For our piece, our initial idea was to dress in costume. We thought that by dressing in 1915 clothing, this could help to make the piece authentic and work as a disguising tool in order to send the audience back in time. Using Lone Twin as inspiration, we could interpret their idea of dressing up in costume. This would signify us as performers, and also allow the audience to recognise our characters are from a different period of time; therefore creating the idea of ‘otherness’. ‘The performers costume and activity signalled their place as strangers yet also acts as a catalyst for the public to interact with them’ ( Govan, 125.)
After having a meeting with Conan, he suggested it might be difficult to find five costumes all the same. I’ve had a think about how we can show our theme of ‘Women of Lincoln within World War One’ through costume, and an alternative idea could be to have just two performers dressed up. One of the women could wear boiler suit overalls and the other could wear an apron. This would symbolise the change women have gone through from past to present, as both costumes highlight the idea of women producing things. In 1915, Women weren’t able to do the same things that men were able to. They could not work in factories and were considered to stay at home and bake. I feel this would demonstrate a claim for the future and break this traditional mould. This would also link nicely with our monologue we are still yet to write about Florence Bonnett, who was the first women in Lincoln to make the tank which would serve in the War. ‘Female subjectivity as it gives itself up to intuition be- comes a problem with respect to a certain conception of time: time as project, teleology, linear and prospective unfolding; time as departure, progression, and arrival-in other words, the time of history.’ (Jardine, 1981, 17).
Linking with the idea of time, we can show the linear path that women have gone through by using chalk to map out an image on the pavement of our site. We could draw an image of hopscotch, which can be shown as a time piece. This would also link to our theme of children in a playground, as this would have been a common 1915 game children would have played.
Hannah Taylor
Good thoughts Hannah, linking time to your work but also considering it from a theoretical perspective. Your costume idea might work – try it out. Will you need to do anything else with the performers other than use an apron? Consider elements such as manner, tone, language. Is costume a significant driver for the work? How might you deliver the sense/essence of time on the audio and how might this juxtapose with the (live) performative interjections?
Also, be clearer to which Lone Twin piece you are referring to.