Matt Addicott

The Elf Experiment II: Day Four

Friday 26^th November

Having found some interesting and successful devices, actions and activities over the last two days I was keen to take something of a step to the side and try a different approach with the experiments that we would undertake in Westerhouse Nursery. I was keen to find a way of tipping the balance between performer and audience led interaction towards that of the children.

In order to achieve this Hazel and Scott were sent in alone with much less in comparison to the previous experiments. We conducted three experiments at Westerhouse Nursery, the first two for around 20/25 3-5 year olds – the third to seven 2-3 year olds.

The device – Their objective in the first experiment was to explore the nursery as part of a research exercise on behalf of Santa Claus. They were elves that didn’t know the meaning of Christmas and were looking for the children to help them.

For the second and third experiments they were asked not to use words to communicate with the children and find alternative ways of expressing themselves. They were also given a staged way of starting, a relationship and asked to check how Christmassy the objects, areas and people they came across in the nursery were using Scott’s Stylohone as a Christmas meter.

Performance – In the first experiment Hazel and Scott entered the nursery together and quickly encountered their audience and lots of questions. They explained the reasons behind their appearance before splitting up quite quickly as Scott sat down to play with his Melodica and Auto-Harp whilst Hazel went off on an exploration of the rest of the nursery.  After almost forty minutes they were reunited as Scott approached Hazel to see if she could help him get in touch with Santa Claus, which she did before they left together.

The second and third experiments felt very different. Both started with Hazel entering the space on her own and showing the children a picture of Scott before discovering a length of red wool that she would begin to follow. This wool led her to Scott who was playing his Ukelele in a different area of the nursery.

Once united the pair began to explore the nursery using both the Stylophone and Ukelele to explore how Christmassy the nursery was before deciding that their work was done and leaving. Both experiments lasted around half an hour.

DISCOVERIES

Providing less as performers and asking more from our audience – After the first experiment today Scott and Hazel felt somewhat frustrated by the experience.  It was generally agreed that in attempting to encourage the children to take the lead in what we were doing with a method of presenting them with less direct stimulus and instruction was not successful. It led to a much stronger involvement and presence in the performance from the teaching staff, more than we had encountered during the rest of the week.

Splitting up – in this instance, with the amount of preparation we had – I think that splitting up contributed to the lack of focus that this experiment had. I did, however, enjoy watching the audience move between the two spaces and the way that word spread throughout the nursery of what was going on. At one point a girl came running through to where Hazel was exploring the space, grabbed one of her friends by the hand and said ‘you have to come and see this’ before dragging him through the nursery to where Scott was playing some music.

Non-verbal communication – felt good to watch and use to communicate with our audience. I think for Hazel and Scott there was a feeling that they could be somewhat more truthful in performance with the absence of language. I enjoyed watching the relationship between performer and audience develop without spoken language too and think it could lead to a greater investment from the children as they are able to construct their own meaning from the performer’s actions without being told what they are doing and how to feel about them.

The power of four – throughout the week and perhaps particularly today when two of us were performing and two observing, we have enjoyed conducting these experiments as a group of four. This number has allowed us to keep an eye on the whole audience for the duration of each experiment and I think it has been a bit of a treat for the audience to have four people attempting to entertain them on their own patch.

I have also found it valuable to have the opinions of three experienced artists on hand this week – there were lots of exchanges between performance and audience that we had different interpretations of and I am certain that my understanding of what we created benefitted enormously from us sharing our thoughts before during and after work each day.

Conclusion

Conducting our last experiment in front of our youngest audience of the week was a fitting way to finish this stage of the projects development. At the end of the performance one of the group’s teachers commented that “in the six years I have been working here the children have never been this quiet at the same time.”

Today was probably our most difficult day together – it felt like we were working against some of the positive discoveries that we had made but that was perhaps was always going to happen this week.

Although I have used some very scientific language to describe this project the findings are wholly subjective and whilst I cannot be certain about how our audience felt about what we presented them with, I am personally convinced that, at various points in the week, our presence in their environment created excitement, interest and curiosity.

For the next two weeks I will be working at Howden Park in Livingston on ‘Rudolf’, a Christmas show for 3-5 year olds that I worked with Andy Manley on for the Macrobert, Stirling in 2008. I return to my residency at Platform and the Elf Experiment on December 13^th. Together with Hazel, Heather and Scott I will revisit the discoveries we have made together and continue the development of the Elf Experiment. I feel as though the work will benefit from some time and space, when we will see what has settled in our memories and what would like to try next.

The Elf Experiment II: Day Three

Thursday 25^th November

Helenslea Nursery today and we carried out four experiments – one in the morning and three in the afternoon. The first experiment was conducted by Heather, Hazel and I before Scott joined us for the rest in the afternoon.

