CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE – BEYOND THE LIMITS Melissa Newton-Turner Zac Von Hoff

THE BEGINNINGS – PRETEXT MATERIAL ‘The Island’ by Armin Greder

THE BEGINNINGS – AN ARTIST Robert Wilson

THE BEGINNINGS – DRAMATIC LANGUAGES Conventions of Style Ambiguity & Symbolism Live & Mediatised Performance Appropriation Collaboration Intertextuality Hybridisation Fragmentation Visual Imagery Non-Linear Narrative Elements of Drama LanguageContrast Time Space PlaceFocus RelationshipSymbol MoodTension MovementSituation

GOING OUR SEPARATE WAYS

ZAC’S ANCHORS – THE OPEN WORK “The reason I work as an artist is to ask questions… That is to say – what is it? Or if we know what it is that we’re doing, than there’s no reason to do it. The reason to work is to say what is it?” (Wilson)

WILSON’S QUESTIONING “Imagination is far more important than Knowledge” – Einstein “An artist recreates history, not like a historian, but as a poet. The artist takes the communal ideas and associations that surround the various gods of his or her time and plays with them, inventing another story for these mythic characters” (Wilson, 1993).

TO ASK WHY… How do students create text without any meaning?

CREATING THE OPEN WORK…

QUESTIONING IN PLAYS 4.48 Psychosis – Sarah Kane Heart’s Desire – Caryl Churchill Half and Half – Daniel Keene What’s the matter with Mary Jane – Wendy Harmer

WHAT IS REAL?

MELISSA’S ANCHORS There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality. Pablo Picasso

MELISSA’S ANCHORS Sociological Context: The Marginalised, Ostracised & Unfairly Accused & Tried

MELISSA’S ANCHORS Artists in Residence Ngoc Phan Peter Rasmussen Play the truth

THE MARGINALISED, OSTRACISED & UNFAIRLY ACCUSED & TRIED IN TEXT – ‘THE LOST THING’ & ‘THE CRUCIBLE’:

THE MARGINALISED, OSTRACISED & UNFAIRLY ACCUSED & TRIED IN REALITY – DAVID HICKS & GUANTANAMO BAY:

THE MARGINALISED, OSTRACISED & UNFAIRLY ACCUSED & TRIED IN CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE – ‘HONOUR BOUND’: How could Hick’s story be told through Contemporary Performance? Honour Bound (2006) Co-designed and directed by Nigel Jamieson

SEEING EACH OTHER SOMEWHERE IN THE FUTURE Contemporary Performance Presenting Task

ZAC’S PRESENTING TASK HERE TASK: During this term you have been workshopping the dramatic languages through the form and style of Contemporary Performance and examined the work of Robert Wilson. In a group you are to devise a contemporary piece inspired by the contexts of a chosen picture book. You will be marked on your presenting skills; therefore you must demonstrate your ability to manipulate and apply the dramatic languages of the style to create specific and purposeful dramatic action and meaning. Your performance must also show a planned, rehearsed and polished performance that poses questions to an unknown audience through the communicated meaning in creation of an open work

PRESENTING TASK: SCRIPTED PERFORMANCE How could Miller’s ‘The Crucible’ be used as the basis of a Contemporary Performance? There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality. Pablo Picasso Considering Picasso’s quote your task in groups is to apply the dramatic languages of Contemporary Performance to an excerpt of ‘The Crucible’ and then rehearse, polish and present this excerpt to an unfamiliar audience. The purpose of your performance is to reflect the sociological contexts explored in this unit (the marginalised, the ostracised and the unfairly accused and tried) to engage, inform and challenge your audience.

ZAC FORMING TASK – NON-PRAC DEVISING We should treat all the trivial things of life very seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality. -Oscar Wilde TASK: During this unit you have been workshopping the dramatic languages through Contemporary Performance. You have worked extensively with the conventions of the style. We have also explored the play “The Importance of Being Earnest” and its themes of double life, inversion and deception. A local theatre company has now approached you to create a new contemporary adaptation of the play “The Importance of Being Earnest”. You are to ‘appropriate’ the script using a variety of the contemporary conventions to engage a younger audience on this classic play and open the meaning of the work – in line with contemporary performance. The new dramatic action should challenge and empower audiences in the deception of modern man. Using your knowledge of Contemporary Performance, you should be able to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the dramatic languages to create and shape dramatic action, convey themes, dramatic symbols and create an indeterminate meaning. Your new work may demonstrate a complete intended performance or a moment of a longer performance.

QUESTIONS