Gaze
GAZE is a creative response to photographer Kim Ayres’ nude portraits of women over 50. Originally conceived for the stage the creative process had to be reimagined due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic: the project was about to commence as the country went into lockdown. Carolyn decided to create an audience-based digital event through a ‘virtual’ collaboration between herself; Drew Taylor, dramaturg and director; actors Sheila Grier, Kirsty Miller and Linda Duncan McLaughlin, and; with outdoor filming by Stephen Will. Speaking about the project Carolyn said:
“This project gave me a very different experience to any writing for theatre and performance that I have done before. I had to learn to use an online platform to run an interactive workshop with actors; to redraft a script taking into account the technical constraints to create a YouTube film under social distancing requirements; and to consider credits and music as part of this piece of work.”
The resulting film is poetically rich, uncomfortably funny and brilliantly observed. It was previewed with an invited audience and later programmed as part of DG Arts Festival’s Hame Programme.
Although the digital event itself is a finished piece Carolyn says that it is an interim step for her and she aims to create a performance with exhibition of photographs by Kim Ayers that could tour rural locations in Dumfries and Galloway.
“This project gave me a very different experience to any writing for theatre and performance that I have done before. I had to learn to use an online platform to run an interactive workshop with actors; to redraft a script taking into account the technical constraints to create a YouTube film under social distancing requirements; and to consider credits and music as part of this piece of work.”
The resulting film is poetically rich, uncomfortably funny and brilliantly observed. It was previewed with an invited audience and later programmed as part of DG Arts Festival’s Hame Programme.
Although the digital event itself is a finished piece Carolyn says that it is an interim step for her and she aims to create a performance with exhibition of photographs by Kim Ayers that could tour rural locations in Dumfries and Galloway.
