What happens when we take away the sense of sight in the performance, can we create an immersive performance which enhances other senses such as sound, smell, touch and taste.
Sight will be taken away by the use of blindfolds in the performance, sound will be enhanced by the use of headspace (using headphones). Our idea of text in the performance will be taken from Marina Abravoic’s performance of Biography where she lists dates and events from her life, we will build upon this by using the theme of celebrations. We will list different dates which correspond with different types of celebrations and create a monologue for each event.
The theme of celebrations has been chosen due to its potential to add in scripted moments where senses such as taste, touch, sound and smell can be used. These celebrations will include: A new years eve party, a child’s birthday party, a wake, a wedding and a graduation.
Our audience will be limited due to the practicality of creating an immersive performance, we want each audience member to have the same experience, therefore a smaller audience will be more effective. Each audience member will be sent an anonymous invitation via email, to a separate event which they will at some point experience in the performance. They will be instructed to be at a given place at a given time and find a blindfold in this space, and put it on. The audience member will be led into the performance space and be given headphones, the audience will be placed in the round. At this point the performance will begin, each event will take place, hoping that the audience will feel that they are present at each celebration due to the enhanced senses. When the performance has finished each audience member will be led to their original meeting point and given a present from the party, the audience member will then be asked to take off their blindfold in 20 seconds, giving time for the performer to disappear. This will leave the audience questioning what really happened, they will be left with simply a memory and a momentum from the performance.
Charlotte Meek
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