Huge week! I have just wrapped up Stage 2 for this project which was the second creative development of the Spirit Garden show. It culminated on Sunday 8th September with a Work-in-Progress (WIP) Showcase held at Glenwood Close, Atherton. I am pretty overwhelmed with the work and commitment to this show that everyone gave me. So grateful to everyone, including all the people who attended the showcase.
Below is a blow by blow account of Development Week...
Me and my mother - the owner of the property - watching what's unfolding...
By the way, this property used to be a Chinese Market Garden in the 1920s and 30s.
L to R - Shari Indriani (Director) and Anna Yen (Movement Director)
We worked seven days straight from Monday 2nd September to Sunday 8th September. It was a predictably intense, but also incredibly creative and productive week. The focus for this development was on testing and developing the food, cooking and gardening elements of the show, as well as the sound, music and projection. The showcase at the end of the week had a live audience, so we were able to interact directly with them and gather feedback and first impressions for the WIP so far.
The week started with a full read of the current draft of the script. The actors for this development (except for Anna and Sara) were all new and so the full read put everyone on the same page...the last page of the script....! It took an hour and a half to read. Following that, we had an in-depth review of the script, page by page, with me as playwright taking notes for edits. Another purpose of the full read was for us - especially the director - to start thinking about the showcase excerpt.
Above is the outdoor set in the daylight. This is the result of a few experiments rearranging set elements for this site-specific WIP. We didn't use the blue tarp area! But the main component is the food van, front and centre. This was used as a projection surface and also as the actual kitchen where Mar Way (aka Willie Mar Senior) serves the Jook. You can see the projectors on two trusses, wheelbarrows - there's a kero lamp already lit - and the chair which are already placed. The chair is where Cat teaches Sai Lan how to do Bai Saan ritual. Shari is sitting in the back row overseeing proceedings while Anna is rehearsing on the ground in the main performance space.
L to R - Karen, Patty and Russell, most of the tech team.
This is one of the many tech meetings. All of these people blew me away with their skills and how they can work ANYWHERE. Although I have worked with all of them before, I still can't quite believe that they are all here working on the show I am writing. Several times I had a bit of impostor syndrome...
Above - Props table.
Note the tape separating each prop, labelled with name and item and monitored by Anna "hawk-eye" Yen and Karen "did you put that back...?" Engel.
There's also the battery packs for the headset mics. Labelled. I stopped one of the actors eating the prop mandarines, which are part of the Bai Saan ritual.
We worked in the afternoon until late at night because Russell the projectionist needed darkness to focus lights and projections, some of which were mapped onto the food van. This is actor Adam, during a break. Note the projections beginning to be mapped onto the food van. The lights, set to different colours, looked especially good on the foliage surrounding the performance space.
Under the blue gazebo is what becomes the Ops (Operations) desk, where the sound, lights and projections are operated from. The wheelbarrow's on it's side because it was raining/drizzling during the week and the water was draining out. The main thing that worried me this week was the weather! We were discussing contingency and cancellation plans because of the drizzle and intermittent rain. I performed three Bai Saan rituals to my ancestors during the week, to pray for a reprieve in the weather. Success! Thanks Ancestors.
Above - Russell Milledge (who runs Bonemap AV/design company) taking the cast and crew through the back-end of the projection operations and design for the WIP. The image on the laptop represents the "Earth" element. To give you some context, each character in the show has it's own element, and the character of Mar Way (played by Garth Edwards) is strong in the Earth element. This is based on the Chinese system of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Philosophy. The idea is that the show has five Chinese characters, each embodying the five Chinese elements of Earth, Fire, Water, Metal and Wood. In combination they create health and balance.
This is the final set at night, with projections and lights added. Apart from the absence of the gifts (see below) this is how the performance area appeared. We didn't put the gifts out until the last minute because we were all concerned about the rain!!
Shari...the Director...opening the showcase. It begins at the front of the house, and then moves (it's called Promenade style) around to the back, where the chairs are.
Sara (playing Sai Lan) and Anna (playing Cat) performing. A projection is about to burst onto the food van behind.
Photo credit: Sandi Woo
This show includes gifts for the audience in the form of multi-sensory food, cooking and gardening experiences, designed to connect the audience on a visceral level to the stories and the characters. Included in the gifts is a real Chinese bowl and spoon (above).
There was an intimate audience of 30 people. We gathered feedback using paper forms and a QR code option. In future, due to community interest, Sara is planning on holding a community showing of the video of the show, which was captured on the night. If you wanted to attend the WIP Showcase but were unable to, please contact Sara on info@saraisherwood.com to register your interest in attending a community showing.
The Creative Team: 12 of us
Sara Isherwood (Lead Artist, Playwright, Performer, Producer)
Shari Indriani-Irwin (Director and Dramaturg)
Anna Yen (Movement Director and Actor)
Russell and Rose Milledge/Bonemap (AV Design, Projection and Lighting)
Patty Preece (Sound)
Ray Lin (Music)
Jake Skukan (Actor)
Adam Plant (Actor)
Garth Edwards (Actor)
John Doolan (Stage Manager)
Karen Engel (Production Manager)
Brett Turner, Bella Crothers, Lily Boxshall (Volunteers)
This project is supported by Arts Queensland, Creative Australia, the Tablelands Regional Council's RADF program, and the Regional Arts Services Network/Topology.
The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Tablelands Regional Council, to support arts and culture in regional Queensland.
"This project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland."
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
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