Two different productions are taking place in the School of Arts and Creative Technologies this week by third-year Theatre: Writing, Directing and Performance students, with both teams putting on exciting performances on the department’s own Scenic Stage.
Incognito by Nick Payne will be taking the stage on the 7th and 9th of December at 19:30, a play following three interwoven stories about the brain and the mind, the science behind it, and ultimately whether it’s all just an illusion: as the storylines merge and blur, we discover what is truly worth sacrificing in the name of science. SCENE spoke to director Becky O’Donnell and actor Sam Bellamy regarding the processes and challenges that have come alongside performing this play.
Mosquitoes by Lucy Kirkwood takes its turn on the 8th of December at 19:30, and the 9th of December at 14:30, a play following the lives of a family thrown together by tragedy while the scientific world is on the brink of a discovery that could end in chaos, exploring the debate between science and instinct and whether love truly is the strongest force in the universe. SCENE spoke to director Abi Baker and co-set designer Harvey Kitchen about all the effort that has gone into putting on the show.
What is your name and your position in creating this piece?
Abi Baker: I am the director [of Mosquitoes] This means that I work with the acting, design and production teams in realising the show and putting it onto the stage. With the acting team I pre-plan and run rehearsals in response to emerging challenges. This does not just involve translating the text to the stage, but also doing character work exercises and games. I am also involved with decisions made by the design and production team. I aid this decision-making by providing insight into the rehearsal room and any developments.
Harvey Kitchen: I am the co-set designer for Mosquitoes. I analyse the locations, atmospheres, and practicalities of the play text using various inspirations and research. From this work, I then actualise the play space through set design processes and extensive building.
Becky O’Donnell: I’m the director of Incognito
Sam Bellamy: I am an actor playing the character Henry Maison in Incognito
Can you explain what your piece is about in a few words?
Mosquitoes
AB: “The universe is not the only thing that is unstable and inevitably collapses at some point”. I think that this quote from the play encapsulates the meaning of the piece very well as it highlights both the instability of the universe and, more importantly, the family unit.
HK: From a design perspective I have described Lucy Kirkwood’s Mosquitoes as a very ‘tactile’ piece. Kirkwood places her characters in dialogue with their space and how they interact with it. This attention to the physical allowed a sensitive design and directorial approach to the space and Mosquitoes’ tactility.
Incognito
BO: The brain and its mysteries can shape and break relationships, families, and people.
SB: A play about our brains, memories and what makes us ourselves.
Why this play in particular?
BO: Our lecturers chose Incognito and Mosquitoes as two interlinked plays to explore in our groups for our mainstage module. They are both plays that examine humanity through the lens of science, with complex subject matter and ambitious staging requirements. Incognito is also written by a York alumni – Nick Payne was an English student who wrote and put on his first plays in Drama Soc’s drama barn! The characters and their stories are so interesting yet grounded in simple relatability, it has been really rewarding to stage his writing.
SB: The play tells three different stories that link together. The scenes are very short, with fast transitions that jump between the stories. This can often take us to another century or continent or both. There is also multi-rolling within the play, with actors not having time to leave the stage between the scenes. Our physicality must be very specific; every character has to hold themselves differently for the audience to understand what is going on.
AB: I think the elements of [Mosquitoes] which made it an enticing choice for them were: the characters all of whom have vastly contrasting characteristics, the multiplicity of locations, the challenges posed by the ‘unstageable’ stage directions and the fact that one of the characters is a particle! So, the challenges the play poses and the exciting problem-solving that is required in staging it.
For those producing Mosquitoes what have you found most challenging in
staging this specific production?
AB: The challenges of the play are perhaps the most enticing element for all of us involved in staging the production as it is exciting working collaboratively together with every member of the company to ‘problem solve’. This includes location changes, scene transitions, ‘impossible’ stage directions, a character being a particle and relating this to the rest of the play and trying to make the story with all of these challenges clear and linear.
And for those producing Incognito, what have you found the most challenging in staging this particular production?
BO: Balancing the three storylines and making the different time periods and locations they take place in was daunting at first. This play has 31 scenes and 21 characters, and we have one stage and a cast of 7! Three of our actors play the protagonists of the parallel narratives, and our four ensemble actors share the other 18 characters between them. It has been really fun developing all of the characters with the actors, and making the switches between all the roles as fast as possible. The scenes of the play are quite short, which means the actors have to throw themselves into complex scenarios very quickly again and again. Watching them navigate through this play has been incredible.
SB: My character, Henry Maison, is based on the real life of HM. In 1953, he was offered an experimental treatment to deal with his epilepsy. However, it went badly wrong, and he could no longer form new memories. He also forgot much of his past. Trying to represent his condition has been very challenging, especially how it changes through his life.
What has the process of designing your piece been like?
HK: Set designing Mosquitoes has been an ongoing process of excitement and adaptation, working to create the illusion of a place, and simulating its architectural presence. Set design isn’t like other visual arts as it is ever shifting. The current set design evolved through multiple versions in response to rehearsals, respecting and aiding actors to comfortably play in the space. Now approaching our shows, the design still changes every day as new findings in the text and our performance have a direct effect on how the design is viewed, recontextualising the environment without physically editing my work.
BO: We wanted to create an abstract space that could accommodate the dozens of locations Incognito takes place in. The set pieces can be manoeuvred or transformed to become anything for the characters to use. We wanted all of the design to elevate the performances, and the fast paced transitions between the storylines. Simple onstage costume changes, light motifs, and soundscapes have been developed to clearly denote changes of character and space. It has been amazing to see it all come together.
SB: The moment when you first see the set under the lights is always exciting. And the design had to allow for the play to suddenly take you somewhere completely different, meaning we have to communicate this new location to an audience. Finding a way to let the design elements change between scenes that happen in London in 2014 and then Kansa in the 1970s has been a really interesting and fun challenge.
Why should we see your play?
HK: You should see Mosquitoes as this play is the first staging of a modern play within the Scenic Stage Theatre at the School of Arts and Creative Technologies at the University of York. Designing a modern play has opened all possibilities towards how to visually represent a text.
AB: Despite its 2008 setting, it resonates in a 2023 staging. It is a comedy and a drama, so if you like either, this play encompasses both genres! You will also learn a bit about CERN and the Higgs Boson particle. And if you love theatre, it is at a brilliant venue and a brilliant company of people.
SB: Incognito challenges you to think about what makes you who you are, exploring this idea from many different angles. There are three interwoven stories, with HM being only one storyline.
BO: It’s a wonderful production made by a whole bunch of talented people that explores what makes us who we are. The play takes us through journeys of love, loss, and grief, the stage acting like a brain in itself with the three storylines as strings of consciousness.
You can buy your tickets for Mosquitoes on the 8th and 9th of December at the Scenic Stage Theatre in the School of Arts and Creative Technologies through the Instagram accounts bio (@mosquitoes_uoy), by searching ‘Mosquitoes – Main Stage Project’ on Facebook, through the TFTI events page or at this link below:
https://tftv.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873653466
And, of course, you can get your tickets for Incognito on the 7th and 9th of December at the Scenic Stage Theatre through the Instagram bio (@incognito_uoy), searching ‘Incognito – Main Stage Project’ on Facebook, through the TFTI events page or at the following link: