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THE MAKING OF TWO COMMUNITY PLAYS

Compiled by Declan Mallon

The relationship between Macra na Feirme, Termonfeckin and Upstate Local goes back to April 1998. It was at a local network meeting that we first encountered Jimmy Lawless from the club. After some discussion it was decided that we might introduce ourselves to the other members via a series of drama workshops. The nature of these workshops were exploratory a word often used in professional circles which roughly translated means 'we don't know what we're doing here'. While it may have considerable philosophical connotations, in this context it simply meant, how?

How do we, both Macra and Upstate forge a meaningful relationship and what mechanism do we use to initiate and, yes, explore approach, technique and issues to arrive at a commonality that is worthy and comfortable to all. Worthy of personal commitment from all, worthy of tolerating the frustrations of the devising process and with a shared aim that is challenging and rewarding for all concerned. We quickly identified a simple common starting point. Both organisations were committed to making theatre. We both made theatre and were involved in drama processes. But we both admittedly made theatre in a different way. Macra had a long tradition (it is now 53 years old) of producing one-act dramas for the national Macra competition. These were usually plays taken from the shelf and were the mainstay of that fine amateur tradition. Upstate Local was however looking to form a partnership with interested groups or individuals to explore the boundaries of devising and scripting new material. Ultimately we wanted the challenge of writing about a contemporary community, delving into its psyche, challenging its imagination and hearing its stories by having people from the community write the play themselves. This was not a new way of working for us, or indeed for many others who have developed theatre through this approach. Declan Gorman had recently acted as artist-in-residence for a national Macra na Feirme pilot project with the Macra Arts Club in Monaghan which culminated in the scripting and performance of a full length original play, 'Connected'. I for my part had worked with a number of youth and school groups, most prominently the Droichead Youth Theatre in Drogheda, over the previous eight years, devising plays with young people.

The initial Termonfeckin project, which led to the scripting of 'Tunnel of Love', had three parts which had sub-phases (as detailed further down). The first part was exploratory in nature. Upstate Local led a series of workshops, which investigated the use of theatre games, improvisational and staging techniques. These approaches were not entirely alien to the members of Macra; individuals had attended workshops where the technique had been similar. However the methods had not wholly transferred to the club's approach and creating new original drama was not yet on the agenda.

The second phase of workshops focused on searching for appropriate stories to tell. This led us in all directions and to the creation of several improvised short dramas. It also gave us the basis for discussion about the type of stories the club wished to represent their vision. The final phase was when the characters had actually been decided and it remained for the group to prepare a structure and content for the characters and their story to be told. Scene by scene was outlined in prose by the writer-in-residence. The objective of each scene was discussed and confirmed. Some of the characters, issues and stories had appeared in different guises in the earlier phases and were adapted to suit the proposed plot. When all this was concluded, the writing only took a few workshop sessions to complete. With clearly defined characterisation and scene objectives, collective writing was not a problem. Then it was time to rehearse for performance. In all, the process from introductory workshops to the first production took one year.

Any knowledgeable practitioner who has seen the productions of either 'Tunnel of Love' or 'Zoo Station' will quickly recognise how the various parts of the plays were arrived at and what techniques were used to create various elements of the piece. Theatre making is not a mystery. It is hard work made by art not by chance.

As in all good community arts practice the relationship between the facilitating professional arts organisation and the community group is of utmost importance. Creating an environment of mutual respect where communication is two-way traffic and open dialogue, constructive criticism and discussion is encouraged, is the beginning of a healthy relationship. The prerequisites of group facilitation all apply, investigating and analysing the group dynamic, balancing contributions and ensuring participation from all quarters. Obviously the relationship is built on responsibilities for each organisation and roles for individuals within the project, the latter being particularly important around the production phase of the project. Last but never least is budgets. A good relationship will have joint responsibility for financing the project, with targets set for all involved. The evaluation of the 'Tunnel of Love', Phase One, asks, "What was the club's aim? and replies, To establish compatibility within the group and with the partner group, Upstate Theatre Project.

Like many practitioners we borrowed frequently from established authorities such as Augusto Boal, Chrissie Poulter and Clive Barker. Boal's methods are so widely applied that individuals may be using the same, similar or adapted versions of his techniques without having read any of his books. Like any other craft, practice perfects and hones the skills employed in the games for both the participants of the games and the leaders or facilitators.

Each session was prepared as any drama workshop would. Warm up games were designed to prepare for the objective of the session, whether it was improvisation, creative writing or movement. Themes and ideas would be worked through by choosing scenarios that the members of the club would improvise. Characters created in these exercises might be 'hot-seated' or monologues written for them. An idea voiced by a character during an improvisation dedicated to a totally different subject might be the spark for a new improvisation. Themes emerged, were explored and discarded.

Phases

As I have already noted, the projects, we have worked on have developed through a series of phases which I have sought to clarify below. The readiness of the group to move from one phase to the next must be fully established.

1. The Matchmaking

The outcome is to ensure compatibility exists between the groups or organisations. The best way to proceed is frank, yet sensitive, discussion; an exchange of ideas and documents; and generally investigating shared areas of policy and ideology.
Members in the group changed from being quiet in the background to wanting to be listened to, with something to say.
(From the evaluation of 'Tunnel of Love')

2. The dating game

Not unlike the first date the initial workshop period is a coy, sometimes awkward affair. The starting point has always been trying to engender a sense of safety to allow and encourage full participation without fear of ridicule. The fun element is essential in helping people relax. Discipline is self imposed after general standards are agreed. Like any courting couple the uncertainty of the initial improvisations is evident but we have found that it quickly evolves into an interesting investigation of storytelling and staging technique. Opinions on the appropriateness, the success or failure of an improvised experiment are all part of creating the safety zone from which to launch a trusting relationship of creativity. Recording and storing documentation from this phase is always useful. Embryonic ideas can later give birth to new incarnations in the later parts of the project. This phase was covered in eight workshops.

Two nights were spent discussing what we wanted to achieve. There was a lot of thought put into it. We then engaged in drama workshop explorations, which created great excitement. There were four nights overall and we had an evaluation at the end of this. It was felt that we had achieved more in four nights than in two weeks on a traditional drama course.
(From the Evaluation of 'Tunnel of Love')

3. The Commitment

There comes a time in this process when a greater level of commitment is required. The improvisations become more intense, the investigation of themes and ideas more rigorous. It is during this phase of the project that courage and discrimination to test and reject ideas becomes essential. The nature of the process is collective and no personal ownership is held on any of the material therefore no offence is perpetrated when deciding on what has to be omitted. The editing out of some ideas can also lead to some insightful discussion on issues that arise from the themes, form and character that are suggested for development. The level of personal commitment, simply around time, is essential to achievement of the agreed objective whether that is to develop a full-length or one-act play. The time frame is mutually decided upon. The match is complete. It took a further eight workshops to conclude this phase during 'Tunnel of Love'.

A lot of good script - characters we didn't want to kill off
(From the evaluation of 'Zoo Station')

4. The Engagement

The mutual expectation at this stage is to write an outline for a play. The outline emerges through a continued process of improvisations and discussion. Storylines, impressions, character development are continually teased out, tossed around and left to lie amid the rest of the jigsaw puzzle. This material all helps to form the basis of one of the key sessions of the project, which Declan Gorman calls, 'The Night of the Story'. This involves the mapping of each character or cluster of characters, told orally, collectively and charted on 'The Grid'. This mechanism is a simple and effective method for charting the progress of characters journeys through the plot and subplots, illustrating how they might connect with the journeys of others and how these journeys conclude. This element of the work was the culmination of six workshops.

While we continued with some enjoyable improvisations, at this stage we found we were coming to a stalemate - the process had started to slow down. The turning point came in January. The characters for our story were named on Sunday and the following Tuesday we decided how the main story and various sub-plots would proceed. We did this using a grid system, suggested by Declan Gorman and Declan Mallon. Our original mistake had been that we tried to create the story before the play. In the end the story came from the people. Once the characters were named the story evolved. At this stage we started to write.
(From the Evaluation of 'Tunnel of Love')

5. The Temporary Break -up

Our agreed method allows for the writer-in-residence to take the completed 'grid' with the agreed storylines, and transfer it into a prose treatment, using a scene by scene structure. The rest of the members take a break. This process usually takes two to three weeks.

People realised we could look into everyday experience of a local community and turn everyday gossip into a work of art.
(From the evaluation of 'Zoo Station')

6. The run-up to the Big Day

The treatment is read back to the participants. All must agree that it is a fair and accurate reflection of the agreed storyline and that it is a viable structure. Each participant is then given scenes to write in the workshops. Where there is lack of clarity, the writer -in-residence gives guidance. The artistic company collects the hand-written script pages and inputs them onto a computer in sequence. This job of work, of course can be shared by any individuals with computer skills within the group. The writer-in-residence edits where necessary to eliminate repetition or dramatic inconsistencies, but otherwise presents the work back exactly as written. Movement scenes are usually written by the writer/director in prose description. This process took two workshops in the case of 'Tunnel of Love'

It was unbelievable as a group where we had been to and where we are now.
(From the evaluation of 'Zoo Station')

6. The Big Day

One of the major benchmarks of the project is the returning the completed, typed-up script to its authors. The finished play is read. Casting and organising rehearsals commences.

7. Expecting

Preparations for the public production are no different to those in any theatre context. Rehearsals; establishing a production crew; engaging other artists if required and affordable; responsibility for design; construction for the set; publicity material and distribution, stage and project management are all issues that are developed in this phase.

Extraordinary self belief although very complex play
(From the evaluation of 'Zoo Station')

8. Delivery

Obviously this is a very large part of the process. The usual technical and dress rehearsal procedure is completed. The first night of any show is special. It is more so for a community play that has evolved and developed from within the same community that makes up the audience. The ultimate test for any play.

We were pushed beyond the limits of where we thought we could go
(From the evaluation of 'Zoo Station')

9. Reviewing the album

It is standard practice to evaluate the process. At this stage the relationship between all should be at a phase of development that rigorous, honest assessment is a non-threatening experience.

It should be added that each group has its own dynamic and level of experience and will therefore need assistance and guidance at different stages of the project. The writer-in-residence we speak of has many roles; a facilitator, an editor and a supervisor but seldom an actual creative writer. The above is a broad outline of the phases we experienced. There are many artists and companies who are developing other equally valid and successful methods of communal theatre making. Macra na Feirme, Termonfeckin and Upstate Local are yet another in that growing tradition.