Post written by: Erin Walcon
We’re just starting the full devising and writing process for The Woods. As I mentioned before, the devising process we use is constantly evolving and changing, but we do know that the early stages are the fun playful bit. It’s the time where any idea counts… where Milky White could indeed be a cyborg as James suggested last night, or Cinderella secretly a ninja who wields her glass slipper as a weapon. The early devising stages are no-holds-barred, wild ideas required, think outside the box time. The young people we work with are incredibly good at this.
By next week, we’ll already have started focusing that in. We’ll be moving up the democracy triangle, starting to weed out the craziest notions, starting to find a sense of purpose and cohesion in this narrative we’re co-constructing together.
It’s really important that we’re all telling the same story. That involves negotiation, finding our way together.
So last night, at our Doorstep Youth Theatre session, we had a team production meeting and drew design concepts, wrote character dream plans, and continued songwriting.
Writing the original music for the second half of the show will become an increasing focus over the next month – and so will design and script-writing. We’ve cast the first half of the show now (the company finds out their roles tonight, oooh the nerves!). But we’re still looking for our technical team, which includes ‘Technical Lead’ roles for design, music, costume/wardrobe, and lighting. Any interested young people can email doorsteparts@gmail.com.