This week saw the end of the Lincoln Red Poppy Run as the project was concluded on Tuesday.  Having had a few days to consider and conduct an internal post-mortem on the project I have thought of a few points worth sharing.

Firstly the nature of the work itself.  This is what took me by surprise most.  Having entered this MA programme from a playwriting window, deciding to create work from a multimedia inspired seminar (Thanks to Dan Hunt!) was very unexpected.  Looking back I think why I enjoyed the module itself was because of the fact we as students AND practitioners were encouraged to explore different disciplines of performance.  Not only did I try it but I also have developed a greater appreciation for instillation and performance art work, which I presume comes from a greater understanding of the history and theory we discussed on the module.

Secondly, I FINISHED IT!

And finally, the audience seemed to enjoy the work! Having received feedback over the last few days via email, what audience members had said was that it was clear, the theory and the practice all “presented in a way easy to follow” and with “enthusiasm”.  Clarity has been a bit of a sore spot with some of my past performances as I have often tried to intertwine too many ideas or agendas to a less than satisfactory standard.

I managed to achieve what it was I set out to investigate: How can we identify different layers of performance in a piece.  Aside from those I identified in the presentation, I couldn’t quite foresee the effect on the layers of performance when introducing a second performer (Thanks to Tom Briggs!) into the piece.  If I ever have the opportunity to present this piece of work again then I would like to investigate more into the layers which exist within the performance, of course, but also between the two realms of the performers.