For the Warren
For the Warren was developed over three days in a woodland in Norfolk, UK. The piece explored the personal relationships people have with natural environments, and how woodlands provoke us at different times in different ways. Woods can be calming, chaotic, scary, soothing, peaceful, and playful. Using light and projection in dark woodland, the OST team devised a series of experiential moments in homage to the woods.
Day One
Arriving in Norfolk on a cold and wet Saturday morning, the OST team gathered with the objective to create a piece of theatre that responded to the woodland. We had no preconception of what we might create, instead maintained confidence in the creative process, knowing that the woodlands would evoke ideas and atmospheres. As always, we arrived with a toolkit of rudimentary technology, an indicative playlist, and scraps of paper and pens.
During our first stroll through the woods we gained an understanding of the terrain and found areas that inspired performance; passageways, nooks, soggy ground, the architecture and expanse of the trees. Whilst walking, responded to the environment in creative ways.
“people who destroy a natural world as wondrous as you rob themselves of answers, of contemplation, of the deep knowledge that our lives are just a moment in time, that woodlands live before and after our tiny selves”
Following the walk, we discussed initial ideas and ways we wanted to experiment. We drew a map of the route we took which formed a shared language for different areas of the woodland.
Whilst walking, we also created a digital record of our playful explorations using an old Camcorder; capturing moments such as drawing in the sandy ground with sticks and performing a flocking routine on tree stumps dotted up a hill. From our interactions with the environment we started to gain a sense of what performance possibilities it offered us and the emotions and meanings our movements might evoke for an audience.
We played a music playlist, using this to aid (and at times skew) our interpretations of the environment in different and exciting ways, creating possibilities we could later explore, develop or discard.
In the evening, with the temperature at -3°C, we layered up and headed to the woods after darkness, with a projector, floodlights, homemade willow lanterns and other materials. Our aim was to test the performance possibilities of these technologies and materials at night time.
Our experimentation played with movement, shadows, lighting gels, density, focus of lighting and more. At all moments, we digitally captured the different interesting forms, shapes and moments we achieved to refer to later.
One distinct feeling we had on leaving the woods that evening was the sinister nature of the woodland at nighttime; how the darkness totally altered the environment and earlier beauty of the area. We shifted from moments of focus related to our work, to fear of the unknown amongst the shadowy trees.
Day Two
One Day Two, we rented a small village hall a short walk away from the woodland to continue rehearsals, which the local community kindly supported us with in exchange for a very small fee. Here , we took stock of the explorations from the day before and created new content through improvisation, freewriting, and character building. These are crucial blocks in our creative process, where we assemble our favourite moments, characters and interesting findings, which we can then whittle down to form a story or throughline. During the discussion which accompanied this playful period of making, we also interrogated the form of the performance, when the best time of day to perform might be, how the audience could participate and what creative challenges the woodland presented.
All the content we create is scribbled onto paper for us to review. Which moments might relate to each other… and which themes emerge? By the end of Day Two, we were gravitating towards the following:
The pain of being disconnected from nature and the environment within our Western capitalist society and longing for a more symbiotic relationship between nature, wellbeing and work.
Feelings of hopelessness related to the safety and longevity of the woodland; feeling uncertain about its future and worried about increasing threats it faces.
Reflections on childhood experiences of nature. Places like this are not accessible to all for many reasons; it feels like a privilege to access such a place.
Gratitude towards all that the woodland provides, but concern over whether we give enough back in return?
Day Three
Our final day was spent creating the performance, including capturing and editing together footage and voice recordings.
Once the digital elements were edited together, we returned to the woods to walk through and plot the piece. After darkness, we rigged the set up, with one rehearsal before the audience arrived.
Using projection, sound, floodlights and live performance, For the Warren created an experiential performance, live in the vibrant atmosphere of a woodland at night. It highlighted how people experience and interact with the woods in different ways, how we treat it, how much we demand of it and how little we give to it in return. The piece asks why this place matters, and stresses the need to reflect and celebrate how humans connect with nature.
This project was executed using reclaimed, recycled, second hand and crafted materials. No new equipment was purchased or utilised for the purposes of this project. This piece was the most environmentally conscious work that we have managed to create to date.
