Rasps and Hula Hoops. Photo credit: Lisette Auton. Image Description: Lisette’s back yard with plants in pots and white washed walls. There is a little wooden ladder with two rungs, alternating raspberries and Hula Hoops, twenty in total sit on the rungs. Behind the ladder is a faded gnome doing a stretch, wearing a stripey Victorian bathing suit.
Writing the Missing - Choose Your Own Erasure Story - An R&D
Lisette Auton
About Writing/Righting The Missing
I create work under the umbrella ‘Writing the Missing’. I’ve wanted to make my own piece of theatre (in a theatre? I don’t know yet…) for a long time, but I haven’t had the confidence, support or time to be able to do so. This is what this commission has been all about – a blank, paid for canvas, on which I have permission to begin to wonder, dream, talk, read, write and play, with no pressure on outcome, and with artistic and practical support on hand. More of this sort of stuff, please! My commission is a first stage R&D (research and development) of ‘Writing/Righting the Missing – A Choose Your Own Erasure Story’.
The pieces here are some of my thinkings in arty form. I don't yet know the exact shape it will take, but I do know at this stage, that the kind of theatre I want to make includes or involves radical kindness, audience participation for the anxious, choices being made, games and jeopardy, twists and turns and chess pieces. There are raspberries and Hula Hoops too, or at least there are in a little film I've made. They link into the title - A Choose Your Own Erasure Story - how choice can be ludicrous for disabled people, the options available not matching anything that we want, and the stakes of refusal being high. Do we have one anyway? And the glorious things can we do when we do have choice! Not sure the raspberries and Hula Hoops will make it into the final piece, especially as my Assistant Director, Harper Lee Rescue Dog, kept eating them.
Description of Works Shared
There are four photographs all with image descriptions, an essay and two videos. The first video is an R&D sharing of ‘Writing/Righting the Missing – A Choose Your Own Erasure Story’ and has a transcript. The essay is entitled 'Who Is It For?' and has an audio version. The second video is an exploration of the role of access within the artistic work which is entitled 'Disability Toolkit'.
I create work under the umbrella ‘Writing the Missing’. I’ve wanted to make my own piece of theatre (in a theatre? I don’t know yet…) for a long time, but I haven’t had the confidence, support or time to be able to do so. This is what this commission has been all about – a blank, paid for canvas, on which I have permission to begin to wonder, dream, talk, read, write and play, with no pressure on outcome, and with artistic and practical support on hand. More of this sort of stuff, please! My commission is a first stage R&D (research and development) of ‘Writing/Righting the Missing – A Choose Your Own Erasure Story’.
The pieces here are some of my thinkings in arty form. I don't yet know the exact shape it will take, but I do know at this stage, that the kind of theatre I want to make includes or involves radical kindness, audience participation for the anxious, choices being made, games and jeopardy, twists and turns and chess pieces. There are raspberries and Hula Hoops too, or at least there are in a little film I've made. They link into the title - A Choose Your Own Erasure Story - how choice can be ludicrous for disabled people, the options available not matching anything that we want, and the stakes of refusal being high. Do we have one anyway? And the glorious things can we do when we do have choice! Not sure the raspberries and Hula Hoops will make it into the final piece, especially as my Assistant Director, Harper Lee Rescue Dog, kept eating them.
Description of Works Shared
There are four photographs all with image descriptions, an essay and two videos. The first video is an R&D sharing of ‘Writing/Righting the Missing – A Choose Your Own Erasure Story’ and has a transcript. The essay is entitled 'Who Is It For?' and has an audio version. The second video is an exploration of the role of access within the artistic work which is entitled 'Disability Toolkit'.
Assistant Director HL
Photo credit: Mark Auton.
Image Description:
Lisette, 40, white with freckles and long brown hair, is sitting cross legged on a blue mat in her back yard. There are plants in pots against white washed walls. She has hold of a tripod on which is her phone and she’s filming a white bowl of hula hoops and raspberries. Harper Lee, Lisette’s little black and white rescue dog, leans right up against Lisette’s back in her assumed role of Assistant Director.
Writing/Righting the Missing - A Choose Your Own Erasure Story R&D
During a conversation and email exchange with Artistic Director, Vici, I realised that both Writing and Righting were really important, spoken the same way, with two different meanings which really fit in with what I want to do - which is to change the world via words, art and kindness. Can obviously do just that on a Sunday afternoon before tea, eh? As part of my research I was thinking about theatre, how it's an effort for me to be there and so I wanted that honoured - that people have come.
I was thinking about how an audience may have an impact on the work, how it would be different BECAUSE they, and only them, were present. But that audience participation terrifies me. Two thoughts came from this: 1 - how to design audience participation for the anxious and 2 - Choose Your Own Adventure Stories, the ones where you reach the end of the page and Go To p4 if you want to turn left and Go To p27 if you want to turn right. Could this be done in theatre? That led to finding the title for the piece - 'Writing/Righting the Missing - A Choose Your Own Erasure Story'.
Often disabled people are written out of the narrative, often choices are stark and ridiculous and horrific and not of our choosing. I wanted to play with this, open a window into what our lives can be like. But then to gloriously BLAST that apart by what life can be like if we are in control. There will be joyful flailing ( I cannot dance, but love to move), and quite possibly a sing-along to a mix up of Erasure songs, but only if someone has 4573,000,000 pounds to spare for the music licence.
I was thinking about how an audience may have an impact on the work, how it would be different BECAUSE they, and only them, were present. But that audience participation terrifies me. Two thoughts came from this: 1 - how to design audience participation for the anxious and 2 - Choose Your Own Adventure Stories, the ones where you reach the end of the page and Go To p4 if you want to turn left and Go To p27 if you want to turn right. Could this be done in theatre? That led to finding the title for the piece - 'Writing/Righting the Missing - A Choose Your Own Erasure Story'.
Often disabled people are written out of the narrative, often choices are stark and ridiculous and horrific and not of our choosing. I wanted to play with this, open a window into what our lives can be like. But then to gloriously BLAST that apart by what life can be like if we are in control. There will be joyful flailing ( I cannot dance, but love to move), and quite possibly a sing-along to a mix up of Erasure songs, but only if someone has 4573,000,000 pounds to spare for the music licence.
You can watch Writing/Righting the Missing Video below by pressing play - it has subtitles and audio description, and below the video is a transcript
Who is it for? - An Essay
Lisette curled up with HL
Photo credit: Lisette Auton.
Image Description:
Lisette, 40, white with freckles and long brown hair, lies curled up on her side, asleep on her bed. She is wearing a fluffy grey dressing gown with white spots and with the hood pulled up. Harper Lee, Lisette’s little black and white rescue dog is curled up asleep by Lisette’s tummy.
Who Is It For is available to download in essay form by pressing the button below and then is also available in audio by pressing play on the soundtrack below that.
Disability Toolkit
Disability Toolkit
Photo credit: Lisette Auton.
Image Description:
A head and shoulders of Lisette, 40, white with freckles and long brown hair. She is smiling and sitting within a white cubby hole in a white wall. She’s wearing a green t-shirt and brown corduroy dungarees with sloths on them.
Press this button to go to other work by Lisette Auton
