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 2020 Studio ︎  VIDEO ︎  Program     


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2020 Teaparty

This sounds ironic doesn’t it!?



Story?


Around a conference table 13 characters representing an event of the year from hell (2020), with coronavirus as the leader/president of the conference will reunite to destroy the world as a common effort, together over tea.

The format will be as close as possible to an official political meeting such as the cop26… Each character will wear a headpiece portraying a traumatic event and will have one teapot

representing its character as well as a mug. After a brief press speech, they will all gather around a big conference table. On the table, there will be a sugar cube city.

They will pour tea over the city, the city will melt, water will go through the table and then through tubes pouring directly into their cup.

Then they will drink the “tea”!



Concept?

  • 13 because it is referencing my culture superstition (we cannot be 13 at a table, as it reminds the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, the last scene). So, something is bound to go wrong.
  • Men, representing the political power attributed to men, and our patriarchal society.
  • 2020- because lots of historical events happened that year, as if this chain of event announced the end of the world. They felled upon us one by one on one like meteors.
  • Emphasis on the fact that a few politicians decide for the future of our entire world when casually and “innocently” getting together for a meeting.


The images that you can see and that have been used in the final animation, are shadows of my little brother that we filmed during lockdown 2020, where each shadow would be imported in a window, it was different characters being alone at their window.




Goals?


I want to explore satire, humour and irony.
In the film it would be great to have a red carpet, a little speech podium where all characters will be saluted and applauded.
Make people reflect, address pressing questions while using irony and humour



STARTING POINT, The Music: I collaborated with Marguerite la Rosée whom I met at a party. She is a cellist and studies at the Royal Academy of Music. As part of her composing program, she has to create a piece of music, I talked to her about my project and she was inspired to create a piece of music for each of the 2020 event. Marguerite aimed to achieve a more experimental approach then her university usually allows. She started working on the music and asked for each performer to send a sound interpretation of one of the event via whatsapp . She also did a general call out, for people to send stuff of what reminded them of the events. Juice one of the performers studies sound design at LCC, she was excited to have the opportunity to work with Marguerite. She had done a piece during lockdown on coronavirus, and experiments with sounds she would find in nature. Juice and Marguerite met and designed the music together.



First meetup with choreographers, I personally contacted a few dancers, talking about the collaboration. First I contacted pineaple studio, a dance club in london. Then, I contacted London Studio Centre a dance school I worked with for Design for Dance project in second year. Unsuccessful, I researched on Instagram for dancers from dance school I knew, such as Rambert School... I was looking for a ballet student to be my lead role, the bellboy. Furethermore,jnowing personally very little about dance I also decided to find a dance student to help me choreograph the piece. I found Dominika Dosedlova, a rambert school dance graduate, who would be my bellboy and also a choreographer.

After having seen the bank robbery performance organised by Pete Brooks for the first years, I saw Poppy’s talent, Poppy Waxmann a PDP 1 st year and immediately asked her to join the project as a choreographer/dramaturgist.

The collaboration with us three has truly been fascinating, I learnt so much from it. They have been very entusiastic about the project from the beggining and brought so many ideas to the table. I had a set idea in my mind of how I wanted the piece to esthetically look, and how I wanted the overall dramaturgy to be. However I didn’t have ideas of movements, and also knowing my timid self, it was overwhelming to imagine myself alone with 13 people to manage. So we started planning together. First we planned the content of each rehearsals. Understanding how harrowing the piece was as it addressed pressing concerns, we couldn’t impose each character onto the performer. So the first rehearsal had to be about finding a connexion with the characters/events. Before it though, each performer would first send us a list of words that resonated with for each themes, to help us structure the first rehearsal.

KAROLA KOKSEKA

  1. Coronavirus: silence, eyes, home, screens
  2. Beirut Explosion: corruption, government, money, economy crisis
  3. Brexit: leaving sbd, dominancy, hierarchy, hegemony 
  4. Migrant Crisis: forest, cold, to tear people apart, soup
  5. Murder Hornet: dryness, dust, ecosystem interruption, ecological chains
  6. Trump Impeachment: white, patriarchy, violence, scream 
  7. Megan and Harry Exit: monarchy is dying, old systems, new world, inadequacy 
  8. Australian Bushfires: roots, animals’ fur and warmth, Anthropocene, ego
  9. Locust swarm: bible, plagues, loud, unpredictable
  10. Me Too Movement: feminism, smashing patriarchy, consent, touch
  11. Black Lives Matter: violence, system failure, lack of diversity, pain
  12. Stock Market Crash: repeating the history, consumptionism, capitalism, money
  13. Ukrainian Plane Crash: shots, rocket, lie, mistake
LAVINIA GRIPPA

