As we began to develop our company and ideas emerged, deciding on the name ‘Hand Me Down Theatre’ was influenced by our decision to adapt and reinterpret texts handed down to us as artistic performers, thus stemming from our intentions derived from our Mission Statement. Although initial connotations of the company name may be linked with the association with ‘hand me down clothes’, evoking a sense of comfort, it is arguably the breaking down of this preconception that ties in with the objective of our manifesto, yet we are arguably using the same principle but with texts as opposed to clothes. My inspiration for the vision of our performances produced at Hand Me Down Theatre has drawn aspects from Filter’s productions and their original adaptations of the classic texts, some consisting of the works of Shakespeare. Their mission statement as a company is that
‘Filter creates new work and interprets classic texts. Formed in 2003, Filter’s Artistic Directors are Oliver Dimsdale, Tim Phillips and Ferdy Roberts.’ (Filter Theatre, 2012)
This manifesto of Filter’s was translated in their production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night that was performed at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre 10th October 2013. This production immediately broke down the barriers often associated with Shakespeare’s work that may at times intimidate an audience not familiar with Jacobean theatre. This was due to the obviously modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic play that involved a preset stage incorporating multimedia and broke down any thwarting atmosphere between the audience and the actors, instead inviting the audience into their realm of humour and playfulness.
(Day, 2013, cited in timeout.com)
It is this endearingly inviting environment that Filter adopt when on-stage that I look to produce both in the rehearsal studio as well as in performances, so that our diverse demographic of audiences can relate to our intentions in the no doubt unfamiliar territory they are involved in. The rehearsal schedule I co-ordinate here at Hand Me Down Theatre is a compilation of characterisation rehearsals, one to one sessions, workshops and research & developments for the initial process. Yet as we have began our company solely focusing on various texts, as opposed to a scripted play, the rehearsal process has been very unrestrictive causing the actors’ imagination to never be stifled, rather always flowing with creative and playful energy. This is especially evident in our debut performance of ‘Take Me by the Tongue’, where one scene is created from the book Living Dolls by Natasha Walter. I have edited the writing to produce three separate dialogues, although all written from a feminist author, six characters were produced so that their actions contradicted the feminist words that are being said from one perspective. These three different dialogues consist of three different generations, thus creating The Generation Show Scene.
However as it is the re-interpretation of texts that is the focus for performing, this is arguably more of a challenge for the performer as we often try not to replicate original perceptions of characters created in texts. This seems to be the case when researching the works of Shakespeare when peoples’ original perceptions of extreme characters such as Hamlet and King Lear have been theatrical. Yet I try to hone in on the words themselves during rehearsals and workshop how underlining themes can be found in speeches that are often associated with power.
My method during the rehearsal process is similar to Katie Mitchell’s as she writes that ‘focusing solely on the trigger event can often provide you with lots of material for improvisations’. (2009, p. 72) This ‘trigger event’ that she refers to can simply be what motivates the words spoken, requiring me to think innovatively of the subtext behind the text, although arguably the subtext is altered round the chosen interpretation suiting the theme of the performance. It is using improvisation during my rehearsal schedule that really helps develops scenes and the progression of our devised piece as these ‘trigger events’ lead onto other trigger events that may not at all times be apparent if one does not detach oneself away from the text in hand.
Works Cited:
Day, R. (2013) Untitled. [online] London, UK; Time Out. Available from http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/twelfth-night-47 [Accessed 28 March 2014].
Filter Theatre (2012) About Us [online]London: Filter Theatre. Available from http://www.filtertheatre.com/page/Company/ [Accessed 20 March 2014].
Mitchel, Katie (2009) The Director’s Craft: A Handbook for the Theatre, Oxon: Routledge.
Walter, Natasha (2010) Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism, London: Hachette Digital.