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T H E AT R E A L I B I
by Daniel Jamieson
EDUCATION PACK
Contents
Theatre Alibi’s Style of Work ...................................................................................................3
Ideas behind the Show by the Writer ...................................................................................4
The Research & Development Process................................................................................6
Key Moments from Hammer & Tongs ..................................................................................7
The Design: Trina Bramman talks about the Design.......................................................9
The Music: An interview with Composer/MD/Musician Thomas Johnson ......14
A Conversation with Director Nikki Sved .......................................................................14
Interviews with cast members
Michael Wagg & Jordan Whyte ...........................................................................................14
Derek Frood & Thomas Johnson .........................................................................................14
Solving a Moment
The Mulberry Bush ...................................................................................................................15
TV Remote....................................................................................................................................15
Door Slamming ...........................................................................................................................15
Stagecraft .....................................................................................................................................16
Cast & Creative Team ..............................................................................................................17
Practitioner Fact Files
The Writer | The Director | The Composer | The Designer ......................................18
Rehearsal Games & Exercises...............................................................................................27
The Script at www.theatrealibi.co.uk add link
Written by Daniel Jamieson
Photos by Steve Tanner Costume Drawings by Trina Bramman
Design: Joe Pieczenko www.pieczenko.com
A DVD is available from Theatre Alibi at £20 + vat
Production photographs can be downloaded from www.theatrealibi.co.uk
THANKS TO TRINA BRAMMAN, DUNCAN CHAVE ,DEREK FROOD, NIKKI SVED, SADIE JENNINGS,
THOMAS JOHNSON, SARAH VIGARS , MICHAEL WAGG, RUTH WEBB & JORDAN WHYTE
Theatre Alibi, Emmanuel Hall, Emmanuel Road, Exeter EX4 1EJ
 + fax 01392 217315 [email protected] www.theatrealibi.co.uk
Registered Charity no. 299565
2
Theatre Alibi’s Style of Work
Why tell stories?
We think humans need to tell stories. More than that, we think this need to tell stories is part
of what makes us human, part of the unique intelligence that makes us different from other
animals. Telling stories, listening to them, watching them, talking about them, thinking about
them. Without necessarily realising it, we’re processing our experience in a very sophisticated
way when we’re doing these things. When we imagine a story we rehearse our own urges and
inclinations in hypothetical scenarios, like children unconsciously practising how to behave by
playing games. By “playing out” stories, we expand our sense of who we are and what choices
we have in facing the challenges of our lives.
If we’re constantly using stories to get an angle on a chaotic world, then as the world changes,
so must our angle. Theatre Alibi is always searching for the right stories to tell and the right
way to tell them to question the world as it currently stands.
The way we’ve chosen to tell stories is through theatre. The immediacy of it appeals to us. In
theatre the actor is present in the same room with the audience. As a result, and this is
absolutely unique to theatre, a split reality is presented to the audience in which the actor is
both himself, here and now, and someone else in another time and place, a character in a
fictional world. When we approach our work, we try to take advantage of this split reality. We
often begin shows with the actors talking directly to the audience, beginning to tell a story and
then slipping from describing a character into becoming them. Characters often talk to the
audience too and playfully invite them to imagine that real life has somehow erupted on stage
or that the show has crept out into the world.
Because reality and fiction are a hair’s breadth apart in theatre, it encourages the sense that
fiction belongs to reality. Fiction isn’t some sort of theme park where things happen that don’t
relate to reality - it’s a gift we have to perceive the richness of real experience. And because
theatre admits “play” into the heart of real life it might, in some small way, refresh the
playfulness of our lives.
In keeping with these thoughts, here are some of the ways we choose to work:
■ We reveal transformations: actors leap from being themselves to being a character (or
several) and back again before the eyes of the audience. Simple props and set are taken up
by the actors and used to suggest places and things that weren’t there before (a duvet
becomes a field of snow, a walking stick becomes the rail of an ocean liner).
■ Our actors, and their characters, often talk directly to the audience and we play with the
boundary between reality and fiction.
■ We develop our actors’ resources to help them suggest other characters, things and
places: their voices, dance skills, puppetry skills etc.
■ We incorporate other art forms into our theatre to make it more effective at whisking
people from the “here and now” to the realm of the imagination: music, sculpture,
photography, film etc.
3
Spurge sees off Mexican Wrestler Michael Wagg & Derek Frood
Ideas behind the show
Writer Daniel Jamieson reflects
Over the last few years the shows that Theatre Alibi has toured for adult audiences have been
predominantly large-scale, often two hours long with sweeping stories, a multitude of
characters and huge, elaborate sets to fill the stages of large theatres. Even before the specific
idea for Hammer and Tongs was dreamt up we decided to make a smaller show this year and
relish the lightness of foot that this would give us. My brief was to write a show that would be
shorter (about seventy-five minutes), with fewer actors (three) and only one musician. It would
tour to much smaller venues (arts centres and studio theatres) as well as some larger venues,
but with a much less elaborate set. The style of the show had to appeal to the sort of audience
that might roll up to such places too - more informal, like cabaret, and more playful and
anarchic. This lightness of approach made dreaming up ideas a very refreshing challenge.
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I came up with five or six alternative sketches of ideas for subject matter and Nikki, Theatre
Alibi’s artistic director, went for this one:
“…a show that is one long, snake-like argument that twists and changes but never quite stops.
It would look playfully at interpersonal conflict in human interaction.”
It wasn’t the choice I expected her to
make, but I was delighted. The idea
seemed appealingly universal – arguing is
something we all know about… It felt like
it could be very funny as well. To begin
with I asked people in the company to
think of all the different types of
argument they could recall from their
own experience and once they got going
they couldn’t stop! From these I selected
the most vivid examples and set about
Duggan as DJ Jordan Whyte
binding them into one, snake-like
sequence. But how best to hold them together in some meaningful shape? The question was
partly answered by the twisty nature of argument itself – it was easy to progress from one
row to another because arguments naturally tend to shift ground swiftly, often making
startling leaps to new places. That fluidity itself seemed a fascinating aspect of argument and
I used it to link the arguments in Hammer and Tongs into a surreal, unpredictable sequence.
However, instinctively it felt to me that an audience might lose the point of it all without some
constant strand running through the show, so I decided to use the framing device of three
fictional actors and a musician who are putting on a show about arguing and who argue
constantly about how best to do it. Surely the characters having the rows and their reasons
why were the most interesting things. It struck me that arguments are often evidence of
conviction – that people care enough about things to fight over them. More than this, when
the people involved have known each other for a long time (Spurge, Swanny, Fret and Duggan
have worked together in the same theatre company for years), the fact that they have stayed
around to battle it out seems proof, ironically, of a cussed kind of love between them.
Although using this framing device has certainly given the show a biographical dimension
(many of the Alibi team have worked together for years and making theatre can undoubtedly
be a prickly business) we have striven not to make the
show too self-referential – or too serious! Given that
rowing is such a stubborn part of life, avoiding it seems
unlikely and rather futile. Focusing on accepting it seems
more worthwhile and laughing is surely one of the best
ways. Making a show about arguing a comedy seems not
only sensible but somehow unavoidable. When looked at
from a safe distance, arguments are often funny because
they contain many of the basic ingredients of comedy –
loss of dignity, absurdity, passionate commitment to daft
ideas, and a fair amount of shouting and slapstick too!
You can hear Daniel Jamieson and Director Nikki Sved
talk about the show at
https://vimeo.com/69567244
Writer Daniel Jamieson
5
The Research
and Development Process
Months before rehearsals for a show begin Theatre Alibi have a period of research and
development to kick off the business of turning a script into a living, breathing piece of
theatre. We get together as many of the people who will be working on a show as we can – the
writer, director, musical director, designer, lighting designer, sound designer and actors– to try
things out in a creative and playful atmosphere, away from the pressures of production.
What’s the R&D for?
■ To discuss the meaning and flavour of the story so everyone has a shared sense
of what it’s about
■ To discover any bits of the script that need further development
■ To have a go at staging some of the more challenging moments in the story
■ To give the director, designer, musical director and lighting designer an overall flavour of the
show and to indicate any specific jobs the set, music and lights need to do to tell the story
■ To gain a better understanding of the technical aspects of the show for example,
lighting and projection
What happens in the R&D?
1
At the beginning there is a “read-through” of the script. Everyone sits round in a big circle
and reads the play out loud without doing any of the action.
2
Discussion. For a good chunk of the first day, everyone talks about the story. This discussion
is often structured in the following way: First everyone splits into four or five groups and
each group writes down all the things they think the story is about on a large piece of paper.
Then everyone gets back together and compares notes. Next, each group draws a “graph”
of the story. First they think what over-riding, yes-or-no question the story is asking the
audience. For example, will Fret, Spurge, Swanny and Duggan finish the show, or will they
hold it together and carry on working together, or will they ever get on with each other and
so on? Then, on a large piece of paper, they draw a diagram with the events of the story
along a horizontal axis and “yes” at the top and “no” at the bottom of a vertical axis. On this
diagram they plot a graph, deciding how close to yes or no the answer to the question is at
each moment of the story. This gives a pictorial sense of the highs and lows and the ups and
downs of the show.
3
For the rest of the week the director works with the actors, playing with different ways of
staging the trickier moments in the show. These moments might be when what happens in
the script can’t literally be shown on stage. For example, when a baboon appears out of a
cardboard box, or when the actors go offstage and appear in the dressing room, or when
two characters change channels on a TV until it explodes. The aim of the R&D week isn’t to
solve completely all the difficult moments in a show, but to get a rough sense of the right
approach. From these rough solutions everyone can get a sense of the emerging style of
the show that will be developed during the main rehearsal process a few months later.
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Key Moments from Hammer & Tongs
■ During the preset Swanny and Fret desperately get ready to start the show without
Spurge and Duggan, who have mysteriously not turned up yet.
■ Swanny welcomes the audience and explains the show will now begin with his monologue.
■ Kilkenny’s Bath – a pretentious monologue set to music.
■ Spurge and Duggan arrive late, arguing about costume – Duggan has spent £1800 on a
baboon’s bottom.
■ Swanny dares to suggest that Spurge “plays it safe” theatrically. Spurge slams a door.
Repeatedly.
■ Duggan annoys Spurge through a crack in the door.
■ Swanny turns on the TV to distract Spurge and Duggan from arguing. When he’s gone they
wrestle over the remote and break the TV.
■ Swanny argues with his “wife” to the tune of “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”.
■ They all hit each other with foam lagging.
■ The actors phone the writer to complain that the scene is too upsetting for Spurge.
■ Spurge encounters his inner demons, Crushing Doubt and Self Loathio. He becomes
Modern Dance Boy to beat them off.