  1. Coronavirus: bubble, invisible enemy, break, desert
  2. Beirut Explosion: sudden, responsibility, veil, water
  3. Brexit: barrier, power, distance, vintage 
  4. Migrant Crisis: fear, unknown, ego, tear (apart) , family
  5. Murder Hornet: nature’s laws, supremacy, control, fate 
  6. Trump Impeachment: fake democracy, lies, corruption, insecurity 
  7. Megan and Harry Exit: shallow, trapped, old values, gossip
  8. Australian Bushfires: overwhelming, wild, screaming earth, blind 
  9. Locust swarm: injustice, biblical, trees, nature rebellion 
  10. Me Too Movement: misogynistic society, united, rights, voice 
  11. Back Lives Matter: sadly necessary, hypocrisy, historic stupidity, listening 
  12. Stock Market Crash: privilege, infallibility feeling, depression, ignorance 
  13. Ukrainian Plane Crash: terror, waiting, powerless, despair
RESHMI MOHAN

  1. Coronavirus: bubble, invisible enemy, break, desert
  2. Beirut Explosion: sudden, responsibility, veil, water
  3. Brexit: barrier, power, distance, vintage 
  4. Migrant Crisis: fear, unknown, ego, tear (apart) , family
  5. Murder Hornet: nature’s laws, supremacy, control, fate 
  6. Trump Impeachment: fake democracy, lies, corruption, insecurity 
  7. Megan and Harry Exit: shallow, trapped, old values, gossip
  8. Australian Bushfires: overwhelming, wild, screaming earth, blind
  9. Locust swarm: injustice, biblical, trees, nature rebellion 
  10. Me Too Movement: misogynistic society, united, rights, voice 
  11. Back Lives Matter: sadly necessary, hypocrisy, historic stupidity, listening 
  12. Stock Market Crash: privilege, infallibility feeling, depression, ignorance 
  13. krainian Plane Crash: terror, waiting, powerless, despair
HARRY SYMINGTON

  1. Coronavirus: mutation, relatability, unknown
  2. Beirut Explosion: onomatopoeia, ruthless, unjust 
  3. Brexit: mess, mistake, misunderstood 
  4. Migrant Crisis: nomad, uprooted, desperate
  5. 
Murder Hornet: threat, fear, sting
  6. Trump Impeachment: Madness, corruption, America 
  7. Megan and Harry Exit: mystery, media, publicity 
  8. Australian Bushfires: vast, furnace, uncontrollable 
  9. Locust swarm: colossal, destruction, synchrony 
  10. Me Too Movement: #, social media, Emma Watson
  11. Back Lives Matter: Instagram, global, necessary 
  12. Stock Market Crash: repetition, domino, consequence
  13. Ukrainian Plane Crash: tragedy, plumetting, fault


These are examples of words resonating with some of the performers.I found each performers through a call out on UAL creative app, and through posters I stuck around in the university. I also knew Harry Symington and Sylvian Lockwood from a project we did together in the first term ; Psycho and an independant project. Knewing their talent I asked them on instagram. The rest of the performers reached out to me, still, unfortunately I had a lot of drop outs which I had to replace one by one with either friends or friends of friends.

Our first meeting and launching of the project was on zoom, preparing the first rehearsal. You can listen to 3:10 - 11:40 for my introduction and concept,13:00-14:40 for Dominika’s introuction and poppy’s vision for movements 15:40-18:00. 
















This is the very first rehearsal where we started to introduce each theme, and every performer would be movement  researching on every single theme.

We first started with a checkup and a game in order to build a safe space for all. And for everyone to feel comfortable. We first started with “zap”, and then running to the end of the room on a clap, and jumping on a click etc...

Marguerite was there with her cello and played live for the room the music she composed for each character. Poppy was directing this part of the rehearsal for everyone to feel each event with their body and move in every wayt they liked free of judgements. Here you can see everyone moving including Dominika to the LOCUST SWARM.


