http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/ Tour blog of US(&f)'s Gilgamesh en-us Nucleus CMS v3.24 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://unclesemolina.com/gblog//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/ http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=5 This blog has been set up to provide an information hub for US(&f)'s tour of Gilgamesh to the UK, China and the Sydney Opera House. We'll be updating daily and you can hear from all members of the company. Shortly you'll be able to register to get email updates too.]]> General http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=5 Fri, 7 Dec 2007 11:30:00 +1100 http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=17 It felt like we had all learned some lessons throughout the tour through the different types of spaces we had used and I think the Sydney shows were a culmination of these. The performance space (“the Studio”) sat the audience much further round on either side than any other venue we had performed in, so we had to further adjust our performing to make sure they weren’t neglected. Life was a lot easier in Sydney of course – no language barrier for one – and we all felt a little relaxed, and started quickly get healthier. I remember remarking to Christian how it I thought that illness or injury can be valuable, in that it teaches a performer an alternative method of performing, one that uses minimal energy to exact maximum effect in each moment. Then when you recover, you have learnt that some moments don’t need as much “juice” as you had thought, and you become much more efficient.

For the last performance I did, however, get comfort in the freedom to throw myself into every part of the story without the worry that I would exhaust myself for the night following. As I result I threw myself in rather too much and managed to get a fat lip (from one of Rich’s clothesline moves) and a couple of bruised nuts into the bargain. The groin injury in particular was quite dramatic and memorable and there was a moment lying on the ground during the fight when I wondered just how I would get through the rest of the show. Christian commented later that I did seem rather less vocal during a couple of the scenes that night.

I hope you enjoyed the blog and I welcome your comments!
]]> Mark T http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=17 Fri, 7 Dec 2007 11:29:57 +1100 http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=16
Richard was diagnosed with bronchitis and Kath was also badly ill. Janine, Christian and myself were all showing various digestive or flu-like symptoms (Phil had to wait for Sydney for his bout). As a result, of the four performances scheduled, only one went ahead as a full performance. Richard in particular really struggled through the first show, but still performed brilliantly, showing his real professionalism. However we had to consider what we were doing to all our health by just charging on regardless. After intense discussion, some changes were made. We still did another three, but they were shortened versions of the full show, and one of the dates of the performance was shifted.

Of course these changes and the uncertainty that followed was difficult for the venue, the festival organisers and the audiences, as well as our company, and there were some tricky negotiating between all parties. In the end, we performed one version of the show with 20 minutes cut of the end (nicknamed by me “Gilgarini” or “Gilgarette”) , which ended at the death of Enkidu, and we also did two 35 minute versions.

The 35 minute version was Gilgamesh – without the inclusion of the character of, er, Gilgamesh. Yep, performed by only Kath and myself, with the welcome inclusion of…. Christian reading narration and some of Rich’s lines from the sideline! Doing that show was an almost surreal experience, as I did several of the scenes normally done by Richard and myself – but without Richard there. I compared it at one stage to Hamlet without Hamlet – Gilgamesh is such a dominant character in this piece! Actually I think what we delivered was surprisingly good given the circumstances. At least we gave audiences a taste of the Uncle Semolina style. And personally, I think it really upped my confidence – if I could do that, solo, I could do anything.

On the other hand, I think our experience raises broader questions about Australian theatre practice. Many other performing art forms in Australia allow for the inevitability of illness or injury. Opera, stage musicals and dance all have systems in place in case a performer can’t perform, and use casting and budget to cover the risk. And at one time we were told that Chinese theatre shows do have understudies, meaning it is expected that a performance go on even if a major actor can’t perform that day. But there are no understudies in Australian theatre shows, and so when eventually someone can’t perform– and illness is particularly common in international touring – it becomes a disaster with serious financial implications. What is the answer? Well the obvious answer is bigger budgets that allow for spare performers. But of course for a 3 person show with actors of both genders this means an additional 2 people – a huge increase in budget that would make the tour unsustainable. So I don’t know the answer, but I sure know that it’s a problem.

Finally, this commentary wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the constant presence of cameras, video and still, including mobile phone cameras and even bigger telephoto lenses, that Chinese audiences had trained on us throughout the show. Any attempt to stop it felt rather doomed given the obvious cultural acceptance. Personally they didn’t bother me too much, possibly because I felt a little flattered. I guess we benefitted from the lack of copyright laws by getting those cheap “Gucci” bags, but it came back to bite us on the ass!

]]> Mark T http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=16 Fri, 7 Dec 2007 11:28:45 +1100 http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=15
I saw that my main role in these circumstance was to keep as healthy as I could. In Beijing, that meant getting plenty of sleep and staying in my room as much as possible. That was harder than it sounds because I was fascinated by the city and wanted to be out there seeing the sights and meeting Chinese people.

I remember immediately following our first Beijing rehearsal – we it had been a break now of two weeks –remarking to Katherine how comforting it was to return to this familiar world. Surrounded by the four wooden walls, relating only to Kath and Rich for a little over an hour, we could have been anywhere in the world – we truly created our own reality.

