Ogmius: Skill based residency: Textlab, week three

Written by Crossing the Line / June 4, 2021

The third and last Textlab week in June seemed to run more smoothly than the previous, as the team had gotten more used to the form of working through Zoom.

> Watch a film documenting the process of Textlab by clicking here.

> Watch a selection of scenes from the work made during Textlab.

Please draw me a sheep!

During an evaluation meeting at Moomsteatern the team agreed that were we to do Textlab all over again we would have made these changes:

  1. It would have been better to not spread out the weeks, but to keep them closer together in time. The team felt that they lost some momentum in the long periods of time between the Textlab weeks. They were there to give a lot of space for individual rehearsals / practising text, but it would have been easier for everyone to stay completely focused on the project for five or six weeks.
  2. We should have planned for production meetings in between the Textlab weeks. A lot of technical changes were made along the way and the vision of the artistic result was changing and evolving along the way. Having production meetings in between the weeks might have saved time and energy during the weeks.
  3. We should also have planned for artistic meetings in the time in between the Textlab weeks, between Harald and the actors. To reduce the feeling of working “in bubbles” and exchanging information about how everyone was getting along.

Harald Leander summed up his reflections on the project as the learning process truly being the important thing in the project. That the most interesting thing has not been the artistic result, but rather the process in getting there. He made changes and adjustments along the way. Like for example, his plan was to go more into detail in his directing the actors, to make many more re-takes in the recording, but he soon realized that meant that the actors lost their energy, so he changed his approach and let them roll along with the script instead.

The Moomsteatern team also established that the atmosphere between the actors was very supportive and they were humble towards each other. The energy between the actors has given the project strength and joy.