Rotozaza are a UK based company formed in 1998 composed of Anthony (Ant) Hampton and Silvia Mercuriali. As a group we have drawn upon their previous work as inspiration for our final piece, in particular Etiquette (2007).
Etiquette is a piece that takes place in a coffee shop where two people sit opposite one another and follow instructions that are played to them through a set of headphones they both wear. What interested me about this particular piece is the way space and the past are used and how the line between performer and audience is blurred.
The space used for any performance of Etiquette is just your average coffee shop, a very public space where interactions happen all the time. Rotozaza use the space in the same way it is used currently and has been for many years. Therefore they have created a performance inspired by everyday actions and “events that ar[i]se organically from the life of the community” (Govan et al, 2007, 120).
However what is even more interesting is the audience and whether there is one or not due to the fact that “there is no-one watching – other people in the café or bar are not aware of [the performance]” (Rotozaza Press Release, 2007). Therefore who is the audience? It can be argued that the two participants become “both performer and audience” (Rotozaza Press Release, 2007) as they “find themselves exchanging audience and performers roles by simply following instructions” (Rotozaza Press Release, 2007). This is due to the fact that the instructions given to the participants via headphones are made to resemble a conversation between the two therefore they watch one another, reflecting real life.
Mike Pearson argues there are three sets of relationships;
- “Performer/performer”
- “Performer/spectator”
- “Spectator/spectator” (Pearson, 2010, 175)
and that these relationships “become part of an active matrix of interaction and [are] available for negotiation” (Pearson, 2010, 175), this is clear in Etiquette as the two participants status’ are constantly changing.
Something that makes Etiquette so unique is that it shows us that everyday life can be a performance and so “conversation is shown to be a kind of theatre whereby ‘audience’ and ‘actor’ roles are imperceptibly assumed and exchanged” (Rotozaza Press Release, 2007). Meaning that in every conversation had the roles are traded seamlessly and naturally. It is possible for there to be more than two audience members as people in the café may catch the couple wearing headphones and watch for a while, however the couple will still remain the only fully informed audience members as this particular performance is “’just here’, ‘up close’” (Pearson, 2010, 176) and incredibly intimate.
Therefore we have decided to use headphones and instructions in our final piece to recreate and reflect the opening of the Drill Hall and how the people present and fully involved would have been the only audience. The instructions given also reflect the buildings military history in the sense that they are similar to orders that would have been given by Sergeants and Officers.
Govan, E. et al. (2007) Making a Performance: devising histories and contemporary practices. [online] London: Routledge. Available from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.lincoln.ac.uk/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=3ab7d597-0792-483d-84a2-9a695f805c28@sessionmgr4002&hid=4202&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ [Accessed 28 February 2015]
Pearson, M. (2010) Site-Specific Performance. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Rotozaza Press Release (2007) Rotozaza’s Etiquette. [online] Available from http://www.rotozaza.co.uk/ETQ_press_release.pdf [Accessed 28 February 2015]