Just over a week to go!

We thought you might enjoy hearing about the process of creating this production, straight from the mouths of the lovely people that have helped to create it!

Ladies and Gents...we present...the ensemble!

Working on ensemble theatre in such depth over the past few months has been a fantastic challenging productive experience, the pleasure of doing it alongside some of my close friends is a massive bonus too. I have always been a strong advocate for Six Lips and it is great to finally be creating with them. I hope you enjoy our interpretation of Malfi, its a difficult tragedy but I hope you feel we have still got the nub albeit in a radically different way. Cheers. Dan.

Being fairly new to theatre, having only been in three shows previously, I was excited to be given the opportunity to work with Six Lips and the rest of the ensemble. I have found the group is hard-working and full of ideas. The process by which we have taken apart The Duchess of Malfi and put it back together has been interesting. We have worked on what it is to be the Duchess and looked at all the different aspects of her and her relationships with her brothers, her husband and the servants. I am looking forward to our performance of the play and to hear feedback from those who come see it. Donna

The devising process over the 9 months has been very different to what I've been used to, focused on ideas rather than the playtext. We've spent a significant amount of time on the side-project of Improv Nights, and on the physical problem of presenting the Duchess through multiple performers. The relationships between characters have taken a backseat to this, and so I hope this is judged more by the evocation of thoughts and feelings than a story of individuals and actions- very fitting for an ensemble approach. Tom

The creative process behind our production of Malfi is completely different to any other show I've been involved with, which has been a great learning curve for me as a young actress. The fact that every member of the cast has been involved at all stages of the production (including themes, characterisation, script editing) has meant that all of us have been inhabiting the same 'Malfi' headspace for months now, ensuring a very thoughtful intention has been kept throughout. Additionally, the months of ensemble training we received before hand has been invaluable. We all now work seamlessly together, and this incredibly supportive environment has enabled me to make bold choices and pushed me beyond what I thought I was capable of as a performer.

These things combined, have enabled us to produce an exciting, diverse, and thought-provoking re-imagining of John Webster's great work. Sophie

Working as part of Six Lips' ensemble has been an incredible and inspirational journey which has deeply affected and strenghthened my work as a performer. We have been expertly guided by the company in the creation of a strong, impulse-driven ensemble, and have learned how to communicate through body, movement and voice to create an exciting and layered performance. We have explored and devised areas of the play as a collective,  responding as a group of artists and engaging with the play from a collective perspective and allowing that to shape our approach to individual roles. Six Lips based us in physical and improvisational work at first, learning how to work physically together to achieve complicated lifts and devise our own sequences, and later worked in text as a stimulus for this work. I have developed greater confidence in solo performance and improvisations, and know that this work has improved my ability to respond to actions and other performers within the rehearsal space. Lily Luty

The Duchess is coming with only 4 weeks to go!

Script Edited?
Check! 

That's right folks, we have significantly cut down the play.

"Sacrilege!" 

We hear you say! 

"You have no right to chop up a classical text"

That may be so, but we have! We have removed elements that, quite frankly, make the play farcical and undermine it's tragedy. We have also removed any lines where characters explain, what is happening...whilst it's happening.Obviously during Webster's time, this was a device to fill in the gaps for the people up in the Gods, and fitted the style of the performance. But for our interpretation this is clumsy, labouring and breaks up the flow of the drama, sooo that's gone too.

Cast?

Check!

This is the first sharing of the fruits of our ensemble project. The ensemble formed in February 2015 and have been meeting weekly to develop a practice together. Rehearsals for the play began in September along with discussions and experimental sessions to test bed/ try out ideas of how we might approach the play as an ensemble.

The ensemble consists of 9 performers so we acknowledged early on that we would be challenging our performers with multiple roles, and in the true spirit of ensemble we decided we would also like a certain character to be portrayed by multiple performers. 

Not just a gimmick or a thoughtless desire to do something different with the play, (although we would never have produced the play classically...it's not our style) the notion of multiple performers to a role allows the character to be interpreted and presented in a multi-faceted manner, but also a faceless manner. Do not be seduced by the woman, keep your wits about you, and your eyes peeled for the message within the play.

Our Duchess represents the ongoing unequal treatment of women based on socially constructed gender roles; it was relevant when Webster wrote the play and it continues to be relevant 400 years later. Our interpretation of the play and our concept reflects the behaviours, rituals, activities and attributes modern society has considered appropriate for women. Our Duchess is not a woman, she is women.

Creative Team Assembled?

Check! 

We have two lovely seamstresses Joanna Oak and Becky Harrison working miracles with our Urban Decay, Milanese High Fashion (ridiculous expectations of women and obsession with physical appearance) concept. Photos and sketches to follow! 

Fortunately long time collaborator and experimental musician Calvin Miller is not sick to death of us and has agreed to write the score for the show. He has taken inspiration from catwalk music, creating dystopic soundscapes echoing our consumer driven, beauty industry.

Venue Booked?

Check! 

We are delighted to be presenting this project at the Fleeting Arms; an exciting prospect, working to the unusual, non conventional layout of the performance space. 

The show opens at 7.30pm on Sunday 15 November for just 3 nights. This is experience theatre and so we have only 30 tickets available for each night, tickets are available here  and we currently have an early bird offer on, if you purchase tickets before the November 1.

Tilling #2

Moving in. I'm leaving. Don't go.

