For weeks on end, one of my flatmates, who studies philosophy might I add with all his other work on, appeared to be effortlessly rehearsing for a production put together and organised by the students of the University of Leeds. As well as studying philosophy, theatre is another passion of his, which is great! He had also landed one of the leading roles, 'Wilheim'. The rest of my flatmates and I just had to buy a ticket.... For one, Harry was performing, which we get to see everyday really.....but secondly, he had a lead role as one of the storytellers, so it was unmissable.
On the Thursday night, 5th November, Bonfire Night, a group of us went down to the union to watch the second night of the four day production, from the comfort of the seats we assumed we would be allocated once we arrived......
Rule number one as a designer.... you should NEVER, I repeat NEVER, assume anything!
On arrival, we were greeted by a number of rather gruesome creatures, however, keeping with the Bonfire Night theme they were handing out toffee and chocolate apples so I really wasn't complaining. Like I said from the absolute beginning, the audience had a sense of involvement in the play, which was cleverly directed. We were led to "our seats", which were actually on the floor of the main stage where the performance was. As we were directed to our seats we found ourselves sitting amongst leaves and cushions that had obviously been placed there for our comfort.
The sense of involvement was so intense, you sort of wanted to join in with the crazy characters who were obeying a higher evil being. Throughout the play the intensity was consistent with the actors sitting amongst us, quietly screeching in our ears as if trying to brainwash us and finding fairly commonplace objects, like my bag fascinating. They continued to guide us diffusely, almost forcing us sit in different places on the floor. I sort of got the impression that I should just do as they say....no questions asked.
I think if we had been sitting in seats that were separate to the performers, that lack of engagement will have totally changed the feel of the performance for the audience. I don't think I would have had such an understanding of the play and been able to empathise with the characters, as they had done so with their audience. All in all, a brilliant production that I would have recommended to many others had it still been running now. After seeing the production of Dracula last year and experiencing sitting in the seats separate from the performers I certainly felt the difference as a member of the audience. I was completely captured from the moment I arrived to the moment I left 'Grimm Tales'.
On a final note, I mentioned earlier, assumption is not something that should ever influence your creative thinking. It should always be backed up with some form of research or evidence as to why you wish to design a certain product for example in a certain way or why you have chosen a specific audience to target. I made an assumption about the play prior to my 'Grimm Tales' experience, however, having learnt from this and looking at it from a design perspective, I do not intend on falling into the trap and making that mistake again....neither should you.
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