Wednesday 24 March 2010

Out of Character: a brief history

January 2009: Hidden Histories, York

Reality and Other Nightmares

A short performance for a Hidden Histories seminar event held at York St. John University. This Performance focused on things we wanted to remember and things we’d prefer to forget.

May 2009: Create 09 Festival, York

Enchantment

'Enchantment' was developed over 12 weeks with the then newly formed theatre company, 'Out of Character'. The motivation for the development of the piece came from two key themes, a desire to 'do' Shakespeare and themes around identity, which are especially relevant as the company starts the journey of developing its own theatrical identity.
Shakespeare's, A Midsummer Nights Dream, lends itself to examining confusion of identity and allowed us to further develop ideas around identity, and identification in workshops which have formed the basis for the other scenes.

“I feel this is a timely piece, not only for the group, but for you the audience member. Now is the time to question what you know, what you thought you knew about your identity and your right to it. In a time where identity is confused in meaning, shifting in ideals and not always considered a personal right, who will you be and where will you belong?”

September 2009: Arts and Health Conference, Northampton

The Unusual Suspects

A collection of sketches some from our existing repertoire and others developed specifically for the conference, continuing the exploration of themes of identity.

2010: Ongoing and Upcoming Projects

Education

Out of Character use their shared experiences and their skills as theatre makers to create work which aids the education of students and raises awareness of issues relating to Mental Health. These performances are tailored to meet the requirements of the audience and typically also include an opportunity for Q&A or a facilitated workshop.

Our audiences for these performances include Occupational Therapy Students, Mental Health Professionals and others interested in the links between art and health.

In recognition of the development of this aspect of our work, Out of Character will prepare and devise new work which will culminate in a performance at a Conference in Lancaster. This new work will then be made available to audiences who have an interest in developing their understanding in this area.

Collaboration

York Theatre Royal

Juliet Forster will take on the task of directing Out of Character in a performance focusing on Kafka’s short stories and themes. This work will be performed 1st, 2nd & 3rd July at York Theatre Royal.

Summer School

This year we will again host a theatre summer school. Out of Character, along with 1 in 4 (a theatre company based in Leeds) will have the opportunity to perform aspects of their current work as part of this event.

Development of New Work

Out of Character’s members are committed to the writing and development of new work, we hope to be able to develop these ideas into an original piece of theatre later in 2010.