Once Upon a Fairy tale Reading; My 2019 Immersive Performance

The performance

On the 05/04/2019, I had set up my pink tent in the woods to read the audiences future in a 1-1 performance. The tarot readings that are given to the audience, are a blend of learning about what I pulled and my story behind the card and a deep discussion around you and your cards. The performances follows our 'fairy tale book' where it is split into 'past', 'present' and 'future' with sub questions within which each relate to the card you pull.

Leaving the performance you pull a final card which offers you advice moving forwards AND then you will receive a fairy-tale story to take with you. This story is not how it is laid out in Disney, but shows where the Disney princess took control of her own life in each story and saved herself.

Initial idea and reasoning

Going in I knew I was going to blend my love of fairy-tales with the concept of creating our own destiny.

Originally, I wanted to let this element of choice span across two rooms. Thinking that I would use tarot cards and what the audience read from them to guide me into doing something which would create my 'fairy tale'. This being; kiss a frog, make friends with an animal... The other room would have held a fairy tale story, written about how we have made a choice to not be saved in our story and how we live with this. How do we save ourself in daily lives? Who will we lose by not allowing ourselves to be saved? The audience would chose which room to enter and what they will inevitably experience.

This idea developed through combinations of many other external ideas to become what it was. The element of choice was still apparent in what reading the audience would get, but the pull between being saved and saving yourself was more subtle. This allowed the idea that we can move between the states and gave focus to the audience on what they were drawn to. By creating their own fairy tale they are relying on an external energy to guide and help them on their journey, yet the fairy tale they are given and messages as they leave tells the audience member that they are in control and even the seemingly weak or helpless people/moments have a lot of power and self-love in them.

Research and themes

- roles women play in fairy tale stories

- feminism

- outdoor performance

-- element of choice

- creating a safe and intimate atmosphere

Snippets from my journal

During my initial reading of ‘One to One Performance: A Study Room Guide on works devised for an ‘audience of one’, the following key ideas stuck out to me as inspiration and areas of interest:

• Shared experience

• Heightens everything in society, culture and politics

• Mostly affects the artists

• Doesn’t mean intimacy happens automatically

Looking into Chris Burden’s ‘five day locker piece’, I was intrigue when he stated that his vulnerability and openness led his initial aim of the performance and the finished outcome to be different. People came to him in a ‘therapy-like’ way and began confessing to him. Creating this safe environment was vital for this to happen.

With all of these ideas that happen by bringing 1-1 I knew that I would be able to have a more meaningful conversation with each audience member and allow the performance to relate to their personal life- more so if it was to a larger audience.

Being stated that intimacy does not just happen from being 1-1 I noticed that being in a vulnerable and open place allowed this environment to overtake Chris’ performance, and become a place where people could talk openly. For my performance, being in an open space but with an isolated area (tent) as well as showcasing my own personal story and hidden truths in a fairytale story allows the audience to get to know me before they delve into their life.

As I went on and were inspired by other artists I saw that you can have the two ideas in one situation. By showcasing both the ‘good’ positive (creation of your own tale with tarot) and the ‘negative’ (lack of equality in the fairy tales) the audience are tested as to how they see their own world. It will also strengthen whether they believe in fate or that we control our lives independently- or a combination of both.

I love the tour aspect and being the centre- to fully become immersed. Though there is not a tour, the audience have the freedom and choice to move at their own pace through the woods and have no formal instruction of what to do in the waiting period. The idea of choice and conformity come into play on how much we will truly explore or do what we want to in our life. If an audience member wanted to walk around the woods while waiting, would they? Or would they wait as it is part of ‘theatre etiquette’? In PUNCHDRUNKS work they have allowed this freedom and giving responsibility to the audience to ensure they can get from Location One to Location Two on public transport- taking control of that part of the experience. IN my performance, the audience become both spectators and one of many as well as being centre. The time in the tent 1-1 is all around them and where they are in that moment. It is a very current and present energy. The audience outside are in a past and future energy, waiting and will e interesting to see how they spend that time. It plays with the idea that if we believe in fate we are waiting around for it to happen without taking control. In fairytales we are waiting for the prince instead of continuing another aspect of our life outside of a relationship. Faced with these issues in a ‘twisted fairytale’ for them to read, they will be subconsciously thinking back to their past and of what the future could be in life and in their tent scenario. This sense of time only adds to the surrealism that is in a fair-tale world.

From the images- there is a clear Circus theme which all links in around a tent. Fortune tellers can be seen at circuses and often work in a wagon or tent. The fortune teller is also depicted as living within woods or in a camp site. This tent theme also feeds into fairy-tales, with the great outdoors- animals and staying in touch with nature. Infact this is often seen as a trait of a ‘Disney Princess’ where you are compassionate, in touch with nature and strong for your beliefs and kingdom. This union with nature also brings a fairy-tale feel to a tent in the woods.

‘As a man and an artist, Joseph Beuys had always been interested in pursuing such issues as the crisis of modern man and the loss of identity.’

He can link as a theorist in my research and feminism, with the quest to re finding female power in a strong way, as well as our loss of reality by becoming immersed in a fairy-tale world. When we are raised, we are surrounded by all these stories of princes and princesses. Often we take this mentality into adulthood- even those who do not believe in fate or tarot may often find themselves saying or believing that a situation isn’t over as it hasn’t had a ‘happy ending’. This is now continued into adulthood with many films and the media industry. Taking Joseph Beuys attitude of loss of self and immersing into environmental factors combines ‘getting lost in a fairy-tale mindset in the woods’.

In this article Simon touches upon the idea that power in women is seen as evil and mentions the ‘magic mirror’.

‘The moral ambiguity of power is a fascinating topic for young women’

‘Citing these tales as “magic mirrors” for our unseen selves,’

This second quote took my imagination. We do not see our true selves. When women look in the mirror, or are portrayed, we are looking at beauty and our flaws. We look in the mirror for a purpose, to apply makeup, a skincare routine- but not throughout the day.

Outcome

The performance aspect went really well, and being in the woods I felt more in touch with the energy of the universe and the cards to allow the messages to flow out of me without hesitation.

In hindsight, I would create a loose schedule of when the audience will get a reading- for example 12:00-13:00 for X,Y,Z which would allow less time sitting in the woods without anyone. I didn't want to give specific timings as I wanted the feel of the randomness and street feel of turning up spontaneously and getting a reading and if that means queing a little then so be.

Next time, I may experiment in a different environment and see how it affects the audience and reading.

Experience for the 'performer'; in the Woods

For me, being in the woods was so liberating. I felt free and time went so quickly. Feeling the ground underneath you, with blankets and people walking past became a performance in its own self. I just enjoyed being in my tent- WHICH I WAS SO EXCITED FOR as i do not have the space at my place yet, and being out in the world but protected in my own physical space I felt so calm. As soon as I enter nature I feel calm and know i need to spend more time there.