One topic for consideration that occurred to me and could be developed further for my solo performance is the notion of getting older. The performance dates for the performances in May include one that is on my Birthday, the 17th, and it will be a ‘milestone’ at 21. I’m unsure of what I will be doing after University ends this year, and I wonder if addressing my performance on growing older might be of interest. Not necessarily just my experience of growing old, but how it is treated in various societies, and how we are unsure of what the future will bring. This would then be given particular relevance by being performed on my birthday itself if at all possible. I had the image of sadly sitting with a party hat and blower, much like the pictured image, however I wasn’t sure where to take this idea. Therefore despite the stage image being quite humorous to me I knew it wasn’t going anywhere. When much later I was thinking about what life for me might be like after University I realised that it could play off my previous idea and perhaps become something more meaningful and relevant to a solo performance occurring on my birthday.

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There could be the potential inclusion of relevant stories that are close to me but not personal, in a similar manner to that of David Cale. These might include what members of my family or older friends did whilst they were my age and over the years that followed in their twenties, and how their lives developed. Other moments within the performance might not necessarily be stories, but other ideas surrounding the wider concepts of growing older and future uncertainty. Again with reference to David Cale, his structure to the piece Deep in a Dream of You could be of great help. Cale performs 12 monologues around the themes of love and lust. The tone of these monologues vary as does the way in which they are told, some in first person and some as a narrator. Applying a similar structure to my work initially might be a good way to start developing it. From my core concepts of growing older and the uncertainty the future brings, I could develop a number of short scenes or monologues all linked through a common theme.

Whilst attending the performance Hair Peace at the Lpac on the 2nd Marc a particular moment stuck out for me, and made me want to take it and develop it further. It wasn’t part of the show itself and in fact Victoria Melody, the performer of Hair Peace, explicitly said that this wasn’t part of the show and that it came before the show. It was simply Melody checking with the audience if they would like to move, in order to enhance their view of the stage and therefore the performance. This got me thinking on the idea of a performance consisting entirely of this “not a show”, and with further thought I decided to try including all the peripheries of a theatre performance.

These peripheries include everything that occurs other than the performance itself, such as interval ice-creams, programs, promoting the company on social media, sitting in the right seat for your ticket and post-show discussions. Then there are also other elements that can be explored, such as risk assessments, ensuring mobile phones are switched off and announcing to the audience beforehand that the show contains one or more of nudity, violence, potentially offensive themes, harsh language or the ambiguous “adult themes”. Hopefully from this initial concept and short list of topics I will be able to develop a performance. The first step will be to fully explore potential topics, before testing them with my peers if at all possible. Once a number of the topics start to take a more practical shape I will then look to structuring the piece, so that the performance becomes more than a series of thematically connected moments. Despite this early stage in the idea, I feel as though the piece will consist of a “pre-show” segment which is the part primarily inspired by the moment before Hair Peace and then move on to a post-show discussion on what has been seen whilst still being part of the performance itself, hence the working title of Meta.

Unlike my previous ideas, this one feels as though it has a lot of space to develop, a good starting point and a real purpose to keep me focused during the development process. It is also a lot lighter in theme than previous ideas that I had, which could also make it easier to work on for the next two months.