Carole Pluckrose - Arc Theatre

 Publishing Deal!  Hip-hop Dance meets Middle Age  - In the middle!

www.watersidepress.co.uk

Another blog so quickly!  I am delighted that I have just agreed a publishing deal with  Waterside Press for my first book! I have been thinking about writing about our work at Arc, the nature of my practice as an actor and director, and sharing some thoughts and ideas about making theatre in the 21st Century! Not least because I have a span of learning from a wide range of teachers for the past 30 years. Funny really how we take our own learning for granted, as if its part of our DNA, forgetting that we ever learned it in the first place!

It was brought home to me forcefully in February when I had a call from Angie Smith at The Barbican with a request to do some work with Mikey and Kenny from Boy Blue Entertainment, based at the Barbican. The recommendation was from my old friend Raj Pardesi,(BBE manager)  who I hadn't seen for some 15 years since we worked together on a French language version of Kicking Out  (by the old man!)  - and he sweetly put me forward as Dramaturg  for a new piece of work currently in development. I was delighted to meet the boys, whose Hip-Hop Show won them an Olivier Award in 2009 and a subsequent invitation to become an Associate Company at the Barbican.

Whilst I cannot go into detail of the project, suffice it to say it will be a highly exciting and artistically innovative piece. The curious thing for me is that I have never worked with dancers as such, and definitely not Hip-Hop dancers - have a look at their website wwwboyblueentcom it is a real blast

I was able to share a lot of the theatre techniques I have developed over the past 30 years, some of which were completely new to them -  much to my surprise. The language and explicit exercises that are the currency of theatre performance proved invaluable to them, fresh and exciting and new. I think it is a naming of parts in fact - like playing scales. Learning the simple techniques of timing, character creation through 72 archetypes  and much more. These are ways of working that I have come to take for granted, but what the boys showed me was that there is much to share in our practice. Of course the learning is two-way, and I found it exhilarating to work with them, they "got it" at such an intuitive and instinctive way, they know this space and territory. Also I really appreciated what having a dedicated exploration space means - quiet, concentrated, creative. All we have to do is trust the process, and warm the clay!

So whilst I experience this process every day with our own actors at Arc, this experience with the boys opened my eyes freshly to the opportunities and possibilities for the development of my own artistic practice, for which i am really grateful. At the beginning again. So on this basis - I feel the energy and drive to write my first book about my practice, and its specific application to contemporary themes of violence, murder, tribal allegiances, soul, spirit and love. This blog gives me a great practice space to write about this.