Team Beowulf is assembled fully and we’re aiming to make something we can show for the 7th May. Far from a complete thing. More of an early stage developmental scratch. “Scratching” is a lovely way to be inclusive with all the ridiculous ideas you have in the early days, and show them to safe people who tell you that half your ideas are shit and the other half are insane. Then hopefully you can move forward by getting rid of or fixing the shit ones, and shifting the insane ones into some loose semblance of story.
We’re experimenting with storytelling methods that aren’t in currency so much these days. This week, Jack has been making papier mache character masks. I’ve been plundering costume. We’ve all been looking for sticks and spears and shields. Now our third player is with us it feels like the circle is complete. She’s a dancer who understands and honours text and loves to affect and change spaces. We are accumulating shiny stuff like ravens, and beginning to obsess about all things Viking.
I’m pretty excited with where this will go now. It’s going to be ace. The early stages of a creative process are so rife with possibility and we now have three people who are all full of crazy ideas, songs, shapes, movements and joy. I want to work with experts to learn technique with shadow puppetry, puppets, mask work, physical theatre, old Norse, unaccompanied singing, ancient instruments… With our budget we’ll have to become the experts ourselves. That’ll be a lovely journey. And then there’s the food to consider. I’m going to try to learn how to brew mead. The food is a big part of a show that we want to be about community, celebration, ceremony, joy. If anyone knows how to brew mead, we need to talk.
After rehearsal I went to Waterloo and found a beautiful happy little vegan place on Lower Marsh Street. We went in and got beautifully fed and roundly welcomed, and now I’m lying on my back feeling the snooze come in and I’m going to cut this short cheekily because I’m sleepy and I want a snuggle before sleep.
In my dreams there’ll be boats and beards, songs and swords and Grendel of the fens. Hopefully I’ll wake up and still have all my arms.
Lazy photo time. Come on summer…
AlBarclay 