Université Paris-Sorbonne(Paris-IV) Agence Nationale de la Recherche
La dispute: cas, querelles, controverses et création à l'époque moderne (France-Grande-Bretagne)
Theatre blog: « Dream On !»
29 April 2013
a report on progress so far
What I'm posting here are a number of images produced by Nomi, the designer for the show.
We will also, all being well, be filming this weekend, in Harry Potter Land (ie the cloisters of New College), and in the back garden of Teddy Hall; if possible, I'll post an extract from the film once it is edited.
Apologies for the long silence, but it has been hectic.
One day there may be time to reflect at more considered length on all of this.
We are just four rehearsals away from the opening night now; it may seem like a long time, but as we meet just once a week, this is really not very long (the rhythm of youth theatre is very different from that of professional or even student productions).
We have made a story which weaves together there principal strands
-- a recounting of the experience of two of our initial group, Nisar and Jamal, who made the difficult journey to England from Afghanistan as young teenagers: walking, crammed on to a boat, hiding inside or under a lorry... Both Nisar and Jamal have now let the group, but they did so very happy for their story to be told by us, and will come along to the show at some point during the week.
-- reworkings of other experiences and stories generated by other members of the group: all turning on a set of connected fantasies and fears: revenge for harm done in the past, the effort required to find the right way to exact retribution and/or justice.
-- a version of both the annuciation story (from the Gospels), and its retelling by way of the case of Magdeleine d'Auvermont (see reading list in the blog); this case, which forms part of the quarrel concerning the power of the imagination, especially in relation to the generation of 'monstrous' children, is one we rework in the show. In 'Dream On....' (no exclamation mark!), we relocate what is already a war story set in a border zone in 1637 into a contemporary story about a British Muslim soldier in Afghanistan, and his Greek orthodox wife, the powerful erotic dream they both happen to have one night, and the imaginary friend their (adopted/actual?) daughter can't quite let go of....
I can't say any more, as I've already ruined part of the suspense....
29 April 2013
another image
What I'm posting here are a number of images produced by Nomi, the designer for the show.
We will also, all being well, be filming this weekend, in Harry Potter Land (ie the cloisters of New College), and in the back garden of Teddy Hall; if possible, I'll post an extract from the film once it is edited.
Apologies for the long silence, but it has been hectic.
One day there may be time to reflect at more considered length on all of this.
We are just four rehearsals away from the opening night now; it may seem like a long time, but as we meet just once a week, this is really not very long (the rhythm of youth theatre is very different from that of professional or even student productions).
We have made a story which weaves together there principal strands
-- a recounting of the experience of two of our initial group, Nisar and Jamal, who made the difficult journey to England from Afghanistan as young teenagers: walking, crammed on to a boat, hiding inside or under a lorry... Both Nisar and Jamal have now let the group, but they did so very happy for their story to be told by us, and will come along to the show at some point during the week.
-- reworkings of other experiences and stories generated by other members of the group: all turning on a set of connected fantasies and fears: revenge for harm done in the past, the effort required to find the right way to exact retribution and/or justice.
-- a version of both the annuciation story (from the Gospels), and its retelling by way of the case of Magdeleine d'Auvermont (see reading list in the blog); this case, which forms part of the quarrel concerning the power of the imagination, especially in relation to the generation of 'monstrous' children, is one we rework in the show. In 'Dream On....' (no exclamation mark!), we relocate what is already a war story set in a border zone in 1637 into a contemporary story about a British Muslim soldier in Afghanistan, and his Greek orthodox wife, the powerful erotic dream they both happen to have one night, and the imaginary friend their (adopted/actual?) daughter can't quite let go of....
I can't say any more, as I've already ruined part of the suspense....
13 October 2012
Welcome on the blog of the "Dream on!" show
Presentation of the project
« Dream On !» – is a play devised and written by Wes Williams and Angharad Phillips [Director of the youth theatre, Pegasus Theatre, Oxford] as part of the ANR-AGON project; and based on workshops that will run from November 2012 to May 2013. The play will be developed with and by a diverse group, made up of young people, students, researchers, adult refugees and asylum seekers; constructed around themes of disputes, quarrels, controversies…and dreams.
« Dream On ! » will make use of – and stage – dreams in their capacity as:
- a space for debate; a subject of controversy and/or of denial;
- conflicting representations of the social unconscious;
- traces – both public and private – of an existence destabilised by war, exile, adolescence, family and/or school;
- a reaction against legal and discursive powers;
- a challenge to knowledge (legal, medical, academic);
- a lucid, conscious, and creative endeavour, both intimate and collective;
- evidence of the ‘power of the imagination’ – a subject of debate from the early modern period to the present day.
By way of dreams, then, disputes, quarrels and controversies are captured, interpreted, and reconceived. Set in both the schoolyard and courtroom, the action of the play will follow intricate lines of convergence between educational, religious and legal systems and beliefs – from insult to questioning; from appeal to sentence; from guardian angel to imaginary friend – with the intention of establishing new perspectives on the key terms of our project. We aim to rework the themes of the ANR-AGON project in theatrical language and experience, without losing contact with the early modern world.
« Dream On ! » : is a dramatic essay and /or dreamlike machine – a play conceived to capture the energy of a hotly disputed question: the power of the imagination.
« Dream On ! » is the story of a dispute neither ancient nor modern.
There are certain texts, stories, and routes (amongst others) that will work their way into this play:
Arrest notable de la Cour de Parlement de Grenoble, donné au profit d'une Damoiselle, sur la naissance d'un sien fils, arrivé quatre ans après l'absence de son mary, & sans avoir eu cognoissance d'aucun homme. Suivant le Rapport fait en ladite Cour, par plusieurs Médecins de Montpellier, Sages-Femmes, Matrones, & autres personnes de qualité (Paris: 1637) ; Guillaume Lamy Discours anatomiques ... Rev. & augm. de toutes les plus curieuses decouvertes des anatomistes modernes (Bruxelles: & se vend a Paris, Chez Laurent d’Houry, 1685) ; J. A. Blondel, The power of the mother’s imagination over the foetus examin’d. In answer to Dr. Daniel Turner’s book, intitled A defence of the XIIth chapter of the first part of a treatise, De morbis cutaneis (London: John Brotherton, 1729) ; H. Nagera (1969), ‘The imaginary companion: Its significance for ego development and conflict solution.’ Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 24, 165–195; M. Taylor, Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them (Oxford University Press: 1999).
The play will include film, and will itself be filmed.
From the outset, we will keep a blog (possibly with films of the improvisations etc.) as an interactive forum for researchers, comedians, playwrights, scriptwriters, musicians, costume assistants, antagonists and ‘theatre makers’.
Participants
Group A – 10 members from the youth theatre (age 11 to 14) and 10 students and adults, including the refugee group: this group will take part in the programme of workshops from November to May;
Group B – some members of group A plus new participants who will work (in a shorter time-frame) on the filming;
Group C – other artists who will be available to help with dance or music workshops if needed; they will more intensely with group A.
Time frame:
Performances from 22nd-25th May (with a matinee May 25th)
The project will start Nov 7th: the group will meet once a week (except during the school holidays) until the Easter break. There will be three weekend rehearsals: 23rd and 24th Feb, 16th and 17th March, and the 27th-28th April. The technical run-through will take place the weekend 18th-19th May; the dress rehearsal the 21st May, and the play from 22nd-25th May (plus the matinee May 25th).
Round-up session: 5th June, 2013.