This article analyses how Banshee Performance works and how caring for one another has had a huge impact on not only the performance and the group but for each of us as women. The nature of the subject that Banshee Performance tackles is extremely sensitive, each woman has a different story to tell about their own experiences with rape or sexual abuse. This is why as a group during the creation of Banshee Performance, caring for one another was crucial, not only caring about the performance but caring for each member and their physical and mental health. We found as time progress this aspect of caring, came hand in hand with support and respect. Our ethnographic research was autobiographical, our experiences became part of our performance. However without this element of care and support it is possible that our stories would still be a secret. Through our method of caring we made it possible to create an open safe space for all of us to confide in and through each session and each rehearsal Banshee Performance would sit as four women and talk about our experiences with abuse and experiences with feminism and what were our desired outcomes for the show. This daily practice came flawlessly and we began to realise we were researching each other and slowly helping each member remember that they are so much more than what that experience made them feel.
As we progressed in this practice, our mutual respect grew and with that, Banshee Performance became a close knitted group of warriors. We found that this practice plays a pivotal role in how we work as a group and with much support from each other decided to insert our own personal stories into our show. Without that element of care Banshee Performance would not exist as it does today. On a personal note it was an honour to work with such passionate and strong women, everyday I aspire to be as strong as them.
By Riyadh Johnson Love, Banshee. x
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As a feminist theatre company, one of the main topics we chose to focus on during our process was the act of sexual assault and rape. Rape. To type, write or say the word seems too dark, too sharp. Part of me wants to change the word to something less daunting, but I'll refrain from doing so due to the fact that society likes to ignore that rape is an issue. No one likes to hear the word 'rape', because as much as it's a subject that needs to be discussed, it's also something that people do not want to believe happens on a daily basis. When researching, we found that one in four women will be sexually assaulted and we came to a sudden realisation, there are four of us Banshees. To look around our group of strong, powerful women and to wonder which of us would be the unlucky one made us angry. It filled us with rage and by doing that gave us the motivation to push ourselves to create a performance that will not only educate others on the subject but will force them to listen, to not tiptoe around it. Photography taken by Tim Drew We began by researching, we found that documentary's such as 'The Hunting Ground' gave us a lot of insight into the twisted world of sexual assault in American universities and allowed us to delve deeper into how victims of rape are usually ignored and blamed for what happened to them. However, what interested us the most came from talking to friends and family about their experiences with sexual assault. We found that the perpetrators from the autobiographical stories we had heard were not strangers who drag women down dark alleys, they were actually friends, partners and family members. They were people who were trusted, they were people who betrayed that trust. We took these autobiographical stories and turned them into text and movement, focusing on the gestures that were used when stating their verbatim. A lot of the time we found it very powerful to repeat those gestures throughout our piece. The stories that we had heard needed to be put out into the world, we owe it to victims to sexual assault to do so. As a company, we felt like our audience needed educating on the subject in an honest and unapologetic way, so that is what we did. We will not turn a blind eye to rape and sexual assault any longer, it needs to be discussed and it needs to be stopped. By Rachel Drayton.
Love, Banshee. x Photo Credits: https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/quotes/rape-fornication.php https://endrapeculture.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/fightagainstrapeculture.jpg WE HAVE DONE IT!!!!!! Thank you to every single one of you who attended the premier of 'Do not Cut the Flow of Kindness from Me.' The performance went so well and we are over the moon that so many of you were able to see what we have been working on this past year. Hopefully you too have allowed your inner banshee to come out. Unfortunately that does mean that our university experience is now over... *cries* But we are happy to be ending the semester and our degree on a high having learnt so much not only about ourselves and the way we work, but other people too and just how important these relationships are. This wont be the last of Banshee we can assure you of that so do keep your eyes peeled with information on our next project. (As non- university students this time *cries again*) Once again, thank you so so much for giving us the opportunity to tell our stories and spread our message. By Georgia Randall Love Banshee xx P.S thank you to Jen Todman for the photographs and our fabulous darling Jack Richardson for offering his shoulder to cry on, and being the best light and sound guy ever. Last but definitely not least, thank you to all the students and lectures at York St. John, particularly David Richmond for his continuous support and inspiration.
