“So much of our process has been trying to think about the things that we do in the world and being conscious of the damage we do, and the effort it takes to repair it.”
Music, dance, poetry, movement. This is just some of what makes up Dai Bao Productions’ Attempts in Flight, opening in just a few days. I met with director and company founder Alessandra Tom to discuss working with seven performer-creators to build this devised piece.
Answers have been edited for clarity.
In one sentence, what is Attempts in Flight about?
Attempts in Flight is trying to unpack the damage we do in our relationships and in the world in the limited time we have here on Earth.
What are the origins of this piece? How did it come into being?
So this stemmed from a thought of wanting to do a show that’s devised creation, nine boxes, seven performers. Those were the ingredients we had. What came on first was the team, and then we just started talking about what themes really interest us as artists, the art that we’re inspired by, the art that we want to make as young creators, and then putting that in a mixing pot and figuring out how we can make that possible. We refined the structure of taking a poem, in this case “Lullaby” by W.H. Auden, and pulling out some of the key images from it, and those became the scenes that we were framing this piece with. Then it was colouring in the lines, so what does the line “human” mean? What does “proves the child ephemeral” mean? “Find the mortal world enough” is another one of them. What do those lines mean to us? How do they resonate? And it’s changed quite a bit, but we’ve had a month building and blocking this show.
In terms of the actual process, it sounds like it was very unstructured, but was there a kind of structure to it? Was there a kind of, not a schedule, but a kind of structure to the creation process?
I wouldn’t say there was a hard schedule. It was a lot of improvs, a lot of ensemble work and connecting as a team. Some people in our cast were already friends, and some people were building this working relationship together. But not so much structured. Mainly improvs, mainly viewpoints work, we did some flocking together, a lot of eye contact, and then some of the things that bubbled up in the improvs were really poignant. We always had music in rehearsal as well, and then it was just latching on to whatever we felt really worked in the moment. Then we put it in a Google doc and and started molding the show from there.
What does your role as the director entail?
Because it’s a non-hierarchical process and devised creation, and we’re very fortunate to have artists with so many skill sets, I was able to be a creator and a director. What that meant was creating a container for the work and for the show, and being able to lead in times of insecurity, and obviously, you know, be the outside eye for blocking, but also listening is a crucial part of it, and also trust. As much as they hopefully trust me as the director, it’s more of a conversation and a mutual discussion than “I want you to stand here.” It’s not solely my vision, it’s understanding what we built as a group, and how to best articulate that to an audience.
Your central image are these nine plain boxes. Where did this image come from?
Yes, that is definitely our central design image, and that came from just being inspired by the blocks we have in the studios and what can possibly happen with them. It was an offer. This one image holds so much potential. But I would also say our central image, or at least for me, as a director, is a string, a single string. When we were talking about repair, that came up a lot, of sewing things back together, and being able to hold different fabrics that may not ordinarily be created together. Because some of the actors are playing the same character, it became, this is one string, but you’re different fibers within that one string, so you work together and are going through similar movements.
So all the design elements came from the performer-creators, you don’t have any specific designers for this show?
We don’t have a set designer, costumes are being guided by me, but sometimes an actor comes in wearing a really cool pair of sweatpants, and we’re like, “Those are going in the show!” Elsa [Orme] happens to be a designer who’s worked at Mainline, so she’s going to do our lights. We’re really fortunate with the cast, like Cat[erine Preston] volunteered to run our social media, and in terms of writers we have very musically-capable people in the cast. I mean, that was something I knew when I was choosing actors to work on this show, but also it’s such a gift. Truly, I think the world of all of them.
What do you want the audience to come away with after seeing this show?
Oh, that’s a good one. I want them to come away feeling warmth, but also in a larger sense, so much of our process has been trying to think about the things that we do in the world and being conscious of the damage we do, and the effort it takes to repair it, and it’s not always easy. But I guess knowing that they have a nudge from this group of nine artists to go and repair what they would like to work on. And to call their moms. (Laughs)
Attempts in Flight will be performed at Mainline Theatre as part of the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival June 6-16. Tickets are $12 general admission and $9 for students and seniors, but no one will be turned away at the door for lack of funds.
Scripteditty 