■ Duggan finds her baboon-spirit in the dressing room only for Spurge to take it away from
her.
■ Duggan plays a mischievous DJ at a wedding reception who tries to make the groom
dance when he doesn’t want to.
■ Swanny worries that the show is too puerile. The others make him cry by farting round and
round him.
■ Swanny dreams Duggan loves him. The dream evaporates.
■ Fret finds himself alone on stage and sings a song about wishing he was more included by
the others.
■ Swanny, Duggan and Spurge sing their own version of “Say Man” by Bo Diddley, in which
they insult each other to music.
■ Swanny asks the others to try out his idea for an end to the show called “Night Falls Fast”.
Duggan falls asleep.
■ Spurge proposes a dance finale to the show, which Duggan sabotages.
■ Spurge shouts at Duggan – she always ruins everything. Duggan shouts back – nobody ever
understands me.
■ Swanny reluctantly suggests that they finish the show with a custard pie fight. Fret is
included at last when he is splatted with three pies at once by his friends.
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Designer Trina Bramman’s set models
Fret (Thomas Johnson) & Swanny (Derek Frood) on the set
8
The Design
Trina Brammam talks about
the design for Hammer & Tongs
The Set
We knew from the start that we wanted the whole show to seem a bit rougher around the
edges than previous Alibi shows, which gave me licence to be a bit more carefree than usual
with the design. It also had to be able to tour into lots of very different sized venues, so a
looser approach was key in order to come up with a set that could happily expand and
contract or work in a slightly different formation to fit each space without compromising the
overall aesthetic. It was never going to end up a sculptural, elegant design.
There were a lot of interesting looking props mentioned in the script – pugil sticks, a giant
inflatable banana, a baboon bum, but not much set. The only large, set-like thing specified
was a door on wheels. Maybe it didn't need a set design at all?
But it did have a theme - ‘arguing’, which is not at first thought, a very visual theme, however I
thought it would be fun to try to use it, so looked to the characters in the play and their
differences, for inspiration.
They are not a very professional bunch and probably wouldn’t have employed a designer so I
wondered, if these characters had to design and build their own set, what would it look like? I
decided they definitely wouldn’t have been able to agree on it and still haven't agreed by the
time the show starts. So their ‘design’ would end up being just an odd collection of ‘stuff’ each
of them had chosen and insisted on being included, (as well as some random objects they’ve
brought along ‘just in case’). Swanny takes his inspiration from Samuel Beckett so might have
brought what he thought were suitable Beckett-like items, a gnarled tree, an old dustbin and
a floor cloth with a disembodied mouth. Duggan, thinking it funny, would have turned up with
lots of really stupid-looking props to try to lighten the mood but also to undermine Swanny’s
vision. Fret the musician would have demanded he have his comfy chair and would then take
up far too much acting space with all his instruments... And Spurge probably just wanted a
clear space to dance and was
annoyed that there wasn’t any left.
I thought everything should look a
bit makeshift and mismatched, or
like it was used in another show
years ago, or had been stolen from
backstage at one of the theatres
they’d toured to.
So hopefully, put together, this
would become a sort of visual
argument – chaotic but a designed
chaos.
Fret with his Auto Trader Thomas Johnson
9
The Costumes
Spurge
Spurge was fairly simple. It was written clearly in the script that Spurge was in a leotard. We
looked at various dancewear styles and discussed (very seriously) which would be the
funniest for displaying his crotch when the time came for the reveal!
10
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Swanny
I thought Swanny might have dressed himself as a
sort of low budget Estragon from Waiting for Godot –
ragged clothes and a bowler. He also has to become a
wrestler, a bridegroom and do some contemporary
dance, so there would be various layers of clothing
involved. However, due to the makeshift
style of the design and the fact that the
characters themselves are putting on a
show, it seemed funny and fitting if bits of
the previous characters’ clothing were
showing through, rather than
having a total costume change
each time. The same goes for
Duggan and Spurge.
Duggan
She is funny, and
frivolous. We thought
she might be wearing
something pretty
but quirky. She
plays a wrestler at
one point so I decided
to keep her in her
wrestler boots all
the way through,
even when she’s
wearing her
dress. The
distinctive boots
were also a way to
visually connect her
to the little Duggan
baboon puppet.
12
Fret
Musicians in Alibi shows are most often a subtle
presence onstage - there but not there - and
usually not a character in the story. Fret is just
the opposite, he is very present, he even has a
name. He is sometimes sitting in his chair
asleep or reading his Auto Trader during the
show, unconcerned with how it looks to the
audience. We thought he might put a similar
level of effort into his costume. We think he
has his show clothes that he has worn for
years and still wears for every gig he does –
he probably got drunk
and slept in them the
night before the
show and is a bit
crumpled as a result.
13
Duggan in baboon suit Jordan Whyte
The Carmen Miranda Hat Jordan Whyte
Video footage of some of the more flamboyant
makes for the show are online:
The Baboons Bottom
https://vimeo.com/85829475
The Perfect Custard Pie
https://vimeo.com/85915786
A Carmen Miranda Hat
https://vimeo.com/85906701
A Conversation with
Director Nikki Sved
https://vimeo.com/85940664
The Music
An interview with Composer/MD/Musician Thomas Johnson
https://vimeo.com/86108495
Interviews with cast members
Michael Wagg & Jordan Whyte https://vimeo.com/86012132
Derek Frood & Thomas Johnson https://vimeo.com/85721726
14
Solving a Moment
In Theatre Alibi rehearsals, each moment of a show is constructed by a repeated process of
trial and error. The performance that you see in the theatre has been built up in many layers
like pearl in a shell – some sequences might take half a day, others the whole four or five weeks
of rehearsal, to get right. The process is no mystery, just a lot of messy trying it out and trying it
again. To catch this evolution happening is hard because it is often so spread out over time.
