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The
governing aesthetic underpinning RT is continualy
emerging: On a personal level, it is a marriage of my own desires
in performance and story telling. I am completely compelled by the
authentic and believable performance in conventional acting, be
it film, television or theatre and I see no reason why the equivalent
standards cannot be reached in a spontaneous forum such as RT.
I am also compelled by the engaging potential that a “good
story well told” provides in the simplest of settings.
And further, the unlimited potential that exists within the unique
local story to provide a deeper understanding and connection to
the universal human story. One might say that I am seeking to build
a bridge between the recognised components of “method”
acting and participatory theatre.
In
essence the first project will see the development and practice
of improvised story telling allowing workshop participants to create
stories as narrator, author or actor.
Raw Theatre
is a form of improvised theatre designed for the classroom or workshop
setting - stage one. A facilitator works with a small number of
actors who assist the flow of story telling and other activities
relevant to the participating group. Raw Theatre can be seen as
a hybrid of other forms of participatory theatre. Its uniqueness
will be enhanced by the development of stage two and three. Stage
Two will see the workshop model taken into the performative context
for a live audience. Stage Three will see the audience size expand
to the broadcast media.
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The first
project will focus on stage one with the assembly of an ensemble
of actors to assist the process of defining and structuring the
principals and methods that will become foundational to the practices
of Raw Theatre.
Raw Theatre
recognises and creates the possibility for story telling to be
engaging and transformative for both participants and observers.
The project will seek to build the structure of Raw Theatre as
a means of participatory theatre.
Raw
Theatre as a participatory theatrical experience has
several potential forms or outcomes:
1. a mechanism to create a story telling/theatre experience for
participants
2. operate as a class structure for teaching purposes, eg. acting,
story telling, story devising, role playing.
3. serve as a device in total or within a corporate workshop setting
4. build concentrically from being solely experienced by participants
to functioning as a performance medium for live and television
Raw Theatre Ensemble
To attempt to explore all these possibilities would be a little
adventurous for the first project: therefore the first project
will lay foundations, establish principles and practices.
Why Raw Theatre: the fundamental element of Raw Theatre begins
by recognising human being’s desire for Story. The need
for Story is deeply embedded in our psyche.
Story has the power to educate, to transform, to entertain, to
create understanding, to explain chaos, to save lives. The teller,
the listener , the participants grow from the telling.
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