The mask of theatre

Towards the end of my second year at Helikos earlier this year... I made a mask.  An old woman.  So that I could learn the negative mould technique of mask-making. (I had missed this lesson due to a day spent at some grimy governmental business building organizing another piece of bureaucratic what-not for temporary residency in Italy) Matteo took a day out of his schedule to teach me this.  It ended up being so much more than simply learning a technique, but a day filled with what it means to make theatre.  Matteo said if someone calls him a theatre-maker he says he's actually a director... and if they call him a director he says he's actually a mask maker.  Because theatre is a mask.  Unless you are working in realism of course.  Which we're not.  Giovanni often talks about something being true but not necessarily real.  I like that.  So with mask making the volume and form emerges as it does when you improvise a scene... whether you work on the floor or in front of a computer writing.  That work on stage requires a level of poetry that takes it further than the literal world...  How does the whole stage explode in joy... the mask... the volume... a level of removal that brings you right into the work. (Yes I know... I've spoken about this before... so I won't repeat myself - as such)  But - lately I have seen so much realistic theatre and I can't help thinking i'd rather see the movie... where they have the close up... the swell of music... the cut away to the crashing waves.  Where the camera brings the poetry that two people on stage, one with their backs to you most of the time, cannot achieve.  I know it's a style and a choice.  Ja.  There needs to be more.  For me.  And it's hard.  And you might fail.  But you might not.  

So now as I prepare to return to Italy for my third and final year... this morning I looked sadly at my little box of masks who have not been out to play since I got back.  How quickly life rushes by.  My old woman is still a paper mache mould... waiting for stucco and sanding and painting and ultimately playing... (Which will hopefully happen in the year that lies ahead).  To celebrate her and the art of mask making... which may just be the art of theatre... I have put a few pics below taken during this very important day of mask making and theatre discussion with the ever-brilliant Matteo Destro.  

Hilton High

We arrived at the Hilton Festival after hours in the worst traffic jam from a massive accident to watch the brilliant Paul Zerdin open the festival. So great. Then onwards to our technical get in which was smooth and professional - Roamy our stage manager and technician and her team rocked. So aside from our first show where a lone builder decided it was a good time to bang right outside the theatre door... We had a rocking time.

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My festival highlighted was 'Three Little Pigs' with James Cairns, Rob Van Vuuren and Albert Pretorius directed by Tara Notcutt.  Fresh.  Brave.  Funny.  Rich.  All that.

The N3 billows with veld fires... welcoming the imminent summer.

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Sad to to say goodbye... Next for Sunday Morning is our second run at Theatre on the Square from the 16 - 27 October.  Although I shall be in Florence by then.  How quickly the time goes. 

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The Ugly Ducking Marionette Move

I took my niece and nephew to see the Chinese Fujian Marionette Art Troupe the other day at the National School of the Arts... a kind invitation from my friend Mark Hawkins - as we couldn't make their proper performances. They were amazing.  Truly wonderful.  My favourite moment was when a troupe of little dancing fat girls as if by magic suddenly became a troupe of dancing princess...  I kid you not.  Before our very eyes.  It was amazing!  Yes - that and the drunk guy picking up and pouring real liquid into a teacup and then picking up the teacup and drinking until he was so drunk he passed out!  Magic before your eyes.  How lucky we were to see them.  Masterful talent.

Photo Credit:  Gregg East

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In the Witness

Yesterday I completed our bookings for the Hilton Festival... we are going to see British Ventriloquist Paul Zerdin (how cool?!)... and Three Little Pigs (with my friends James and Rob!  Yay)... and Horn of Sorrow (will be sad - i'm sure)... and Delirium (with the brilliant Fiona Ramsay!)... and Venus in Fur (with Neil Coppen who has taken the very brave step from Director to Performer... eee).  Can't wait.  I have of course seen Sie Wies Alles - so if your reading this and haven't seen it... you should

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So tomorrow we leave for the Hilton... where our shows are sold out.  How lovely.  A packed audience i'm so excited!  This is the booklet that is released in the Witness newspaper...  ah.  And there we are.


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The Last Show

The Last Show... is certainly not the last show from these fabulous people...  I went to see the formidable Toni Morkel and the wonderful Roberto Pombo in their new show 'The Last Show' at PopArt... to raise funds for Roberto's return to school, Helikos, in Florence Italy.  A worthy cause!  There were so many things about it I just loved... the costumes for one... Toni's speech about being eaten in a cave... Roberto's speech about the end of the world and how rad the new iPhone is.  Very funny.  I look forward to the development of this show!

This is a pic of Toni and Rob that I got off Toni's facebook page... how cool?

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Silver Star Casino Launch

Event Client: VWV Productions

Corporate Client:  Silverstar Casino

Event:  Launch Event (external audience)

My Role:  Event Creative Head, Live Producer, Live Director

This was the first job I was Creative Head on... it was in early 2008!  Long before I had a blog.  I found these pics in an old folder - and of course I remember this event well... and fondly!  The theme was 'Not the Usual' - the payoff line for the Casino itself.  What a pleasure!  It meant we could do so much - and have huge creative freedom.  We kicked off the evening with a walk-on-water fashion show.  With girls in outfits inspired by the look and feel of the casino's design.  This to a backdrop of the most spectacular water fountain (seriously - everyone should see it) and to a haunting musical number which Nick Warren (the then Creative Director of VWV) brought in New York... I don't know what it was called... so that's not helpful.  Ja.  But my most favourite bit of all was we had synchronised swimmers as part of the spectacle!  How cool.  

