Steven Gration makes a statement that:
“…solo performers who had created original work expressed pleasure at owning their work which no one else could perform” (Gration, 2008, 16).
Every performance I saw, by my fellow solo performers, was created in a way which expressed their originality and personal inspirations.
In Sophie Hagger’s solo piece I saw the struggle of her journey through solo performance as she cleverly created a story which outlined the many ideas she had and the difficulty of choosing one idea for her final performance. The setting was at first intimate with Sophie speaking to us, allowing us to recognise this was a personal performance. In a similar way Jason Mighty opened his piece talking to us as the audience, in which he then led into some poems which outlined events within his past. Kirsty Taylor, as well, spoke to the audience before the performance began. Her performance on the private and public-self outlined her inner struggle, making the performance both intimate and emotional.
Shaping the space added to the representation of the performances, making the studio space original and personal to the performer. Tiffany Thompson sat her audience on park benches, while she told an intimate story about her relationship with her father, taking us back to an incident which happened in the park. Ellie Henshaw, as Medusa, transformed the set into a small darkened area where green lighting and candle light accentuated the dark characteristics of Medusa. Finally, Kirsty performed behind glass in a minimalistic stage area, while the audience sat on pink blankets and colourful cushions surrounded by bright fairy lights.
There was something about every performance which made it original and personal to their journey in solo performance. Out of every module, this was one which gave us a chance as performers to indulge in our wants as performers and use our inspirations to build something which was personal to us.
Works Cited
Gration, S. (2008) The praxis of the solo performer. Mask: Drama Victoria, 2 12-17.