Of course, like most other parts of life, there were differences in the Chinese behaviours around making and watching theatre. These were at times frustrating for our group, but I was lucky enough to feel a sense of fascination rather than anger. That said, I know that the production team – i.e. Phil, Christian and Janine – had some real challenges getting the show up. One thing there was never a shortage of though, and that was staff! The actors took to warming up in our hotel room to give us some peace and quiet, as there were always a lot of people at the theatre.

I found it invigorating to be trying to reach out to a new group of people and I remember thinking that the Beijing people (with minor exceptions) had been so welcoming to me that I wanted to give them our best Ozzie rough-and-ready punk theatre we could produce. All 3 performers developed a “chuck it out there and see how it lands” sort of approach to the show which I think really took the whole piece up a few notches.
]]> Mark T http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=15 Fri, 7 Dec 2007 11:27:26 +1100 http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=14
After Newbury we all had a week or so off and went our separate ways – some to Paris, some to Berlin, and some to Wales. I went to Edinburgh where I fell in love with the old city and proclaimed my intention to join in the famous Edinburgh Fringe in the future. Only later was I told the difficulty of getting crowds to these shows… apparently in 2006 the average audience size across all the shows was … 6 people a night. Gulp.
]]> Mark T http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=14 Fri, 7 Dec 2007 11:26:09 +1100 http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=13
Well, the realities of life on tour rolled on and I haven’t made any more blog entries while on tour. I did, however, take part in a couple of video interviews with Christian. Christian is going to edit together some of the interviews into a video commentary - a sort of “making of” Gilgamesh. Anyway, in the mean time here are my thoughts on the remainder of the tour, composed from the comfort of Melbourne.

The London run ended well with close to capacity houses for many of the nights. What a change from my last show in Melbourne, a piece at the Abbotsford Gallery called “In Other Words”. During IOW, we received a very positive review in The Age, yet that same night our audience was a grand total of 6 people. Theatre is about communication with the audience, and it can not exist without an audience – one of the main difference between it and film. I love intimate theatre, but I don’t appreciate struggling to pull people to a show I think deserves better! It’s hard not to make unfavourable comparisons between England and Australia about appreciation of the arts…
]]> Mark T http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=13 Fri, 7 Dec 2007 11:23:45 +1100 http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=12
The New Greenham Arts Centre is best known as a former US military base. Up until the 80s the base was one of those classic offshore pieces of the US that have bowling alleys and use US dollars, and is in every way they can manage just like home for all the soldiers that live there. It used to have the longest airstrip in the UK, for all those B52 bombers, and a series of massive bunkers that were the launching pads for Cruise Missiles; apparently the nuclear kind. So, for Gilgamesh to play at this site seemed to us to be extraordinarily appropriate.It was a 70 seater studio theatre, which took the show back a little to its roots of being very intimate. We placed the audience closer than at the Barbican, which emphasised this for the performers. The audiences in Newbury made the guys work really hard, but were appreciative and thoughtful in their responses through the work.

We felt this tight atmosphere encouraged the actors to focus more tightly on the subtleties of their performances, and the kind of minute physical and emotional detail that seem more important in a small venue, where the audience feels more a collection of individuals than an entity of itself.

Particularly Wednesday night's performance was a real highlight of the tour for us. With the knowledge that they wouldn't be doing the show for a week or so, and the pressure of the close, small audience we all really felt the pressure to build the most intense performance we could. A great way to leave the show before heading to China, where the pressures will no doubt be different again.

We leave the UK with a lot of satisfaction, knowing that we've turned some heads, and made the impression we knew we could.]]> General http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=12 Sat, 20 Oct 2007 09:06:22 +1000 http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=10
We have all been so chuffed with our accommodation, just a short walk from the theatre, and I feel so lucky to be going to work in the creative hub that is the Barbican centre.

Still, there was nervousness as we approached the first performances. The dirt was different from what we had used in previous performances. It was much more like clay. Some changes were made that much improved it, but we all noticed how much more tightly it packed down than other dirt we had used. The main difference for me is when I am building the city of “Surupak”, which gets destroyed by “the mighty flood”. This happens unbeknownst to most of the audience because it is during Kath and Rich’s “Siduri” scene, and there is a sheet across the front of the stage (though the audience at the sides can see me, if they feel so inclined to look.) With the dirt very packed down but this late stage in the audience it became almost impossible to get any of the toys to stand upright in the soil. So I have a few frantic minutes battling the clock trying to get it ready before I move to the front for my next scene. On the opening 2 nights I was quite disappointed with how the city looked but I think we’ve come up with a good solution now.

We had spent quite a lot of time as a group deciding on the process of what happens when in the hours before performance. Many decisions are made by committee with Uncle Semolina. While this can be frustrating at times, I like the flat structure and it means everyone can feel like they are responsible for the decisions. I think it cuts down on “bitching” – things get thrashed out at the time, and for me I find it much easier to stick to a rule if I know I’ve had my input into how it was created. And as nerves and anxieties inevitably increase towards opening night, an agreed sequence of events - notes, then warmup, then set up, then quiet time, then on stage – acts as a comfort to me, and quietens my mind.
]]> Mark T http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=10 Mon, 8 Oct 2007 20:09:07 +1000 http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=9
Shortly before performance time Rich had a little problem with his shoulder and we made small changes to the show to ensure there would be no further problems with injuries. It brought home to me what a physically demanding show it was, with both me and Stephen Phillips (who first created Enkidu) having had some form of shoulder problems during the rehearsal period. Christian and Phil take these concerns very seriously and I think some professional directors could learn a lot from the importance they place on actors’ health, though I think they might have learnt this from experience!

