Artist Workshop - Daniel Oliver

This workshop began by getting us to think about elements of theatre that we think are positive and we enjoy, and on the other side to that the parts that we do not enjoy and make the nature of the theatre world less likeable.

We were asked to bring in -

• Something we like about theatre

• Something we do not like about theatre

For this I brought (for the former) a ukulele tuner, as I really enjoy any presence of music in theatre and its performances, and theatre and the industry as inspired me to learn many instruments.

For the latter (things we do not like), I brought a ticket to Les Miserableś, which was priced at £125. This is one of my favourite West End shows, however something that really frustrates me about theatre culture is the capitalisation of popular and acclaimed theatre through extortionately priced tickets. This creates a divide between those in society that can afford to see theatre and those who cannot, and it is my belief that all theatre should be accessible, and just because a show is popular doesn't mean it should be priced highly.

These are some statistics and information regarding the price of top tear tickets in London Theatres.

Other examples of things people

disliked where bad theatre etiquette, limited BAME representation on West End stages, and the commercialisation of musicals

These items and how we began to discuss them played with stimulating passion and aggression towards the elements of theatre and performance that we as artists do not like or agree with, and in turn found furthered appreciation for parts we do enjoy and wish to support.

This led to me thinking again about my 'world', and the universe I wish for my project to exist within;

- I started engaging in the socio-political components of my performance, and what that meant regarding how I want an audience to feel in the performance space

- What is my piece saying about the performance culture / sphere that I am placing it within?

- I thought about the physical environment it would be in and how that may influence an audiences' perception of the project

- Items I began to envision included:

• A microphone

• A stool

• A record player

• A 'laugh' and 'applaud' neon sign

• A collection of feminist literature

• Framed artwork of women from literature

We continued to visualise these worlds, and made a draft version based on items we had brought with us. These were also elements that we felt signified key elements of our project. The result of mine can be seen below -

I wanted to present an insight into the balance that may be contemplated by someone within the LGBTQIA+ community at my age, which is deciding how much of their sexuality they want to present as a personality-aesthetic, and the extent to which this decision is influenced by internalised homophobia and a fear of nonacceptance.

As you can see, these items included waxing strips, hair dye and queer monologue anthologies. These items all play with identity politics, and begin to explore the concept of gender. Overall, it made me pinpoint the way that I want to express fluidity in my project, and focus on creating a safe space where an audience feels accepted, as well as myself within it.

Whilst being amerced in this world, I set myself the task of writing a developed 'blurb' of my most organised thoughts regarding my perception of my project at that time. The result is seen below:

"My performance will be delving into the dangers of the extreme self-deprecation seen in many female comedians. As someone who frequently uses the mocking of myself as a mechanism for humour at the expense of my self-preservation and respect, I will be look at the modes of females in positions of entertainment and the comedy sphere. I feel that these categories have become extremely rigid and restrictive and women in comedy have to squeeze themselves into these ‘types’, which limits their content and performative characters."