Banshee Performance 16th May 2017
Photo's by Jen Todman Morning everyone, We have less than a week to prepare for our big day. We've been preparing for this for just under a year, and it's come up so fast. We're really coming along though, we have around 40 minutes of performance to tweak and make perfect in time for next Tuesday. If you'd like to book tickets to our performance 'Do Not Cut The Kindness From Me' then please use the link below. The tickets are free, and we welcome everyone, however you must be over 18, as there is some strong language and mature themes throughout the performance. In the past few weeks we've really been focusing on our own autobiographical stories, giving the performance a personal touch that's real and hard hitting. Our research stems from our own life experience, and in talking about what's happened in our own lives, we've realised the stories are too similar, too horrific and society sees it as a norm for women. Our lives have been forever changed by certain events that we will portray within 'Do Not Cut The Kindness From Us'. We want to give women a voice that it's okay to stand up and speak out because they're not alone, we're not alone. We have started to play around with a drone sound, a noise that's constant, and empowering. We see the drone noise as the inability to speak out, it drones out any other noise, our shouts and screams. We are constantly fighting the drone, which plays an important role in our performance. When you drone out the pain with your 'I love you's' as if that will make it okay, as if that will make it hurt any less." Georgie - Banshee Performance Photo taken by Tim Drew Banshee's performance shows society what it's like to be a woman and that we're fighting for our right to not be scared walking home on a night, with keys in between our fingers. We're fighting for our sisters, mothers, grandmothers, aunties, friends and future daughters. We're fighting for us.
By Georgia Randall Love, Banshee x As a group of feminist women, we often get asked what we think feminism is, why there is feminism and how it affects our lives; Well... Photo by Getty, Found: www.politico.com/story/2017/01/michelle-obama-next-step-democrats-234047 Above is a photo of Barack and Michelle Obama, ex President of the United States and first lady. Beside them is Donald and Ivanka Trump, the new President and first lady. Michelle Obama, is not only the first black first lady but also a huge supporter of women's rights. She is such a powerful role model to any woman, as she cares so deeply and wants to make a change. There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish, whether that's in politics or other fields. Michelle Obama In march 2015, Michelle Obama set up a charity called 'Let Girls Learn', which gives a right to every girl to access education across the world. Putting funds into already existing schemes and setting new ones up, so that girls can feel safe and secure when learning so they can reach their full potential. https://letgirlslearn.gov/about/ On monday, may 1st 2017 Donald Trump has decided to put an end to the initiative, ordered to 'cease immediately' even though it has secured enough funding to continue in over 50 countries for years to come. Women have fought for centuries, and it's shocking that one man can undo so much good in the world and people can stand by and let it happen. Feminism has paved the way for women to have better lives, to be able to work, to be able to vote, to be able to love yourself. Feminism has played a role in the civil rights movement, the suffragettes stood up for what they believed in, and sadly died for it, and much more. Feminism is still needed today, because without it, women would not have a voice, support or freedom. There is still a fight that needs to be fought, women all over the world are still being raped, murdered, trafficked, abused, and tortured. In developing countries women don't have access to police, hospitals, support networks, or abortion clinics. In fact, it wasn't long ago that abortion in England was illegal. “Women would drink bleach to try to induce miscarriage. They would have very hot baths, or move heavy furniture, or try to do it themselves with a needle or a crochet hook,” Diane Munday Our performance is a cry for help for all the women out there who aren't safe, aren't treated fairly or don't have a stable education. Our performance is a small step in the right direction and if it persuades any of our audience members that feminism is still so important, then we have done our part and made the world that tiny bit safer. By Georgia Randall Love, Banshee. x http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/michelle-obamas-12-most-powerful-quotes-about-women/there-is-no-limit-to-what-we-as-women-can-accomplish/ http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/illegal-abortion-1960s-sixties-uk-pro-choice-activist-diane-munday-bpas-a7657726.html https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/29/south-africa-rape-nightmare-crime-stats https://www.theodysseyonline.com/what-has-feminism-done-for-me http://mashable.com/2017/05/01/trump-michelle-obama-let-girls-learn/#GYWXa5tPmkqA The way we create theatre is very physical, getting up and throwing ourselves into it. As a group, we are all interested in practitioners such as DV8, Goat Island and Frantic Assembly, and we use a lot of their techniques to create