Not sure how the "stops" on the tour will be selected, so perhaps this is a question for the script masters. I'm wondering how far afield we'll want to go with the stops, and what kind of time/travel frame we'll be dealing with as a result. It could be nice to have them all within walking distance of the conference, but there may be good reasons to expand beyond that. In doing some more tourist sleuthing, I came across a self-guided French Quarter walking tour guide on the NOVCB website. Thought this could be something we might like to create for our own "tour" of the city. I'd be happy to help put something like this together (perhaps with a map, other images, other bits of things we've collected) as a way to help direct the movement of the piece. Thoughts?
Check out the NOCVB website to see what kinds of tours are currently offered in the city. Click on Brochures/Coupons on the left to take you to the page where you can download the French Quarter Walking Tour PDF.
http://www.neworleanscvb.com/
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Allow me to clarify: the "stops" on the tour will be within the exhibition hall (or whatever the site of the Re:Actions is called) and pieces of the installation. Since we have 15-20 minutes, we won't be leading our audience too far afield. However, on our research days, we are going to take whatever tours are of interest to us and visit whatever sights we think are important crafting the performance.
I think taking the French Quarter walking tour is a great idea - perhaps one of our "stops" within the exhibition could be the Frech Quarter (combined perhaps with a tourist stop, as this is the Mecca of all tourist destinations in NOLA). We can distribute our map/tour at this stop so that ATHAE people can take our tour if they want.
Also, I think that our "stops" in the installation can and should span time - I am thinking that we will start our prologue with some text excerpted from historical documents and we should address moments in NOLA history that seem pertinent to our understanding of the city today.
Karen's comment actually clarified one of my inquiries, as I figured we were one of a few presentations that afternoon/evening, and I wasn't sure how far we could stray from the hotel. However, I like incorporating Karen's previous idea about postcards into this walking tour. One possible idea could be projecting an image of a postcard/location at each installation, along with introducing it with the description that's often posted on the back of the card. We could also consider using the images from the cards as part of the tour "map" that's suggested by Louise.
As the installation woman, who else on our panel is working with me?, I think we need to keep a little bit of space between installation and set. We don't have a performance team together yet and I'm worried about us having already sort of decided that our performance is going to be a tour guide.
Has anyone seem this successfully done? I've seen and been a part of a few performances that have used this tour-guide technique and I've never enjoyed it or seen it done well. Sorry to be a voice of dissent here but that's what I'm thinking right now. I'd love to have one of you convince me otherwise!
This is not to say that we can't/shouldn't have tour guides but if we do, can we think about how we use them? What their purpose is? What it means to use them? How they can be used in terms of meaning making as well as practicality? Who are our performance people? Can you think about this?
I'd love to hear your feedback.
Thanks,
Lisa
I'm wondering if there is a difference between using postcards as a framing devise and making our production a tour. I agree with Lisa that it is very difficult to do the "tour guide" method of theatre well. I'd like to think more about how to put this all together--I know that the script will dictate this (or suggest this) to a certain extent, but I'll volunteer for the PRODUCTION TEAM.
I wonder, too, about making a definite space between installation and set. Lisa--could this installation BE the set? I'm not sure that I like the separation from art and playing space. What if the installation had 4 clear sides and these could be our "stops" on the tour?
Thanks for the clarification, Karen. I think I was imagining a tour because of the word "stops." But this doesn't have to be a literal tour with a tour guide. Perhaps the performance is LIKE a tour, without actually being a tour? Anyway, I still think that postcards and/or a map could be used in some production way. As in trying to map the history of New Orleans, trying to locate New Orleans on the map of the United States, mapping out the important moments in history and space that make New Orleans significant. This could be reflected in a literal map that may or may not directly lead us through the performance, but it could also be some other kind of map that reflects upon the themes and images. Hard to know how this could work without knowing what the script will look like ...
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