Character Study- Ghost Light Tour

   For our second instalment of our promenade immersive theatre piece, in partnership with the Stockton Globe, I will be portraying Ineda Clue, the quick-witted business and detective partner of Jean Ius, who travels through the Globe during different time periods to tell the intimidating stories of fundamental aspects of British history.

  Ineda Clue has a flexible role to play within the show- undoubtedly she acts as a tour guide, an aspect which navigates a live audience through the venue and the story simultaneously; whilst also acting as a comedic relief alongside her two fellow associates, helping to keep tension lower within certain parts of the building, not only to control the vast crowds, and to keep them calm- as a result of their younger audience demographic, they are to be expected to be more temperamental with high tension and highly stimulated environments- but, to also reside tension just enough that suspense is created that when a high stakes moment is presented in front of the audience, the moment creates a foreboding environment, without causing any younger audience members a displacing amount of unnecessary stress. This character, whilst failing to go on a vast emotional journey- seeing no change in character depth nor motivation throughout the piece- has a rather unique journey, even whilst subtracting the physical journey throughout the space; that is her journey through the minds and feeling of the current audience members, and how she is to cater the event to those viewing it, rather than having them fully transported into one space: she is used as a device rather than a separate being, to help the younger audiences adjust to their surroundings. This is evident from the character’s first appearance- when Ineda Clue appears from behind a corner to introduce herself, and to meet with her business partner; it’s imperative that this reveal is not to forcible to the children, so I must focus on making the delivery playful, but also welcoming- whilst also timing my entrance correctly, so that the actor playing Jean Ius can not only control any excitement the audience feels, yet also make sure they are signalled enough to the concept of my coming from anywhere within the surrounding area, and that the welcoming is as low tension as possible, to get the audience settled into the environment. This, inevitably, will be broken by the awakening of Titanic victim and conspirator, William Stead, however- my job as the opening to the experience is to juxtapose the intense environments with moments of security and calm. Whilst in rehearsals, I have yet to experiment with an audience of the correct age range; only my peers have acted as audience members- however I have rehearsed the piece in a way that would be the safest and most relaxed approach, of slowly revealing myself in an almost parodied manner, although how the live performance version translates depends on the atmosphere within the room.

  In stark contrast to my heavily involved dialogue during transitions through the space and through time, I have rehearsed my character, Ineda Clue, to be more detached through others focal scenes- I simply use the character as a means of safely transporting each child through the spaces and to link the majorly heavy scenes together from a loose narrative basis, rather than use her to enhance the scenes playing in front of her; as to give the impression that this is also the first instance of my character viewing these events, just the same as the moving audience. This will be best demonstrated through the relaxing of my characteristic slightly- throughout rehearsals, I have made Ineda Clue quite forceful yet fair, making her movements precise rather than powerful (this is portrayed through her upright posture and large strides with gentle footing which I have adapted with the development of the character) and have Ineda Clue provide most of the information, seeming more interested in the fact rather than the exaggerated fiction often dramatised, unlike my counterpart- Jean Ius- which makes for good chemistry to fill between the juxtaposition both our characters have in personality, yet, during other scenes, I feel the natural route should be to slip into the background, perhaps so that Ineda Clue can slip into a deluded trance of normality- if she pretends this is as new a concept as the children think it is, then she can to emulate their wonder and joy towards the horrid events unfolding before their very eyes.

  Throughout the performance, my characters persona is emulated not only through the vast array of props through the show, but also through her costume; throughout the process, her costume is without change, to signify her linear journey and lack of character development- in addition to the thesis that this character is so experienced within her field of work that she is able to balance her demonstrable grace and decorum and intertwine and weave aspects of her large presence within the outfit; she dawns a white post-modern button up, paired with black suit trousers, a thick black trench coat with a purple tight fitted tie, accented with silver jewellery, including earrings resembling purple balloons in the shape of dogs- this design within the character uses traditional accepted elements of smart dress code and subvert those expectations- all Ineda would require for a full suit would be a blazer, however the added element of a clunky trench coat not only feeds into the caricatured stereotype of a detective, but it also adds extra texture and shape into the outfit, really showcasing more personality, opposing to a traditional suit; this shows that whilst she puts up a convincing facade of being the more sophisticated of the time navigating pair, she also shows that she is still filled with obscure quirks that make her unique. These qualities are also present through the sporadic accents of colour, especially on the upper half of the accent- this makes the outfit appear more appealing and busy than it actually is, whilst also adding surplus attention to the weight on the upper portion of the outfit, making the audience immediately aware of her more fun inclinations, and can easily read her as a non hostile character, in juxtaposition to the other characters within the tour, who utilise form fitting clothes and sharp edges within their silhouettes, in order to appear more menacing.

  My character begins her journey as nothing but a hand to hold through the over stimulating and almost surreal environment, and perhaps to most, that is how her journey ends- she is simply the guide through one adventure until she had to move to the next, but I believe by the end of the show, Ineda Clue has walked in the same shoes as the audience, and has felt the motions as authentically as the audience has thought the performance- though her emotional journey is in no way complex, or even arguably present, she experiences a different way of expanding; she is such an open book, who has experienced so much throughout her traversals through time, that she almost comes full circle into seeming like she herself is the only thing left that may be fully unexplored, however I believe this specific adventure reignites her passion, and that the length of the universe are infinite, and so are hers motivations to search it until the end of time with the members of her party, old and new- there is no journey through maturity or lessons to be taken away from her character, because, in a simple fashion, she has already traveled through all of that development; she is as much as the entertained as she is the entertainer.