The device/premise – we decided to try something a bit different. Hazel, Heather and I were trainee elves searching for the clues hidden in Christmas crackers that Santa had left in different places all over the world. In our search for the last clue, the map we were carrying had led us to Helenslea where we entered the children’s classrooms looking for the cracker.

Once we had found it and worked out how to open it, we worked through the list of instructions hidden inside. Today we had to collect various different sounds in jars, bags and boxes.

Once we had successfully collected these items – we phoned Santa to let him know and he asked if anyone there knew any Christmas songs he could teach his reindeers and elves as he was tired of hearing the same ones being sung in the workshop.

Once our mission was complete, we informed the audience that they had helped us so much that they could think of themselves as ‘honorary elves’ and gave them each an elf name on a sticky label.

We had spoken after the experiments last night about trying to ‘raise the stakes’ of our story and in an attempt to do so decided that Hazel’s character would become upset and scared about the task ahead when she realised just how much she and the other trainee elves had to do.

Gone were the eye liner specs and ‘tashes, replaced by hi-visibility waistcoats, red cheeks, woolly hats and a length of red wool that we used to tie us to one another.

We entered the nursery without ceremony, fanfare or introduction and began looking for Santa’s instructions. After a while Hazel began to get upset, prompting Heather and I to comfort her, explain to the children why she was upset and ask for their help.

Discoveries

Performing to the whole nursery - Niamh, one of the children in the audience seemed to enjoy what we were doing very much and joined us for all four of our experiments! After the first time she saw what we were doing she followed us around the nursery.  Whilst pleased that she was having a lovely time, the premise of this experiment made it quite disruptive if someone had already experienced it. She didn’t seem to mind at all though!

Sound collecting – this proved to be an enjoyable, successful and easy activity for the children to understand and contribute to. The sounds we were asking for were ‘happy, silly, scary, loud, quiet and Christmas’. We also asked what sound a colour – like blue might make and although we did have one or two interesting responses ‘water’ and ‘sky’ – generally I think it was much harder for the children to think what sort of sound the colour might have and instead they were offering suggestions of things that they thought were blue.

Hazel being upset – due to a lack of clarity in our story, particularly the reason we were present in the nursery, Hazel’s change of mood was not quite the shift of gears we hoped it would be – it also created a different atmosphere in the room at the beginning of the experience.

I didn’t get the impression that the children were particularly afraid of us because of Hazel being upset, particularly because there were two of us to help calm her and the audience. I also think that if our story was developed further then a change in tone and mood caused by one of the performers getting upset could prove to be a very important feature of the performance.

Elf name labels – these seemed to go down well with the audience and helped us to find a conclusion to the experiment. We also gave each group a snowflake to keep safe and use to decorate the nursery with.

The Elf Experiment II: Day Two

Wednesday 24^th November

We went to St. Bridget’s Nursery Class today and carried out two experiments. Both were performed in the same room to all of the children present – the first at eleven, the second at half past one. Before, in between and after the experiments we returned to Platform to discuss what had happened and plan for the session ahead.

Device/premise - All four of us performed today as ‘Pap (Hazel), Spoon (Me), Melody (Scott) and Richard (Heather)’ – four members of Santa’s Special Secret Service. We had been led to the nursery class as part of our mission where we needed to find a special secret clue.

This was a set of instructions recorded by Santa himself that we had hidden in an envelope as soon as we arrived at the nursery. The recording detailed two tasks, one designed to encourage the children to participate in a visual art activity and the other; musical.

Performance - One of things we wanted to try was beginning a performance unannounced – simply walking into the nursery and attempting to engage the children in our actions. So, this morning we walked into their space and Scott played a fanfare on his Melodica – a breath operated mini-keyboard. Many of the children were looking at us from the moment we entered the room and the rest gave us their attention as soon as they heard the music.

We waited until they approached us before we introduced ourselves and explained why we were here. We asked if they knew Santa and listened as they told us all about him. We then explained that we were here to help Santa and then looked for the recorded message he had given us. Unfortunately it became clear that Melody had forgotten where he had left the message and so we asked if the children could help us find it.

The whole room then began looking for the recording and eventually one child proudly held it in the air. Once found, we then listened to the message from Santa Claus together. Pap translated Santa’s message to the children, emphasising what he was asking of us and them.

Essentially Santa needed some new ideas – some inspiration – and was asking his Special Secret Service to collect all the red objects that they could find in the nursery, take a photograph and bring it back to him.

The children were happy to help and approached the task with enthusiasm – looking for, finding and bringing us lots and lots of different red objects of all shapes and sizes.