work. Photo's taken by Georgia Randall We've studied Frantic Assembly's Masterclass: Building Blocks for Devising, and used it to create shapes, lifts and movement. This has been one of our favourite performance styles, as we can really push our bodies to the limit. Banshee play around with the tempo of movement, slowing it down and speeding it up. We also play around with gravity, if we can get across the room without touching the floor, using other bodies to climb across. We are often emotionally and physically drained after a day's workshop, but we feel happy because we've achieved something. Often using music to guide our steps, we've taken songs from artists such as Haim, who is an all female group singing about empowering women. Photo's taken by Laura Castle It's become a routine to do a star jump exercise every morning we come into the studio, led by Riyadh, we do over 150 star jumps which absolutely kills your calves but we feel energised afterwards, and gets us ready to use our bodies physically. We all have our skills in the group, whether it's strength, flexibility or being fearless of being chucked around. We really gel as a group, which is why we feel that making our performance about caring for others, and empowering women is so crucial. By Georgia Randall Love, Banshee. x Photo's Taken by Tim Drew
Photo taken by Tim Drew Hello! We have been busy bees over the past few weeks. It's getting closer and closer to the performance deadline so we've been racking our brains to come up with new ideas. We refuse to be silenced The theme underlying our performance is caring for one another. Giving love and forgetting hatred, dishonesty and ego. We like the idea of a motherly figure within the piece, giving homage to mother nature and goddesses. In a world full of war, anger and sadness, we wanted to show that there is love, and care between people; there is hope. Photo Taken by Tim Drew We want to create an intimacy within our performance; between each other but also between actor and audience. Marina Abramovic is one of our biggest inspirations who created a performance called 'House with Ocean View' where she locked eyes with the audience for prolonged periods of time. Creating a connection with our audience is very important as our message needs to be heard. We want to give ourselves to our audience, for them to walk away knowing something about us, and the challenges we face being women. We want to create a space where the audience feel loved and cared for so that they reflect it back on us full force. The world would be a better place if we loved and cared freely, right?
By Georgia Randall Love, Banshee. x We're often asked, 'who inspires you?' WELL... All of the women above, are who we look up to. They have pushed themselves to make a difference, for example Lady Gaga challenges beauty standards, and protests in the name of the LGBT community and more. Ching Shih was one of the most successful female pirates and created the pirate code. All the women above, are powerful women who we aspire to be like. Our work is focusing around feminist issues, with the goal to make a difference, or a change in someones life. We challenge the way people see things, and ask everyone to question why? in our society. Why is Kylie Jenner adored for having big lips and a lot of money when other amazing women go unnoticed? Why do men get paid more than women?
The list goes on and on. Women are so powerful, and we can't forget that. These inspirational women should be the ones we look up to. Please feel free to add comments on who you look up to, and we can add them to the list. Love, Banshee x Photo Credit:
Marina Abramovic: comefromcanada.com/arts Stevie Nicks: standardissuemagazine.com/voices/why-i-love-stevie-nicks/ Figs in Wigs: www.threeweeksedinburgh.com/article/photo-shoot-figs-in-wigs/ Lady Gaga: www.vagabomb.com/Lady-Gaga-on-What-It-Means-to-Be-a-Woman-Right-Now/ Bryony Kimmings: avalonuk.com/clients/bryony-kimmings/ Pina Bausch: indulgy.com/post/9yi7sGecM1/kontakthof-pina-bausch Ching Shih: sailingtoantarctica.com/writers/pulchritudinous-pirates-women-on-tall-ships-part-2/ This week we've had a get together, and come up with a campaign idea to help promote ourselves and what we are fighting for, in the name of feminism. We've realised that not many people actually understand what feminism means, and that we aren't man hating, bra burning hardcore lesbians, that some stereotypes suggest. We don't want people to feel alone, and by asking our friends and followers to create these photos with us, creates a sense of community and family. What feminism means to us; As of today our selfie campaign is launched. The campaign is an opportunity to give women their voice. In doing this we aim to diminish the stigma surrounding feminism and sexism. This is a reminder that we are not alone in a society that makes us feel any less than we are. We are strong, independent women and we are here to prove that. We are currently asking for as many people as possible to take a selfie with a caption giving a statement on what feminism means to you. For example "I'm a feminist because..." "feminism to me is..." or it could also be a word of phrase that states the way in which someone or society has made you feel. Using the hashtags #BansheePerformance #Feminisme #NotAlone we are wanting to create a collage of hundreds of men and women giving their opinion, regaining their voice.
