We decided to work from a historically inspired performance as ‘Site-specific performance can be especially powerful as a vehicle for remembering and forming a community (…) its location can work as a potent mnemonic trigger, helping to evoke specific past times related to the place.’ ( Harvie, 2005, p.42). Before Friday’s visit to the Drill Hall/ Archives, my group decided to research the Drill Hall during its use as a hospital, during the Typhoid epidemic. Research lead us to find dates and numbers of those infected, and those that died from this epidemic, and also the symptoms during each stage of the disease. We also decided we want our performance to take place in the main auditorium, which is where the beds where laid during its use as a hospital.
On Friday, when meeting with the rest of my group we were able to then combine our research, and discuss ideas for for a performance inspired from the information we discovered. We decided we want to create a performance of an instillation, from identification tags, representing those who feel ill and those that died from the disease, maybe starting with the overall number of victims and the creating a new instillation representing the dead. The idea of using projection also interested us, proving the audience with visuals of the hospital and life during the six months that the epidemic lasted. Playing on the senses we played with the idea of boiling water, which was recommended for people to do with drinking water during the Typhoid epidemic, and adding in disinfectant to create the smell of hospitals, and particularity the smell that would of been prominent in the Drill Hall during this time, as most bedding was soaked with disinfectant and most probably still damped when a new patient was brought in. Audio could also be used to describe the progress of the symptoms throughout the performance , matching the the visual of the progression of the instillation representing people that died throughout the performance.
Before heading to the archives, we decided our main area of research would be into the names of the people that died, to make the performance more personal. We managed to discover some names, but further research can help discover more. We also found quotes from people that was related or knew someone who either caught or died from the disease, this could possibly be included into the projection, to create an emotional response and to also educate the audience from a first person perspective that witnessed the outbreak. Further research to be conducted is to research site-specific performances that have taken place in hospitals, or medical themed to inspired further improvements to our performance.
Harvie, J quote in Pearson,M. (2010) Site-Specific Performance. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan