Entertainment in the Performing Arts

Alice Marshall (Vale)

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000579703
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Mezzi di comunicazione e arti performative
• Subtopic: Arti performative

Alice Marshall explores the question 'What do you think entertainment is?' by challenging the reader to consider and form their own views through the provision of interviews, professional opinions and researched topics.

Entertainment in the Performing Arts explores a range of sources to enable the reader to develop their own knowledge and understanding of what entertainment equates to. This book provides helpful starting points, including a range of perspectives from interviewed artists, to allow the reader to begin answering this key question for themselves. Throughout the chapters, the reader is presented with guided tasks to allow full immersion in the topics discussed. The author explores why we have an inbuilt need to entertain and be entertained, navigates the reader through the technological enhancements that have altered how we do this, discusses how audience gratification is not always key in entertainment and, furthermore, aims to expertly decipher what the word 'entertainment' specifically means.

This is an essential text for students of performing arts courses, artists aiming to develop their understanding of their practice and for those with an interest in entertainment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

With special thanks to the wonderful artists interviewed for this work, whose thoughts and debates really brought this book to life: Sarah Brigham, Paul Jackson, Rebecca Johnson, Amit Lahav, Matt Vale and Robert Vale.

1 INTRODUCTION

DOI: 10.4324/9780429317538-1

Take a moment to consider your day-to-day life and how you pass your time, would you consider any of this to be entertainment? Would you take time to dissect it and work out why it entertains you? The answer is most likely ‘no’. Who has the time to work out? Why watching stressed people bake cakes is so engaging? It just is. So why is this book doing precisely that, asking why, and how, we entertain? I am taking you on a journey of consideration to help you deepen your own understanding of your work and others. Understanding the category of entertainment that we are so often put into will not only provide more questions but also deliver some answers.

As entertainment comes in a vast array of genres, this book will focus on areas that are considered visual performing arts. This will allow for deeper detail and discussion, which, in turn will hopefully provoke other genres to take on the same topic of conversation. As creative artists, there is an element of curiosity with regard to the question of ‘what is entertainment?’ You would not be in this field if it did not intrigue you, whether this is to disregard the findings or to utilise it, it most likely sparks intrigue for you. Whatever genre you specialise in there are said to be similarities when looking into this topic, but how it is expressed and used can vary widely. This is why during the course of reading this book you will not just hear my opinions, but also those of artists from across the genre of live Performing Arts.

This exploration is highly individual, and you will find yourself on a journey of agreement and disagreement as you read. But these chapters will allow you to question your practice, the practice of others, and ultimately why what we do is wrapped up in the neat package we like to call entertainment. This book is designed to make you, the reader, consider the question ‘what do you think is entertainment?’ Whether you are a creator, or an observer, everyone has their own opinions on what equates to entertainment. By presenting a few starting points, and a range of opinions, you will be able to start answering these questions for yourself. But before you hear these thoughts, consider what your standpoint is now.

Reflect upon what you consider entertainment to be. Write it down and keep it safe for we will return to this sentence at the end of our journey.

My own practical research has led me to conclude that any visual work created with an audience in mind will generate entertainment in some way, whether this was the intention or not. But what is entertainment? What are the key components that result in entertainment? And why do we need to be entertained? These questions will not just be answered by myself, artist interviews are woven into the bulk of the chapters to allow for a range of viewpoints. Small- to medium-scale rather than mainstream artists generate the bulk of the case studies as this allows for a zoned approach to the questions. Small-scale work often has a 'risk-taking’ method as it does not always have to meet mainstream demands, therefore the idea of artists questioning their own work and the meaning of entertainment will allow for a deeper answer. Throughout this book, I will refer to them as our 'resident artists’ and pull on their knowledge to try and build an understanding of the industry we work in. But to fully comprehend their musings it is important to understand their background. Read on to find a little more about each of our Resident Artists.

Amit Lahav | Director of Gecko Theatre

Amit is Artistic Director and Founder of Gecko Theatre. Israeli born, he grew up in London, where a passion for theatre and dance grew. Subsequently, he trained with theatre and dance artists such as Lindsay Kemp and David Glass and worked in South East Asia for four years as a facilitator, making theatre for and with street children.

