Hayley Misseldine – ________-Safe House-_________

Over and out!

Hayley Misseldine / May 13, 2013 / CCTV, Home, Rooms, Technical, West Parade

After four days and about 16 hours of performing…the safehouse is closed!
There were setbacks, complications and few expressionless audience members, but overall a huge success.
To lay out the scene – firstly a couple would ring the doorbell, where I would answer and ask them the password/phrase, in all cases they did know it, so luckily I didn’t have to shut the door in their faces, then I would take them through to the waiting room, which was minimalistic and fairly dark as the curtains to the window were closed to stop light filtering in, but also to avoid people from the outside as “it is nearly impossible to prevent your gaze from wandering into the private lives of others made suddenly visible” ((Heathcoate, Edwin, (2012), the Meaning of Home, London: Frances Lincoln Ltd, P.99)) and it would ruin the whole performance if the audience could see into the house before they themselves had even entered, as well as destroying the illusion of the ‘safehouse’ because if you can see into it so clearly – how is it safe?

The most challenging parts of my performance were firstly – being professional yet approachable as I found when I performed in a manner that was all corporate with practically no humanity that the audience were more withdrawn, and not as inclined to divulge any information I asked of them. After I had seen this error, I changed my demeanour and added a little more friendliness to my performance, and I saw instantly that almost all of the audience members seemed more relaxed and therefore were able to answer my questions with more ease. Another challenge I faced were difficult audience members, some were absolutely expressionless! It seemed that no matter what I did or said, nothing affected them. Even when I shine an incredibly bright light in their faces, they didn’t even blink. So to counter these types of audiences members, I cut off any of my friendliness, I treated the situation as if were incredibly serious, and for most of those difficult audience members – it seemed to work.

I also encountered several technical difficulties, I made a 3 minute video for the audience, which explains issues such as safety and audience decorum whilst they were in the house, it features Lizzy, portraying Agent L, she simply talks to the camera explaining said issues –

The problems I encountered with this were only small, on two occasions the video would not play, and I had to improvise – asking the audience more questions such as ‘what do you know about the art of spying?’ whilst working on the computer, and trying to get the video to play, which luckily succeeded before too much time had passed. Additionally I learnt after the video had been made, that there was only one fire exit, but had stated there were two on the video, which after it had been played, I reiterated back to the audience, but informed them of the new information, and showed them said fire exit on a map so the audience would have no doubts about what to do in the event of a fire. With the video, I was trying to create a sense of anonymity, letting the audience know that this is infact an operation, it is not just me in a room pretending to be a spy, Agent L is a part of the operation, her eyes are covered, her identity hidden. For those who saw performances where Lizzy was not there, her appearance on the video remains a mystery by building “electronic identities: out there, we are disembodied, depersonalised.” ((Pearson, Mike, (2010), Site-Specific Performance, Palgrave Macmillan, P.125.)) Which I believe adds a more realistic element to the performance.

The most problematic technical problem however were the phones – the CCTV room and I had worked into our performances phone calls back and forth, with at one point whomever was performing in the CCTV room speaking directly to the audience via speakerphone. The problem that ensued were connectivity related – occurring more often than I would’ve like, the person upstairs would miss their queue to ring, and I would have to call them instead, but for some reason the calls would not connect, leaving an awkward silence the first time it happened. Of course after the first encounter with this problem, despite not being able to fix the technical side, I prepared more dialogue and more opportunities for the audience to speak whilst the problem was occurring. With enough foresight I managed to overcome any future possibilities of silent moments, which made for a better performance.

The only other problem I encountered were timekeeping related – making sure I let people into the house at the right time, only having two couples in the house at one time. This was difficult if we overran, or were under the time schedule. Making sure I knew where everyone was at any given time was the biggest responsibility I undertook, and making sure everything ran smoothly was probably the hardest part of the whole performance.

Altogether, I feel like the performance as a whole went incredibly well, and I am proud of my participation in it. I have learnt new things about myself, and found a new sense of self-believe in my abilities which I will carry with me in the future.

Espionage 101:

Hayley Misseldine / May 13, 2013 / Documentation, Home, Performance process, Research, Rooms

After spending a couple months working on the estate agent idea, the concept of the performance changed – as we could not come up with a name for our performance, when it was finally decided, everything changed, mostly for me. The new concept was called Safehouse – for most of the rooms in the house, this did not affect them, but primarily for me and the CCTV room it did. I had to change my performance to fit accordingly, now I was a ‘spymaster’ in charge of the whole Safehouse, my room no longer needed to look welcoming, so the ‘inspirational’ poster idea was out.

