‘The purpose of art is to return you to life more violently’ – Francis Bacon
In a time of increasing commercialisation in theatre, where private, capitalist ventures replace state and community funded theatre to detrimental effect (discuss), this workshop sets itself up in opposition to the prevailing direction of travel. Taking inspiration from Ursula K. Le Guin’s essay The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, it aims to gather the odds and ends and devalued aspects of theatre creation and playwriting as materials with which to explore the possibility of an arguably dying art form as an act of resistance.
Objects and subjects for discussion may include: stage directions; props; whether conflict is necessary for drama; whether resolution is necessary for satisfaction; whether satisfaction is necessary; theatre as an aural rather than a visual form; silence as activity; ambiguity in intolerant times; boredom as activism; the lost art of focus; the romance between audience and actor; the romance between text and play…
Wide-ranging open conversations between the participants will be supplemented by discussions of existing texts and practical exercises. We recognise that both the revolution and screaming alone into the abyss are of equal value. I am looking forward to discovering what you bring with you in your carrier bags…
Texts to read and comment during the workshop:
– The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other by Peter Handke
– Escaped Alone by Caryl Churchill
– Pity by Rory Mullarkey
– Crave by Sarah Kane
– Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker
Within the GREC Festival of Barcelona 2023.
With the collaboration of:
Cordelia is a playwright, librettist and dramaturg. Her work has premiered at some of the most prestigious theatres in the UK, including the Royal Court, the Donmar, the Almeida and the Hampstead, and is performed across the United States and Europe. Cordelia collaborates regularly with composers on opera and vocal work, and their work has been performed at prestigious venues and festivals in the UK and Europe, including the Opera Comique, Opera National de Lille, the Southbank Centre and the Venice Musica Biennale. Cordelia received the Berwin Lee Award, 2020, the Harold Pinter Commission, 2017 and the Jerwood New Playwright, 2015. Her opera with composer Sivan Eldar, Like Flesh, won the Fedora Opera Prize, 2021. Houses Slide, her piece with composer Laura Bowler, was nominated for an Ivor Award 2022. Cordelia is a MacDowell Fellow.
Plays include Sea Creatures (2023), Love and Other Acts of Violence (2021), fragments (short, 2019), Hedda Tesman, adapt. Henrik Ibsen (2019), Three Sisters, adapt. Anton Chekhov (2019), One for Sorrow (2018), Confessions (short, 2018), Best Served Cold (2016) and Lela & Co. (2015). Opera and Vocal Work include Like Flesh (2022), After Arethusa (2021), Houses Slide (2021), A Photograph (2020), Heave (2018), you’ll drown, dear (2017) and Miranda (2017). Dramaturgy includes Henry V (2022) and Lucia di Lammermoor (2017).
Admission to the course will be based on order of arrival and CV assessment, which should be sent (with photograph included), filling in the form on the right.
Places on courses are limited. Places will be reserved once the course amount has been paid. Payment must be made within one week of receiving the corresponding acceptance email.
The dates indicated for each course or seminar may be subject to variations in exceptional circumstances. These will be notified when applicable.
For the course to take place, a minimum number of students must be registered. If this number is not reached, the course will be cancelled and the student will have the option of registering for a different course (providing that there are places available) or alternatively will receive a refund of the amount paid (100%). If a student withdraws, a refund of 75% of the registration fee will be applicable, providing that written notice is given at least 10 days before the start of the course.