However, in the three films, Mulberry Bush, TV Remote and Door Slamming we can glimpse
part of the development of these moments in Hammer & Tongs and see how the actors,
musician and director grapple with the details of how the show might work.
In Mulberry Bush, actors Jordan Whyte and Derek Frood can be seen improvising the
moment when the nursery rhyme invades the characters’ domestic strife. The substance of
the action can be seen to arise from the wonderful playfulness of the actors.
https://vimeo.com/86407505
In TV Remote, actors Jordan Whyte and Michael Wagg explore the physical possibilities of
what might happen when two bodies wrestle over a TV remote control. Notice the complete
lack of self-consciousness between the two of them!
https://vimeo.com/86398182
In Door Slamming, actors Michael Wagg and Derek Frood build a “music hall” style routine
with a door in a frame. Look for Derek’s delight when Michael discovers the possibility of
kicking him! You can also see how key Thomas Johnson’s music is to the flavour of the
sequence and how the action and music are evolving side by side, informing each other.
https://vimeo.com/87077296
In all of these clips you can
glimpse too how director
Nikki Sved skilfully guides the
process, sometimes telling the
actors how their actions are
reading from the outside,
sometimes teasing out and
shaping the material, but
always encouraging the
actors and driving them
forward.
The TV Remote Jordan Whyte & Michael Wagg
15
Swanny in Kilkenny’s Bath Derek Frood
Stagecraft
The decision was made early in the planning process for Hammer & Tongs that it would be
expedient for the sound in the show to be run from the stage. This was partly an artistic choice
and partly a pragmatic one – normally a technician in the lighting box would control the sound
for a show alongside the lights, but in keeping with the chaotic world of the fictional theatre
company in the story, it felt appropriate to have one of the characters operating the sound from
the stage. Also, because Hammer & Tongs has to have a quick get-in and get-out on this tour,
not rigging sound cables up to the lighting box would save valuable time fitting up the show.
But who would operate the sound, and how? Fret, the fictional musician in the show played by
Thomas Johnson, seemed the best man for the job. Fret sits in his armchair on stage in the
midst of a nest of instruments and equipment . His role is to score the show like an octopusarmed one-man-band with a madly eclectic range of instruments and styles of music.
Operating the sound could be one more string to his bow.
However, there was no room for a sound desk and monitor near Fret, and aesthetically, a
gleaming Apple computer would have looked out of place amongst his artful jumble of
instruments and equipment. So, Sound Designer Duncan Chave came up with the ingenious
solution that Fret would operate the sound via his musical keyboard! Duncan ran Fret’s
keyboard into the computer where the sound for the show is stored and operated by software
called Logic and QLab. Then Duncan programmed the computer to send each cue when Fret
played the particular note on his piano keyboard that corresponded with it. The cues run in a
C major ascending scale – all Fret has to do is select the right function on his keyboard and hit
the next note in the scale to play the next sound cue. So, for example, the note C plays the
sound of a telephone ringing, D plays someone answering the phone, and so on.
To hear Thomas Johnson talking about music and sound in Hammer &Tongs, follow this link
https://vimeo.com/86108495
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Cast & Creative Team
Swanny .....................................................................................................................Derek Frood
Fret.....................................................................................................................Thomas Johnson
Duggan ..................................................................................................................Jordan Whyte
Spurge....................................................................................................................Michael Wagg
Writer ................................................................................................................Daniel Jamieson
Director .........................................................................................................................Nikki Sved
Designer..............................................................................................................Trina Bramman
Composer & Musical Director ..............................................................Thomas Johnson
Lighting Designer ..........................................................................................Dominic Jeffery
Sound Designer.................................................................................................Duncan Chave
Company Stage Manager ...........................................................................Elaine Faulkner
Technical Manager..............................................................................................Amy Spencer
Design Assistants....................................................................Ruth Webb & Sarah Vigars
Stage Management Intern...........................................................................Sadie Jennings
Set Construction.....................................................................................................................TR2
Theatre Royal Plymouth Production Centre
The Custard Pies Derek Frood, Thomas Johnson, Jordan Whyte & Michael Wagg
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P R A C T I T I O N E R FA C T F I L E
THE WRITER
Name: Daniel Jamieson
How did you come to work with Theatre Alibi?
I started working with Theatre Alibi as an actor when I left university in 1989. It was for a
show called The Withered Arm based on short stories by Thomas Hardy. At first they gave the
job to a bloke who could play the accordion and act but he dropped out so they gave the job to
me instead (I can’t play the accordion)!
What was your journey into writing?
A few years after starting work as an actor, when I was about 25, me and several other actors
decided we wanted to call the shots ourselves so we agreed to put on a play and discovered
how hard it is, and how rewarding. Everyone took responsibility for the job they were
interested in – I’d always fancied myself as a writer so I wrote the play. I enjoyed it very much
(although found it very scary!), it went well and I’ve never looked back.
How do you go about writing a script?