One part of the show that I felt much happier with was the death of Enkidu. During the previous incarnations of the show at APAM and the Arts Centre, I never felt fully supported by the physical movements of the scene – what Lindy Davies from VCA would have called the “blueprint”. It had changed so many times and so many new elements had been added in and taken away that some movements and words began to feel quite arbitrary. Here are some of the parts of the scene: The Queen of the Underworld, Enlil, and her scribe, the House of Dust itself and the whisperings of welcome, the image of Enkidu’s body gradually turning to dust, the words of the gods entering into Enkidu’s ear and torturing him, grabbing of the doll for support, the transfer of the curse from Gilgamesh to Enkidu, going to Gilgamesh for help and being pushed away… the list goes on. And all that while I’m dying! So I was a little confused.

But now the whole scene feels it has a natural shape of movement that includes all the important images and also allows for a gradual shift and climax in pace. It is hard to describe how satisfying it is to have this in place now! For an actor it gives a great feeling of security, and with that comes the freedom to explore the smaller moments within it, in the knowledge that you are “held” by the basic architecture of the scene.

After the show closed in Melbourne we all felt that it had been a great idea to open the tour on familiar ground. It didn’t feel like such a jump now to open at the Barbican.

For The last few days before I left were spent trying to pack and complete an application for a theatre project I am helping to produce in the second half of 2008. It was a great relief to get on the flight and know that the only thing I needed to focus on was preparing myself physically and mentally for the next step.

As I packed I made sure to take one the Uncle Semolina tour T-shirts that we had screen-printed days before especially for the tour. Daggy, yes, but I still wear it with pride!
]]> Mark T http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=9 Mon, 8 Oct 2007 20:01:49 +1000 http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=8
So I stepped up my regular running and made sure I got back to a couple of yoga sessions a week – whether it be classes at the Dance of Life (the school I’ve attended for years) or private sessions at home. By the time rehearsals came around I felt in good physical shape.

What I forgot was just how different the movements I perform in the show are to anything I do in the rest of my life! Specifically, quite a lot of crouching on the ground and moving around on all fours. For the whole first week I was aching all over, and my friends got an earful of complaints. One of them said that she thought it was all a bit much until she saw the show for the first time.
I was looking forward to rehearsing full time again, but I must say having performed the show a number of times I wasn’t exactly full of excitement at what we might produce. But after our first full day at the Malthouse I was much more enthused. Firstly it was seeing the full team again. It was just so good to be with these people again whom I love as friends and who inspire me as theatre makers. Secondly, I continue to be impressed at how Christian and Phil manage to bring fresh life to the rehearsal process. And when I cast my mind back now, they did this in previous incarnations of Gilgamesh, but somehow I had forgot, and thought there might have an element of “rehashing” this time round. Instead, we began the rehearsal process with free-form improvisation around some of the scenes and sometimes even wider as we explored the wider themes of the show - this time, specifically death and our reactions to it. As we continued I was again caught up at how we could squeeze the most out of each moment to bring these to life.

We began on the wooden floor of the Hoopla room at the Malthouse. I ruefully noticed that I was collecting some little reminders of the rehearsals – tiny grazes on my feet from scuffling about on the floor, which scabbed up nicely. But having worked with the Malthouse team before this had an element of home to it, and many of Uncle Semolina feel the same way, having performed here before in either a View of Concrete (Richard) or the OT (Uncle Semolina with Kath).

Halfway though the Malthouse rehearsal period I invested in a pair of kneepads. I wondered how I had managed without them – they made such a difference! I later made sure they were packed for the tour, just in case.

Kath told me she was not looking forward to getting into the dirt, but I was less sure. I have found the softness of the dirt a bit of a relief for my feet and it is very hard to do the fight scenes without it. But of course with the dirt comes the impossible task of keeping clean.

It was a special moment to see the full set as we arrived at the Guild Theatre at Melbourne University for the second part of rehearsals. The Guild is a great theatre. I had never been in it (or if I had, it was years and years ago!). I liked it immediately and felt we could put on a good show here.

Staff were friendly and helpful and it was a very nice atmosphere to rehearse in. I biked in almost every day and so I felt very fit indeed! As we proceeded through the rehearsal period we all felt like we were making good time. We started running the show in halves about halfway through and doing full run a few days out. I was pretty relieved when Christian announced that we would be doing less rehearsing as we approached opening date. This seemed very sensible – it is a great feeling to feel your energy collecting in you because you are not expending it on a busy days rehearsal. Then you can fully explore each moment, less troubled by the inevitable exhaustion.
]]> Mark T http://unclesemolina.com/gblog/index.php?itemid=8 Mon, 8 Oct 2007 19:58:23 +1000