Culturally it was always the little things that surprised me
As a designer it is always exciting to work with a new company, but it also brings a certain anxiety will communications work, what about standards and group dynamics? Put that new company in a foreign country with no established production team or workshop and you would have cause for concern. I can honestly say I had none. I was a little unprepared for the helplessness of not knowing Finnish product names and sources which seems simple but you can underestimate the value of a stocked workshop and known suppliers. But finding out and working through it is really the essence of working with a company like RTT.
In 1992 I spent a year teaching Drama at Länsi- Suomen Opisto in Huittinen and culturally it was always the little things that surprised me. Not the cold weather or dark days, a subtler sense of displacement. A language that doesn’t have ‘please’ in its vocabulary, students who made statements rather than asking. Well it just didn’t seem polite! But it illustrated differences in our national characters.
When I returned in 1996 to design The Tempest I was used to Finnish ways and truly inspired by RTT’s approach to the project.
A sewing course had been set up to make the bulk of the costumes and local seamstresses recruited to make the more complex pieces. Ariel’s costume included a corset and pannier made out of withes and in a typical gesture the withes had been cut in the spring from a willow on the island where we were to perform. By the time we produced A Midsummer Nights Dream in 2001 we had a different wardrobe mistress who having agreed fabrics with me cut all the costumes and gave each performer the responsibility for having them sewn. Final fittings and details were carried out by wardrobe but sending out the costumes not only cut down on the work load it also got more people involved some of whom became invaluable.
The nature of the project and the company meant we had so many human resources and skills available to us not only within the group but the community at large people became interested and were willing to help. Obviously we had the novelty value on our side which we did fall back on when the need arose. Thank you bag makers of the region who rescued us on more than one occasion be it webbed feet or an asses head!
Because The Tempest was a promenade production we had very little need of a set I had intended Prospero’s cloak to be raised to create a canopy for the cell but the wind at that part of the island would have made it difficult so we abandoned it in favour of smaller discs fixed to trees throughout the island.
The set for Dream was a much more complex affair and happily someone else’s task this time as a construction manager was brought into the company and she worked with a small group to transform two fixed wooden huts on the stage area into a Victorian factory machine strong enough for the cast to walk over and with pipes dispensing fabric that created the fog and Titania’s bower. Red fabric was pulled out for the palace scenes and we also had to add in some green to be used as floor clothes for the lovers due to the physical nature of the direction and their white costumes!
The overriding feeling when working with RTT is that of community, they truly are a Community Theatre Company. Yes the performance is important and the standards high but the process and the community come first. The lack of formal production structure should be horrifying but in fact gives a freedom and energy that is sadly often lost in other institutions. They are generous with their time, energy and skills but more importantly for me their faith. I remember clearly sitting through long rehearsals of Dream as we worked out the logistics of the lovers costumes which had been designed with extending sleeves and collars so that they could be tied together creating a physical web of the misplaced affections. A complicated process but a highlight of the performance. Or when all the males shaved their heads for their roles or the actor playing Titania going about her daily life with a 1.5m pre-Raphaelite pony tail extension tied around her waist as she tended to her two small children and animals.
It is this dedication and generosity that makes working with RTT so rewarding.
Joanne Greenwood
Published in FIDEA-magazine 2/2003.