I spend the first two or three
weeks thinking. If it’s an
adaptation, I’ll read the book at
least twice and think about how
making the story into a piece
of theatre will add a new
dimension to it. I also have to
think about what to leave out.
If it’s a new play, I spend a good
while at the beginning putting
together the bare bones of the
story. I read stuff to inspire and
inform me and I go for walks,
which helps me dream stuff up.
I also make lots of chain-shaped
diagrams, each link being a
progression of the story.
Then it’s down to work on a first
draft. I try to write at least five
pages a day. Every morning
I break down one link of the story
into smaller links – what needs to
happen, who must say what to
Swanny Derek Frood
18
Spurge with his Pugil Stick Michael Wagg
who etc.? Then off I go, trying to imagine the words coming out of peoples’ mouths, characters
moving about on stage. It’s a messy business – scribbling in my note book then typing up what
I’ve done at the end of each day – but I keep going until I get to the end of the story. After that,
it’s a long process of making the piece better – getting feedback, remembering what I hoped
to achieve in the first place and cutting out the waffle. That carries on until, and beyond, the
first performance. You can never stop making something better!
Do you prefer adaptation or original writing?
I prefer writing original material, but adaptation has different pleasures for a writer. It’s a
luxury to have a reason to explore someone else’s imaginary world so completely. It’s like
having an excuse to go and explore another country and getting paid for it!
Are you involved with rehearsals for the show?
Yes. I’m around in the background, ready to give advice if required, ready to change anything in
the writing that doesn’t work, helping to make artistic decisions if I’m asked. Nikki, the director
and I talk very thoroughly before rehearsals so we’re on the same wavelength. But you’ve got
to give people room to make the show their own.
What’s your advice for aspiring playwrights?
Write as much as you can! Make it as individual as possible – don’t feel obliged to copy other
people to get noticed. Get feedback but don’t get put off – what one person says is never the
whole picture. Get into the habit of writing more than one draft of stuff – you can make it much
better second time round.
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P R A C T I T I O N E R FA C T F I L E
THE COMPOSER/MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Name: Thomas Johnson
Why did you choose to be a composer/MD?
I’d been writing songs in various bands since the age of eleven, having started learning the
violin at six years old. I went through the classical grades on the violin as a child up to the
highest one (Grade 8) but didn’t receive any other formal musical education, opting to do
English Literature at Oxford University. In my teens I taught myself the guitar and got a
weekend job being a minstrel in a medieval banquet gig in a castle. I also played in various
punk bands (it was the late 70s) with names like The Infested! A little later I learned the
accordion for a theatre show. At university I became very interested in theatre from an
academic perspective, and post-university, after a few years of busking full-time all over
Europe, I applied on a whim for a job as a Musical Director /musician for a theatre company
called Dr.Fosters. To my considerable surprise I got the job! It turned out to be the best
possible match for my dual interest in music and theatre and I’ve never looked back.
How old were you?
I was 25 when I got the job with Dr. Fosters.
Where did you train?
I did English at Oxford University, but I had no formal music training as a composer. I started
on the violin at the age of six. I went through the process of a classical training. Then, when I
was twelve, I bought a guitar and taught myself how to play. Much later when I was 24 or so,
I learnt the accordion for a theatre show, and I’ve ended up playing the accordion quite a lot
since then. But fiddle is my first instrument still.
What’s your role in the process of making a show?
It starts with the script, which I’ll receive quite a long time before rehearsals start. The first
read is quick, to get a flavour of the play. I’m looking to get a sense of the atmosphere of the
piece and what it might sound like. Where and when it is set may have an impact on what kind
of music I might end up writing – for example, if it’s on a French ship in the 17th century this
will almost inevitably influence the feel of the music (a flavour of the sea, a sense of 17th
century France). Is it melancholy? Or comic? Does it ask for dissonance or beauty? This will all
have a bearing on the next (and perhaps most crucial) part of the job: deciding what
instruments to use. This is like a painter choosing his/her colour palette. The musicians then
have to be employed, a task shared by myself and the theatre company, and will usually
involve auditions. After that, it’s back to the script, this time a detailed analysis of the text,
deciding exactly where I will plan to place music and what its job is with each cue. Then
rehearsals start. I like to be in rehearsals as much as possible, and don’t generally write
anything at all before the first day of rehearsals, as I want to allow the music to emerge
organically from the work that the actors and director are doing on stage. In this way, the
20
score can be an integral part of the
fabric of the piece rather than an ‘extra’
put on as a cosmetic afterthought. I
watch a scene once it has been roughly
blocked, taking notes, then retreat to
my room where I’ll write the music for
that scene while it’s still fresh in my
memory. I write on a keyboard plugged
into Sibelius music software which
creates beautifully printed versions of
the score (although I will usually write
the first sketch by hand on paper). Then
I’ll rehearse the music with the
musicians, and finally the musicians will
join the actors and director, where we’ll
do the very satisfying job of placing the
music into the scene. This involves a fair
amount of dialogue as the music will
often have quite a large impact on how
the action has been staged, so there’s a
lot of give and take between everyone in
the room to find the best outcome. This
to-ing and fro-ing goes on till we’ve got
to the end of the play; after that it’s back
to the beginning and rehearsing till it’s
right!
Fret with his Instruments Thomas Johnson
What is particular about
working for Theatre Alibi?
