Last Sunday I had my 3rd and final night playing Desdemona in ‘Not What I Am’, the immersive, contemporary retelling of Othello by Dogs Of War, a brand new immersive theatre company. It was a new experience in many ways for me, and I was really proud to see the production blossom into such a success, as we’d all dedicated three months towards fleshing it out from just an (incredibly ambitious) idea into a reality.
The process was unlike anything I had experienced before. We started in October with an abridged version of Shakespeare’s original text which David Loumgair and Martha Rumney (the co-directors and founders of Dogs Of War) had shortened and adapted to fit just five characters: Othello, Desdemona, Iago, Cassio and Roderigo - all now high-flying city lawyers who’s story unfolded over one night in a London bar.
In rehearsals, we started by acting out the different scenes until we had gauged the meaning and intentions of the characters, and then we’d improvise the scenes in modern speech, imagining how each story point might be translated to our new modern setting. David and Martha created a sense make-believe, explorative play in the rehearsals that allowed us to start shaping our characters very broadly and freely, which was almost overwhelmingly open at times - I’d find myself losing the boundaries between myself and my character, and have to consciously let go of her at the end of the day!
This is when Riley Madincea, the writer-in-residence stepped in and started to refine the work we’d done and distill our rambling improvisations into a solid narrative. We worked with him for several rehearsals, playing, discussing our characters and debating the story lines until we all agreed on a basic mapping out of the story. Because the piece is immersive, each character’s narrative and physical mapping had to be both justifiable on an individual level and be able to interweave with the other characters’ narratives seamlessly, in real-time around the bar. This is as complicated as it sounds and we spent some late nights in intense discussion trying to find ways to make this work.
Once we’d sketched out a basic map, it was Riley’s job to bring the whole thing to life, which he did magnificently, not to mention with very little time. Rehearsals up until we received the first draft of the new script had been laid-back and explorative, and at times had lacked a sense of direction as we all had our own individual ideas of what the story was, so a polished performance seemed a long way off. Riley managed to shape it all into a coherent piece of storytelling with a consistent narrative voice, which was also wickedly humorous and full of insight into the idiom of high-strung city workers. The script alone is a true triumph and deserves a great portion of credit for the success of the production.
When we began rehearsing in the venue, a bar just off Brick Lane called Corbet Place, it really started to come alive. I discovered that it’s almost impossible to rehearse an immersive piece properly when not ‘immersed’ in the performance space itself. We’d been setting up the rehearsal room in the same layout, but logistically it only really becomes clear when you can time things and sense the space around you, and the volume and energy needed to fill it. And then of course, we didn’t have any previews, so we hadn’t rehearsed with more than 7 or 8 audience members until the first night when we walked from our make-shift “green room” (a café nearby) into the bar where the story begins…
So, many new experiences for me as an actor. Acting in immersive theatre is a 360 degree task, there’s no backstage and no hiding place. The audience can choose what they see, and from what angle. Finding the balance between acting in a ‘filmic’ and authentic way for the person standing one meter away from me, and projecting my voice so the person standing on the other side of the room can hear me too was a massive challenge! I’ve also never had so much control over the development of my character: I was finding (modern) Desdemona’s voice before we even had a script. The process certainly wasn’t without difficulties or imperfections but it’s really taught me that it’s better to deal with frustrating situations by trying to keep a positive and professional attitude. It was definitely worth it for all I learnt.
So overall, I resoundingly positive experience, which I’m incredibly grateful to have been involved in. I met a bunch of creative, hilarious and powerfully driven young people, all of whom I can see are really going somewhere. It fills me with pride to be surrounded by young people making art for the love of it. Not only did David and Martha and the rest of the team manage to simply pull off their first self-sufficient production (with no financial resources but a crowd funding page) which is in itself a huge success, but it was a site specific, immersive new-write play… and a completely sold out run! That’s inspirational in my books.
Lots of love to the whole Dogs Of War family.
xxx