making theatre in Open Space

Stella Duffy stell at clara.co.uk
Thu Jul 15 05:57:29 PDT 2010


Hi Allison,
I have a brief mention of it here on my writing blog :
http://stelladuffy.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/editing-a-novelediting-this-nove
l/

Basically I was at a standstill, having completed the 4th draft of the
novel, my publisher, agent and I all knew more work was needed, but none of
us could quite get clear on what it was, and a deadline was looming, of
course. I asked Lee Simpson of Improbable who had been part of the Devoted &
Disgruntled Open Spaces to come and talk to me about it, I knew he would be
able to hear my concerns and I trusted he'd probably have a suggestion of
two that were of value - I think NOT asking a fellow novelist was useful
here actually! We did some process work on what it was I was going through
(my 11th novel! how could I be so 'stupid/inept' - my feelings - as to not
know what to do next, etc etc), and Lee suggested it might not be so much a
case of not knowing what to do, as not wanting to do it in the usual way.
And that if I did actually know what to do, all I needed to do was come up
with that agenda and then allow myself permission to work on it in OS - as
and when I was drawn to/moved to, rather than ploughing through a list and
grinding to a halt because it was so boring/difficult.
So, the next day, I took some time, called about two dozen sessions - for
myself, alone - made up my timetable and each day for the next few weeks I
worked on what I was drawn to work on, for as long as I wanted to stay
there. The final edit was a pleasure, the book my most successful at the
time.
It sounds incredibly obvious as I write it now, but at the time it felt like
a huge liberation, trying a new process, one I had worked successfully for
other forms, and giving it a go with my 'real' work.
And a joy, of course, finding that OS had solo application!

Hope that explains it a bit. As a non-planner for first drafts (I tend to
improvise a first draft, though with some idea of beginning-middle-end) I'm
not sure it's possible for a first draft, but I'm interested in finding out
one day.
All best
Stella 



On 15/7/10 1:40 pm, "Allison & Jim Baensch" <mbody at iinet.net.au> wrote:

> Hi Stella,
> Good to hear you have used Open Space for writing.
> I also used it while writing a thesis recently.
> I tried to map part of the process that was going on inside my head
> in words and sketches.
> The thesis ended up being far too long and I had to cut it in half
> (several times over the many months of writing) and that section was
> left on the cutting room floor.
> But the process lifted me out of one of my 'sloughs of writing
> despond' and got me going again.
> How did you use OS for editing?
> Allison
> 
> On 15/07/2010, at 7:37 PM, Stella Duffy wrote:
> 
>> hi all,
>> I'm new to this list, having been at all of Improbable's 'Devoted &
>> Disgruntled' Open Spaces led by Phelim McDermott in London in the past
>> years. Some years ago, when I came to a major impasse in the
>> editing of my
>> eleventh novel, I tried editing in OS and was astonished at how
>> useful it
>> was for me, alone, with my manuscript. This year I have shared OS,
>> along
>> with other practitioners, with my buddhist practice here in the UK,
>> and most
>> recently I've been working on a new theatre project and (with Phelim's
>> encouragement!)I now - shyly - share with you the report I returned
>> to the
>> National Theatre Studio who generously gave 30+ of us the space to
>> work on
>> this new project in OS.
>> I'd be very interested in hearing from anyone else who has used OS for
>> writing or where it's been used for making/devising theatre work.
>> best wishes,
>> Stella Duffy
>> stelladuffy.wordpress.com
>> 
>> 
>> My report to the NTS :
>> I'm emailing to thank you all so much for your support for the
>> Chaosbaby
>> Project Open Spaces this weekend and last.
>> 
>> To give you some idea of what happened, and how valuable it was :
>> 36 people attended over both days (many of them came to both).
>> The age range was from 21 to mid-60's.
>> They were 11 actors, 2 actor-musicians, 4 actor-writers, 1
>> choreographer-dancer, 6 directors, 1 designer, 1 film-maker, 2
>> musicians, 2
>> playwrights, 5 writer-directors, 1 photographer.
>> 
>> In the two days, using the Open Space form, various groups &
>> individuals :
>> - wrote a 14-page traditional/'straight' narrative for the piece
>> - developed character breakdowns
>> - worked on the physicality/movement for a number of characters/spaces
>> - held many discussions about the nature of the piece
>> - discussed the nature of chaos (as a theatrical concept, as a
>> dance/movement concept, and in terms of chaos theory and mathematics)
>> - created/drew up initial design ideas
>> - wrote 3 new monologues
>> - worked on the (two, brief) pre-existing texts
>> - wrote and recorded a lullaby
>> - documented the work on camera and video
>> - made a puppet show, with live music accompaniment
>> 
>> Above all, I think, we showed ourselves it is not only possible,
>> but perhaps
>> preferable to work in Open Space, with a wide range of theatre-makers,
>> across many disciplines, which generated an enormous amount of
>> work/material, led not by a single director or writer, but by the
>> whole -
>> and that in doing so it is still possible  to have a cohesive idea
>> of what
>> we are making and where best our skills might be used.
>> 
>> I'm really excited about taking this on further, I especially loved
>> that,
>> having met Slav (on the door, doing security) the first Saturday,
>> he took
>> (wonderful) photos for us on the 2nd Saturday.
>> 
>> We're looking at a full weekend/three day Open Space to further the
>> work
>> later in the year.
>> 
>> I've worked in made/devised/improvised theatre for the past twenty-
>> five
>> years, this was one of the few times I've felt that it was TRULY a
>> shared
>> group endeavour and not, at least in some ways, a director or
>> writer-led
>> experience. And happy though I am to work as both a director and a
>> writer, a
>> working form that uses ALL the skills in the room, to the utmost
>> that can be
>> offered, feels like a much better use of time, space, money and, most
>> importantly, the full range of all the artists' abilities.
>> 
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