We Players welcomes Rowan Beasley from the UK as a company intern this fall. Rowan arrived just last week and is already rolling up her sleeves and digging in with We! Beginning this week, she joins us in the rehearsal room as Natty and I begin adapting our current version of HEROMONSTER for the Chapel at Fort Mason. Rowan will be with us through the fall season and we are so very lucky to have her! Here are a few notes from Rowan about finding us during her coursework at Falmouth University.
DISCOVERING WE PLAYERS
During my first two years at Falmouth university I have had the wonderful opportunity to experience two modules that focused on Site-Specific theatre. In my first year we explored places around our campus in Penryn, then in our second year moved further out into Cornwall.
The Unlands module that I was part of in my second year took place at Truro train station- a common place that at first seems like a space that has a loss of identity and disconnection. Throughout the module I had been searching for the voice and the stories that have been left and marked out on the station alongside immersing myself in discovering my own body and place in this non-place.
A conversation with one of the members of staff inspired my focus on birds,; it opened my eyes to the freedom of the birds’ way of life. I wanted to pass on their perspective and adventures to the passengers, to draw attention to the endless opportunities a station as a space offers us. The scored origami birds I created became a symbol of the birds’ ideology. When I asked if a passenger would like to take one on a journey, I documented them by taking a photo of the birds in the hands of the passenger, which became a nest and new home. These birds allowed me to start conversations with the public, and gave me a chance to change the way they viewed the space.
During my research for my solo practise in this module I discovered the work of We Players theatre company. I was instantly inspired by the company’s use of beauty of the natural world to stimulate audiences and awaken them to their physical environment. I felt a sense of similarity in the work and ideology of these creations and what I wanted to achieve in the work I was creating.
The more I explored We Players’ work I became more influenced by the use of innovative performance spaces and how the company’s work became more relevant to my work at the station. I found that by creating work in experimental and unprecedented spaces, it awakens the audience to a whole new experience.
I discovered whilst working at Truro train station that you are reminded of the new possibilities, a place to find peace and an identity, which I hope I had passed on with my birds – allowing passengers to relate back to a moment where they felt inspired to see the world and let themselves be awoken to all that surrounds them. From what I researched, the work of We Players achieves this beautifully.