This led to him developing his own company and methodologies. His emphasis on emotion, physicality, metaphor, breath and musicality has created the bedrock of what Gecko Theatre is. His shows are created in the United Kingdom using an international cast and then tour the world. Amit Lahav has developed a unique language of training, performance, devising and teaching and these methods are used by the company as Gecko continues to generate relationships around the world (Gecko Theatre, 2021).

Having created seven critically acclaimed Gecko shows, Lahav has built a reputation of success both nationally and internationally. His works include Taylor's Dummies, The Race, The Arab and The Jew, The Overcoat, Missing, Institute and The Wedding, all of which have toured nationally and internationally.

‘In 2015, Amit created and performed in The Time of Your Life, which was broadcast live on BBC4 as part of Live From Television Centre’ (Gecko Theatre, 2021). This showcase of his work amplified his audiences and showed the importance of what he does through his company.

Rob Vale and Matt Vale | Illuminos

Illuminos are brothers Matt and Rob Vale, who for over 10 years have been creating visually inventive, memorable projection artworks and experiences. With training in fine art, music and lighting design, the pair amalgamated their talents to form Illuminos. Their works range from very large-scale illumination to smallscale imagery, but always working to create something unique and specific to location and viewer. Formed around a principal of People, Site, Animation, and often combining elements of installation, dance, theatre, pyrotechnics and music, each project that they approach develops from an exploration of the emotions of an environment, aiming to capture the essence of a place, space or feeling as a shared moment of time.

Their large-scale projection artworks centre upon a deconstruction of video as screen and narrative, exploring the potentials of whole building time-based work to interact with viewers en masse, morphing and reclaiming urban and rural spaces. By using light, sound and projection, the actions of collaborators can be fused together to bring a space to life, and to allow audiences to view it in a new light. Multi-screen imagery matched directly to architectural features and composed soundscapes allows them to build large-scale dramatic works from small beginnings, fusing actions and movement together into visual and aural film works that are full of excitement and wonder.

Whilst their work incorporates new digital media and complex equipment, they are interested in combining these new technologies with notions of the curio, the Victorian penny machines or Edwardian Automata, visual wonders and spectacles that amused, engaged and intrigued. Works such as Illuminating Shakespeare (Stratford), Jingwei and the Ocean (Liverpool) or Momentous (Leeds) seek to recreate and elevate this visual experience for the contemporary society through digital means (Illuminos, 2021).

Sarah Brigham | CEO/Artistic Director Derby Theatre

Sarah Brigham is CEO and Artistic Director of Derby Theatre, Originally from Hull, and very proud of her Hull accent, Brigham Stayed in Yorkshire to train at Bretton Hall, which led to her working as an actor in theatre, radio and TV. As her career grew, she realised she wanted to understand the business from both sides and subsequently worked for a small theatre company which allowed her to learn about funding, partnership and using the young audience’s voice. This experience moved her career towards directing and running a company or building, (Derby Theatre, 2021) Sarah's journey saw her be Associate Director at Dundee Rep and then Artistic Director of The Berry Theatre, leading to the same role at The Point in Eastleigh.

Appointed at Derby Theatre in 2013, Brigham has developed the company from a traditional producing house to a theatre which puts civic engagement and learning at the core of its mission. Since 2013, she has led the company to become a National Portfolio Organisation (also receiving a significant uplift in funding for recognition of the work), win various awards (Times Higher Education Award, UK Theatre Award, Highly commended as Regional Theatre of the Year and The Guardian University Award) and win much recognition for their bold productions. Sarah has been named in The Stage's 100 most influential people in theatre for four consecutive years (Brigham, 2021).

Paul RW Jackson | Dance writer

Paul RW Jackson trained in music and dance and has worked in both professions internationally. He has written extensively on dance and music and is a regular contributor to Dance Now, and in 1997, was awarded the Chris de Marigny Dance Writers Award. He is the biographer of Oscar winning composer Sir Malcolm Arnold CBE and of the founding father of British contemporary dance Sir Robert Cohan CBE, with whom he worked closely for the last 15 years of his life.

