Thursday 5 April 2012

SPACE Residency



We have just spent an amazing week at the SPACE (Somerset Performing Arts Centre for Education) in Taunton, working with some brilliant and talented students.  It was a chance for cube to do some serious R&D, with SPACE students providing ideas and trying them out practically.  We are performing Macbeth in September, with a large chorus in addition to key principals, and we wanted to find out some of the exciting things that could be achieved with large numbers of animated performers. 

We made some key discoveries.  One was that we like the ‘covered in mud and slime’ look!  Thanks to Beth, Gena, Josh and Flynn for being prepared to plaster themselves in mud for the sake of art.  We filmed some scenes with students made up like Somme survivors, and the results were pretty amazing.  There were also some magical moments of ensemble physicality that we will definitely be exploring further when we start rehearsing in August.


 
The week at SPACE was a stimulating and uplifting experience.  It is an inspiring place to work in, led by highly motivated staff, and the students are up for anything.  They threw themselves into every activity, and had some great creative ideas which in turn stimulated our creativity.  It’s also good to be kept on your toes – we knew that working with dedicated and imaginative students like these we would have to be at the top of our game.  So, a mutually stimulating and enriching experience.  We made big strides in our R&D, and the students had the experience of working with a professional theatre company, helping them develop their repertoire.

We also spent some time working with the students on Aubade (working title), one of our touring projects planned for spring 2013. More on this project coming soon!

Top 5 feedback quotes from SPACE students (in no particular order)


1- "cube theatres work is immensely meaningful and amazing to be a part of"

2- "What I found most enjoyable/beneficial/fulfilling was filming Aubade...and making up our own dance/movement"

3- "I loved working with a well known script but seeing it in a differant way"

4- "I really like how you work as a company....you are innovative, interesting and awesome"

5- "3 things that I found enjoyable/beneficial/fulfilling was the filming for Aubade - the whole process, the rehearsal process for Macbeth and the discussions and feedback"
(and because we can't resist...another favourite)

6- "I would have liked it to have been more than a week"