Creating 'Murmuration', a new devised work by the MA Collaborative Theatre Production & Design

Told through multiple and varying perspectives, Murmuration is a new work by the 20/21 MA Collaborative Theatre Production & Design cohort which visually and audibly translates the different stories and experiences of being a part of a collective.

Through use of creative technologies, Murmuration explores the interactions between bodies and materials, while merging with elements of lighting, video, projection, audio and music.

We spoke to Laura Jukes, Manuela Pecorari and Victoria Hofflin about how the project came together, the inspirations behind the work and the joys and challenges of creating the show.

What was your brief for the project, and what was your inspiration for 'Murmuration'?

Our brief was our title - Murmuration, which is a flock of starlings forming beautiful displays. Within a murmuration, each bird pays attention to those immediately around them. We were interested in this theme of interconnectedness and what that truly meant to each of us. This meant we all had varying inspirations and it has culminated in different individual iterations.

What were your roles on the project, and what did those roles involve?

Manuela: I created the scenography for Murmuration with Paola - most of our creative process was based on what we achieved while experimenting in the Tech Lab.

Being in a space and interacting with the materials made me realize that the performing element could have been introduced as a form of live scenography, so I felt drawn to step on stage to recreate those same moments that we loved in our sessions. This was definitely something I hadn’t foreseen at the beginning of the process but I think that, given the quite personal nature of the brief, it made sense to me to be present with my body.

Along this playful and experimental side, my role required working on the technical aspect of scenography, specifically on what is physically present on stage, working out the layout of the different elements and how to manage them through the automation system, working in symbiosis with Paola to modify the space through scene changes, lighting and projections in a cohesive way.

Laura: I worked primarily as the Production Manager on this project - which meant working out logistics of a production that had so many complex elements but also included all of us as performers. However, it was really interesting for me to explore my creative side during our own iterations. I ended up writing a piece that is in the show, ‘Terminus’ - this was out of my comfort zone but I am glad I did it.

Victoria: I had the pleasure of writing and producing the soundtrack to our show and working with each of our team members to create an iteration that represented what Murmuration meant to them. It involved a lot of back and forth and improv with the team in the spaces around Guildhall and then me going back to my studio at home to produce and polish it. The best part about the project for me was the variation of content that I got to create.

Murmuration features a vast genre of music that has allowed me to play with and explore a huge range of sounds and palettes. I also got to play with the surround sound speakers in the Milton Court Theatre, which has taken some of the iterations into another dimension! Finally, I have got to MD the live sound in the space and work with some great musicians, which is definitely one of my favourite parts about writing and creating music for theatre!

Your last project, 'I am | We are', saw you all working remotely - how have you enjoyed being able to work together in person again as a team and on site?

Being back in person has been so refreshing. Whilst working online is convenient for some things, the tactile nature of this project meant that the experimentation really informed the creative process. We spent a lot of time in the Tech Lab playing with different textures, cloths, lighting and projection.

It was also great to make things in person rather than sending taxis full of materials back and forth! It is also much easier to feed off each other's energy and sparks of inspiration when we can be together in a room, which definitely helped our creative and production process along.

The production involves video project - is that something you had much experience of before this year at Guildhall? How have you enjoyed including that element in a live production?

Video is something that we have experimented with in terms of post production but we have not had the chance until now to work with projection. It has definitely been a learning curve and our colleagues Paris and Paola have been so great with adapting to all the new technology involved. Having projection again has allowed us to explore the way video interacts with lighting and scenography and to play further with more elements of live production.

What have been some of the challenges on this particular project?

One of the challenges has been the choreography of the automated flybars in the Milton Court Theatre and how we could utilise them to showcase our materials in the best way possible. Some of our ideas were quite ambitious, including manipulating hanging fabric live from anchored fly bars. Trying to recreate the effects we achieved when experimenting in the Tech Lab was something we had to really think about - especially with lighting. We are so thankful for the assistance we received on automation.

Another challenge was the element in the brief that we were to be performers - this is something we had limited experience in but it has been really rewarding to develop as individuals and as a team.  However, as we are also the crew, the backstage choreography is certainly fast-paced! We are a small cohort of six so the many technical and creative roles have also been shared between us and it has seen all of us take on multiple roles, at all times. It has however meant that due to not physically being able to do everything at once, that we have been able to invite and work with some great people external to our team.

What have been your highlights so far?

Laura: I have personally found it really rewarding to see a poem I wrote on my phone at 1am come to fruition in such a beautiful way. One of my best friends is the voice performer on my piece and she understood so well what I wanted to get out of it. Having that layered with the sound design by Victoria brought the whole iteration to life and I felt proud.

Victoria: Hearing my writing in the space after I had tuned and mapped the sound in surround has definitely been one of the highlights so far. It is so rewarding and exciting to hear it all come to life in a space and to see how it interacts and works in harmony with the lighting and scenic design. Another highlight has definitely been having the opportunity to learn more about lighting and automation with Paola and Manuela, which has ultimately enriched my sound making process.

Manuela: I would say that the opportunity to play around with materials and light, as opposed to creating something on a screen, has been refreshing and motivating, but the added element of physical interaction in the space definitely added a new layer to how I personally experience scenography as a dynamic entity, and to how I can be part of it, in a scenographic rather than performative sense. I also feel strongly connected to the movement work Rebecca and I developed for her iteration - how natural and in sync it emerged from the very beginning made me appreciate even more the theme of the project.

What do you feel you’ve learnt from working on the project?

Laura: The importance of letting the artistic process have time to develop, experiment and adapt. As a Production Manager, it is second nature to want to know the logistics at every point. However, having that experimentation time in the early stages without worrying too much about the practicalities of the end product was so beneficial to the richness of the end product. I also developed more knowledge on the practicalities of power and DMX!

Victoria: Asking for help when you need it - especially when working with pieces of tech that you are unfamiliar with. We are incredibly lucky to have a plethora of knowledge amongst the staff at Guildhall, and being able to ask for their advice or simply their opinion was incredibly useful to us. It also allowed us to learn more and experiment with ideas we had during the creative process, but didn’t necessarily know how to bring to life yet.

Manuela: How working on a devised project that requires further experimentation almost up to the show day, also asks the scenographers to be ready to adapt their vision when entering the space and potentially changing a fair amount of the planning made before. I also completely agree with what Victoria said about asking for support and advice - being open about what you need can only positively impact the process, not just when reaching out for external help, but especially within the team.

What do you hope audiences will take away from the production?

As always, it can be hard to guarantee exactly what each audience member takes away from what they see. However, we hope audiences can take away that there are varying experiences about being part of a collective. Occasionally you are in sync, you can be divided and your personality fractured, sometimes it is chaotic and it can be positive or negative. As demonstrated by Manuela’s bungee cord installation, we all cross each other’s paths in life and inevitably become entangled in a web of interconnectedness.

Murmuration is showing on 7 & 8 July in the Milton Court Theatre and is open to Guildhall staff and students only, who can reserve tickets via Eventbrite.

Find out more about the MA Collaborative Theatre Production & Design.