‘Off the Scales’ - In the Room: E-Letter 5
Hello friends,
Welcome back to the Off the Scales letter. Thank you for taking the time to return this week. It's been a particularly exciting one for the show, so grab that brew and I'll tell you a bit more about it.
I have stepped in to the rehearsal room, not as a producer and facilitator, but as a writer and creator for the first time. This has been such a journey in itself, but knowing I am in a (Zoom) room with brilliantly supportive people, makes it possible. And I'm absolutely loving it! I'm writing today at our halfway point, having spent the past two days in an intensively creative space, generating more material than I thought possible! We have been throwing around ideas incredibly quickly - and yet with great care and respect - the only way to work with this material and my own lived experience too.
Friday (Day 1) was with the Aileen Gonsalves (Director), Lorna Rees (Musical Director) and Molly Scarborough (Interviewer & Performer). For me, Day 1 was about 'arrival'. The day we turn up and unpack. I have been fortunate enough to work with these 3 women for many years; it's the first time they are working together though. I felt like the cat who got the cream, I could have repeatedly pinched myself. Very quickly we 'arrived' and we began building the skeleton of the show.
Saturday (Day 2) we were joined by five more incredible devising performers: Caroline Colomei, Hayley Cusick, Ivy Davies, Ed Hartland and Jordan Whyte. Devising is about being able to create material from source ideas, without a script. It's a very specific and important skillset for developing shows, and very much the world of theatre making which I love most. Much like Friday, I have been hugely humbled by how quickly they got underneath the ideas. We have begun exploring character and dialogue, taking the scenes, themes and research and starting to add the characters in. It's amazing to see this next layer added in and the detail this human element brings very quickly. There is so much richness to this material already.
The subject matter of weight loss and weight gain is so important to me. I have always said this is deeply political. Unpacking these thoughts with this brilliant group of artists these past two days, I realised the extent of how strongly I feel this. It is repeatedly told that managing weight is a simple matter of 'calories in versus calories out'. I believe this is a lie. If it were this simple, we would not have weight issues all over the world. We are mis sold (certainly in the UK) that thin is desirable and the sign of health and fitness, and fat is the opposite. We are faced with contradictions of being overlooked for life saving surgery, because the risk of death during surgery is too high. Film crews go out to beaches in the summer to film bellies, to publicly objectify and shame other people's bodies. The weight loss industry is marketed with toxic messaging of bikini bodies, losing baby weight, keeping things perky and pert and therefore looking desirable (read youthful). Our society normalises behaviour like extreme calorie restrictive diets on the lead up to holidays and big life events. We are used to casual comments like "I'm having a tooth extraction this week - at least this will help with the weight loss". We are reminded that our lives will be better, happier, easier, if we were a certain weight, clothes size, fitness level. Systemically people are shamed and judged and valued on their weight. And this is just for starters.
A bit heavy for a musical though, right? Absolutely not. I think the musical is the perfect platform to hold all of this because it gives permission for lightness and comedy, alongside utter heartbreak and complex issues. It also relies on an ensemble; a set of interlacing character stories that can go through a lot in a short amount of time, because of the drive from both the music and the dialogue. I get to explore funny or surreal moments, and also deeply moving, authentic ones.
I am naturally visually minded and my ideas are mostly driven by very clear stage set pieces that I see fully formed in my mind's eye. This is perhaps unsurprising as my career began in theatre design. I have not written a show prior to this experience. Who am I to write? But I see the world in my head and am gifted with a life surrounded by incredible stories. We all are. I have discovered already that writing can begin in many different ways; a vision in my head, an image, speaking aloud, interviewing other people, reading, word association, free writing, listening to music, a poem, a song… this sample culture is so interesting to me. Intrigued to try this for yourself? Come experiment with me in my pilot workshop next weekend. If you read this thinking 'I couldn't write if I tried', I already know that you can. Info & Booking>
We have also spent a lot of time with music too, discussing what the vibe might be. We formed a list of potential song titles linked to the themes we're exploring, building the start of a structure to work with. This is such a useful framework for beginning to understand the pace and the rhythm of the show. The music is going to hold so much of the world, the energy, the turning points for each character. Thanks so much for all of your song suggestions over the last month too. You may be interested in the crowd sourced playlist that has started forming! Take a listen> What a gorgeously uplifting and eclectic mix!
Every part of me is bubbling over with ideas and energy, fizzing away, explosive. Fed by a brilliant couple of days exchanging and building ideas together. This is my favourite part of the creation process. Goodness knows how I'm going to get any sleep this weekend…!
I look forward to checking in with you again next week. Until then, take good care.
Love,
Kate x