DIY: 2007 – Darton Writing for 1001 nights cast

Over three days 12 writer / performers will write their way into an ongoing performance project with a readymade global audience.

Led by Barbara Campbell.

Friday 20, Saturday 21, and Sunday 22 July 2007.
London.
Deadline: FULLY BOOKED.

The Project
Australian performance artist Barbara Campbell will be bringing her online performance project 1001 nights cast to the UK in July/August/September. This workshop will provide a rare opportunity to write material in a group situation with the performer. What is written during the day will be performed live on the internet for nights 760, 761 and 762.

In 1001 nights cast, Barbara Campbell performs a short text-based work each night for 1001 consecutive nights. The performance is relayed as a live webcast to anyone, anywhere, who is logged on to the website at the appointed time, that is, sunset at the artist’s location http://1001.net.au.

Each morning Barbara reads journalists’ reports covering events in the Middle East. She selects a prompt word or phrase that leaps from the page with generative potential. She renders the prompt in watercolour and posts it in its new pictorial form on the website. During the day a story of up to 1001 words is generated using that day’s prompt. The workshop will take the normally solitary experience of the writer and turn it into a group experience.

The group will be given an overarching narrative premise, for example, a traveller arrives in London seeking guidance. Who are her guides? Who are her adversaries? The group will work on the general shape of the narrative’s three-day trajectory and decide how it will evolve for each day’s story/performance. Each day will begin with performance-based writing warm-up exercises. The day’s prompt will be discussed, its context and its generative potential. Story tasks will be distributed amongst the group. Individual writing will be voiced and shared for re-writing, editing and given final form for performance.

Application Procedure

The workshop welcomes writers who would like to focus on writing for performance and performers who would like to exercise their writing muscles. A combination of experienced and inexperienced writers will be selected.

Applicants are invited to send a paragraph describing “the sound of that morning” as well as a short cv highlighting the kind of writing and/or performance experiences they have had to date.

Applications should be sent to [email protected] by 6pm on Friday 6 July.

About the Artists

Since 1982 Barbara Campbell has worked in a range of non-theatre spaces including art galleries, museums, atriums, towers, public stairways, radio airwaves and currently the internet. She has taught the history and practice of performance at Sydney College of the Arts; the University of Sydney Performance Studies Department; the University of Technology, Sydney and the Canberra School of Art. She is currently in receipt of an Australia Council for the Arts Fellowship which provides the funding for her to produce and travel her 1001 nights cast project. In 2002 the University of Sydney produced a survey exhibition and accompanying catalogue entitled Flesh Winnow.

Any Questions
If you have specific questions about Writing for 1001 nights cast you can email Barbara at [email protected].