In this week’s class (module one class one), students were asked to pick an item around them, that represents themselves and present it to the others within a minute. As I was unable to be there in the class, I decided to do a blog post about it.
My item or items are my programme books. I have many programme books from shows that I’ve seen; productions that I’ve been involved in or performed in. Right now, I only have a small number of my programme books, all the programme books from before I moved away from England are at my parent's house, in boxes. I actually sorted them out this summer, when I went back to visit. The programmes that I have with me here in Korea, are programmes that I’ve collected from my time in Singapore and Korea. I think that a lot of us within this industry will probably have done the same kind of thing. A lot of us might have collected programme books or cast sheets or other paraphernalia from performances; shows; events and concerts that we’ve either watched or performed in, over the years. I think these give us an insight into our lives, our likes and dislikes plus it’s almost like a personal archive or bibliography of events that are meaningful to us. I think one of the most incredible things about looking into someone’s collection of programmes is just how uniquely different everyone’s collection will be. I don’t collect many things in my life. In fact, I think this is the only thing that I do collect, and I have a lot of them. I have no intention of ever stopping my collection. I love the idea of going back after many years and looking into some of the things that I have performed or watched and having that sense of nostalgia. Additionally remembering those happy memories and things that might have happened around the same time, is one of the greats joy’s in life, especially in this social media-run age.
Am I the only one that does this? Or do other people do this too?
*Image shows some programme books from some of the performances I've done whilst living in Korea.
I collect programmes, too! Though mine are not so well organised. But every show I go to, I make a point of getting the programme - and sometimes it comes together with the play-text so I then keep it with my scripts, instead of the programmes... But you're right, it is a lovely archive/narrative of your audience (and/or performer) experience. Have any of these shows affected your practice? In what ways?
ReplyDeletePS I once lent to a student a programme of the best Lear I ever saw (it was in Argentina, directed by Jorge Lavelli). It was beautiful, full on information and pictures... She never gave it back. :(
Oh no.... That's awful. I hope you get it back! I definitely have fond memories from the first ever show I saw. The lion, the witch and the wardrode was the first performance I watched as a kid, or that I remember, It's what made me want to be a performer. I was captivated my the artists and the way they told a story. Whenever I pick up that programme it conjures up all those first emotions of wanting to be on stage.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I secretly love doing, is checking the names of performers and seeing how many I know now. Our industry is so small that more often than not you will know someone or know of someone. Plus checking again years later to see if your paths have crossed with someone recently is fun.