For this module, I and four other classmates created our feminist musical ‘Off the Record’ over the span of several weeks culminating with a sharing at the end. As an all-female creative team, we were eager to use this opportunity to challenge an ongoing issue of the presentation of women in the media. Wanting to explore tabloid culture, we set the musical in the early 2000s as that it widely considered the worst period in media history for toxic and potent opinions about women. Setting it in the early 2000s was also a logistic choice for the show as it meant we didn’t have to involve the overuse of technology commonly associated with musicals set in the present day. Inspired by the sexist and unfounded treatment of women online, such as Millie Bobby Brown’s experience with body shaming journalists, we wanted to shed light on the microaggressions performed and consumed daily by the masses. Whilst some aspects of the piece have been consistent from the start, as the project progressed, new ideas and inputs shifted the piece from earlier concepts due to both logistic and creative reasons that I will explore throughout this portfolio.
Plot:
At the start of the project, one of the first things we did was assign different roles to each creative in the team. I took it upon myself to become a codirector and one of the book writers. In the earlier stages of our process, I played a big role in forming the plot of the musical to stay proactive before I was able to perform my other roles later in the evolution of the piece, namely the Research and Development (R+D) week.
When we were initially discussing plot ideas, we first outlined our characters and their roles in the story arch as seen in Image 1, Image 2 and Image 3. After consulting with someone in the early stages about how to better the piece, a suggestion was thrown to us about changing the gender of the Greg character as seen in Image 4. As seen in the notes, taking inspiration from the show also allowed us to see how engaging it is for audience when looking at the success of the show due to the twist. When bouncing this idea around, we were unsure about how it would change the message of our piece. After considering how it could change the piece, we decided to make the change permanent. This new angle would allow us to focus more on the idea of internalised misogyny for the focus point of the piece rather than misogyny being put upon the female characters in the musical. We felt this would give us an edge and make the musical stand out more from other similar concepts that have only highlighted men as the perpetrators of this problem and ignored the continues abuse of power used by women to other women in this field. Turning ‘Greg’ into the character of Samantha would also make the reveal of Samantha’s true intentions more shocking for the audience and create a stronger and more engaging story.
We felt this would make our piece fresher and more nuanced for audiences and make the musical more marketable to target audiences that have already seen men being portrayed as the antagonists in other musicals that address similar issues to ours. Making this change would allow us something different to say to help us stand out for possible investors in the musical as it targets to a wider demographic that would want to look at this relatable issue with a new angle. As well as being more marketable for producers, it would also promote more jobs in the industry for women and give more people a platform which we feel strongly about as an all-female creative team. Even though this was an engaging change we made, if I were to take this project further, I would make the reveal of the Sam character greater in putting off showing her true intentions till further along in the musical so that the audience greater feels the betrayal of the character. In the final version of the show we presented on the Friday of the R+D week, Sam’s true intentions underline the plot from very early on in the show that I now feel could be made stronger. If audiences get that chance to become more connected with the character of Sam, the reveal of Sams internalised misogyny makes them more likely to reflect on the message of the musical and how it connects to them personally. Not only would it make the piece more engaging and therefore profitable, it would also align more with the lessons of the piece we are trying to show.
Script:
Once the plot was solidified to the best of its abilities, we started on the book for the musical. My role as one of the three book writers was to focus on Act two to help with efficiency as the other two did Act One which would allow us to come together for a read through.