Alibi are committed to the idea of many
art forms having a central place in the
work, the idea that text is a starting
point rather than the end in a piece of
theatre. This means that music is
allowed (or encouraged) to be a
proactive presence, along with the
design, the puppet work, the audio visual
elements, and so on. As a consequence
the composer is involved at a very
fundamental level in the creation of the
work, which is, of course, wonderful for
any composer. Generally, too, they like
to work with live musicians on stage,
which is in my opinion qualitatively in a
different league to working with a
soundtrack in theatre.
Spurge in a Balloon Michael Wagg
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P R A C T I T I O N E R FA C T F I L E
THE DESIGNER
Name: Trina Bramman
Why did you choose to be a designer?
It was when I was looking for university courses. I was doing my Art and Design Foundation
course, and I had to choose something to do. I’d already decided that I wanted to work in the
arts. It wasn’t so much that I desperately wanted to be a theatre designer, I looked through
prospectuses and it was the course that jumped out at me. I loved painting and working in 3D
and I already liked theatre, so I thought this seemed a good way of combining my interests and
it was exciting to think of working at large scale. Then when I went to visit some of the courses
to see what it would be like, I saw that the way students designed was by making scale models
of their sets and I was fascinated by them. I'd always secretly loved dolls houses - there’s
something magic about miniature things, so this really got me excited. Also, I saw them
working on huge puppets on one of the courses, big body puppets. It was the variety that
appealed to me most of all. It seemed you could do virtually anything.
How old were you?
That was during my Foundation year – 18, 19?
Where did you train?
Nottingham Trent University. I did a three-year degree course in Theatre Design. It gave me a
chance to have a go at all areas of theatre design – set, costume, lighting, propmaking. Also,
crucially, to do a placement, which gave a chance to go and work on a professional production.
I did my placement at Komedia in Brighton assisting a Designer on a children’s show on a
similar scale to the ones I’ve done at Alibi. We were in a church hall, working until two o’clock
in the morning to get the set and props finished, so I was used to the hours before I even
started earning money as a designer!
What’s your role in the process of making a show?
Ultimately my job is to come up with a design for the set, props and costumes. To get to this
point I work alongside the director, the musical director, the writer, the lighting designer, the
actors and the musicians. It’s a collaborative thing – we work off each other. We’re all working
together at the same time, and I take on their ideas as they work with what I give them. I
create the visual world of the show.
The first stage is getting the script and reading it. I might do little sketches in the side of the
script, just things that come to mind, starting to think about the problems it throws up, the
things that seem impossible to create on stage. There are always things that seem impossible.
Then we all get together as a team, all the people who are going to be working on it, and spend
a week looking at the difficult bits of the script, seeing how we can solve things. During that
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Designer Trina Bramman
Duggan with Baby Baboon Jordan Whyte
week I do little, private sketches that I don’t show anyone. Also I note down the ideas that
come up, if they need a chair or a platform, for example - practical things that get worked into
the show, not so much aesthetic things at that point. Things that I need to take into
consideration.
At the end of the Research and Development week I have a meeting with the writer and the
director to discuss where the design might go visually. Then I go away and panic and start
drawing things on the train on the way home, making sure I haven’t forgotten anything,
writing things down. Then I start coming up with the first ideas. That’s usually drawings to
begin with. I begin by drawing really loose sketches that no-one else would probably
understand, and then I start making rough little models. I talk these early ideas through with
the director and the writer and then go away again to develop them further - there’s a lot of
working and reworking. When I’ve got a more definite model to show, I go through the script
with the director and see how the set that I’ve designed might work for each part of the show.
Then it’s refining it and finalising it and getting together technical drawings ready for it to be
built. I also liaise with the painter about the textures and colours I want. The set is ready for
the start of rehearsals. At that point my role changes slightly as the bulk of the designing is
done and I am no longer working alone in my studio, I’m in Exeter with the rest of the team
propmaking and buying costumes.
What’s particular about working for Theatre Alibi?
I would say that it is that the whole team work together so closely. The fact that we all start
production time together means the Design team are making the props and costumes at the
same time as the actors and director are creating the piece. So we don’t know everything
about our last bit of making until the actors have finished their last bit of making. This is
difficult and means a lot of last-minute work and late nights but it makes the whole thing more
vibrant, more interesting. Also our workshop is right next door to the rehearsal room which is
a luxury, as it means we can be very responsive to what happens in there. I think we also have
very high standards, every detail matters. This is as true in the rehearsal room as it is in the
workshop and it’s nice as a maker and a designer to be creating work with this in mind.
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P R A C T I T I O N E R FA C T F I L E
THE DIRECTOR
Name: Nikki Sved
Why did you choose to be a director?
I was more interested initially in being a performer. But at university everyone got a chance to
direct and it was then that I discovered that I could do it and I liked it, and that my interest in
performing informed my directing. I carried on performing when I left university, but I think
the lifestyle of a director began to appeal to me more and more – having to sell yourself day to
day as a performer didn’t appeal to me very much. I would have found it difficult. Also, it’s
easier as a director to follow your own path artistically. I’m now the Artistic Director of
Theatre Alibi.
How old were you?
I went to a drama group once a week from the age of seven to eighteen. I decided to be a
performer then! It was at university when I was about twenty that the thought of directing
entered my head, although I was given a bit of Twelfth Night at school to direct when I was
fifteen and I really enjoyed that.
Where/how did you train?
As I said, I belonged to a drama group, which was run by an inspirational woman. I was in
school plays, did Drama O Level, Theatre Studies A level, and a degree in Drama at Exeter
University. My training as a performer continued at Alibi – we got the opportunity to work
with an inspirational Polish theatre company called Gardzienice, and I learnt on the job from
Alibi’s then Artistic Directors.
