And the curtain falls
19/01/10
‘Follow him, friends: we'll hear a play tomorrow’ Hamlet (Act II Scene I)
The word ‘audience’ derives from the Latin ‘audentia’ meaning ‘a hearing’. And the Curtain Falls is an invitation to you, the audience, to ‘hear’ the plays of The Falcon Players on the stage where they were performed. You will hear the stage directions followed by how it felt to follow them. You will hear silence and this is your cue to walk along a white line. You may find there is somebody else onstage with you.
Traditionally, a play has three acts. And the curtain falls has three acts featuring interviews with three members of The Falcon Players – Stuart Bailey, Lawrence Holmes and Chris Marlow. Each act has five scenes; stage directions, backstage, onstage, the audience and their reflections on amateur dramatics. Each act is heard via headphones and lasts 10 minutes. You are invited to experience all three acts.
I was commissioned to respond to the theme of memory. I asked The Falcon Players how they remembered their lines. I asked if they could remember any lines they had forgotten. I asked how long they remembered lines after the curtain falls. I was struck by the haphazard map of electrical tape marks on the floor of The Cope – ‘spikes’. Memories of furniture brought on and off by stagehands in the dark. I thought I would let these marks speak for themselves as well as making my own mark on the stage.
The white line traces the set of the last play the group performed here in May 2009. It is drawn in gaffer tape and maps out a circular route from backstage to onstage. The first words you will hear are the stage directions from the last play read out by the man who was narrator. The set was minimal and scene changes were suggested with sounds. I wanted to let the memories of The Falcon Players resonate with the site, so I collaborated with Bathysphere to create a soundscape using my interviews. They have created a space for contemplation where an echo falls like a curtain.
The term amateur derives from the Latin ‘amator’ meaning ‘lover’ or ‘a lover of’. My interest in the amateur was triggered as part of an MA at Nottingham Trent University when I devised a piece with the amateur dramatics group in Rise Park that was my introduction to theatre. I wanted to rediscover my love of performing. The Falcon Players have a love of performing. Of standing onstage in front of an audience. Of making people laugh. As Stuart Bailey says in one of the interviews, ‘You can afford to have a bad night with Hamlet but you can’t with No Sex Please We’re British.’
‘And the curtain falls’ was traditionally the last stage direction in plays written when the group began in 1957. Now after fifty years of making people laugh, they may take a final bow, as they are currently deciding whether to continue. And the curtain falls is, in some ways, an accidental legacy of the amateurs who inspired it. I hope you are able to ‘hear’ what might become their last play on the stage where it took place.
Wednesday 20 January - Saturday 23 January 2pm - 6pm
The Cope Auditorium, Loughborough University, Loughborough