Now retired, he was previously a reader in Choreography and Dance at the University of Winchester and had worked professionally in the dance and music industry for over 35 years. After obtaining a BA Hons in Performing Arts from Middlesex University and a ‘Master of Music with Emphasis in Dance’ from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, his performance career saw him work with companies such as: Gordon Dance, Gravity, Nonesuch and Artlink and has helped develop roles for artists as varied as Rudy Perez, Lonny Gordon, Gus Solomon Jr and Walter Nicks. As a pianist he has worked with the Nevada Symphony Orchestra and as an accompanist for most of the major figures in dance, including Martha Graham, Robert Cohan, Merce Cunningham, Siobhan Davies, Viola Farber and Richard Alston.

Jackson has choreographed over 35 works which have been performed in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. Also, previously a member of the education teams of London Contemporary Dance Theatre, Extemporary Dance Theatre and Ballet Rambert, Jackson has a keen interest in the education of Dance, which led him to creating the under-grad dance courses at Northumbria University and later the Winchester University (Paul Jackson, 2021).

Rebecca Johnson | Writer/Director

Rebecca Johnson is a London-based writer and film director. Initially graduating with a Fine Art degree, she became interested in community filmmaking. This interest was her focus for more than a decade, in particular working with the youth community in her Brixton neighbourhood. Numerous short films were produced by Johnson in this period, including 2009's multi-award-winning Top Girl. This film played at more than 30 festivals, including Berlin, Los Angeles, Rotterdam and Clermont Ferrand.

This led to Johnson embarking on her first feature, which was released in the United Kingdom to widespread critical acclaim. Her debut feature Honeytrap premiered at the London Film Festival 2014, resulting in Johnson being nominated for the Best British Newcomer Award.

Honeytrap was showcased overseas and had its US premiere at SXSW in 2015. This led to further screenings at festivals including Montreal and Urban World in New York. The film secured US distribution with Ava DuVernay’s Array and can now be found on Netflix. Due to Honeytrap's success, Johnson’s career continues to develop, and she is now working on her own TV and film projects whilst directing episodic TV in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

Named as a Screen International Star of Tomorrow and mentored by Paul Greengrass under the Guiding Lights scheme, it is no wonder that Johnson was named as one of Hollywood’s top 30 rising female directors on the Alice Initiative list and subsequently selected for the BAFTA's Elevate Programme (Rebecca Johnson — United Agents, 2031).

Our resident artists provide a spectrum across the Performing Arts and with each still generating work, this offers us an informative and up-to-date discussion. Earlier I have provided the highlights of each of these individuals but do research more deeply into them and their work as this will allow you to understand their musings in this book in more depth.

How to use this book

Although I encourage you to read the entirety of this book, each chapter is designed to be read in isolation allowing you to delve into the areas that initially intrigue you the most. Once reading into these areas, you may find you are inspired to read further as each component is unavoidably affected by another. Comprising four main discussion points, Chapters 2—5 will cover the topics below:

What is entertainment? Through the lens of visual performing artsWhy we need entertaining?Entertaining the modern brainAre artists always striving to entertain? Process vs. outcome

These four key areas of debate provide an array of viewpoints but are infiltrated with a reader task-based participation. Each chapter has within it moments where the reader is asked to consider a stand point, or to try out an approach within their own practice. Each of these tasks will be noticeable by the layout below:

TASK

Description of task

You can of course ignore these interactions and continue reading, but if you are a practising artist and want to build your knowledge then these tasks are designed to guide you, not torment you. I would recommend having a notebook at hand if you are partaking in the tasks, this way all your musings and explorations are documented in one place which you can utilise in the future. In addition, take the time to delve into the sources I mention or are outlined in the bibliography.

These sources haw helped me with understanding the world of entertainment, but they will also provide you with further viewpoints and debate.

Each chapter has its specialism and as previously mentioned, you are at liberty to dip in and out as you please. The development of ideas does have some connection from each chapter to the next, and the tasks do build on previous ones at times. If you are wanting to embrace the full e...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Index