Artists rendering of the walk-on-water fashion show

Artists rendering of the Gala Dinner

Syncronised swimmers... in perfect unison... beautiful clothing... a fountain... what more.

Capoeira dancers

An opera singer

Tamara Dey and Concord in a wonderful musical duo

Geisha girls to welcome guests on arrival

SAB Live to Video

Event Company: Mann Made Media

Corporate Client: South African Breweries

My roles: Creative Head, Live and Video Director, Script Writer

Previously I spoke about this super fab show I did for SAB... and here is a three minute video of what we called Live-to-Video... where we took the on-stage live performance and translated it for the screen.  So that it was not the death of theatre when filmed - which would be an ordinary point and shoot of the on-stage production... and whose purpose could only be a record of the original show.  Rather we created a piece of entertainment in it's own right.  The video explains the whole thing so I need not go into detail here.  But I feel very lucky to have been part of this project and further developing what could be new medium in the corporate theatre world.  Rocking.

Red light jumper

Another physical tweet from our board which I dig... I remember doing exactly this at 5am and driving past the early morning cyclists thinking... 'who are these people.'  Now I'm much closer to those cyclists than I am to whoever left this tweet.  Funny.  

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Business Day Today

We're in the Business Day today... with a fab review from Christina Kennedy... my favourite bit... 'Sunday Morning is like a ray of sunshine in an often-gloomy theatre landscape.'  I like that.  Poetry.  And then '...this play play is a more rewarding and elevating self-help manual than anything you'll find in the bookstores.'  Because it made me laugh.  Out loud.

So ja - this is me - at home - reading the paper.

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Out of the Blue

Event Company: Mann Made Media

Corporate Client: Standard Bank

My roles: Style and concept development with MMM, script writer episodes 1,2 & 4-8, Director episodes 4-8

Very excited about this post... I have been waiting a while to put it up... But here it is.  I have, on a number of occasions, posted about this series I've been involved in for Standard Bank... Which started as filming physical theatre and has developed to include minimal and styalisted art direction.  The style was developed in 2011 when we has to film a physical theatre live performance to go on the road as part of the travelling roadshow... From there Nick (Creative Director of MMM) saw the creative opportunity to use the tecnique in a monthly video communication.  The character 'Sue' however was developed some years ago for the bank... So it has been a slow and steady development to get us to this exciting place.  

Here is a two minute video that shows bits of what it entails... Characterisation, drama, comedy, story... Just a few reasons why I dig it.  This clip includes the first few episodes and we are about to shoot episode 8 this month... So naturally the style and delivery has developed somewhat - but that's for the next video... yay.

Lights up

My first favorite tweet from our physical tweet board at Theatre on the Square.  I also love the lights. x

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Post-it Pose

James and I in front of our physical tweet board after the opening of Sunday Morning at Theatre on the Square... The skyline of joburg made from post-it pixels... where people are asked to write why they love Joburg (You can check them out on twitter @jeninecollocott #sundaymorning #whyilovejoburg). Our opening was full and lovely... Thank you Daphne Kuhn for all your work and enthusiasm x

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Newspaper Pixels

Johannesburg slowly emerges on the wall of Theatre on the Square...

A pixelated wall for theatre backdrop.  How exciting.  I know.  I spent the whole... and I mean the whole of Tuesday tearing up the Sunday Times (because of course the play being Sunday Morning - only a Sunday newspaper would do - even if no one knows - it still counts) breaking off bits of prestic and sticking the individual pixels onto the theatre wall.  What a mission.  I was in such a flat panic that I wouldn't finish in time.  But miraculously I did... here I am two days later and my fingers are still so sore from ripping prestic - who knew!?  It was worth it though.

So the 'how to' of a newspaper pixel backdrop...

Have a wonderfully inventive and super talented designer - for us that's Alastair Findlay - to come up with the design of the image... a semi-circular Joburg skyline... ahh.  The rest of the circle is completed on the stage floor with a semi circle of more hap-hazzardly ripped newsprint which demarcates the playing space amongst other thing of course... (and this has always been part of the design)  So now it is no longer the semi-circle of life but the circle... of life.  Deep.

Set aside like about 9 hours... or get help.  Help would be good.  (Important to note... I did of course actually have help over the weekend in the form of Nick my husband and Amelia my stepdaughter.  But sadly I had asked for the stage wall to be painted grey and it really didn't work - there wasn't enough contrast... so it was repainted on Monday when we did our full tech leaving only Tuesday and me to complete the wall.  Hectic.

Then project your image image onto the wall and outline it in chalk.  Ensuring that you don't let your computer go to sleep as the image will have moved when you wake it up again.  Mmm.  Frustrating...  So there I was every few minutes running up into the empty theatre seats, where the projector was balanced, to my computer and running my finger along the mouse pad sensory thing...

Yip.  Develop a system... mine was this:

1.  Tear the paper into the pixels using a metal ruler for straight lines
2.  Rip and stick balls of prestic onto as many pixels as you can stand (whist you are sitting cross-legged on the stage)
3.  Grab a massive hand full of prestic ready pixels and get sticking
4.  Start from the bottom up... such brilliant advise from the site The House That Lars Built (which incidentally I stumbled upon after deciding to do this... but it was key piece of advise that made it possible ... try any other way and you'll see what I mean.  Thats a challenge)
5.  Step away often to see the image emerge, creating delight, giving you the energy to 'keep calm & carry on'

My favourite pixel leading up Ponte tower.

Inspired by The House That Lars Built we made a physical tweet board... for why you love Joburg...
a few of which I will instagram and tweet and bite-size blog...