Please feel free to send us a photo of what feminism means to you. It will be posted on our website and social media outlets, but it will hopefully make a difference in someones life, to know that we aren't alone when dealing with feminist issues. Thank you! By Georgia Randall Love, Banshee. x Happy extremely belated new year! Sorry we haven't been in touch, we have been so busy with our own projects we haven't had time to fit anything else in! But we're back! (From outta space...) We had a rehearsal today to see where we are all at, any new research or ideas and just have a catch up on what we want to achieve in our performance. We love the idea of being strong independent women (who doesn't) but we've tried to relate it to pirates and how women were captains of the ships, seen as omens or mythical beasts such as sirens. It led to a discussion on feminism, and how some people are anti feminist which means they hate women. This is not always the case, but because feminism is often misconstrued, it's not understood as a fight for equality. There are a few people in the university that we have talked to who disagree with feminism, and we wonder if that's because they hate women, or because they're worried their masculinity will deplete if they agree with equal rights. As a group of powerful women, we follow rules, a bit like pirates did, and say a big fuck you to anyone who breaks them. To move forward, we want to research more into the pirate theme, giving the performance a lighthearted tone with a deep meanings beneath it. We have lots to explore, and we will be writing more about it as we get closer to our deadline. By Georgia Randall Love, Banshee x Photo from www.shutterstock.com We broke up from university a few weeks ago, but we've still got our thinking heads on. Our feedback for our mock performance lecture has spurred us on. Our real performance lecture is on the 6th January so we don't have much time. However at the same time, we all need a break, so we're currently between a rock and a hard place for rehearsals and work.
We are working on our presentations, our ideas and our performances ready for next year, so keep your eyes peeled for more posts. From all of Banshee Performance, we wish you all a merry christmas and a healthy, happy new year. By Georgia Randall Love, Banshee. x January is roughly our half way point towards our performance. It's just flying by! In January we are doing a performance lecture, where we perform for about 20 minutes then do a 15 minute lecture about who we are as a company, where we've come from and where we're going in the performance rehearsal process and more. This friday is our mock exam so we're busy working hard to get the best mark we can get in hopes that we can improve it by January. Our tutor called us women warriors, and we strive to be bigger and better. So it's constant rehearsals at the moment to be bigger and better. Our daily practice of sit ups and push ups is so hard but as a group, we need to put the effort in to see the benefits. We need to be able to use our bodies to the limits and be our confident, strong, healthy selves. By Georgia Randall Banshee Performance x Photo of Keira Knightley found; www.esquire.com/entertainment/a29936/ten-badass-warrior-women/
Photo's taken by Georgia Randall We are getting closer and closer to Christmas, and more and more frantic with rehearsals. We are starting to see progress and a direction in our piece. We have developed our floor plan more, and in doing so we have realised that as a company we are very prop heavy. We use props such as a hairbrush or duvet cover and have found we don't use them in the conventional ways. A hairbrush is designed to brush your hair, but it can also be used as a microphone to sing to your favourite song, a back scratcher, or something to hit you with. Exploring the context of an item is really interesting to us as a group, and we hope to develop our understanding more in the future. As an all girl performance group, we are in a very strong position to create theatre. Our feminist ideologies gave us the confidence to voice our issues and our love for physical theatre gave us a starting point. Looking at practitioners such as DV8 and Bryony Kimmings, we are being propelled forward as an all singing and dancing, performance group. We felt that our audience should be aimed at women to give them to courage and confidence to empower themselves but incorporate men as well and giving them the understanding of what women go through. It's not a 'we hate men' performance but it's merely stating the issues that some women face in life. Rachel created a