Souterrain Docoath evaluation in brief
I believe that this way of working touches people in profound ways, unlike anything I have experienced in more conventional forms. I have seen its effect, felt it. I have been energized and humbled by it. It has uncovered layers of meaning and resonance that I have found missing in the conventional theatre process. I have received the most moving and passionate feed back from audiences and participants on recent projects. This work attracts new audiences, people who have never wanted to go to the theatre; they see our work as a different form, something immediate, closer to cinema but live. It makes them active; they have no expectations of what may happen to them, they experience the work innocently. Bill Mitchell
These are some of the things we have learned:
- We feel very strong, confident, able to face challenges together, whether they be foul weather, technical glitches, or taking the story apart and putting it back together. We take more risks, pushing the boundaries of where we can take the audience emotionally and physically.
- We have developed strong methodologies that enable us to work meaningfully with our host communities. We can engage communities in the work in a way that is profoundly meaningful. We are particularly skilled at working with the memory of community and place which becomes integral with our work.
- We have devised strong methodologies to involve extended communities in our work, singing, playing music, performing and making. We believe we have found a number of democratic art forms.
- We attract and engage audiences who don’t normally go to the theatre.
- We are able to involve audiences into the show in a range of meaningful ways. This isn’t traditional ‘audience participation’, but rather, a range of subtle invitations to become temporary residents in the world of the show. Audience response has been overwhelmingly positive.
- We didn't manage to involve the eastern European migrant workers. Perhaps this wasn't the right project, maturing as it did over quite a long time, but it would be good to frame a project that worked with the grain of their situation, and connected them to their nearby communities in a meaningful way.
- We make theatre best in non traditional spaces and we have the technical expertise to maintain high production values in difficult terrains. We have learned to work with the weather. In Dolcoath we experienced extreme weather conditions which we turned to our advantage.
- We continue to experiment with multilingual texts that carry strong story lines and soundscapes.
- We can respond very fast to specific sites and situations.
- Dolcoath was the seventh residency of Souterrain. We believe we would not have been able to take this work through to successful completion without the experience we gained in the six previous venues. We continue to learn and gain confidence in our skills.
- Training and education are at the heart of the work, and we have developed adaptable methodologies for inclusive training, both within the core and extended company and through outreach into communities.
As our creative work develops apace, we found ourselves frustrated by having to spend valuable time and energy attending to tasks that could be more usefully accomplished by expert partners. During our residency in Sotteville-les Rouen we experienced the hospitality of Attelier 231’s Creation Centre. We were provided with working space, technical assistance, site management, security, box office, PR, accommodation and food and the opportunity to focus exclusively on the creative aspects of our work. In Cornwall we had to take care of everything. From parking to portaloos, from accommodation to physical preparation of site.
We also had to take the financial risk of staging a large scale event.
Our work begins in Cornwall. It is our home. When we take our work into the national and international arenas we do so as a Cornish company.
If we are to continue to develop this work at home it is important that there is local agency support at a district, and county level.
And, as ever
- We need to live and work on site: It bonds the company to the local community and fast tracks us into the hearts and values of the place.
- We need reliable vans and trucks tailored to suit our needs
- We a longer lead in time; it would be good to work longer with volunteers before the rehearsal stage begins.
By WildWorks