Life Above All

Unpredictability. This is the most exciting thing about live events. FEET FIRST was an extraordinary and festive celebration of the New Year along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile on the evening of January 1st 2009. An event bringing together many artists each adding their own element and perspective to the evening. And, of course, the essential unpredictable element; the audience. FEET FIRST set out to be an extraordinary and unpredictable event. There was no way to know how the final creative vision would play out on the night. This was an extremely exciting part of the vision.

Chloe Dear of Iron-Oxide and Paul Pinson of Boilerhouse, the producers of the event, asked Ian Cameron and I, collectively Plutôt la Vie, to create an interaction that could take place between two windows on opposite sides of the street for the event. Plutôt la Vie translates as ‘Rather Life’ or ‘Life above all’. Philippe Gaulier, an extraordinary theatre teacher, said that. “…Theatre always needs to be at least as interesting as an Italian street market. I’ve always remembered that. A street Festival is alive with surprise and unpredictability, two elements that excite us as a company.

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Mad, Kind, Trusting

In one way the proposal was completely open, we could do whatever we liked in this space. In another way it was very specific; between two opposite windows above the street. We liked the restrictions of this. We knew it would have to be a ‘visual story’ of some type. Other restrictions included; a fairly small budget, a very tight time frame to come up with an idea, develop and rehearse it and put together the logistical requirements to make it work. Restrictions are helpful. Usually you get an instinctual feel for what you can do within the limits you have.

The first hurdle was to find appropriate windows. This was difficult. We needed people to allow us to use their flats. We went door to door and fortunately found not only the right windows (opposite each other) but also people mad, kind and trusting enough to let us take over two rooms in their homes. The windows were almost directly opposite each other. Perfect! Now we only had to come up with an idea…

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Silent Images, Technical Wizardry

As with all our projects, the initial idea was a platform for discovering what would truly work in the end. We began fantasizing without much thought to practicality. It would be great to be able to send objects whizzing across the street between the windows! Someone from the roof abseiling down! A tightrope between the buildings! How can we float someone across the street?! …an Angel floating? The meta-theme of the street festival was Hope, so an angel fit in. But what was to hope for in these desperate financial times?! A struggle between a bloated demon of global capitalism and a tattered Angel of Hope. As this seemed to fit our personalities, it was decided. The Angel and Demon characters also seemed at home in the medieval setting of the Royal Mile.

One of the best things about creative work, particularly collaborative projects, is that the starting idea is not the final vision. You usually end up with something you didn’t expect, usually for the better. Our initial idea was to make a purely visual story set in the two windows, perhaps with an accompanying soundtrack or soundscape amplified into the street. But the images in the windows would be silent, purely visual. We would have to create images strong enough to capture people’s attention and keep them watching; looking to and fro between windows as the images flik-flaked back and forth between the windows. The story would be about 12 minutes long and we would repeat it three times during the evening (7 – 9pm). Our story would be one of many events taking place throughout the street, all carefully timed and coordinated by Feet First.

The technical aspects presented lots of logistical difficulties. To create strong images, we would need theatrical lighting. Geoff Loveday and Stuart Barr, two enthusiastic, creative and fun technical wizards from John Diamond Event Services collaborated with us to achieve the technical effects we would need. Their participation was excellent and the lighting they put together really achieved the effects we wanted. We were able to have a brief visit to the window flats with the technicians a few days before, but we would only be able to set up our equipment on the afternoon of the event. (Note to self; use less equipment, use less equipment).

Our plan was to finish the set up by 5pm on Jan. 1st and be able to rehearse between 5 and 6:30pm. Inevitably, the technical set up took longer than expected and we didn’t have any time for a final rehearsal before the actual event. Talking to other artists after the event, I think this was a common difficulty. Feet First was an ambitious, large-scale street event that was being created for the first time. Nothing like this had been done as part of the Edinburgh Winter Festivals before. Being in a public space, the major difficulty facing most of the participants was having extremely limited set up and rehearsal time (if any) in the actual space of the event. Some of the participating artists were presenting work that had been previously created and adapted for this event, but many had been commissioned by Feet First to create work specifically for this event. This was both the most exciting and challenging part of the festival.

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Do It Again And Go Further

We had three timeslots to repeat our interaction. Three chances to get it right. We learned from each presentation. The first was quite awful. We couldn’t hear the soundtrack properly. It was hard to see each other across the street so both lost our places in the visual narrative. It was a mess. Our visual story, abstract to begin with, was unintelligible. Most importantly, we learned that it was not working for the characters to be stuck behind windows, totally separated from the street and the crowd. Before people would pay attention to any kind of poetic images up above, we had to engage them directly. The story of this frazzled angel and Bouffon devil came to life when we involved the crowds below. The devil needed to abuse them, coerce them, and disdain them directly! The angel needed to get them on his side! As Ian, the Angel, couldn’t open his windows for safety reasons, it was easier for the devil to abuse the crowd and so get them on the angel’s side. This worked. The second performance was more successful. We edited some elements and stayed longer with other moments. We simplified and used what worked. Our last presentation was much closer to what we had originally hoped; a visual story happening above the heads of the crowd below.

The most difficult aspect of this live event was the lack of opportunity to rehearse in the actual location. By our third run of the night, we had begun to learn what worked and what didn’t. We were beginning to learn how to ‘play’ this story. If we were to do it again, we would go further. I think for those who saw the last presentation, a story was definitely emerging. And though the first two runs didn’t totally achieve what we were intending, they had their moments. I think that also reflects the atmosphere of a large street event. People in the crowd flowing through the street can’t see everything. They see flashes and follow what attracts them. They come across fleeting, arresting images, loads of different experiences and textures making up an extraordinary whole.

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