movement where she flopped, picked herself back up and flopped again. She repeated the words "It's like going start over, rinse and repeat and rinse and repeat and done" as she felt that sometimes life for a woman just seems monotonous and repeated over and over, we pick ourselves back up and start again, but it's opened to interpretation. The woman always has to play this role of being fragile and dependent. And if you're not, they're fascinated by you, but only for a little while. And then they want to change you and crush you. And then they leave. Our tutor told us that when we are influenced by a performer we have to channel them and pretend to have them in our company, so that's what we did; Introducing Stevie Nicks to our performance group. Heavily inspired by the song 'Rhiannon', we asked ourselves "what would Stevie do?" and the answer was just to have fun with it, stop being so serious and embrace each other. Embracing Stevie Nicks, we have added singing to our piece. Riyadh sang a beautiful hymn to a god, and Georgie sang a sea shanty. When I was four, I became a whore, the day I went to sea, Georgie has a very innocent and childlike voice so we are using that to our advantage to almost shock the audience with the lyrics. Rachel told us that she wanted to be a pirate when she was younger until her mother told her the only female on a ship was the prostitute. The two songs contrast completely, with Addy's song making her strong, feminine and beautiful, and the pirate song is quite hard hitting with the lyrics but we clap along and use different tempos within it to regain power from the song. It's very upbeat and fun to sing along to. As a group of women, we are exploring the notion of gaze and who controls the power in a theatre. We give you permission to look out of bodies, our forms and you cannot take that power away from us in the space. It's more difficult than we thought, because we want to explore issues such as domestic violence, confessions, etc but we don't want to lose the power in the space. For example, if we were to take all our clothes off in protest to clothing labels and body image then it could be misconstrued by the audience and men might enjoy it instead of seeing the real reason behind it. Therefore, we have to understand our relationship with the audience and our relationship with ourselves. During our floor plan, Georgie stood up whilst it was all quiet and said confidently that she sold pictures of her feet online. This spurred the idea for confessions, and to expand on the idea that we aren't afraid of our dirty little secrets. We feel empowered by them and we wanted to show that in the piece. Therefore, we ask our readers to give us one of their confessions, it will remain anonymous and we may just use it in our performance. By Georgia Randall Love, Banshee. x Abramovich, M. (Interviewed by Brockes, E. 2014. "Performance Artist Marina Abramovich: 'I Was Ready To Die' The Guardian. May 12. Accessed 30th November 2016. Link : https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/may/12/marina-abramovic-ready-to-die-serpentine-gallery-512-hours
We don't know what we are going to do with this. It's really random with all the ways that we're thinking. Some are very literal, and some are very non-literal, but we have no idea where we're going right now. We are just starting; as a company and for our first performance. We're still finding ourselves, what our strengths and weaknesses are, who we are as performers, and who we can trust with the cups of tea. We've started off with a few activities, bringing items in and using our past memories as a starting point. Chantelle remembered a song she used to sing as a young girl which goes like this; We are the Maltby girls, It was about a group of prostitutes and there are a few different versions, but Chantelle was only about 10 or 12 when she was singing this song but didn't understand the context behind it. One of the activities we used is called a floor plan. We are aware of the space but inside the space we test out any and all ideas in random fashion, trying and testing new ways to use a prop, a movement etc. We find it extremely helpful to create material. A prop doesn't have to be literal, a hairbrush doesn't have to be a hairbrush, there are so many uses for each prop and that's what we want to explore. By Georgia Randall Love, Banshee. x Photo taken by Georgia Randall
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AuthorA group of women blogging about our views and an outline of the process in making theatre. Archives
May 2017
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