When we finally reached R+D week, we came together and looked over all of the material we created. After that, we discussed what we wanted to gain out of the week for the benefit of the musical and how we wanted to use the sharing on the Friday. We wanted to use the opportunity of the sharing as hypothetical pitch for any investors that could help kickstart the musicals promotion. This would allow us to determine the best of the material we had but also to understand the financial pressure of rehearsal time for a musical working on a small budget. With this in mind, we decided that only showing Act One best showcased the musical. Not showing the second act would invite investors into the world of the musical far enough to understand the story and hear some of the music while still leaving them wanting more. Only having a week to put the musical on its feet, showing the best of our work in Act One was also more budget friendly as we wouldn’t require as much rehearsal space and would spend less paying for the actor’s time. When talking about cutting Act Two out of the sharing, I struggled with the idea of not being able to present any of my original work and only using the other two writers’ material. Being forced to cut my script for the sharing helped me learn how to let go of my pride for the overriding benefit of a project. Doing this tested how brutally honest I can be for the sake of a project surviving about how useful my material was. This was a very valuable lesson to learn from this project as that’s how many other musicals on the market fail. Many other creators aren’t comfortable giving up their original ideas that they are fond of for the growth of the piece. This often means they lose out on making the best musical possible, creating more struggle to get the musical on its feet in the brutal landscape of new musical theatre work. With the current cost of producing a musical growing ever higher, I now understand that you need to give your work the best chance by using material that best serves the story over your personal bias. If I were to take this project further, I would maintain this principal and would be braver when delving deeper with it to continue to better the piece rather than sticking with what is comfortable. This would mean the musical would be more desirable for investors and producers and give us a better chance of survival. It also shows to investors that we are open to change and shows that we are easier to work with compared to other creative team furthering our desirability.
Directing:
One of the reasons I volunteered myself to take on one of the directors is that it is a very new and unexplored skill set for me. Working from only the perspective of an actor, I wanted to give myself more diversity and through performing this role I have learnt a lot about what being a director requires. At the start of the R+D week, one aspect that I realised might become a challenge was deciding the dynamic and shared workload between me and the other director Ellie Edwards. After working on the first couple scenes with the her we realised how best to work with each other. At first, we were really struggling about having different visions of the scene a butted heads a few time such as different staging ideas for one of our leads ‘I want’ songs. After pushing through a few different scenes like this, we had a conversation about how best we could work together that is the most collaborative and efficient with the limited time we had to put the production on is feet. We felt the best way forward was to allow the actors to run through scenes while we watched and made our own notes to come together at the end and compare what we had written. This allowed us to engage more in the scene and what the actors were offering while still having ideas about where to take it. I also became more open to trying different ideas that the both of us had, rather than spending time on discussing which idea worked better. This made both of us more efficient and it made me appreciate collaborating with someone else more which I wouldn’t have thought at the beginning of the week. Another aspect I found tough to deal with was how to work with actors from a directing perspective. With one of the scenes we ran, both I and the actors agreed it felt a bit flat, after a small discussion about the intentions of the characters we tried again and the energy hadn’t changed. I felt stumped on what to do so I remembered back to my own practice as an actor and looked over some exercises I have done to deal with similar issues for scenes. After doing this I had the actors run around the space as a chasing exercise to first bring more energy to their physicality, after that we did a heightened version of the scene with exaggerated gestures and speech. When we then went back to a more natural version of the scene the actors managed to find new intentions and engagement with lines that were previously sticky. As a director, I then realised the ability I had to turn a scene around and help the actors produce their best work from doing silly exercises that might at first seem odd and unhelpful.
Conclusion:
In doing this project it has better helped me understand the different components required to put an original production on its feet. Being involved in the process through the lenses of plot, script writer and codirector, it has helped me view the development from all different angles. With working on the plot, I’ve taken away the value of problem solving and reworking ideas till you have found something fresh and engaging that you can bring to the table. From writing script, I have learnt about taking bold offers and testing them out rather than getting too comfortable with original material as not being open to new ideas can stunt the growth of your work. From working as one of the directors, I learnt how best to work with actors and the power I have to create an engaging scene. There were many challenges that arose during this project, some of which went well and others that I now understand what went wrong that I could further improve upon if we took the piece forward.
When viewing the project as a whole after it has ended, I can now clearly see how it has improved my skill set as a performer aiming to have a career in the industry. Doing this project has made me gain a better appreciation for the level of planning and work that goes on behind the scenes to put productions on. I now better understand the financial strain of projects and how shows adapt around working with a tight budget especially when it comes to newly created work. Having this knowledge has made me a more aware and understanding performer than other actors in the industry might be, increasing my employability. Putting myself in the alien positions of book writer and director for the first time has also opened many doors for me and created more potential job opportunities for me moving forward that I never thought I would have. I now feel more prepared to take on a career in the industry with new ideas and lessons that I have learnt from this project as both a performer and creative.
