On Thursday, in the darkness and a light drizzle twenty-nine people moved around Highbury Park, guided by torches for a performance of The Woods Project.
Thanks to those who came along to watch the work to date, it was great to see how it worked with an audience.
I was really pleased with where we got to in this development time, which was funded by Arts Council England and Experiment Grow. Having had a day playing in the woods at the Clent Hills we worked in Highbury for four days in the run up to a work in progress performance.
One of the best parts of working in Highbury is finding unique places to perform sections of the work; up a tree, in the eucalyptus grove, in the beech wood, along the long line of conifers. Having walked around it for days the park feels a bit like home, and everyone working on the project seems to have adopted a "favourite place".
One of the major challenges in working ourtdoors is the weather. We were very lucky, although the weather turned much colder in the past week, we were blessed with sunshine for much of the time, along with one damatic hail shower. There is something satisfying in making an outdoor performance with the idea that it can take place in most weather conditions. It's kind of necessary in England where the forecast can change day to day and also perhaps reflects a very English stoicism that I admire. The woods are beautiful in a very different way in the rain; the raindrops on the leaves, and the appreciation you get from being able to shelter under a tree and watch sheets of rain wash across the open spaces.
In the run up to the performance quite a lot of people have asked me what the performance is about, the truth is I'm still discovering, it seems to be about a number of things. I'm eagerly awaiting the feedback from our audience to see what they think, but one of the key things for me is expressed in a quote I discovered in a book about new nature writing:
"We've got to reconnect ourselves to our environment and fellow species in every way we can, every chance we have. In my thinking, it is the tradition of the false notion of separation [between the environment/nature and humans] that has caused us so many problems and led to so much environmental degradation. I believe that it is our great challenge in the twenty-first century to remake the connection. I think our lives depend on it."
Lydia Peelle (quoted in the Editor's letter, The New Nature Writing, Granta Magazine)
Ben Pacey (writer and lighting designer) and I read a lot in the run up to our work on the piece. I think elements of that have trickled through. There is huge comfort and hope to be found in nature writing, and I think a simplicity and truth that seems to be lacking in much of the world. Here is a reading list in case you're interested:
Book
Wildwood A Journey Through Trees - Roger Deakin
Waterlog - Roger Deakin
The New Nature Writing - Grant 102 (selection of authors)
Wild An Elemental Journey- Jay Griffiths
Findings - Kathleen Jamie
The Wild Places - Robert Macfarlane
Film
Into The Wild - director Sean Penn
For those who haven't seen it yet the performance is set in the Autumn, so it seems likely that a further development to complete the work will happen in late summer/autumn 2009. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more.