production Meeting Weds 11th March @12.40pm 

These are the notes I made following the thursday rehearsal - some of things that you said!

Freedom and restriction - birds are free to go anywhere - why can’t we?

Bird physicality - human text (written and found text) - human elements 

Comedy 

Restrictions we put on ourselves - gender/race/religion 

Becoming free/bird 

different birds portraying diff types - ‘insect play’ (Dan to bring in or reference) 

Normality - systems 

Birds’ eye view 

Full group scenes + quiet moments 

One constant character 

Bird sanctuary - recounting memories (restriction)

projector or gauze - white costume  (murmuration) 

non-literal 

Boxing match to represent War 

Flour - looks good on stage when thrown under light 

That is all so far...

Dan