Once collected and photographed, the red things were then restored to their usual places in the nursery and we returned to Santa’s recording. We heard how the reindeers in Lapland sing whilst they work and are driving Santa mad by singing the same song all day every day. Santa needed to teach them a new tune but didn’t know any and so the second task he had given his Special Secret Service was to find and record a Christmas song.

There were many suggestions – mostly Jingle Bells and Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer – and Melody played along as the class sung through them, loudly. Once completed and recorded Santa’s Special Secret Service bid the class farewell and began their journey back to Santa.

Discoveries

The moment that we arrived in the room – it felt like something different, exciting and interesting for the children. Unlike the original Elf Experiment, this first meeting did not feel scary or tense.

I think that having Scott play live music helped create a feeling of safety and of preparation and rehearsal – what was happening in the nursery was not happening by chance or accident but by choice and design.

The reaction of the adults in the room was important too – they reacted warmly and with humour to our appearance in the room, perhaps because of the music that Scott was playing, perhaps because of the glasses, freckles and moustaches that Richard (Heather) had drawn on us with eye liner.

Looking for the message from Santa Claus – the whole audience seemed to quickly and easily understand what was being asked of them and they all helped to search their surroundings and find the package containing Santa’s message.

The search felt more satisfying in the first experiment than the second. Although it had gone on for what felt like a very long time I am pleased that we allowed the search to run its course as when the child that found it held it proudly above her head we could join in with her celebrations honestly.

In the second experiment, the search again took some time and this time a teacher who had spotted where we had been placed, took a child over to it and encouraged them to pick it up - our reaction to this discover felt less truthful.

Name badges – each of the children in the nursery wore name badges on their jumpers – this was really helpful in our attempts to engage with them.

Collecting the coloured objects – an activity that all the children could contribute to and that there were no wrong answers for. It was exciting, funny and interesting for the performers to see what the children had collected for them and ultimately felt like a satisfying exchange.

Melody – the character of Melody, played by Scott, was able to speak only through his Melodica and not with words. This meant that the children would have to guess, suggest, imagine what it was that he was saying. This seemed to work as their suggestions were very close to our intentions – something I would like to explore further.

The device/premise – suggesting we worked for Santa gave us immediate credibility with the audience. Nobody questioned the device and although I think it could have been much simpler it was reassuring to discover that the audience was happy to believe and commit to the reality that we were presenting them with.

The recording – hard to understand and too detailed, the recording, although fun to discover, was not a very satisfying aspect of this experiment. It caused frustration when the children gathered around to listen to it as there was confusion about whether it was something to see or not – the children at the back of the group were particularly annoyed at not being able to see what was happening.

Conclusion

I think we were all pretty happy with how the day had gone. The drama and music elements of the experiment felt good – the visual art aspect, less successful; although we enjoyed the colour collecting exercise I think with some more planning and thought it could lead to the creation of a installation or image and not just an exercise in collecting and transporting.

The Elf Experiment II: Day One

Tuesday 23^rd November

This week I shall be working with Frozen Charlotte’s Co-Artistic Director; Heather Fulton, Starcatchers Artist in Residence at the Byre; Hazel Darwin Edwards and Scott Twynholm, who composed the music for First Light.

Together we shall be developing a new performance experience for nurseries under the working title ‘The Elf Experiment’. I started work on the project almost exactly a year ago when I worked with Jon Holt, a performer and the children of Lochview Nursery.

Today the four of us met to talk about the week ahead and plan some experiments! Together we came up with several different characters, scenarios and actions to try and generate a response from the children we are to work with.

I am particularly interested in exploring the relationship between performance and participation, finding different ways to engage the audience and invite them to explore the world around them through performance. I am also keen to discover if this participation can help to develop a narrative in a way that feels honest and satisfying for audience and performers alike.

Heather is working with us this week as part of her research project into a Starcatchers resource pack. She plans to speak to the staff at the nurseries we are working in to discover what existing materials they have and identify what they might find useful to have as a starting point for artistic activity. Heather and I have decided to try find a way of including a musical, dramatic and visual art element in the experiments we conduct for the nurseries this week.

One Year On

The past year has flown by – I cannot quite believe that I have been working with Starcatchers and Platform for over a year.

But I have.

And it is almost Christmas again – which means it is almost time for the next Elf Experiment!

I am very happy with the team that I have assembled to develop the project. I shall be working with fellow artist in residence; Hazel Darwin Edwards, Scott Twynholm – who composed and played live during First Light and Frozen Charlotte’s co-Artistic Director; Heather Fulton who will help us with the experiment as part of her own ongoing research into resources that can be passed on to nurseries to help them generate arts activity.

We will be working on the experiment for four days next week – the first here at Platform and the following three out in the local community in nurseries.