This idea to me was more exciting than the estate agent plan, as soon as I was aware of the change I had many different ideas about what I could do, and where I could go with this. The first thing I did was to get myself familiar with the perception of a spy, I watched two films in particular, the first being called Safehouse –

In this film, Ryan Reynolds plays the ‘housekeeper’ which is essentially what my role would be, the film is American, and with it are the American spies which in this case are the CIA. According to this film, being the ‘housekeeper’ of a safehouse is a small task, assigned to young, inexperienced agents, which explains why the term ‘housekeeper’ is used. On the other hand, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy;

is a film about British espionage, the safehouse used within the films plot, is a place not only to keep from being detected, but is used to pass along secret information, a woman lives there under a pretence that it is her home in order to avoid detection, and in a way she is the ‘spymaster’ or ‘housekeeper’ of that particular safehouse.

These two film versions of the type of character I will perform are completely different in a sense that one is for certain an agent/spy, whilst the other is most likely a civilian. At the same time, both of these characters are similar in their inexperience which is something that I will infact be, although I will be performing it differently in the sense that I want to appear experienced and professional to the audience, so they will believe as much of it as possible.

The dictionary defines the term safehouse as – “a dwelling or building whose conventional appearance makes it a safe or inconspicuous place for hiding, taking refuge, or carrying on clandestine activities” (((2013), Dictionary.com, Online: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/safe+house (accessed: 12 May 2013).)) In keeping with this point, we decided to apply a password/passphrase to the performance; we would give out four different passwords/passphrases to the audience members for each of the four days we were performing. I was told if someone forgot the password/passphrase or said it incorrectly, I would not let them inside, just shut the door in their face. I had to rewrite a new script and a new script for the short video we would be showing the audience, primarily discussing issues such as safety and how they should conduct themselves in the house.

In regards to costume and set design, the term I would use to describe it as a whole – minimalistic, strip everything down to the bare minimum, a spy would have no need for unnecessary objects cluttering up their room, and I wanted to look organised and appear to know what I’m doing. But I am aiming to make the room devoid all any personality, it will be as if I have just walked in a put some things on the desk, and if necessary, will be able to leave in a second if I have to. I need to make sure the audience know that my life in the house is temporary, this is not my home – it is my job. The audience will feel uncomfortable and unsafe in my presence, which is to set up how they should be feeling for the majority of time around the house, “Thus the dwelling must not only express an individual, but at the same time reflect a long past, if it is to give us a feeling of security and stability in life”. ((Bollnow, Otto (2011), Human Space, Hyphen Press, P.145))

Fear and loathing in the waiting room.

Hayley Misseldine / May 13, 2013 / Documentation, Home, Performance process, Research, Rooms

Deciding what to do with my space was the hardest part of the whole process, unlike most of the other rooms and their inhabitants, I didn’t have a game plan as such, which I think came from my initial dislike of the room. I had written down ten impressions I had of the room from the first day, clearly expressing what I felt whenever I was left alone in that room –

Isolated
I hate waiting
Sat in silence
Let your standards go…
Random rage
Mindless banality
Separated from the rest
The room where nothing happens…
This room is not interesting!
The only truthful room.

The only observation I took that day was the last point – the waiting room is the only truthful room. It is the only room in the house that is not a façade Knowing this, I felt like I could only use the room for its intended purpose, it brought out the most inspiration in me. It would have to be something that felt corporate; it couldn’t feel like part of the home, due to how it was furnished – “An austere office room with its functional furniture does not have a homelike effect and is not intended to do so, because it is intended to put one in the mood for concentrated work. The furniture must fill the space in such a way that the impression is neither of emptiness nor of overcrowding” ((Bollnow, Otto (2011), Human Space, Hyphen Press, P.144))

I was given the idea that I could perform under the pretence of an estate agent – my room to be the office where I give the audience background information of the property, and the rest of their experience in the house would be a ‘tour’ of the house. This idea resonated with me instantly, it gave me new inspiration, like the room I despised finally made sense, and I started to become excited to work on it, rather that loathing it. Now that I was working with the rooms aesthetics rather than against it, gave me more ideas on how it could be used, and how it would be perceived by the audience, I wrote a rough script on how exactly the estate agent idea could possibly work, starting with the audience knocking on the front door, I answer it, and it proceeds from there. I had a few ideas about how I could change up the furniture in the room, so it could be perceived as both corporate, but also welcoming at the same time:

To make the room seem less bare and therefore more personable, I thought ‘inspirational’ posters in bright eye-catching colours would be a fitting substitute. On the other hand, if the poster concept did not work, I thought possibly a large mirror, or several small mirrors would add an interesting aspect to the space as it makes a room seem larger or “a kind of alternative window, not only to the outside world but on the interior”. ((Heathcoate, Edwin, (2012), the Meaning of Home, London: Frances Lincoln Ltd, P.135.))

My role would be the initiator – the person who introduces the audience to the whole performance, I would in theory be setting up what is to come, the ‘inspirational’ posters would have hints as to what the other rooms performances would be, for example – for the kitchen, the poster’s artwork was of a steaming cup of tea accompanied by rabbit ears – these aspects were not so subtle, yet from an audiences point of view would be completely unexplainable until they saw the kitchen performance.

