Abstract
Blain (composer, performer) and Turner (ethnographer, dramaturg) discuss the processes that led to the development of collaborative strategies over the course of making the multi/interdisciplinary performance The Good, The God and The Guillotine. Focusing on their respective positions as ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’, the authors consider the efficacy of different types of collaborative approaches tried out over the course of the project in relation to what, following Lavender, they define as ‘concentric circles of collaboration’. The circles of collaborative decision-making are here critically aligned with Kant’s notions of ‘interested’ and disinterested’ aesthetic judgement, as well as Carroll’s taxonomy for qualifying aesthetic experience. The resulting critique provides significant insights into creative development and collaborative decision-making processes in performance-making projects.
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Notes
- 1.
Henceforth referred to as TG3.
- 2.
Noël Carroll, ‘Aesthetic Experience Revisited,’ British Journal of Aesthetics, 42, no. 2 (2002): 145–168.
- 3.
Andy Lavender, ‘The Builder Association—Super Vision (2005)—Digital Dataflow and the Synthesis of Everything,’ in Making Contemporary Theatre: International rehearsal processes, edited by Jen Harvie and Andy Lavender (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2010), 21.
- 4.
For the purposes of clarity and consistency throughout this chapter, we have elected to refer to the three laptop performers (MMUle ) as performer-musicians and the three theatre performers as performer-singers.
- 5.
Immanuel Kant, The Critique of Judgement, translated by J.C. Meredith (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973).
- 6.
R&D (Research and Development) was the preferred term to describe the time the collaborators physically met and worked together.
- 7.
Peter S. Petralia, interview with Turner 2012.
- 8.
The concept of Chapters was conceived as a series of musical interpretations aligned with Camus’s narrative; there was, in addition, a Prologue and Epilogue that framed the event in terms of the way that technology has replaced God as a twenty-first-century existential anxiety.
- 9.
The Good, The God and The Guillotine was commissioned by Lincoln Performing Arts Centre (Lincoln), Manchester Metropolitan University (Crewe) and Tramway (Glasgow). Supported by Live at LICA and the National Lottery through Arts Council England. The Good, The God and The Guillotine premiered at Lincoln Performing Arts Centre on 25 October 2013 followed by a 2014 UK tour including performances at Live at LICA, Contact, Manchester (Presented by Contact and Word of Warning), Axis Arts Centre and Nottingham Playhouse. see http://proto-type.org/projects/past/the-good-the-god-and-the-guillotine/ (last accessed 30 August 2019).
- 10.
Adam York Gregory, interview with Turner 2012.
- 11.
Proto-type Theater, 2015. http://proto-type.org/ (last accessed 30 August 2019).
- 12.
Jen Harvie, ‘Introduction: Contemporary theatre in the making,’ in Making Contemporary Theatre: International rehearsal processes, edited by Jen Harvie and Andy Lavender (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2010), 1.
- 13.
Both Petralia and Donovan left the project as a result of taking up jobs overseas.
- 14.
Peter S. Petralia, comment made during R&D 2012.
- 15.
Heiner Goebbels, ‘“It’s All Part of One Concern”: A “Keynote” to composition as staging,’ in Composed Theatre: Aesthetics, practices, processes, edited by Matthias Rebstock and David Roesner, 111–120 (Bristol: Intellect, 2012), 113.
- 16.
Jörg Laue, ‘… To Gather Together What Exists in a Dispersed State …,’ in Composed Theatre: Aesthetics, practices, processes, edited by Matthias Rebstock and David Roesner, 133–154 (Bristol: Intellect, 2012), 136.
- 17.
For a discussion regarding the use of the term score in theatre, see Eugenio Barba, The Paper Canoe (London: Routledge, 1995).
- 18.
The idea of working in the moment is also discussed in Chaps. 6 and 7.
- 19.
John Cage and Daniel Charles, For the Birds (Boston and London: Marion Boyars 1981), 215.
- 20.
Andrew Westerside, comment made during R&D 2013.
- 21.
Laue, ‘… To Gather Together What Exists in a Dispersed State …,’ 2012, 137.
- 22.
Ibid.
- 23.
This is a non-western technique where the same melody is sung simultaneous but with some variation to the rhythms used, thus avoiding unison singing.
- 24.
For a more detailed discussion of how these and other techniques were incorporated within TG3, see Andrew Westerside, Martin Blain and Jane Turner, ‘Through Collaboration to Sharawadji: Immediacy, mediation and the voice,’ Theatre and Performance Design, 2, no. 3–4 (2016): 293–311.
- 25.
Paul J. Rogers, interview with Turner 2013.
- 26.
Nicholas Till, ‘Hearing Voices – Transcriptions for the Phonogram of a Schizophrenic: Music-theatre for performer and audio-visual media,’ in Composed Theatre: Aesthetics, practices, processes, edited by Matthias Rebstock and David Roesner, 183–199 (Bristol: Intellect, 2012), 187.
- 27.
Ibid.
- 28.
Ibid., 196.
- 29.
Both Professor Andy Lavender and Professor Nicholas Till attended and participated in a Roundtable, post-show discussion following the performance of The Good, the God and the Guillotine at Axis Arts Centre, Cheshire in 2013.
- 30.