I am then taking two weeks out from the residency to remount Rudolf for a run at Howden Park, Livingston this Christmas. Created for 3-5 year olds by Andy Manley and the original cast the show is loads of fun and was nominated for an award when first presented at the Macrobert in December 2008. So, come along and see it if you can!

I’ll be returning to the Elf Experiment once I am back and taking what we have created into six nurseries the week before Christmas.

As part of the development process for the show I shall be making blogging on our progress each day – which will make a pleasant change from the bi-monthly updates that have been frustrating some of you! (Mentioning no names - Charlotte Maslin-Prothero!)

The Return of The Incredible Swimming Choir!

November

What a lovely week! Well I say lovely but could also have said cold and shrivelled as that is what happens when you spend five hours in a swimming pool rehearsing with The Incredible Swimming Choir.

Returning to form part of the IETM and Wee Inspiration programme, The Incredible Swimming Choir performed four times over two days this week. Choir stalwarts Lewis Hetherington and Drew Wright (aka Wounded Knee) were joined by Emily Stevenson and Kim Moore, who has worked a lot with Katy during her residency and is a member of Zoë Van Goey.

Xana Marwick was also on hand to help me direct the choir in the pool here at the Bridge. We returned to the songs that featured in the original performance and added a few new sequences too. Each show was well attended and there were lots of very, very young children – the youngest being just six weeks!

The performance met with a generally positive response and one of my favourite comments was: “not had a day off for a while – so this was the perfect way to spend the day together [with my child]”

Working with the choir has been a highlight of the residency and I hope that we might be able to bring the show to a pool near you one day!

The photo above was taken by Neil Thomas Douglas

Engaging Research

Today I went along to the Tron to watch Luvhart, a beautiful show that Sacha Kyle has created as part of her residency. As well as the show I was also at the Tron to meet with the research team from Strathclyde University.

The researchers have been following our residencies from day one and I find it very interesting to hear what they think about our work and what happens when it meets an audience. Excitingly, Joan Martlew, the researcher that has been assigned to my residency gave me a copy of the report she made on one of the First Light shows she observed in August.

The report is a minute by minute breakdown of the engagement signals displayed by the watching audience as observed by Joan. As well as taking a note of what behaviour the audience display throughout the piece, Joan has also detailed what was happening onstage at the same time.

It is interesting to see how the audience’s reactions to the show have been processed and coded by Joan and the more I read and hear of the work being done by the researchers the more able I am to understand the reactions of the tiny people that watch my work. I look forward to hearing and learning more from Joan’s work over the next few months.

Starcatchers goes back to School!

This month I went into John Wheatley – the further education college that is in the same building as Platform – to speak to the students from the childcare course. Starcatchers is developing a link with the college and together they are currently running a module designed to allow training nursery practitioners to find out more about the arts and learn some practical methods of facilitating artistic activity in their own practice once they graduate.

The students are a lovely bunch – I first met them in April, then in August when they came along to a First Light dress rehearsal and again at the end of that month when they gave me some fascinating and generally positive feedback of the show.

I find this project really exciting and hope that introducing arts activity to new and emerging nursery staff at this stage in their education might lead to more interest and support for the arts emerging in nurseries.

The session I ran this week was designed to allow them to contribute directly to the Elf Experiment project that I am working on later in the year and provide the students with a collection of exercises that they could take on themselves and lead with their nursery classes in the future.

The picture above was drawn by a student in response to the question ‘if you were running away from home tomorrow – what would you take with you?’

The responses provided by the students to this question along with others, will be used in the Elf Experiment devising process I lead later in the year.

Second Chance to see First Light!

Next year First Light will perform as part of the Starcatchers’ International Symposium at the Macrobert in Stirling on 22^nd and 23^rd March and the Imaginate Festival running between 9^th and 14^th May. I am delighted that the show is to be performed again and that more people will get a chance to see it.

Since the show was first performed in August Jen Edgar and Stewart Kennedy, two of the performers, have left Glasgow to study in Paris and London respectively. Whilst I hope they are both having lots and lots of fun, I also hope that they might consider taking a couple short holidays home next spring!

This Sucks! News

October

Massive thank you to Numatic – who have given Katy and I a provisional green light to continue working with Hetty the Hoover. This is great news and both Katy and I are looking forward to making the show at some stage in 2011 – when Katy has returned from her adventures in the outback!

Before rehearsals start for the show, we will be working with Hetty on ‘This Workshop Sucks’ a participative workshop with moments of performance for the GFT’s Glasgow Youth Film Festival in February next year. The workshops which will be sold to local nursery schools will take place here at Platform and feature some of the short films we have recorded throughout the summer, some very exciting experiments and almost certainly a lot of mess!

The photo above was taken by Katy during a great day playing in the park with Hetty earlier in the year.

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