THE FEAR OF EXPOSURE

The production WYSIWYG is an enquiry into the phenomenon of stage fright: the fear of exposure to an audience, of critical judgment on one's performance and of the "worst case scenario": the publicly witnessed failure.

The production endeavours to bring into focus the social and societal context, the thoughts as well as the emotions and sensations that contribute to this intense state of anxiety.
The production name „WYSIWYG“ is a wordplay created to facilitate the approach of the project's concept.
The acronym „WYSIWYG“ comes from the early days of desktop publishing and means „What you see is what you get“: whichever type of layout and typography a graphic designer may have chosen when designing a file for print with the aid of a word processor or graphic design software, the final print out will look exactly the way the file was displayed on his/her computer screen.

THE ERRORS IN THE TRANSPOSITION

However, in situations of performance - be it a theatre production, a public speech or an A-level examination - there is no guarantee of the perfect rendition, of the exact transposition of the intentioned words, movements and replies into the public sphere.
This particular transition period and mental space between the internal intention, desire or expectation and the external reality is what lies at the heart of the production.
The outcome of the production will be an interdisciplinary dance piece created for four performers, integrating both onstage sound and mobile lighting.

THE PRODUCTION AND THE PUBLIC / THE ROLE OF THE PUBLIC

The production is specifically designed with the intention to reach a broad spectrum of the populace, beyond the usual dance-discerning, theatre-going patronage. As its topic of fear of performance deals with a phenomenon which has become more and more pervasive in the society of today (job market competition, school performance rankings, television shows celebrating social selection such as X-Factor, Big Brother and The Apprentice) it aims to appeal to a wide range of people, especially to children and teenagers who are the most vulnerable to the thoughts and feelings catalysed in the performance.
The production team has also planned two sets of workshops around the topic of stage fright aimed specifically at children and teenagers the outcome of which will constitute an integral part of the devising process.
All the workshop participants will be encouraged to attend the shows by free entry to the performances.
The audience of each show will be required to take an active part in the performance. Their contribution will be crucial in the attempt to create the "worst case scenario", as they transform themselves into the "feared, judgmental, disdainful public eagerly waiting for the disaster to happen".
All members of the audience, by means of leaflets distributed prior to each performance, are requested to consciously engage in feelings of disapproval, to prepare themselves for this particular mindset. They will be given a pen and a paper to note down all aspects of the performance they disliked and be asked to be as brutal as possible in their wording. At the end of the performance, these papers will be collected and integrated into the
final part of the show.

MARKETING

The production's marketing encompasses both standard and show-specific methods of publicity: we will announce the shows and workshops via websites such as http://www.theatrebristol.com, http://www.remotegoat.co.uk, http://www.ents24.com and http://www.facebook.com as well as by leaflet distribution at various
performance hubs in Bristol, but we will also specifically target youth centres in Bristol (see http://www.youngbristol.com) and local community centres to reach out to children and teenagers.

PRODUCTION TEAM PROFILES

Lea Pischke - Producer, Choreographer, Performer

As a trained sound artist, equipped with skills as diverse as computer programming for performance, live sound engineering and contemporary dance and Butoh, she draws on these competencies when creating her performance works.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 [A test run for a performance piece in progress, Façon-4, making use of two latex sheets and algorithmic imagery.]

Jasmin Perrow - Co-Producer, Co-choreographer

Jasmin trained in contemporary dance and Butoh at Dartington College of Arts, UK, Cave Arts New York and with Butoh dancer Marie-Gabrielle Rotie in London.
She is a co-producer with Rolling Stage, a theatre company based in Bristol, since their inception in 2010.
She has teaching experience in general level Butoh classes at DanceSpace Bristol.
One of Jasmin's responsibilities will be to help devise a rehearsal routine to be a useful creative framework for the entire production period.

Rolling Stage [An immersive theatre company Jasmin works for]

Santiago Martínez López de Tejada - Lighting Designer

Santiago is a graduate of the CTE, the "Centro de Tecnología del Espectáculo" (English: Centre for Performance Technology) in Madrid and has worked extensively as both a lighting technician and designer for various theatre venues and companies throughout Spain.
Santiago moved to the UK in early 2011 where he is now involved in performance projects as a lighting designer (music videos, theatre, dance, physical theatre).

Tom Kindell - Performer

Tom is an experienced dancer and choreographer who performed in various productions over the past two years. His background is classical ballet, Irish dance, tap and contemporary dance. In 2009 he taught contemporary dance and improvisation techniques to children in favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

[Tom's website]

Ziggy Slingsby - Performer

By means of her extensive national and international experience in aerial circus arts (rope, corde lisse, swings) and her own interdisciplinary collaborations with practitioners from various artistic fields, Ziggy will help nurture the production process by approaching movement not only as an "horizontal", but also a "vertical" phenomenon.

[Ziggy's website]

BruceD - Documenter

BruceD was one of the main photographers and film makers who documented most of the productions by the Invisible Circus, a Bristolian circus group famous for inhabiting derelict spaces and converting them into performance venues for shows such as "Carnyville" which attracted thousands of patrons.
He was also the travelling documenter for the 2012 European tour of "The Chap", an electro-rock band based in Berlin and London.

[BruceD's video website]

THE PRE-PRODUCTION

The production team is readily set up and already had several, informal preliminary meetings. We are currently looking for a fourth dancer to join the production.
A meeting with the coordinators of both DanceSpace and GallerySpace at the Island in Bristol has taken place and the rehearsal and production dates are now officially reserved for us.
The month of July will be used to do research and development for the production as well as the creation of the sound design.
We also are in contact with various venues in Brussels, Berlin and Sofia to potentially tour the production, should it prove successful.

HOW WE INTEND TO USE THE MONEY

We have submitted a small Grants for the Arts application with Arts Council England, requesting financial support for the production - covering artist fees, venue hire fees, as well as costs of marketing and scenographic materials.

We are more than committed to making this piece happen, so the amount we aim at raising through http://www.pleasefund.us is to cover solely the venue hire fees, which would enable us to both rehearse and stage the shows - without paying us and by making use of a reduced scenographic and technical set-up.

In the fortunate case that the Arts Council England will indeed fund us, we will use the money to extend the scenographic set-up of the piece, e.g. by hiring out professional standard lighting and by having our costumes created by theatre costume designers.

THE TIME FRAME

Rehearsals

Rehearsals start on Wednesday, 8th of August 2012, at DanceSpace and GallerySpace, Bristol, and will run for three consecutive weeks. They are scheduled for Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm (with some minor time variations foreseen). The spaces have been reserved for us by their co-ordinators and will be available to us, once funding is in place.

Workshops

The two workshops will take place at DanceSpace on the following dates:

1) Friday, 10th, Saturday, 11th, and Sunday, 12th of August 2012

2) Friday, 17th, Saturday, 18th, and Sunday, 19th of August 2012

The Shows

The shows will take place at the GallerySpace on the following dates:

1) Friday, 31st of August 2012, 8pm-9pm

2) Saturday, 1st of September 2012, 8pm-9pm

3) Sunday, 2nd of September 2012, 8pm-9pm

Tickets

The ticket fee is £ 7 (full fee) or £ 5 (concessionary fee applies to students, under 18s, benefits claimants, and pensioners).

Tickets can be purchased either at the venue in cash (no debit/credit card payment option available), prior to the performance, or in advance, with Bristol Ticket Shop

[Bristol Ticketshop's Website]                                                                                                                                                                 

BRISTOL TICKET SHOP
26 UNION ST
BRISTOL
BS1 2DP
TEL 0870 44 44 400
0117 929 9008