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 FAQs
How can I find out more about the Analogue productions I have seen? This website, which is updated and maintained by the company on a regular basis, is a source of additional information about our work. Our project-specific A/AS Level student and teacher guides will be available to download later this year.
Can Analogue send me any information? As a company that is conscious of our environment, we have ensured that most information can be found online. If you are:
Can I interview Analogue for my dissertation? We would love to be able to answer all your questions in person, but in general, the volume of work means that this is not always possible. However the project-specific teacher/student guides (due later this year), and documentation of our process online should be helpful (go to ‘Productions' on our homepage and then click ‘Show History' for the relevant production).
As is the case with most artistic work, there is a strong emphasis on your interpretation. Whist we have our own sense of 'what things mean', it's also important that our audience make up their own minds about what it means to them. We continue to encounter alternative and imaginative interpretations from our audiences, and have no wish to limit the diversity of response.
How does Analogue create work? The company's creative process is evolving, but tends to be determined by the following areas (which do not always follow in this specific order):
3. Devising - This storyboard then informs a devising process that involves the full performing company. During sessions structured into two week blocks, the company stands up ideas for scenes, develops characters, improvises dialogue and explores staging ideas, in order to further develop the storyboard and to find the physical and performance language for the work. Between intensive periods of development in the rehearsal room, there are often gaps of up to 3 months. These are really important as they give us creative space to reflect on what we achieved and what we didn't, allowing us to plan ahead and bring new ideas an new solutions to the room next time. 4. Writing - our team of three writers then develops written scenes, crafts new text, and hones improvised dialogue, to create a working script for the piece that ensures the production has a strong textual basis alongside its visual and physical form.
These strands are brought together in a process managed by the directors, and are informed by ongoing research into our subject area.
Design is not an entirely separate domain from ‘writing' in our work. The languages of set, lighting, sound, costume, multimedia, props, puppets and choreography continuously feed into the production from the first rehearsal. These elements are introduced early on, so they are integrated implicitly within the action. All the constituent parts of a performance that create meaning for an audience have equality in the first instance. As the story communicates how best it should be told, one element might become more important than another. But we serve the story, and try to avoid unnecessary cosmetics.
What is devised work? There are many ways to ‘devise'; at its simplest, ‘devising' means the act of creating. In terms of our work, the biggest determining factor is that we do not start with a script, but create work from people, real life encounters, situations and stories. We play and improvise in a room, sometimes with no specific direction or agenda in mind. We discover what's important through experimentation and then start to focus the work through writing, storyboarding and editing.
Can I watch/photograph rehearsals or workshops? In general, we don't open rehearsals to the public. This is mainly due to the collaborative nature of the work; in order to gain the best material from the devising process, it is important to create a safe and unselfconscious environment where we can openly make mistakes, attempt and fail. However, we upload numerous photographs from periods of development on our website which should give you a good insight into how we work. We also frequently present work-in-development performances to open up our process to audiences, the details of which are regularly posted on our website.
What is the company's administrative structure? Being a relatively young company, the main bulk of the administration is handled by the Artistic Directors and the Producer. In the future we plan to work with the assistance of interns and volunteers. Details of these posts will be advertised online as and when they become available.
Can I audition? There is no casting process as such, but there are specific reasons why - our company is made up of a broad range of collaborators from fields as diverse as computer graphic arts to puppeteers. The level of precision and complexity involved in our work to date, means that we can spend up to 2/3 years working on a single production. Therefore we haven't generally opened up casting to applicants, as the demands and commitments of our work have not lent themselves at all well to conventional means of 'casting'. Instead we hand pick artists and collaborators that have specific skills that we are looking for, based on what a particular project needs. But we are not a closed circuit; we are always on the lookout for future collaborations and will advertise for certain positions when they become available.
Are there any opportunities for work experience? We are beginning to employ interns on an unpaid basis but the size of the company dictates that such positions are limited. Interns working with the company will be called upon to help with administrative and production assistance both in the office and in the rehearsal room. For the reasons noted in the answer to sitting in on rehearsals, concerning comfortable working environments, the intern would need to commit regular and long-term hours. If you are interested in interning with Analogue please contact us
Does the company run workshops? We run workshops in devising for GCSE, A/AS Level and undergraduate. We also run extra-curricular workshops in devising new work for community centres or youth theatres. The focus of the workshops is based on the creation of multi-disciplinary theatre with emphasis placed upon new ways of staging drama; combining the ancient tradition of theatre with the new possibilities created through new media. The main objective is to find exciting, highly visual ways of story-telling. Different mediums are explored and subsequently combined, these include: Projection (live and pre-recorded), Video, Music, Object manipulation and physical theatre.
When will Analogue be back in my town? Keep an eye out on our online news page and if you want to be kept updated you can also join our Mailing List or our Facebook group. |
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