Experimental theatre has its origins in the late 19th century and can be attributed in part to Alfred Jerry and his Ubu plays. It is also said that it could link back to the pageant wagons or mansions which further links to experimental theatre. “Experimental is to make a foray into the unknown – it is something that can be charted only after the event” (Roose-Evans 1989).  Experimental theatre is said to be all around us as it has no set or characters or a plot (Pickering 2010). “Street theatre takes place when a performer or group of performers goes in search of an audience in a non- theatrical, outdoor venue such as a street, public square or corner of a campus.” Pickering (2010) This can be thespians dressing as homeless people to see what reaction people give them or experiments into other subjects to see how people respond. Experimental theatre can encourage people to think about the world around them, highlighting injustice, need or simply just to entertain. These entertainers help to empower local communities in order to highlight any issues with in their area. They also keep awareness of their culture as this could be in danger of disappearing (Pickering and Woolgar 2009)

There are many types of experimental theatre, for example image theatre, electoral guerrilla, invisible, forum, legislative, alienation effect. During this time of transition from naturalistic theatre to a more avant-garde method of theatre it became popular. The naturalist theatre was just a mirror of life with dialogue, sets and costumes.

(Leigh’s,M. 2014) states that

Experimental theatre was considered radical as it pushed the boundaries of street performers to incorporate the audiences in the performance. 

This assignment will plan, execute and reflect a piece of street theatre containing singing, together with storytelling about the local area. (La France 2013) felt that experiential-theatre, breaks the usual theatre dimensions.  His theory was that there was no physical division from each other. 

The setting will be a street market in the north of England which contains a lot of heritage and bigger than life characters. This mini investigation will take into account performers such as Augusto Boal, Alfred Jarry, Bertolt Brecht, Erwin Piscator and researchers such as Kolb, who have performed or evaluated the transition of what is deemed a theatrical performance over the past 100 years.  According to Kolb (2007), this type of learning can be defined as "the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combinations of grasping and transforming the experience."

Similar to this present study this style of theatre is based on spoken words interviews / stories of people. Verbatim theatre will be used in this present study, it will use the local populations in order to gather stories from people’s experiences or relatives’ diaries to build a picture of past generations, to create a dramatic performance ,so the younger generation can learn local history. (Paget 2009) suggests that this style of theatre could use tapes to record the data from participants. These performances might involve some professional actors also maybe writers or composers working with the local population, the site is often where the project is based. Actual words and stories may be woven into the production while professional actors will have performed previously, most of the other performers will not have participated in an event of theatrical performance. 

The term documentary theatre was first coined in the early1920’s by Piscator. (Radosavljevic,D 2013)“Irmer notes that the trend of documentary theatre in the 1960s marked a notable shift from ‘the poetic drama of the theatre of the absurd’ which was dominant in the 1950s (2006:17), although it did at the same time represent a continuation of legacy.

 In fact, documentary theatre is were documents are projected into text and then incorporated into the performance. This type of theatre has a factual base, in documentary theatre non-naturalist techniques are used to present a change. This style of theatre is said to have four major functions which are to reassess national local histories and to celebrate communities and their heritage, which is in line with present research which will review past events to educate local communities.  Were as this research will use modern techniques of interviewing and videos. In past times photographs and slide projections has been used to go with actors’ voices also movement and loud speakers. This was just to inform people about facts and information which is similar to this present methodology, as participants will be informed of past events in the market both documentary theatre and the research design are both classed as field studies.(Paget 2002).

 

For centuries, jesters have always performed in street theatre using story-telling and local information to bring news and entertainment to local communities. (Carlson,2016) suggested that it was important to note that street theatre was still being used as a communication tool, early in the 20^thcentury   

 This present performance and research will be classed as street theatre and is also known as a field study it will be undertaken to evaluate whether local people have local interest and knowledge.

To commence this research the market manager will be consulted, although he has already given permission for this research to go ahead. Stallholders, family and   friends will be contacted to obtain suitable stories regarding Freeman Street market and surrounding area gaining more information. Research will also review local books and websites, also the local history group will be contacted. (See weekly plan) 

The performance has been created so as to entertain and educate shoppers and stall holders, on the history of the local area and hopefully older people might reminisce and contribute to the experience. 

 

For this research mainly, qualitative data will be recorded but there will be a small amount of quantitative data. This information will take the form of interviews (Appendix A) from people from the local area and receive feedback on the stories and entertainment provided.

As previously stated, when the exercise/street theatre commences, data will be collected from various sources ,which will build and contribute to the overall performance. Each interview will contain the same standard of six questions (Appendix A) and will evaluate the level of enjoyment using a Likert scale as this will give each participant, the opportunity to rate the content of the performance. The video which will also be taken will be analysed into themes such as the amount of people walking past or those people joining in and overall what was learnt.

