Site-Based Performance · We will consider what site-based theatre is, who does it, and why. · We will explore how walking has been used by theatre- makers. . We'll look at the practical questions you might need to consider when working outside theatre spaces. Site-Based Performance is work that is based on or in the site. It can often be used in a very non-discriminate fashion, defining it as any theatre not taking place within a theatre. The venue is not a container, but part of the performance. Characteristics of site-based work: · Deep Engagement How the work interacts with the site, physically or historically. · Multiplicities An overwhelming wealth of resources of what to incorporate into a performance. What do you include. · Mobility Punch Drunk! Opportunity for the audience to move freely in the site along with the characters. Walking is exclusionary and reflects the bias of the sites we walk around. · Juxtaposition/ Assemblage Substitution, where you adapt a play with replacing a character with an object you find at the site or an action with something the site does. Can be unique to the site and can therefore change the story or create different effects. Consensus - the assemblage creates a coherent story. Dissensus - the people or objects in the site resist each other to say there is no one story that works in the site. · Interruptions You don't know what is going to happen. It could mess up the play or add new meaning. These accidental discoveries can tell you a lot about the site or deal with deliberate lies. The site could be used as a character itself, how does it change once the performance is over, for example. Why make site-based work? · Work with communities to make a deeper connection
· Create atmosphere within the space that cannot be captured by a theatre. Walking: · Who walks? · Who do they walk with? · Where do they walk? · And why? · Who watches them? Walking plays with scale as the play moves with us. We do not know where the edges of performance are. It may be u clear when the play stops or finishes. 'She Was Walking Home' allows us to experience the play in our own time. 'Niqabi Ninja' gives the audience a set route. Site-specific work is based on our relationships and how we and others engage together within a certain place. Practicalities: · Access · Backstage . Health and Safety / Risks · Duration · Scale · Clearing Up Reasons for and against creating performances in non-theatre spaces: · Involves a wider community (public, free, accessible) · Greater movement opportunities. Less special restrictions. · Interaction with the wider world. · Too much space? A lot of space to fill as performers. . Difficult to establish the location/time period if not the location/time of the performance itself. . Distractions and interruptions could ruin immersion.