‘I wish I was Lonely’ performance explored the ways in which we our consumed in technology. Technology is depicted as a controlling force which determines the way we live our lives to a certain extent. They gave an example of what it really means to ‘miss’ someone. They raised questions and in turn our own questions were raised. How can we really miss someone if we are in constant contact with them through technology? Phone calls, texts, social media, skype, facetime. All these things constitute in keeping us constantly connected with one another. The performers emphasised the fact that before technology advanced, we were able to genuinely understand the concept of ‘missing’ someone. In my day and age, we can never really feel that depth of missing someone, because we have never or can ever experience that lack of contact.

The performers also explored the ways in which technology can connect us for the better. For example, the story of Sam was very compelling because it engaged the audience on a personal level. We tend to take fore-granted the fact that we have the power to call anyone we want, anytime we want and the Sam story emphasises the importance of the phone call as a way to connect. In this case, the matter of “just hearing a voice” (Thorpe and Walker, 2015) was the most important thing to Sam and this connection ultimately saved his life.

The performers involved the audience to the extent that the audience themselves were the performers. We were asked to keep our phones on and to answer any call we received. Dialogue between the performers would be interrupted and we were encouraged to answer the calls and act normal in order to have an authentic conversation. The performers described the advantages and disadvantages of this. They gave examples such as, the experience they had with a woman who had answered her phone and the audience and performers all believed that something terrible was happening, however this was not the case and this instant ended up being a very comical aspect of the performance.

The performers informed us of the difficulties of interacting and including the audience members. They emphasised the importance of creating “a way out” (Thorpe and Walker, 2015) for audience members who were unwilling or unconfident in participating. The performers also informed us that the key aspect of audience interaction is to avoid making the audience members feel uncomfortable by “respecting their decisions” (Thorpe and Walker, 2015). The advice they gave to us will certainly help me when it comes to thinking about audience interaction for my final site specific performance.

Walker, H. J. and Thorpe, C. (2015) I Wish I Was Lonely. [performance] Hannah Jane Walker and Chris Thorpe (dir.) Lincoln: Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, 11 February.

In Etchell’s ‘Eight Fragment’s on Theatre and City I have chosen to discuss three of the eight ‘fragments’ which I found interesting and which gave me ideas to how performance can be produced in Cities.

In ‘Exploration’ the notion of awareness and observation is emphasised. The term, “dead of night” (Etchell, 1999, 76) suggests that darkness prevents exploration because it shrouds the places around us and restricts our sight. In the morning, however, the light enables us to explore because it gives us a sense of security . Harbisson describes this “veiled arrival” (Etchell, 1999, 76) as “acting out an allegory of knowledge” (Etchell, 1999, 76).

‘Maintenance’ describes a man’s repetitive “ritual” (Etchell, 1999, 77) in which he walks the same way at the same time every day. The man’s strange actions opposes the everyday normalities of life, however the man’s repetitive nature also reflects human’s tendencies to repeat their everyday lifestyle as if it is ritualistic. (Getting up, going to work, going to bed).

‘Destruction/Construction’ concerns itself with “the fascination of ruined places, of incomplete places” (Etchell, 1999, 78). These buildings create an impression of unfinished business and decay. The history of such a place cannot be ignored as with every building, comes a story, a past. For Mike Pearson, places like this allow “the past to surge into the present” (Pearson, 2010, 10). The people who resided in or merely visited these places in the past leaves a residual impression in the place itself. Rom’s theory that “to walk is to leave footprints” (Pearson, 2010, 21) suggests that each person adds to the history of a place or space and that these footprints resemble the mark and memory of that person. Every time we enter a space or a place, “the visitor is aware that each surviving doorway was once entered, each window was once looked through” (Pearson, 2010, 24). Their residual presence survives in these spaces and it is vital to recognise the importance of this in order to fully understand the history of a place itself.

Etchell, T. (1999) Certain Fragments. Eight Fragments on Theatre and City. London: Routledge.

Pearson, M. (2010) Site Specific Performance. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

For our experiment we took a picture every minute whilst simultaneously recording 15 seconds of sound in order to create a visual soundscape. We started from the Stokes Café and ended at the Cathedral. By combining sound and image we were able to capture moments of the City’s liveliness but also the more quiet moments which we found to be as we started to ascend Steep Hill.

(Okay, I tried to upload it but for security reasons it wouldn’t let me). I chose to attach the sound clip which was taken outside of Tesco Express because at this moment, a couple were walking by with suitcases which were making a lot of noise on the cobbled streets. I assumed that they had just gotten off the train and were obviously in a hurry to get to their destination. At this, I began to speculate where they could be going and whether they lived here or were just visiting. I then realized the importance of observation in Site Specific Performance and how small details and events can change how you perceive a place in that moment.

Pervasive games takes place in the ordinary world and consists of players and non-players. Tapper discusses her theory of ‘in-between-ness’ which she describes as “a space which someone who is playing encounters someone who is not” (Tapper, 150). These pervasive games interrupt the everyday social, political and cultural world by creating an imaginative world in which players and non-players interact. Tapper’s contention that in-between-ness “invokes a mood of uncanniness” (Tapper, 150) in non-players because they are left in the dark to what is going on around them. The origin of the uncanny, according to Freud, relates to the Heimlich (homely) and the Unheimlich (unhomely). The idea of taking the familiar and making it unfamiliar is very interesting, especially when applying this idea to public spaces. For instance, making an everyday routine unfamiliar by performing it in a different space or location. (Eg. Wearing pyjamas to a business meeting or boiling a kettle in the middle of a street).

Tapper, J. (2014) Pervasive Games: Representations of Existential In-Between-Ness. Themes in Theatre, 8, 143-161.

“Pervasive Media is Digital Media delivered into the fabric of real life and based on the situational context at the moment of delivery” (Pervasive Media Studio, 2015). In simpler terms, pervasive media uses wireless networks to combine media (music, films, games) and place (situation). Pervasive media also offers “new relationships between citizens and our environment” (The Pervasive Media Cookbook, 2012) through the use of sensors, databases and live data streaming. For example, the performance, ‘Our Broken Voice’ used pervasive media to interrupt the normalities of everyday life, by engaging the audience and taking them on a journey through the streets, allowing them to piece together the performance for themselves.

Pervasive Media Studio (2015) What is Pervasive Media?. [online] Watershed. Available from http://www.pmstudio.co.uk/pmstudio/what-pervasive-media [Accessed 29 January 2015]

The Pervasive Media Cookbook (2012) Pervasive Media. [online] Pervasive Media Studio. Available from http://pervasivemediacookbook.com/kitchen/ [Accessed 29 January 2012]