 

Spoke to the manager of Freeman Street market seeking his permission to undertake a piece of experimental theatre. I received a positive response in fact he said, “as long as it does not involve murder” I put forward I would perform “Who Will Buy” and would be encouraging local shoppers to join in. It is the intention of this research to capture members of the audience and taking a leaf from verbatim theatre, stories and facts will be imparted about the local area to the passers-by. The stories such as the long history of the local fish shop, the fishing industry, fishermen’s lives and stalls on the local market and old pubs and shops that used to be down the same street. Also, there are a couple of poems out of a book and add some songs that fit into the theme 

 

The first idea was to do something water themed as it would be interesting to see people’s reaction to when people get in trouble out at sea but changed my idea down to it not being safe. The R.N.L.I. advised that I could cancel the lifeboat from being called out, if I phoned the coast guard before I did it and I would have had my own safety boat. On reflection this could also get phone calls to the emergency services.

 

It was initially decided to perform on a local beach in Cleethorpes but due to weather extremes this could have been potentially dangerous to the participants, Particular attention was paid to the BERA code of ethics (2011) (causing harm to participants) it is also dangerous if a fog was to come in and the risk of hypothermia because of the time of year, this field experience was ruled out.

Week 24/9/18

Talking to relatives about their market stall and research online

Talked to market manager to gain confirmation that can carry out performance and gain history of market.

Look in books, start to get some poems and stories together Using an internet search, using key words including street theatre, history, experimental theatre. To commence choice of songs and routine 

Write script 

Contact market manager and run preliminary ideas past him 

Also talked about filming it they said I could access the C.C.T.V footage 

 

Practice and add songs chose, Who Will Buy, Food Glorious Food, My old man and began practicing

Returned to the market to establish the best place for the performance – market manager showed where the C.C.T.V cameras are placed also considered the ethical and field study 

Practicing script and learning lines and trying songs, began deciding on use of interviews as a data collection method 

Began designing a questionnaire 

Type up questionnaire  

Continue to practice script and songs 

Begin considering how to analyse data 

Identify peers who will support my performance help video 

and hand out questionnaires 

Went to market and had a run/view at the market (pilot study using friends)

 

Complete performance and evaluate and begin analysing data collect video footage also to be analysed 

Write up results 

 

 

During this research /field experiment the BERA (2011)guide lines will be adhered to such as a participant’s right to with draw from the study, ensuring no harm comes to the participants and all interview sheets will be anonymised to ensure the participants confidentiality. It needs to bear in mind that whilst videotaping participants will not have the right to withdraw or take part, to this end care will be taken as to being as professional as possible when using the video.  (La France 2013) pointed to the opinion that there could be ethical issues, as the performer could know nothing about a participants emotional or mental state and in fact the put performer in danger and this has borne in mind when planning a street performance 

 

Risk assessments has been done to identify any risk that could happen such as trips, falls and weather issues. However, the market has a formal risk assessment plan. (La France 2013) recognises that as experimental theatre takes place in unconventional venues this poses hazards to both the researcher and the participants 

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of street performance in Grimsby. it found this present performance took Boal’s direction as he created what is referred to as the oppressed theatre, where he empowered his audience, which gave them the opportunity to change situations. This is in line with promenade theatre as it supports Boal’s theory, as it allows the audience to move around the performer incorporating the audience as part of the overall experience/ performance. “documentary structure in which real events are both described and acted out with the use of narrative, original text from documents or from recorded media (Pickering and Woolgar 2009)

Promenade theatre is similar to the present study as it allows for inter-action, as it removes any boundaries that formal theatre has, which are not acceptable in street performance. Promenade theatre (Pickering and Woolgar 2009) “it invades the audience space “. Promenade theatre uses outside public places similar to Freeman Street market although this style of theatre does recognise that there are technical challenges and organisation challenges that this piece of research had to overcome.

Having performed this experimental piece as a practitioner on reflection I would make sure that there are no other activities taking place at the same time on the market. (La France 2013) identifies this and this research agrees that experimental / street theatre is often confined to small spaces and this can cause problems trying to attract transient passers-by.

(La France 2013) also identifies and agrees with Boal that street theatre is different as it is performed in a public setting with bystanders receiving no warning. This present performance carried out in the local market ,also did not warn bystanders and the reaction gained was unexpected, the songs used appeared to attract an older more mature audience whereas the younger members of the public appeared to observe, but kept on walking ,this could be because a  craft fair had set up for the day, which attracted most of the market shoppers, therefore when the performance commenced the main body of the audience were selecting Christmas presents. Some of the shoppers did turn and a few listened to this performance, it did not attract as many people as expected (La France 2013). Experimental -theatre audiences often have no idea what to expect when the performance begins and, in some cases, may not even be sure when the performance has begun. On reflection during this performance I moved around the stalls to see if this would encourage more participation in the performance. At this point a few people made comments and I began to collect data for my questionnaire. All 5 people who commented said “the singing was lovely” all 5 participants were local shoppers, and all admit to shopping at the market regularly. However, none of the 5 participants could suggest any improvements to the performance. On further reflection a choice of up to date music and different stories may be a better choice. 

