At present there are three projects in development.
HADLEY'S EXPERIMENT deals with schizophrenia, or the hearing voices experience. This piece is partially based on a book, Operators and Things by Barbara O'Brien, published in the U.S. some thirty years ago (now out of print).
In our version, Warren, a computer programmer working for the N.H.S., wakes up one morning to find three people standing at the end of his bed. They tell him to pack his case and come with them, out of London and across country. On the journey they explain that he has been selected for an experiment. The world, they explain, is divided between humans (Things) and figures who manipulate them (Operators). He has been chosen by a rogue Operator called Hadley to be told the truth about the supposed independence of human beings - and to alert the world.
The piece, written by Chris Johnston and performed by Timothy Lone, Sarita Eames, Chris Johnston and the sound artist Cheap Machines was presented as a work-in-progress at Chats Palace, London on January 26th. 2007. More performances are to follow. See calendar pages.
The second is MR DEAD AND MRS FREE'S FINAL PERFORMANCE in which two very elderly thespians (117 and 128 years old respectively) come to a remote village hall in order to present the last performance of their tour. The two of them have been touring since 1910, starting with a company of twelve and ending with the pair of them. The piece is largely a comedy, exploring how the absence of an audience brings the relationship between the two characters - simmering for eighty odd years - into crisis. This piece is currently in development.
THE MOTHERS PROJECT is a piece involving mothers who have a background in the arts. It is planned to deal with the difficulty of combining motherhood with the inconsistent/anti-social hours of much of the world of work.
'The act of creation can signal the end of creativity'. Is this the case?
The project is planned as an interactive mixed-art exhibition suitable for parents and their children. We envisage photography/video/audio pieces on the nature of motherhood that have been created by performers/artists, but also material submitted by those who do not work in the arts - perhaps in the form of audio diaries or written pieces. The exhibition might include a combination of both high and low tech interactive elements.
Different areas would include; an area for babies and toddlers containing some of the following: computer generated floor panels, a square of mirrors; tunnels; a screen that broadcasts action as it happens in the space. A spoken word area, perhaps like an old fashioned booth in a record shop in which recorded diaries of mothers' experiences can be both listened to and recorded. Other areas might be a visual area containing photography, a live art area and a written/spoken word area in which discussions and events about motherhood could be held.