Rehearsal Day – Friday, May 16th – Diary Entry from Aoife
Today is Umbrella Man’s day in the pool. He has a small black umbrella hat and an enormous white parasol that he twirls over the children’s heads. The two children in the first group make an interesting contrast. One boy is really excited and seems to love splashing around. He sings along to the welcome song and is fascinated by the gongs, he even plays them a little himself. Umbrella Man has a giant colander that he lets water pour through creating a shower effect. The other little boy is rather intimidated by all this and looks uncertain. But when Umbrella Man takes him slightly away from the splashing and gives him a smaller bowl to pour for himself, he starts smiling broadly and is now very happy to go under the small clear plastic umbrellas. This seems to me a really good example of how the show can be adapted to meet different children’s needs. There are over riding themes to the different sections of ‘Pool Piece’ but the real skill of the cast is the way they respond to their audience so that each child gets a special experience tailored specifically for them. There is a huge amount of flexibility and openness, a sense that this is a magical world where everything is possible and nothing can go wrong, which seems to greatly appeal to children with learning difficulties who may have trouble making sense of the chaos of the real world.
After the session with the children, Katie, the choreographer, sums up what’s been the most important features of this week’s rehearsal. This includes the need to give space between the actions, to allow for moments of silence and moments of pure water effects. To bring things back into focus by making movements deliberate and ritualistic, to take time with the props and consider their importance as emblems. To keep the sense of discovery and adventure, that everything is new and beautiful each time the show is performed. With each of the character days, for the principal character whose day it is to perform with the real conviction that the day is centred on them. Finally to always consider the group interaction, for the cast to support each other and the carers in making the experience of the show a complete coherent whole. Tim, the director, talks about how much they are all learning from the rehearsal process. He explains how this show, because it’s not one off performances but a connected series over six days of visits in the same school, is a wonderful opportunity for Oily Cart to really get to know the children involved. He feels this will deepen their already considerable understanding of working with children with PMLD and ASD. He urges everyone involved to keep a rehearsal diary and post their thoughts on this blog as this will greatly help to evaluate the work that’s being done.
For the next part of the rehearsal, Katie and myself act as students. The cast rehearse lifting the colanders and letting water pour through them in a kind of ritual shower effect around us. This is followed by me going under a small clear plastic umbrella that protects me from the sprays that Umbrella Man and Sponge shoot at me. Next a giant shower under the giant white umbrella is switched on and we travel under it. I have a sudden flashback to being a small child in a car with my father driving through pouring rain. It feels really cosy and protected. We then bounce in the water with the umbrellas while examining our reflections in enormous silver disk mirrors before being sunk the goodbye song with our names. There is a lot of emphasis on using the children’s names to give them a feeling of identity and belonging. The whole show is built around the children and what they enjoy and find stimulating. It feels like a very beautifully choreographed slow dance through water with lots of room for improvisation!