When near the chip shop, people were listening but around some of the other areas people did not want to be in the video and walked away saying’ I don’t want to be on tv.’ Experiential theatre occupies a blurry realm where the distinction between audience and performer may disappear, and even the distinction between reality and fiction may seem uncertain. (La France2013)

 As I performed around the market people were looking and listening but did not stand still for long to listen to the full performance as they were too busy shopping. People made comments, saying it sounded lovely as I was singing, and people interacted when asked what shops they remembered and what they remembered about Freeman Street market, some said they remembered a hand cranked Carousel. Like other forms of entertainment, live theatre constantly evolves. (La France 2013)

During this performance the researcher also conversed with the shoppers asking them to think about previous shops in the area and how it had changed.  This generated much discussion as can be seen from the video but again it appeared to only incorporate the older shopper. As (La France 2013) states actors may engage in direct verbal or physical interactions with audience members. (La France 2013)

Another hindrance to my performance was music playing in the background, around the craft fair. I could have asked the market manager for this to be turned off during the performance. 

Overall reflective practice is a learning- curve and this certainly was a learning experience, for the researcher (Kolb 2007) described this type of learning “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combinations of grasping on transforming the experience”. Kolb referred to this as experimental learning. Kolb takes a holistic review and emphasises how people learn from their own experiences. This exercise has made me more aware of how a performer feels undertaking such a task and how this experience has changed my thoughts about street performance, it has made me more aware about my environment. This experience will influence my future practice and will defiantly influence any future performances. 

Overall this investigation has highlighted to me the depth of street performance and the preparation needed to carry it out. It has highlighted to me that the overall holistic view of the audience, especially if they are unware of its existence and the dangers that is exciting for both participants and researchers. This is an area of concern and which will have to be considered in the future, also the choice of materials.  Pickering and Woolgar highlighted in the introduction that street theatre encourages awareness of the local culture and they recognised that this could be in danger of disappearing. This investigation has suggested that this could be the case as in Grimsby on Freeman Street market the younger shoppers did not seem to be interested in the history side of the performance. Furthermore, it has been found that reflective practice is a positive learning curve. 

Although the younger people may not have experienced street theatre before, they did not know what to do and how to react. All forms of performances outside the typical theatre environment, no matter what their styles, are places where singers, dancers, story-tellers interact with their audience and where the audience interacts with the performance making it holistic experience for both.

 

David L, (2007)"Experiential Learning (Kolb)," in Learning Theories, February 13, 2007,[Online] Available from https://www.learning-theories.com/experiential-learning-kolb.html. [Accessed 1/12/18]

 Paget,D.(2002) The Continuum Companion to Twentieth-Century Theatre, ed. Colin Chambers(London, 2002). [Online] Available from https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/genres/documentary-theatre-iid-2482[Accessed 1/12/18]

Piscator,E. (2018)german dramatistThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica[Online] Available from  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Erwin-Piscator. [Accessed9/12/18]

Schechner,R (2002)  Performance studies an introduction Richard Schechner   (Ubu plays )  New York: Routledge

(2011) ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH [Online] Available from https://www.bera.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BERA-Ethical-Guidelines-2011.pdf?noredirect=1[Accessed 11/12/18]

 

Book

 

chambers ,C. (2002) The continuum companion to twentieth- century theatre,ed . chambers (London 2002) [Online] Available at 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=EsOvAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=from+colin+chambers+,+the+continuum+companion+to+twentieth-+century+theatre,+ed+.colin+chambers+(London+2002)&ots=gPigGmX7eq&sig=4n9qN-Lonf8F0FmEqT7k2Fi-sb8#v=onepage&q=%20audience&f=false[Accessed: 11/12/18]
Goddard,J and spalding,R. (1987)Fish and Ships The Rise and Fail of Grimsby- the worlds premier fishing port. Lancaster:The salesman publishing company Ltd

Pickering,K and Woolgar,M. (2009)Theatre studies.New York:Palgave Macmillan 

Pickering,K(2010) Key concepts in drama and performance2^ndedition. New York :Palgrave Macmillan

Radosavljevic, D.  ( 2013) Theatre-making interplay between text and performance in the 21^stcentury. New York:Palgrave Macmillan

Roose-Evans, J, (1989) Experimental theatre from Stanislavsky to Peter Brook. Routledge Taylor and Frances :London

Carlson, M.(2016)All the worlds a stage  Shattering Hamlet's Mirror: Theatre and Reality [Online]Available fromhttps://muse.jhu.edu/book/45882[Accessed 11/12/18]

Carlson, M(2016). Shattering Hamlet's Mirror: Theatre and Reality. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. [Online ] Available at  https://muse.jhu.edu/ [Accessed December 3, 2018].

LaFrance,M. (2013) The Disappearing Fourth Wall: Law, Ethics, and Experiential TheatreUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas -- William S. Boyd School of Law [Online] Available from  https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1794&context=facpub[Accessed: 11/11/18]

Paget,D. (2009)‘Verbatim Theatre’: Oral History and Documentary Techniques Volume 3, Issue 12 November 1987 , pp. 317-336 [Online] Available from  https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266464X00002463[Accessed11/11/18]

 

Are you local or visiting for the day?

 

Do you shop here regularly?

 

Did you enjoy this performance? 

 

Do you like it scale1-10 (1 been little 10 been a lot)?

 

Did you learn anything during this performance?

 

What different topics could be used in another performance?