Director Nikki Sved
Jordan Whyte & Michael Wagg
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What’s your role in the process of making a show?
The writer often generates several different ideas for a show and I help choose the best one to
develop. Then I read initial versions of the script and comment on them. After that, I start
thinking about what means we might use to tell that story - what sort of music we might draw
on, what the set should be like, how we would people the show, what sort of actors we ought
to be using. Then I cast the actors. You find actors in a mixture of ways. Sometimes you’re
lucky enough to have worked with people that you think will be just right. Sometimes you see
someone in a show who you think will be just right. So, I bring things together prior to
rehearsal – people and resources.
Before we go into rehearsals, there’s a research and development process. It’s a bit like a
playtime. We spend a week working on an early draft of the script with the actors, the writer
and the designer when we try out ideas to see if they will work. It’s a really nice time ahead of
rehearsals when we can
try things out and if they
fail miserably, it doesn’t
matter at all. You can take
risks and try things that
you’ve never tried before.
It’s a scary job making a
piece of theatre. That fear
can be unhelpful
creatively. So, a research
and development week is
a way of freeing things up
and allowing yourself to
make more exciting and
interesting decisions. As a Duggan with a Hand Grenade Jordan Whyte
director, I select which bits
we’re going to work on. I choose what seem to be key, defining moments that set the tone for
the whole show. Also we tackle moments that beg a theatrical solution, things that you
wouldn’t imagine could be put on stage.
Between the R&D and the rehearsal process I discuss things with the writer that came up in the
R&D. The other key bit of work that happens between the R&D and rehearsals is working with the
designer to develop the design. It’s helpful to have the designer on board from very early on in the
process. Our particular style of work means that the action on stage is very integrated with the set.
This requires close collaboration between the director and designer. As a director I have to think
very practically about what has to happen on stage. That’s a good input to the design process.
With the rehearsal process itself, a lot of the things I do are the same as in the R&D. I’m
selecting what to work on and when, making sure we get through the material in time. I’m coordinating and bringing together all the elements, keeping my eye on the whole picture.
Although people are throwing in ideas all the time, it’s me who gets to say yes or no to them,
because it’s helpful to have one person doing that. In the end I would probably never say no to
an idea if lots of people were saying yes, because I trust the people that I work with. Also, it’s
my job to put my own ideas in. The other thing that I do in the rehearsals is to develop
performances – I help the actors to access a performance, to find the ways that characters
show how they are feeling, and to discover who the characters are. My job is also to stage the
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Spurge & Mexican Wrestlers Michael Wagg, Jordan Whyte & Derek Frood
Nigel & Clarissa’s Wedding Derek Frood & Michael Wagg
scenes, to work out how to show the action in the script, but also basic things like how to get a
chair off stage at the end of a scene.
Toward the end of rehearsals you have the tech week when you add the technical elements to
the show. I make decisions with the lighting designer and the sound designer about how
sound and light will work from moment to moment. Because I’ve been in rehearsals with the
actors I know and understand the scenes. The lighting designer will have a very particular skill
in terms of, say, having a sense of colour on stage but he doesn’t know the show as well as I do.
So, in the tech, we marry the two things together – it’s a very intense and hefty job.
Once the show’s opened, my job is a matter of looking at how it works with the whole
additional element of audience response. You learn a huge amount from having an audience
there. Often they respond in an entirely different way to how you expect. I’m in the luxurious
position of being able to watch the audience and the show. I’ll watch and make notes over
several nights, then we give ourselves time to make some changes in response to those first
few performances. After that, I’ll be a baby-sitter for the show – I’ll go out and see it several
times on tour. Often shows get better and better as actors get to know it. It’s also possible for
things to go off the boil. So I go out on the tour now and again and give notes to the actors,
which helps keep the show alive for them.
What is particular about working for Theatre Alibi?
How the work is generated in the rehearsal room feels very particular. The storytelling is
very particular too, if not unique. We try to make shows where we enjoy what live theatre
can offer us. You often see images being constructed rather than it happening in secret. We
never switch off the lights to change the set (which often makes life difficult!). We really
enjoy revealing the transformations from actor to character and from location to location.
We also draw on a particularly wide breadth of forms – music, film, puppetry, our set designs
are quite sculptural.
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Rehearsal Games and Exercises
A sense of ‘play’ has always been key to Theatre Alibi’s approach, informing every aspect of
our theatre making, from team building and warm-ups to generating, rehearsing and
performing each show. Below are some of the games and exercises we use:
Making a Graph of the Show
We use this exercise at the beginning of rehearsals to get a sense of the shape of a show.
In small groups, spend some time thinking what is the central question the show asks the
audience. The question must have a yes/no answer. For example, “Will the central character
ever find happiness?” Or “Will x and y ever get together?” Or “Is Z a good person?” Or “Will
grandpa’s silver watch ever be found?” etc. On a large sheet of paper draw a graph. The
horizontal axis represents the sequence of events as the story unfolds. The vertical axis
represents the answer to the question, with YES at the top and NO at the bottom. Draw a line
on the graph to show what the audience might think at each moment in the story. You should
end up with a pattern of peaks and troughs that show the shape of the show.
Four Square
Mark out a square on the floor with masking or
electrical tape about four metres by four metres.