3 different pieces of writing responding to an exercise; each a different stage of the same narrative.

1.

I sometimes leave a couple of days worth of pots on the side when I have busy days She says nothing but looks understandingly but I'll leave them in a neat pile and do them as soon as possible.

And I don't mind doing some of yours if you leave them out. She smiles and laughs. I bloody love Tupperware she opens the Tupperware cupboard and looks happy.

I want the cat to love me she knows that he loves her more and secretly enjoys this fact.

I like the bath to be rinsed after use she looks at her feet and twiddles her thumbs, this is not something she has done in the past.

I make a cup of tea each morning to start my day. I am irritable without it. She nods, she knows me far too well. I hope she makes me tea and brings it to me in bed.

Shall we get rid of some of the extra TV channels? I think we should to save money. She looks relieved to to not have to spend anything extra.I think we will make a good team. She nods. She looks happy.

2.

There needs to be more than two rooms and they need to be… oh and there goes the, 'do you even want to move in together' kind of look..big enough to feel like we can escape…and they try to speak but don’t know quite what yet..I can see that you are confused but we need to establish…oh don’t start to walk away…that I am ok on my own, that I don’t need you…you’re going to turn any minute now and verbally attack me, there’s the shrug of your shoulders just there….I like being here with you but it’s important that we keep on our own tragect……I should just shut up, your beginning to walk further away…. and we need to stay two separate people….your looking as confused as I feel right now….I’m just saying that it’s good we have so many rooms…please believe me, turn around, please……

3.

I've been thinking about what you said. Yesterday.

She's wiping down the counter with the jay cloth I use for windows. She is carelessly wiping all of the crumbs onto the floor and not in her hand. Why would you do that? Moving mess isn't actually cleaning. I'll do that. I will end up hovering all over again otherwise. She stops. She looks at me, searching my face, like I'm a jigsaw puzzle.

I was saying that I've had some time to think about what you said. I know you've said it before and we've just left it, and carried on and she is rolling her eyes and walking away. I understood that you meant it this time, that stopped her in her tracks I know you meant it. And I realise that it isn't fair on either of us to carry on this way. She is looking at me again. I can't make out her expression, what it means and what she is thinking. Without at least talking about it.

I don't resent you. She looks shocked.I don't want you to go. She is crossing her arms across her body, shifting her weight onto one leg, she thinks she has the upper hand here.I am grateful for everything you do Is that smugness?

Tilling an old project in spring, ready for a new crop of creative work in summer.

I'll be honest I think I spent a good fifteen minutes trying to pun the Blog title so I can wittily introduce this new project.

A few years back Six Lips Theatre produced a new play written by Roxanna Klimaszewska called Tilling. The show explored how a recent widow was coming to terms with her solitary future after recent bereavement.

We had an amazing time producing this show in 2011 with Saint Nicholas's Field Eco Centre as part of International Women's Week, but we left the project with a great sense that the project had scope and potential to develop further and that it's issues were always socially relevant. 

Not only is it exciting to be reworking this project, it also marks the beginning of a new collaboration and association with an exciting up and coming dramaturg: Miss Lizzy Whynes.

We will be updating you with creative outcomes of our workshops over the rehearsal process. Here is some creative writing from today. 

This was constructed using case studies and using set prepositions as stimulus. The theme was Loneliness:

I am resigned to acceptance now. I was frantic at first, trying to keep occupied, and almost stimulated by my freedom, my lack of rules. But now I live mostly in my mind; memories, conversations (with myself and imaginary). My mind has become my playground, my work place, my home.

The same scenery over again. I sound like a broken record and I feel like I'm sat on one. I try and break ritual but to what end? To try and appear less pathetic. To who? Who is watching and who cares? I feel better in a routine, it suits me and I feel daily satisfaction from it, even if it does make me seem tedious.

Cleaning products are the most pungent smell in my house. Now I have all the time in the world to clean, I realise how filthy I was before. How quickly dirt accumulates and how regularly things need attention. Since my irreversible revelation of a higher level of hygiene and true cleanliness , I feel a gnawing necessity to maintain these new standards. Some days I avoid cooking or eating to avoid sullying my puritanical work.

I don't really dabble in emotional affairs any more, so my feelings are restricted to small outcomes of the domestic day to day. I couldn't tell you how I 'feel' any more.

I am becoming something I was always a afraid of being when I got to this age, but I think this was an innocent, inexperienced view point. Looking at old age as a young person, full of life, drama and distractions, this sort of life seems repetitive, boring, unstimulating, unchallenging. I suppose it is, but I am here and I never thought I'd let this happen to me. I have let this happen to me, so I assume, it's inevitable. 

Meet the 2015 Ensemble

Our 2015/2016 Ensemble members have been selected and we have begun working, these past few weeks, on strengthening our invidiual performance skills as well as becoming a unified group. Would you like to meet them?  

Introducing Mrs Donna Kitching. Donna stood out in her audition with her quick response to direction and strong improvisation skills. Below is a bit about her and her experience. 

Hi, My name is Donna. 

After actively performing during my school and teenage years, I have recently rediscovered my love for acting and singing on stage. I have been in two productions in the past year, a play called 'Windypits,' a historical based production, on the local legends of a set of caves in Helmsley. I have also been apart of the 1812 Theatre Company's production of Cinderella based at Helmsley Arts Center and the Ryedale Festival.

I am really looking forward to working with Six Lips ensemble and further improving my skills.