See, Kim Cascone, ‘Grain, Sequence, System: Three levels of reception in the performance of laptop music,’ Contemporary Music Review, 22, no. 4 (2003): 101–104; Caleb Stuart, ‘The Object of Performance: Aural performativity in contemporary laptop music,’ Contemporary Music Review, 22, no. 4 (2003): 59–65; Tad Turner, ‘The Resonance of the Cubicle: Laptop performance in post-digital musics,’ Contemporary Music Review, 22, no. 4 (2003): 81–92; Martin Blain, ‘Issues in Instrumental Design: The ontological problem (opportunity?) of “liveness” for a laptop ensemble,’ Journal of Music, Technology and Education, 6, no. 2 (2013): 191–206.
- 31.
Till, ‘Hearing Voices – Transcriptions for the Phonogram of a Schizophrenic,’ 2012, 197.
- 32.
Adam York Gregory, Private project blog 2013.
- 33.
Michael Kirby, ‘On Acting and Not-Acting,’ in Acting (Re) Considered, edited by Phillip B. Zarrilli, 43–58 (London and New York: Routledge, 1995), 43.
- 34.
Simon Emmerson, Living Electronic Music (Padstow: Ashgate, 2007), xiii.
- 35.
Simon Emmerson, ‘Music Imagination Technology,’ Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference (2011): 365–372, 269.
- 36.
Emmerson, Living Electronic Music, 2007, 30.
- 37.
Carroll, ‘Aesthetic Experience Revisited,’ 2002, 145–168.
- 38.
Rebecca M.K. Makus, interview with Turner 2013.
- 39.
Nick Donovan, interview with Turner 2013.
- 40.
Carroll, ‘Aesthetic Experience Revisited,’ 2002, 159.
- 41.
Ibid., 157.
- 42.
Ibid., 160.
- 43.
Leentje Van De Cruys, Roundtable post-show discussion, Axis Arts Centre, 2013.
- 44.
Carroll, ‘Aesthetic Experience Revisited,’ 2002, 164.
- 45.
Ibid., 165.
- 46.
Andy Lavender, Roundtable post-show discussion, Axis Arts Centre, 2013.
- 47.
Ibid.
Bibliography
Barba, Eugenio. 1995. The Paper Canoe. London: Routledge.
Blain, Martin. 2013. Issues in Instrumental Design: The Ontological Problem (Opportunity?) of ‘Liveness’ for a Laptop Ensemble. Journal of Music, Technology and Education 6 (2): 191–206.
Cage, John, and Daniel Charles. 1981. For the Birds. Boston/London: Marion Boyars.
Carroll, Noël. 2002. Aesthetic Experience Revisited. British Journal of Aesthetics 42 (2): 145–168.
Cascone, Kim. 2003. Grain, Sequence, System: Three Levels of Reception in the Performance of Laptop Music. Contemporary Music Review 22 (4): 101–104.
Emmerson, Simon. 2007. Living Electronic Music. Padstow: Ashgate.
———. 2011. Music Imagination Technology. Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, July–August 2011, San Francisco: ICMA, 365–372.
Goebbels, Heiner. 2012. ‘It’s All Part of One Concern’: A ‘Keynote’ to Composition as Staging. In Composed Theatre: Aesthetics, Practices, Processes, ed. Matthias Rebstock and David Roesner, 111–120. Bristol: Intellect.
Harvie, Jen. 2010. Introduction: Contemporary Theatre in the Making. In Making Contemporary Theatre: International Rehearsal Processes, ed. Jen Harvie and Andy Lavender, 1–16. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Kant, Immanuel. 1973. The Critique of Judgement. Trans. J.C. Meredith. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Kirby, Michael. 1995. On Acting and Not-Acting. In Acting (Re)Considered, ed. Phillip B. Zarrilli, 43–58. London/New York: Routledge.
Laue, Jörg. 2012. …To Gather Together What Exists in a Dispersed State .… In Composed Theatre: Aesthetics, Practices, Processes, ed. Matthias Rebstock and David Roesner, 133–154. Bristol: Intellect.
Lavender, Andy. 2010. The Builder Association – Super Vision (2005) – Digital Dataflow and the Synthesis of Everything. In Making Contemporary Theatre: International Rehearsal Processes, ed. Jen Harvie and Andy Lavender, 17–38. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Stuart, Caleb. 2003. The Object of Performance: Aural Performativity in Contemporary Laptop Music. Contemporary Music Review 22 (4): 59–65.
Till, Nicholas. 2012. Hearing Voices – Transcriptions for the Phonogram of a Schizophrenic: Music-Theatre for Performer and Audio-Visual Media. In Composed Theatre: Aesthetics, Practices, Processes, ed. Matthias Rebstock and David Roesner, 183–199. Bristol: Intellect.
Turner, Tad. 2003. The Resonance of the Cubicle: Laptop Performance in Post-Digital Musics. Contemporary Music Review 22 (4): 81–92.
Westerside, Andrew, Martin Blain, and Jane Turner. 2016. Through Collaboration to Sharawadji: Immediacy, Mediation and the Voice. Theatre and Performance Design 2 (3–4): 293–311.
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Blain, M., Turner, J. (2020). The Good, The God and The Guillotine: Insider/Outsider Perspectives. In: Blain, M., Minors, H. (eds) Artistic Research in Performance through Collaboration. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38599-6_11
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