Theatre
Fragments from the Clay
ActionBase Studio

Seeing how things take shape in a creator’s mind and then having them translated into tangible actions using gestures, expression and articulated is uncommon. We are almost always presented with a completed product – a polished piece whose purpose is precisely to entertain us with a final result. So when the opportunity to review a “pre-work-in-progress” piqued my curiosity, I did not refuse.

Fragments From The Clay – a piece of experimental, physical theatre presented by Welsh independent theatre practitioner, Ian Morgan as a solo performance, or should I say, presentation; was the UK/Polish piece showcased in Buskett by Actionbase theatre group as part of their International Festival of the Arts.

The festival offered a variety of artistic forms and this one certainly was interesting. The studio’s title is actually a very apposite description of Mr Morgan’s performance: which was indeed a meeting between an actor, his craft and his audience.

Mr Morgan’s description of it was certainly clear at the onset – it wasn’t going to be a “pretty” piece. Using a script which was still being re-worked, and a variety of props, from a desk and office chair, to a sheaf of paper, a mobile phone, his own tie and fine string, Mr Morgan proceeded to explore the various sensations linked to the idea of man flying and falling – soaring and failing, all the while set to music. Interacting with his flexible set, the performer attempted to weave a stream of newly conceived ideas into a format which would give his audience something to react to and think about if not admire. It was not about the completion of the piece but about the complexities of the developmental process.

Although he claimed that it was much a volatile improvisational work dictated only by the loosest of structures, there was a rehearsed element to it – almost choreographed in some cases, but loose enough for the audience to notice that certain changes and adjustments were being made in situ.

Often referring to a sort of play-list sequence, which he had taped to the floor, he explained that he was following what was more like a system of ideas rather than a finalised chronological piece. However, I found that this system followed a basic development of emotional experiences and expressions related to dealing with life: seeing the light, having the lightness taken out of you, feeling heavy, flying in the face of adversity, falling to your doom/destruction.

I particularly found his conversation with an imaginary entity sitting in his office chair interesting, while his short bout of smoking and playing with the idea of rising smoke (from the ashes of his life, or our disinterest, perhaps?) reminded me personally, of the hookah scene in Alice In Wonderland – with the blue caterpillar asking her the all-important existential question: “Who are you?”, to which she replied – “I-I hardly know, sir, just at present – at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”

This was the main theme of Mr Morgan’s work – learning who he is by exploring what he is becoming and how he got there. Sadly, I found that unlike the beautifully stylised and completed pieces of re-worked, improvisational pieces which we were shown at the end of the evening, carried out by the Polish theatre company Song Of The Goat, which Mr Morgan is a key member of, this particular work is so very unfinished as yet, that it lacks a strong central narrative to keep it going. Pre-work-in-progress it certainly is – and very fragmentary too. It risked becoming rather repetitive in its motifs while the attempt to join the different images represented together, was too broken for its own good. s a

What worked well was a scene towards the end where he used the desk as a means to reach up and view the world differently. The physicality of his interpretation was to be admired because he successfully managed to combine a static and heavy item of furniture with his fluid movements and pushed the audience’s boundaries when it came to thinking about the use of space and set/props, turning the desk on its side and pulling out the drawers to use it as a means to reach higher, while the drawers were sculpturally positioned ar-ound the performance area as a kind of installation.

A sheaf of paper from the drawers was sent fluttering upwards and scattered haphazardly around the stage, at which point Mr Morgan used the “white tiles” formed by the paper as stepping stones, skipping lightly in dance-like movements from one to the other, truly giving the idea of not only finding your feet but also of soaring.

Audience participation was encouraged at certain points with direct questions and attempts at flirting but the moment when we were encouraged to send paper planes flying towards him while he as he moved around the papers on the floor created a strong and effective sense of flight and movement.

This feature and Mr Morgan’s occasional commentary were what made the performance an interesting piece to see – at least because from an experimental point of view, it was good to discover how the artistic process develops.