After my ten minutes of performing, I would lead the audience out, and subject to further decisions, I would guide them either upstairs to Louise, or into the living room/cupboard room.

Waiting…

Hayley Misseldine / May 12, 2013 / Documentation, Home, Performance process, Research, Rooms

The waiting room – it is unique in itself concerning the other rooms in the house as it is not a room commonly associated with a home. My first impressions of it were not pleasant, its set up feels more corporate and judgemental somehow compared to any other room in the house.

The first thing I felt when I entered the room was a sense of foreboding, it reminds me of the waiting room at school, where sadly I frequented often, usually because I had done something bad, and was awaiting my punishment. Another memory it triggered was the waiting room at hospital, another place I had waited, where the outcome had not been a good one, it reminded me of the long hours I had sat waiting for news, hoping and even praying at one point that the news would be good. So to sit in this room alone, with all the bad memories stirring up inside me, forcing me to be painfully aware of not only my feelings, but the room itself, although not pleasant, was infact productive.

With these memories, I can distinctly remember analysing every aspect of whatever waiting room I was in. When you have nothing but time, and nowhere else you can go, you are practically forced to observe your surroundings in a more scrutinising way. This is the first thing I did when beginning the research process was to just sit in the waiting room and analyse everything. I used an exercise I found in Pearson’s Site – Specific Performance – ‘Pay attention to detail. Later: (a) eyes closed, mentally reimagine your visit; (b) from memory, draw a map of the place – include significant features….’ ((Pearson, Mike, (2010), Site-Specific Performance, Palgrave Macmillan, P.84))

This is the map I came up with that illustrates a portion of the room that I could directly see in non-peripheral vision. You can see its bareness, lacking all personality, what worried me most was how my room could possibly fit in with the rest, how it contributes to the house as a whole? “We identify so closely with our homes. They are so personal, so familiar and our relationships with them so intimate, that they become projections of ourselves. And any interference with them becomes unnerving and profoundly unsettling”. ((Heathcoate, Edwin, (2012) the Meaning of Home, London: Frances Lincoln Ltd, P.186)) After reading this quote, it struck me that the fact that my room was not conforming to the notion of home could be a good thing – it sticks out, and it gives me the opportunity to do something, offer up a different experience to an audience that the other rooms cannot.

How do you create a home?

Hayley Misseldine / May 12, 2013 / Home, Performance process, Research, Rooms, West Parade

When I first stepped into the house that was to become our temporary home for the first time, despite the fact that it wasn’t so aesthetically pleasing, I couldn’t help but feel oddly comforted, for one it reminds me of the house I currently reside at in Lincoln, and two, its emptiness calls out to me. I see an empty space, and instantly all I want to do is decorate it, to make it feel ‘homey’ and it wasn’t until I visited this house on West Parade that I realised how strong this desire seems to be.

‘What does homeliness mean and how is it created?’ ((Bollnow, Otto, (2011) Human Space, Hyphen Press.)) To me, a house is not a home until it looks like one. This definition of how a house exactly can look like a home is up to the inhabitants, but you notice different examples in every home you have ever visited. You notice small objects, whether they are photographs, sentimental objects, even the decor, they all add up to make a space feel like a home, it feels like someone lives there. On the other hand there are homes which infact are inhabited, but it feels neglected, this is the case with the house on West Parade – it is set up this way, it is meant to feel like whomever lives there do not lead a happy home life, which brings me to my next point – home is not just about how it looks, it is also about who live there.

Personally, I can’t feel at home unless I am living with someone I am close to, family or friends, I won’t feel at home with strangers. It took several months for me to feel at home in Lincoln at first, due to the fact that the people I was living with were not close to me. Though contrary to how I felt in Lincoln, it was a different case when I lived in London for a month, I lived in a large house with 15 other people, and within the first week we had all grown close and made great connections, so in result I felt at home marginally faster than I have done here. In theory it comes down to human connection, ‘Home is wherever I’m with you’. ((Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s (2009) Home, Vagrant Records))

So this house, that we will work in for the next 5 months – will it become a home? Or will it become something else entirely? Thinking of all the possibilities this house possesses, especially knowing that there is a CCTV camera in almost every room, is quite daunting. There is so much we could do, we could – judging from some of the rooms interiors go to some dark places, the cot room for example, has got to be one of the creepiest and most unnerving rooms I have ever been in. Just from a simple piece of furniture and absolutely nothing else, makes the room practically scream neglect at you. The only room in the house I felt semi-comfortable in was the living room, and only because of the furniture, take that away and it would become just as uncomfortable as the other rooms. This proves my point – to make a house feel even remotely like a home, you need comforting objects inside of it, and you need people who care for one another, otherwise all you have left is a building.