The inevitability of failure at the moment is something that is clouding my mind constantly with this module. Working together is hard when you only see 7 people each rehearsal. How are we expected to make something when each rehearsal idea is tossed around and shot down and new ones brought in simply because there isn’t a consistency of people who attend who can all shape one singular idea.
Everyone keeps saying ‘It will all work out in the end’ and honestly, I’m not sure it will.

The most recent direction we’re taking, and hopefully sticking to, is one that I came up with about a week ago. (I know, it’s too late for this…) To do with History and looking at it from a different angle. Marilyn’s backstage area, the gunman who shot JFK, the hidden speech from the moon landing…
A good idea, and something that if splitting off into smaller groups to put together scenes would make production quick and effortless with this all taking place so late in the game.
Bryony asked me to take over a rehearsal to go through ideas and run the tasks of the day, and honestly we got a lot of work done with the people who were present. We had outlined scenes we could do and thought about what kind of things technology wise, made a list and assigned roles and tasks to have done by the next rehearsal.
The next rehearsal the ideas developed further, we laid out exactly step by step each of these scenes should go. Queens coronation focusing on her breathing and shaking hands as we hear the audio through a radio, JFK’s assassin putting together a gun centre stage as car noises surrounded… What was wrong? It was too disjointed and meant nothing. A fair statement, there wasn’t anything this production meant other than ‘look, we can show history’ – so we developed a narrative. The idea of two or three people becoming ‘History artists’ as it were. Taking these moments and shaping them for the audience in silence, letting the recordings bring the story to life. Think ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ but with more tech. We thought ‘well, why are they presenting these moments of history?’ which led us onto Conspiracies. 9/11, Marilyn Monroe, the moon landing, Roswell. Moments of history that get questioned because of government intervention.

Then I had this idea.
The play is set inside an attic. Messy, cluttered, pizza boxes piled high, tv screens, cameras and laptops around. A man walks in, puts in a DVD of 9/11 footage and rewinds and replays the moment the first building collapses over and over again, searching, looking for something that he can’t see. Another man, asleep on a table remains motionless. The final man walks in, looks at the first man with the DVD, looks at the man sleeping, rolls his eyes then walks to the man with the DVD. They stare. the first man points fast at the screen as the second man looks confused. he rewinds, points again. The second man has no idea what he is talking about. The first man sighs, goes over to a cork-board and pins a picture of President Bush to it, along with the word ‘Liar’. He stands, staring. The second man walks over, he picks up a picture of Roswell, pins it to the board. The first man smiles. Slowly they fill the board, all these different conspiracies, until one man runs off and brings a pile of newspapers in, drops them on the table as the sleeping man shoots awake. He turns slowly, takes it in. Smiles. He grabs one of the cameras and a radio. He places the radio in the centre of the table and zooms the camera in on the picture of Bush.
9/11 news reports start through the radio and the small 9/11 section begins.

It’s an image that I think would look nice, and create a flowing narrative to sew all these moments together, however it was argued against saying that just the ordinary stories would be fine on their own. We shall see.
Either way a decision needs to be made.
The show is in a month and we have nothing.
I’m fed up of looping in circles.