i met with my tutor to discus the fact that i sound like Victoria Wood/Alan Bennett. i was reassured slightly that this was a complement and that it was also a kind of slang/short-hand for a type of northern, domestic, comedic voice.
i explained that this really didn’t sit quite so comfortably. he suggested that i consider beginning with a very different set of characters, subject matter and circumstances to see what emerges.
he pointed out that i seemed to linger in a grey area between writer and theatre maker. personally i see what my tutor percieves to be theatre making as a type of writing, but what he is looking for in the context of the MA is writing as in the permanently in print variety, where the writer writes it all on the page and then wanders off and does something else while the text lives on.
it seems a bit old fashioned to me but i’m going to have to tow the line i think. this MA is not about experimentation.
tutor seemed optimistic that i’d have a better idea of ‘what i’m doing’ once i’ve got through the next semester. maybe its natural for me to be in this slightly confused ill formed state?
‘the tone is firmly in the Alan Bennett/ Victoria Wood tradition’ says the feedback from my Tutor in relation to my most recently written play/ma assignment.
i’ve mentioned my being likened to Alan Bennett before here on this blog. i’ve though to myself, ‘i’m glad people can access my work the way that they can with Alan Bennett’s’ but if i’m honest, i’m not comfortable with this at all and even less so with the Victoria Wood reference.
i can’t understand why my ‘voice’ is coming out this way.
another part of my feedback suggests that i am lingering in a ‘comfort zone’ which i entirely agree with.
i’m not ‘there’ yet. i know i’m not. writers often talk about ‘finding their voice’ and i don’t think i’ve found mine so far. i haven’t discovered what i want to say or how i want to say it.
my concern is that i won’t figure it out in time for the end of my ma.
i don’t really know how to rectify. i don’t think there is any way i can really. voice ‘finding’ seems to happen by chance.
i saw Look Left Look Right’s production of ‘The Cavaran’ at the weekend. i was really blown away by it.
the majority of my seminal theatrical experiences, or at least those that involved my being in the audience, seem to have happened some years ago. it has been quite a long time since i saw theatre that changed the way i think and feel about the art form. this production really turned my head.
Look Left Look Right travelled the country conducting interviews with people affected by the summer 2007 floods. They expertly edited transcripts of these interviews to construct the text at the heart of the piece. highly skilled actors represent the interviewees through breathtakingly real performances.
the play takes place inside a caravan, there is room for eight audience members and a cast of four actors. it is wonderfully claustrophobic which is appropriate for the subject of the piece (the flood victims existed for considerable lengths of time in caravans) and the effect of having actors sitting next to, directly addressing and making eye contact with the audience was exciting and engaging and effective in that the close proximity makes it impossible not to feel involved.
the verbatim script, the ‘real’ and sensitive performances, the intimacy and the setting seem to have been intuitive decisions that sprung from the gathered material. i think it is this integrity that continues to resonate for me.
it may be that i am a little in the dark when it comes to cutting edge theatre, i live in Leeds after all and have spent quite a long time being ‘out of the game’. perhaps there’s loads of this kind of thing happening all over the place, and it’s just that i haven’t caught on to it yet. but I can’t help but speculate as to why has it been such a long time since i saw anything this effective?
go see this play if you can.
hmmm, the list thing seems to be working for me. perhaps its because i’ve got the right amount on my plate at the moment rather than far too much (as has been the case)?
i think part of the success of the list as published in my previous entry is the fact that there are only five things on it. in the past when i’ve made lists they have been so long that they’ve proved counter productive.
five seems doable and helps me keep my focus.
and i’m rather proud that i’ve managed to cross one thing off my list today…
apply for contribution to course fees
to be replaced with :
find cast for ‘the retirement debacle’ and ‘chip off the block’, my two most recent play. hopefully i’ll be workshopping these over the summer.
still five things, still managable…
i’m in a writing lull.
i must admit, it has crossed my mind that once the MA has finished and i no longer HAVE to write, i will stop all together. for me there seems to have to be some kind of impetus for the writing to happen. i’m aware of other writers who work prolifically without any known end to their endeavours. it doesn’t seem to work like that for me.
i’m in the process of going to part time hours at work which will free up two days a week for me to do other things. first and foremost i need to finish my MA, but i also hope that i’ll develop myself further as a writer with this extra time, maybe i’ll find some impetus within myself as i progress further along the path.
in the meantime i have some other tasks that i need to attend to. i’m writing a ‘to do’ list here to help me keep focussed on my prioroties during this quiet patch.
1. PASS DRIVING TEST
2. apply for bonus at work
3. apply for contribution towards course fees
4. work on my C.V.
5. declutter home
