Over the past few weeks I have been working solidly towards the show but without any reflections on the blog. This post, along with another will be backdates, looking and reflecting on the show’s progression over the past couple of weeks until present.
This post is titled: ‘Not Being Precious.’ I think that this is something that I have come to realise throughout the entirety of this process and will constantly experience until the run up to the show. In the middle of March I presented my ideas to Donald and Martin (my tutors). The ideas presented were complicated and on reflection there was too much there to constitute a short solo performance. Elements such as Rene Magritte’s The Son of Man jarred with notions behind ‘Cult of Personality’. The reason why it jarred was because looking at the figures, Savonarola, Goebbells and Trump, they do not systematically hide anything, so to speak. What you see is what you get with these men and this is why The Son of Man image jarred.
I also felt that in rehearsal I was trying to force elements in the show that were there for the effect rather than for a specific purpose in ‘forwarding’ the show’s progression. With this, I aimed to force in EVERYTHING, which is why my initial ideas were jarring and juxtaposed each other; thereby making it seem complicated.
In addition to these thoughts I also got very side-tracked with relation to researching practitioners and their work. Notably Tim Crouch. My favourite Tim Crouch show is An Oak Tree and on reflecting on my rehearsals in March, I also started to replicate elements that he did in his show. I almost wanted my show to be of the same tempo, style as Tim Crouch’s work and this in itself led me into a wall. I tried to make the show into a Tim Crouch style and it started to fail. The only person that can make a show in a Tim Crouch style is Tim Crouch himself. In this mindset I knew that my show was going to be in a Kieran Spiers style and not some cheap replica of someone else’s techniques.
Despite me hitting a wall during the middle of March, post meeting with my tutors; I was still wanting to be inspired by Tim Crouch, Simon Mcburney and John Fleck. Rather, I wanted to be inspired by them objectively rather than deeply personal.
From these initial reflections I tried to strip the show right back to its bare bones and focus on what I am actually exploring. I decided that this show was still going to be providing a subtle comment on Savonarola, Goebbels and Trump. It wasn’t going to be a lecture (which is what my initial ideas tried to adhere to). I wanted to look into what connects these ‘characters’ and not just through the ‘Cult of Personality’ By stripping back the show I was able to remove the ‘skin’ of it. It allowed me to see what I could take out (I.e: what as now irrelevant) and what I could keep and/or develop. The staging of the show was a large change. From the outset, I had wanted it to be end-on. To have a table, a music stand as a lectern and play around with the idea of changing costume on stage. I decided against having it being end-on, as I felt that it needed to be a show that immersed the audience within the spectacle. I wanted the show to be in the round, but a box. The audience on all four sides, similar to a square.
Vanity
I decided that what connects these individuals, and in the broader context of dictatorial figures in history, is vanity. Vanity is what connects these individuals as they are seemingly so sure of themselves and in awe of their actions and their principals. Despite Savonarola wanting to abolish vanity object in his ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ that action in itself is, in my opinion, instigated by his own personal vanity of the Christian faith. The more I thought about these figures back in March and even the more I think about them today; I’ve started to realise that I am drawn to these figures in some peculiar way. I think that I am drawn to the because of their audacity to believe in what they create and then exerting that belief onto the general public of the time. I consider myself quite leftist and so my views are naturally against those of Goebbels and Trump. Savonarola is interesting because he existed in a time before Capitalism and Socialism and yet seemed to dominate in an era of what I could only describe as religious Feudalism. Especially in Italy. Yet, his way of ‘control’ and ‘leadership’ was likened, arguably, towards a form of early Socialism. For example, with the ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ he aimed to dispel and destroy vanity objects. I.e, vanity mirrors, make-up, musical instruments, musical manuscripts, fine dresses, playing cards – anything that were to be deemed immoral or tempt one to sin. The reason for this exorcism of objects, as referenced in my previous blog post, was to eliminate sin. Although the bonfires were orchestrated as events to eradicate sin by destroying objects, there is the possibility that these events have some connection to the destruction of materialism, which, broadly speaking, is asscociated with Socialism / Communism.
It was interesting to view these figures from the light of their political allegiances and whether that contributed to the act of them being vane; which I think that it does and doesn’t at the same time. I feel that the idea of power, certainly goes to peoples’ heads. Not just these figures in particular but it can relate to all people. With this thought in mind, it led me onto the ideas surrounding Megalomania, or, as it is commonly referred to now, Narcissistic Personality Disorder.