Divide the square into four equal squares and
number them clockwise 1,2,3 and 4. Get a large
ball or football. One person stands in each small
square and the rest of the players form a queue
outside the big square. To play, the person in box
1 serves the ball by bouncing it once and hitting it
upwards with the palm of their hand so it lands in
someone else’s square. That person returns the
ball by hitting it upwards with the palm of their
hand into another player’s square and so on. Play
continues until someone fails to return a shot or
someone knocks the ball right out of the square.
The disqualified player joins the back of the
queue and a new player steps into square 4. All
the other players move round clockwise towards
the server.
Shoe Game
Everybody takes off their shoes – one person has them all in a pile at their feet. Stand in a
circle. The player with the shoes takes one and throws it to a player on the other side of the
circle. That person throws it to another player and so on until everyone has caught and
thrown the shoe and it has returned to the first player. Carry on throwing the shoe in the same
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pattern. When everyone is used to this, player one picks up another shoe and throws it after
the first, so there are two shoes travelling back and forth across the circle. Gradually player
one introduces more and more shoes until, ideally, they are all in circulation.
Throw a ball behind you
To be played in groups, with one ball between you. The person who has the ball throws it over
their head behind them and someone else must catch it. The aim of the game is collectively to
prevent the ball touching the floor for as long as possible. The game is improved if everyone is
moving around the space. Players can suggest ways in which the game may be played more
effectively
Keep a ball in the air
Stand in a circle and keep the ball in the air by tapping it upwards (as in volley ball), passing it
across the circle. Begin by counting collectively and see how high you can go before the ball is
dropped.
A few thoughts: Don’t apologise! Take your time and relax. Try not to be ‘frightened’ of or to
‘attack’ the ball. Take suggestions from participants for rules that might allow the group to
keep the ball in the air for a higher count. It’s a good game to return to several times over a
period of time and see how skills improve.
Grandmother’s Footsteps
One person (Grandmother) stands at one end of the room, facing the wall. The rest of the
group stand at the other end of the room, facing Grandmother. They try secretly to approach
Grandmother, who at any moment can turn around. If she sees anyone moving, they are sent
back to the beginning. Try to see how far you can get away with cheating!
Yes Let’s!
Anyone can suggest an activity and everyone shouts out “Yes Let’s!” and carries out the
suggestion with as much enthusiasm as they can possibly muster. No one is to suggest “Let’s
stop”! It’s a useful game to refer back to if you’re trying to remind pupils to approach
suggestions with a spirit of commitment.
Touch backs of knees
Get into pairs. Each person tries to touch the other on the back of their knees, whilst avoiding
being touched themselves…
Impulses
Partners face each other. One of you will be sending an impulse (A) and the other receiving (B).
On an out-breath, ‘A’ touches ‘B’ on the shoulder, stomach or forehead. In response and on an
out-breath, ‘B’ moves away the specific part of the body that has been touched and then
returns to a neutral position ready for the next ‘impulse’. Try to work as precisely as possible.
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A point of balance
Work in pairs. Face your partner and stand with your toes almost touching. Hold each other’s
hands, maintain eye contact and slowly lean back until your arms are straight and you’ve
found a point of balance. Slowly bend your knees, keep leaning out and move down until both
of you are sitting on the floor. Come back to standing, while leaning out and finally draw
yourselves towards each other so that you’re no longer taking each other’s weight. Try to
complete the exercise with no talking.
The wrong name…
Each person walks around the room, points at objects and shouts out the wrong name for
them!
Opening the door
Working individually, and on a given command, each person mimes opening a door, seeing
what is behind it and responding to it. A long lost relative, a disgusting ball of slime, an
adorable kitten… It’s important to try not to predict what’s behind the door. Surprise yourself.
One word storytelling
Tell a story in pairs. Use one word each. Don’t pause. How is the game improved if you keep
active? Walk around the room. Try playing a game at the same time. Mirroring? Touching the
backs of knees? How does the game affect the story? Watch other pairs at play.
Keeping equidistant
Each person chooses two other members of the group. Don’t say who they are. On a given
command they must attempt to remain an equal distance from each of them.
Some members of the group can step out and watch if the game is repeated. Look at the
quality of interaction and the movement of the group.
Text and game play
In groups of two or three write a love scene, preferably with some element of conflict. Keep it
simple, just two or three lines each. Once everyone is secure with their lines, try playing a
game while speaking. Allow the game to influence the speaking of the lines. Really play the
game, don’t show it.
Try out different games. What effect do they have? Try contrasting games – very still ones
perhaps or ones that need a great deal of movement. Do they illuminate the text in a
particular way? Select the game or games that work best and show your piece to the rest of
the group.
You might want to use this as an acting exercise, using the game play as part of the rehearsal
process working towards a more naturalistic version. Remove the game but ask the actors to
work with the memory of having played it
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You may choose to use the game play to inform staging or indeed as part of a devising process
that incorporates games as part of the finished piece.
Another option is to use game play that isn’t necessarily obvious to an audience (for example
games that use eye contact) as a means of maintaining genuine interaction between
performers.
Props becoming different things
Select a prop and use it as something different, so a toy spade can become a dagger or a turnip
can become a ticking bomb! Limiting your means creatively can squeeze you into being
inventive and playful.
Suggested Reading
Theatre Games ............................Clive Barker
Impro ..............................................Keith Johnstone
Impro for Storytellers ................Keith Johnstone
101 Drama Games ....................David Farmer