Itd), Desperate Optimists and Insomniac Productions
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PERFORMING SELVES: DISTANCE AND IDENTIFICATION IN THE EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE WORK OF IMITATING THE DOG (ITD), DESPERATE OPTIMISTS AND INSOMNIAC PRODUCTIONS A practice-as-research thesis submitted to the University of Lancaster for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the Faculty of Arts Alice Elizabeth Booth BA (Hons.) Department of Theatre Studies Lancaster University Faculty of Humanities September 2004 ProQuest Number: 11003429 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11003429 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Performing Selves: Distance and Identification in the Experimental Performance Work of itd, Desperate Optimists and Insomniac Productions List Of Contents: Abstract Author’s Declaration Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Contradictory and Conflicting Identifications in Presentational Theatre: Mechanisms of the Canon and notions of Authorship and Authority in Play-boy by Desperate Optimists and Guilty Pleasures by itd. 42 Chapter 2: Complicating Identifications: Manipulating Genre through the Meeting Point Between the Filmic and the Theatrical in L ’Ascensore by Insomniac and Five Miles and Falling by itd. 97 Conclusion 158 Bibliography 166 Appendices 172 Abstract: This thesis counters the common postmodern privileging of distance over identification within artistic practice. After Brecht, identification in the theatre has predominantly been imagined as a conservative operation that always aligns us with the status quo. These theories could be described in Eve Sedgwick’s terms as ‘paranoid’ practices that necessarily detest the objects they investigate. At the same time, as Sedgwick maintains, they assume a position of absolute knowledge (2003, p. 138). In other words, paranoid practices implicitly claim to reveal or expose underlying formations of brutality. I argue instead that itd’s practice is not intent on denying identification, but rather holds distance and identification together. Our work recognises that identification is a necessary subjective practice, whilst also asking what is at stake in our specific investments and identifications. I maintain that itd’s work gets close to its objects: it caresses their forms with love. At the same time, it always negotiates the place of distance, yet without disgust and without definite knowledge. Distance, in this thesis, is a place of engagement and contemplation: even of provisional judgement. Concomitantly, I argue that these very investments sustain us, give us a place to be in the world, whilst being the most productive form of giving and understanding. Declaration: I declare that the material that is presented in this thesis is my own work, that it has not been presented in substantially the same form for the award of a higher degree elsewhere, and that due acknowledgement has been given to the references in all sources. Alice Booth September 2004 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Elaine Aston for getting me through that all-important first year. Thank you also to Gabriella Giannachi and Nigel Stewart for their useful comments at various stages of writing. Thank you to Jackie Stacey for some wise words and useful references late on in the process, and to the lovely Laura Levin for some inspiration at a crucial moment during the completion of this project. Thank you to all at the Nuffield Theatre, especially Matt Fenton and Julia Carradus, for being so caring and patient during the final throws of this PhD. Thank you so much to Sarah O’Brien and Simon Kelly - for listening, for good advice and for taking me away from it all at critical moments. Thank you to Charlotte Stuart for support, patience and lots of cups of tea! My deepest gratitude goes to Louise Delahunty, my confidante, for her true love and support, during this project and for as long as I can remember. A massive thank you to my mum, who has fed me and put up with me throughout much of this PhD and, of course, during the many years beforehand. Without her constant encouragement and love I would not be where I am today. Thank you to my brother Sam, for being there and looking after me. Thank you to my dad for his care and love. I am deeply grateful to Simon Wainwright, Seth Honnor and Richard Malcolm for being there for me in different ways, for their friendship, generosity and all their hard work on itd projects. I cannot begin to describe the debt I owe to my supervisor Gerry Harris, whose dedication, enthusiasm, humour and wisdom throughout this project have simply been astonishing. I will never forget. I dedicate this thesis to my inspiration, Andrew Quick. Your love, devotion, patience and belief in me have made this thesis possible. Profound love and thanks. v INTRODUCTION Beginning the Story When embarking on this thesis I wanted to get to the heart of what Imitating the Dog (itd) try to achieve when making performance work. While it is self-evident that the company aims to experiment with theatre’s form - for all sorts of reasons that I will go on to discuss in due course - we also endeavour to construct worlds that audiences can be sucked into or seduced by in the act of spectating.1 All of the company love film. We are attracted to the sensuousness of soundtracks and lighting and the way you can be transported into other worlds. Perhaps even more so than in the theatre. Our first two shows, Einmal ist Keinmal and Ark were highly realised imaginary worlds in which we attempted to draw audiences into a fictional landscape. In fact, I often think of them as metaphorical worlds, since metaphorical theatre implies a world that ‘stands in’ for our own. In other words, it suggests some kind of parallel environment that does not try to literally represent the world around us (in the way some realisms attempt), but rather endeavours to explore the territory of dreams, memory, longing and desire that are seductive but sometimes seem disconnected from everyday experience. Metaphorical theatre, in my conceptualisation, describes a particular paradigm of theatre that is not primarily text-bound, but uses other mechanisms in order to evoke an otherworldly landscape. This theatre considers music, visual and physical performance and sometimes technological landscape as primary elements in its composition; that is, they are not just ‘extra’ components that are used to elucidate or bring life to the text. Although they may not use the word 1 ‘metaphorical’ to describe their own creative practice, Impact Theatre’s work is clearly based on such a model, particularly their seminal piece The Carrier Frequency (1984). This particular performance has inspired and influenced many practitioners and theatre companies since its tour in 1984, and even though we did not see an original version of this piece, it definitely had a significant effect on us and informed the making of our first two shows.3 Our fourth show, Five Miles and Falling (2002)4, could also be described as metaphorical, although this piece is a lot less physical than the others. In this specific case, as I will discuss later, it creates an otherworldly environment through the use of live and technological landscapes, and places the audience inside its representational machine.5 It also deals with the generic pull of the filmic romance narrative. Our third production, Guilty Pleasures (2000)6 does not remain inside a fictional world, but rather explores a number of fictional strands from the ‘outside’. It also lays bare the workings and technologies of each fiction we were practising. Instead of being on the inside of the worlds that we had created, we would ‘present’ them. This piece takes as its starting point the classic canonical text, The Family Reunion by T.S. Eliot. Overall, despite their differences, all itd’s performance works are based on the creation or exploration of alluring fictions. So what we are interested in is, essentially, narratives. In fact my original research questions concentrated on the ways in which fiction might be ‘reclaimed’ by an experimental practice, having been derided for so long as the form most suited to mainstream culture. The research questions were as follows: 1. What is the role of narrative in contemporary performance? 2. What are the ranges of genres of fiction that are evident in contemporary performance? 2 3. What are the theories surrounding narrative and narrative structures that can be applied to contemporary performance? 4. How do film genres interface with the narratives in contemporary performance? 5. How can a matrix that permits different forms of narrative to co-exist be created as practice? 6. Can models for the use of narrative be identified within the work of other contemporary performance practitioners? What relationship do these models have to an understanding of the role of narrative in contemporary culture and to the specific performance making practices of itd? This thesis is still concerned with narrative, although its emphasis has shifted to specific aspects of narrative, namely theories of identification and distance in relation to character, canonicity and genre. This is because, whilst immersing myself in dry narrative theory, I realised that this theoretical discourse was of little help in understanding the role of fiction in the company’s work. The formal accounts of deep structures, patterns and blueprints so widely explored by narratological study did not appear to get me closer to what narratives actuallydo.