Development
Prototype
The next Prototype is on Sunday 4 March.
Prototype is Tobacco Factory Theatre and Theatre Bristol’s forum for the development of new work. It is programmed 4 times a year by Theatre Bristol Creative Producer Katie Keeler and features work from a mix of emerging and well-established companies from both the local area and more further afield. Each Prototype night presents between 4 and 6 pieces and is followed by a facilitated question and answer session during which the audience is encouraged to give feedback on what they’ve seen.
The following artists and companies took part in Prototype’s first 10 events:
FairGround Theatre, Crack Theatre, Kettle of Fish, Ed Rapley (x2), Bric a Brack,Olypuppet, Precarious, Fionn Gill (with and without The Plasticine Men), Jonny Dixon, The Glamorous, director Carolne Hunt with Sarah Moody and large cast, director Toby Hulse, Fecund Theatre, Luci Gorell Barnes, Tom Marshman, Tom Wainwright (x2), Foulisfair Thearte, Soap Soup, Publick Transport, Trestle, Awkward City, The Cutting Room. TryCycle Theatre, Michelle & Sebastian, The Other Way Works, Peter Tells Lies, Firebird Theatre, Vex Dance Theatre, Little Ray Puppets, Nice As Pie Dance Theatre, Ruffled Umbrella Theatre Company, Malcolm Hamilton, Alice Ellerby & Beck Illsey, Neshima Dance Company and Mark Bruce Company.
Prototype and the Tobacco Factory Theatre
The Tobacco Factory Theatre is not only as a place of performance, but also one of creation and development. As such it is becoming a home for an ever-increasing number of both established and emerging artists. Through Prototype artists are able to develop their work and thinking, start a relationship with the TF and feel legitimised in their undertakings.
Prototype and You
We want Prototype to become part of artists’ processes. Its framework is designed to make you feel supported in the development of your work whilst also offering an all-important deadline to work to. Often the first problem artists come up against when making new work is how to get it out of their heads / bedrooms / rehearsal rooms and up in front of people. Prototype gives you that opportunity; it’s a way of moving something along and taking it to the next level.
Prototype and Your Work
Prototype is not a showcase evening! Of course we understand the desire to present something you are pleased with, but pieces must be at a stage of genuine development to work well; artists have found that the feedback is more useful if they have not done too much work. You will probably also want to think about the length of what you would like to show. Very short pieces seem to work well, as the audience is completely engaged and left wanting more. Another important thing to bear in mind is that your piece will likely be sitting alongside very different types of work. The mix of work is one of the great things about Prototype, but it’s also quite odd, and you need to be comfortable with that and sure that the context suits you. Of course, these are just guidelines, and there are always exceptions…
Prototype and Your Audience
I was amazed at the number of people who turned up. I’ve done a mass of scratch nights across the country, including some of the most well know ones, and I have never seen such a large audience. Seeing so many people supporting up coming and unfinished work with their time and money (even if it was only £3 on the door) is really encouraging and it shows how committed and engaged the audience in Bristol is.
Ed Rapley on Prototype 1
‘Work in progress’ evenings aren’t easy for artists and we worry all the time about how to make sure the feedback from audiences is useful. We believe in the artists presenting work keeping the power, as it were, during the feedback session – artists ask questions of the audience, not the other way around. The Prototype audience is usually quite large, quite vocal, and made up of fellow practitioners, other industry professionals and regular theatergoers. They care about new work, making new work and making new work better, and are getting better all the time at not revealing their own agendas when answering artists’ questions. In the main, they are immensely supportive, well informed and there to help. We work with artists to make sure that their questions work really hard for them, giving rise to as much helpful feedback as possible.
What next?
If you’re a theatre-maker involved in creating and developing a new piece and want to have a chat about how Prototype might work for you, then contact Katie Keeler at Theatre Bristol.
What people have said about being involved in Prototype
Prototype made us feel part of Bristol’s theatre scene, as does Theatre Bristol. I/we mean this quite sincerely, it is far better for us to be part of what everyone else in the theatre world is part of than being limited to the Disability Arts /Arts and Disability world. We are not naive, we know it is still difficult for some professionals/practitioners to consider/review/comment/feedback on the theatre that Firebird makes. It is also difficult for Firebird to present work in a ‘mainstream’ arena but initiatives and opportunities like Prototype enable that to happen; Theatre Bristol also provides practical, concrete support. Very important to a Company like Firebird. Firebird
John, Jim and I wanted to try an improvised performance in front of a live audience starting with nothing, just to see if we could get away with it and if people liked it. We did and they did. The success of the Prototype evening has led to other performances in Bristol, successively stripping away more and more - including one performance where we didn’t see the venue before walking onstage - and we are currently in discussion with a producing theatre to create an improvised Christmas show for very young children following the same format. Without Prototype I don’t know how else we would have got that first ten minutes to experiment in front of an audience of that size and that level of discernment. Toby Hulse
Prototype gives our work the opportunity to be exposed to a critical audience. It is also a chance for companies without technicians to understand how to communicate and engage with a the technical aspects of their piece. I wanted to do it because I know it give you an extra incentive to make your work and consider its value to an audience. It also can connect you with who other people producing work and can advise you. Theatre Bristol provides a highly supportive infrastructure that is available to all performance artists. Along with the other many events they host ‘Prototype’ allows artists to freely experiment with their ideas in a professional environment with excellent resources. I wanted to perform at Prototype to test out a Puppet Show called Fishwife and get feedback from Theatrical Professionals. This process was extremely useful and with further support from Theatre Bristol and the Old Vic we are making the show into a full length piece of Puppet Theatre. I feel very lucky to be working in a city where this kind of help is at hand. Corina Bona & Alex Hykel
Prototype is a great opportunity to try out new ideas and see if they have legs, and there is always the chance of someone being in the audience who can help get your project off the ground, as happened with ‘The Dept. of Smelling Pistakes’ which is currently playing at The Brewery. We are about to develop ‘Very Hard Times’ (working title) which was scratched at Prototype last year. It’s hard to think how to improve what is already a fantastic event, but I think pieces should be kept short and sweet - it doesn’t take long to get a whiff of them. Angus Barr