The second rehearsal, the following week, we watched and rewatched the video, in order to  get a movement idea of everyone. We read each of the word list now associate with names and movement, and we asked everyone to send a preference of three characters that they see themselves doing, and if they were some that they  absolutely not wanted to do. There was another aspect to consider: the fragility of each teapot associated with the character. Someone could feel  that they desire the Megan and Harry character yet they are not comfortable with handling a piece as fragile as the teapot... For those who couldn’t come to the first rehearsal, I asked them to send me a video of themselves performing and researching on an event of their choice.




Pretty much every rehearsal I had one or two dropouts, it was difficult to loose people in the middle of the process, because we had less and less time to experiment with the new comers and to brief them. Obviously this was to be expected as all of this was based on voluntary work and therefore some people didn’t commit seriously enough. I had to bring in one of the ceramicist Klinta Locmele into the project even though she isn’t particularly interested in performance as a backup.

The problem with this piece is that I based everything on the number 13 in order to create the last supper scene and it  was hence very difficult not to have the number. I even had to find backup for the actual day of the performance, Melina. 

The second rehearsal, we attributed one role to everyone considering their interest and their feelings, During that second rehearsal, Dominika, Poppy and I worked with each one individually to figure out ideas and movements based on the recorded music. I brought each hat for them to consider the respective akwardness, and restrictions of each headpiece in their movement serie.When we were working with everyone individually the others were rehearsing to their respective recorded music sent on whatsapp on their earphones.


We then introduced them to the key moment in the performance (conceptwise). In my concept and dramaturgy, I made all the piece around the number 13 and the fact that there is a common superstition in my country around the number 13. All my childhood I grew up in a family were you couldn’t be 13 around a table because it is believed that when  13 are gathered “something is bound to  go wrong’. This is  reminiscence from the last supper of Jesus, when he was betrayed by his 12th disciple Judas, and he was crucified by his betrayal.Since then it is seen in Judeo-christian cultures as a doomed number. SO WE HAD TO BE 13 FOR ESSENTIALLY THE WORLD’S DESTRUCTION.





Each  character had  a fixed different position to fall back to referencing the painting. Covid being  in the middle, as Jesus. We are recreating the last supper painting. At this point there will be strobing. In rehearsal we asked them to shout and laugh as they would have in the painting. This was done in order for them to exaggerate each movement and be extreme, you can see them doing so  at  the end of this video, obviously in the actual performance, they  wouldn’t.

It was a challenge to understand where to fit the teapots within the performance,I wanted to limit the movement with  them as much as possible as I wanted to avoid accident. BUT they still needed to have their moment. I wished for the last supper scene with the strobing and the movement to be without them, as they would restrict their movement. The teapot scene would be after; they  would go out, leave the city  alone, come back with the teapot and pour tea on the sugar city.


Each character would be hidden and come on stage, just  like 2020 was, each event fell upon earth as if it was the apocalypse. I felt like they all came out of the “blue”. In the video, they are all standing at the back but when we get to rehearse in the platform theatre, everyone will find themselves a hiding spot.

Covid is  to come from the back and in the end, for two reasons, first of all because we need to limit the mask wearing time and secondly because he is the president therefore all his subject should be introduced before its presidency comes down. 





Summary of the piece

  1. Introductions of each character starting with Beirut explosion,one by one, onto the red carpet, meanwhile the projection goes on for a few seconds then live feed for every single character.
  2. Covid comes in (last character), through the stairs, projections and live feed
  3. All behind the table in last supper scene while the light is strobing
  4. Covid is left alone while the city is glowing
  5. All characters come back with their teapot and pour the water onto the sugar city.

Teching
Teching was a real challenge. We only had an hour to design our lighting with space to experiment. I have spent the last six month designing the show, and only having an hour was frustrating and not enough. My show is very tech heavy, and therefore needed more time. There was projections and live feed for every character, plus lights for every scene specifically timed to the music and to the performance. Also queing is very hard for me because numbers are really confusing due to my dyslexic condition. They don’t make sense, and I was really  struggling under pressure.I also really wanted my performers to have the opportunity to rehearse with the lights, but this wasn’t doable.













This is an example of my queue sheet, I had to redo them 6 times.







There was a problem with glitchy screens on the first rehearsal, but overall things went well, I had delivered all my teapots in boxes and bubble wrapped and we stored them under the stage, in the prop room.

Before the show everyone would preset and immediately after, each performer responsible of their own teapot would put them back into their box.