Our idea

The idea we have come up with collaboratively so far, and to which I have contributed greatly is that the site is the artist's studio, hence how we are using the properties, qualities and meanings.

The audience (which at the moment we think could be around 5 people) will be picked up from the reception area by the artist and will be told they have come for a tour around his studio. 

The main crux of the idea is that the artist is using his studio as a space in which he can express himself and his views on life. His views are that everything leads to depression and sadness, a theme that is replicated throughout his work - any good/positive in life is surpassed by sadness. I thought that the audience should not know whether they are in reality or not, as this will create an interesting experience for them and will allow us to be as creative as we like.

I suggested showing this through a completely emotionless character who will just monotonously read statistics about all the horrific things that have happened in the world recently and in the past. The character will not respond to the audience at all, nor will they move from their position meaning that the audience are never quite sure whether the character only exists within the artist's mind or is actually there in reality. 

The audience are then either guided around the studio or are free to explore (I am unsure yet, we will have to trial both and see which works the best). The living exhibits will be prompted to display certain emotions by the artist to create something that the audience can either watch or not; it is up to them. We want to portray the idea that the artist is out of control, so could add to this by having the projector flashing light and heavy metal and erratic music playing.

I have been contemplating ideas about how to end the piece for a long time; someone in the group suggested we have the artist kill the exhibits, but I think that this is slightly niche and would prefer to have a more subtle ending, showing that the artist's life keeps on going. Perhaps he becomes upset with what he has shown the audience, and ushers them out of the room quickly. An alternative idea I had was that he could just act like his studio exhibition is extremely normal and say goodbye to the audience.

Personally, I don't want the piece to be scary for the audience, I want them to be interested by what they have seen and become enthralled in the narrative of what is going on with the artist. I think everything that we do as actors must have a purpose, and will work hard to ensure that this happens for our piece. I think that if we let the audience roam around freely, attention to detail will be crucial which is fine - this is what will make the piece spectacular.