‘Technology can help drive the narrative, develop character, build audience emotion and act as a push/pull system for moving an audience around a space. But you have to be very careful how you choose what to use – it must fit the story you are telling.’
– Sharon Clark, Playwright: The Stick House
The Stick House is a dark gothic fable fusing film, music, performance and creative digital technology spinning a tale of love found, betrayals made and hearts laid bare in an astonishing and captivating theatre journey deep in the tunnels beneath Bristol.
The playwright behind the project is Sharon Clark: in this interview for Lane’s List, she describes how the piece came together, the major writing challenges and influences along the way and her advice for writers seeking to tackle work of similar scope and vision.
Can you begin by briefly describing what The Stick House is from your point of view as the writer?
The Stick House is a dark gothic tale for adults that fuses theatre, music, film and creative technology to provide a more immersive, immediate and emotive experience for an audience. The production will be housed in the historic vaults under Bristol Temple Meads station that haven’t been used for a number of decades. We are working with Invisible Circus to help them turn these vaults into a performance space for the city. The Stick House marks a huge departure in my own writing practice.
How did the idea for the piece first emerge, and what have been its biggest influences?
I had worked with Pervasive Media Studio before when I was in the marketing team at Watershed and so was familiar with its ethos. I was intrigued as to how the technology that was being explored in the PMStudio could be used in making theatre. It felt that it could be really harnessed to push stagecraft a little further.
I came up with the idea of using magical realism as a way to meld the live action and the technology so they made sense of each other. I then turned to the work of Angela Carter to inform the world and its structure – the story itself is original but I wanted it to be influenced by her approach to fable. I also used the palette of the artist Otto Dix when envisaging it as I wrote.
I approached Claire Reddington, the Studio’s Director, and asked if she knew of a technologist who might be interested in telling me if my idea was possible or not. She put me in a room with the wonder that is Tom Burton and we both agreed it was something we wanted to pursue. We then applied for a residency at PMStudio and were lucky enough to be awarded it. That was four years ago and we are just going into production now.
How different (or not) has your writing process had to be on this piece in comparison to more conventional stagings?
Totally different. Tom and I decided to build the story and the technology together. So I had a collaborator from the very first time I started writing. He also informed the story and we discussed the narrative at length. Then others came on board before the script was finished to ascertain what was or was not possible by way of technology. So collaborations started much earlier. Also they were technologists not theatre makers so we all had a lot of learning to do.
We all talked at length about the role of the audience in the piece – much more than is usual. They had to be built into it – where they were, what they feeling, what they were doing. The audience walks around the space with the action so we needed to write into the script how we felt they would contribute to the play. There was a lot of learning on all sides. Also Tom Burton, as a technologist, plans, tests and recalibrates everything as he goes along a process. In theatre we tend to throw things up in the air and see what lands. His technology mind and my theatre one sometimes did not mesh – but the journey was interesting.
What were the most important moments of discovery for you whilst creating the piece?
Hard to say as everything now feels like it was an important moment when we slapped our foreheads and shouted “Of course!”. I think for me it was around early collaboration, what it can look like and how it works (and what happens when it doesn’t). It can slow the process down a little at times as you negotiate your way through decision making but when you are in the making phase it is staggering how rapidly things can move.
It is also about listening more than ever – and trusting what those experts say when they advise you. The team around you is vital to the success of a large theatre piece like this. They have to be able to understand the ambition of it and buy into it. Also there is a limit to what digital technology can do – that was my biggest lesson. I think I thought it worked as if by some sort of benign magic. Um. No.
How influential has creative/digital technology been in the crafting of the play – has it impacted upon different elements?
Yes – it has had a massive impact on how I think about narrative building. Technology can help drive the narrative, develop character, build audience emotion and act as a push/pull system for moving an audience around a space. But you have to be very careful how you choose what to use – it must fit the story you are telling. There have been times where a shiny new gizmo has caught my eye and I have wanted to weave it into the show – simply because it was fun. You must remain true to the story and if something doesn’t serve it then ditch it.
What were the biggest challenges for you in bringing the piece to life: either creatively or in terms of funding?
The biggest challenges were actually quite pragmatic ones – trying to find a space for instance in Bristol. We didn’t want to make the play in a theatre but in a ‘found’ space in the city – a warehouse, an office block, a piece of land. But we underestimated how difficult that would be and so this took a year before we heard from the Invisible Circus about their space. I was beginning to doubt we would ever find anywhere. And of course that held up the process which meant we lost some collaborators as they either moved city or became too busy.
Funding is also very tough as possible funders are not entirely sure what it is. The Arts Council though have been absolutely incredible in their support of the project and without them we could not have made this. The biggest challenge is that it has taken four years to get here – it is a long process and you need to have patience and commitment to the idea.
What has the balance of collaboration been like in making the bigger dramaturgical choices for the piece – as writer, have you taken on that role with collaborators or vice versa?
I asked Tanuja Amarasuriya of the company Sleepdogs if she would work on the early part of the script with me and she was vital in the R&D period in terms of questioning the story and ensuring the journey was clear and yet still dynamic. Everyone has had their sticky paws all over it – and that is absolutely fine by me. They have to feel an ownership of it in order for them to be able to interpret the story.
Sometimes my script doesn’t work with the tech we can build and/or afford so the script is gently massaged so it all makes sense. You can’t be precious about it – the word is not God here. The immersive, emotional experience for an audience is what drives everything. Also because tech and film can deliver parts of the narrative this script is not at all text dense. You have to really pare back what is being said to fit in with the aesthetics of film and tech.
If you were to give three pieces of advice to any writer seeking to explore the staging of their stories in a similar way, what would it be?
1. This process takes a long time and a lot of money. Buckle up it is going to be a long ride. Do not expect to write a script and then get it produced 6 moths later. It simply won’t work that way.
2. Do not be precious – your script needs to be interrogated, explored and, where necessary, pulled apart in order for everyone to really grasp what it is, what the world is and what they need to contribute. Everyone has been entirely respectful of it but you can’t keep it in a glass jar on a high shelf. It needs to get a bit down and dirty.
3. Do it yourself. I know that can be off-putting but in regards to experimentation on this level you need to be the one to take the risk. No venue will do it for you.
The Stick House is on from 7th Sept – 17th Oct in the Lo-co Klub in Bristol. You can book tickets by clicking here.
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