We had studio spaces. Another fight was to acquire and maintain the Roborough which had been a science lab as our performance space. It was a huge flexible space with beautiful tall windows and scary basement vaults that I never fancied going into.

What is more in my year back in the eighties the numbers were capped so that there were eight of us doing single honours drama and twelve doing combined with English and one or two more combined with German. That meant that for three years we worked together constantly so it was as if we were a mini theatre ensemble.

I think I will need many posts to put the experience into adequate words. We were young. far from home and swimming in a sea of creativity that was as overwhelming as it was wonderful. There was sweat and confusion. What held it together was the vision and flare of the founding team, including the strong presence of Les Read, Dorinda Hulton, Nick Sales and Glendyr Sacks. ​

We were kitted out with black karate suits, black leggings (which were the limit for most of the guys) and a black leotard. The idea was to take out personality from the process of the rehearsal room - these were laboratory theatre concepts - somewhere between Peter Brook's "Empty Space" and Grotowski's "Poor Theatre."

I love this quote and it explains to me why I need to have so many journals and notebooks around me!

It reminds me of the distinction I learnt whilst studying drama at Exeter University which was heavily influenced by studio based practice and ensemble techniques, and where we were taught to constantly ask “Why theatre?” - in other words what does it do that another art form does not.

Therefore, why do we say “playwright” and not “play-write”? 

It is as if a playwright (distinct from a play-write), is someone developing their work in a process that is as much a physical process (like a wheel-wright) as an intellectual one.

These are questions that have led my continuous artistic search to the borders of different art forms (dance theatre, physical theatre, performance art, martial arts in relation to performance etc) including to most recently an exploration in the arena of opera and experimental music in collaborations with Argentinean composer Oscar Edelstein as both a vocalist and video maker.

Edelstein's concept of "Acoustic Theatre" raises the question of sound in space. It is question that was explored in the early acoustic experiments of the cathedral builders and Venetian masters (think whispering galleries and cathedrals constructed to be apt for choirs), up to references of the to the 3D space of German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen whose piece "Gruppen" requiring three conductors and three orchestras was recently performed in the Turbine Gallery at Tate Modern by London Symphony Orchestra directed by Simon Rattle), passing through Gustav Mahler, Richard Wagner, Claude Debussy, Arnold Schönberg, Geörgy Ligetti and Luigi Nono. 

With Acoustic Theatre, Edelstein is collaborating with physicists in Argentina to create a new kind of space for the experiencing of sound. He is working in depth with Manuel Eguía (Physicist / Acoustic Researcher) who is an Associate Professor at the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes in Buenos Aires and a member of CONICET (National Science Council) whose background is in Complex Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics and Theoretical Neuroscience. Together they are working with Sonic Crystals in an novel approach to sound in space.

There is a long history of composers working in an interdisciplinary contexts that border with art, architecture, theatre and dance.  Equally, in recent years artists have taken up this idea of sound in space and begun experimenting with the borders of sound.

So for me Hélène Cixous - professor, French feminist writer, poet, playwright, philosopher, literary critic and rhetorician - captures that implausible aspect of the process of putting into words and for the need to physicalise the out of reach. She eludes to that special finding of what is not there - that just because.

 Cixous is best known for her article '' The Laugh of the Medusa.''

It takes 21 days to change a habit, and so Adrienne Lloren, a young Toronto entrepreneur has prepared 21 days worth of interviews with creatives - 25 infact (including me!) - from all spectrums of the artistic sphere.

As a rapper, singer-songwriter, and YouTuber, Adrienne has been trying to figure out the challenge of how to bridge the gap between starving artist to thriving artist. So she decided to take on a research project to learn how successful creatives paved their way into crafting the life and business that they love.

This research project has turned into an interview series called: The Thriving Artist: How Creatives Create Flourishing Careers.

[You can register for a complimentary ticket using this LINK] 

These interviews are short and straight to the point conversations with successful creatives who’ve built thriving careers. 

In case you are wondering who the speakers are, here are just a handful of speakers you will hear from including me: Bree Noble (singer/songwriter & online radio host, USA), La Marie Ritchhart (Beauty Photographer & Mentor. USA), Nel Shelby (Dance Videographer, USA), Rodney Holder (Music business lecturer & podcast producer, Australia), Ryan Van Poederooyen (Drummer, Canada), Laura C George (Business consultant for fine artists, USA), Luna Jaffe (Jungian psychotherapy & holistic financial planner, USA) more!

Adrienne is the founder of GetAMPED a content creation agency, based in Toronto who are a team of passionate communicators, cinematographers and storytellers helping local small businesses amplify their message, and providing marketing solutions to artists driven by passion and purpose. 

She is on a mission to get her client amped-up and to craft the life and creative business that you love. “Never be afraid of being different,” she says, and that’s the same philosophy she uses to get her clients marketing with verve and energy.

This summit series starts on Monday 2nd July, 2018. Sign up here for free.

Hope you enjoy it and look forward to any discussions it raises. Any questions, let me know info@clearinsight.co.uk

As ever I’m on Facebook here so I am curious to know your thoughts as my mission is that through clarity, insight and production we can enjoy a world full of new ways of being, doing and knowing.

Best wishes,

Deborah Claire Procter

​Clear Insight Productions in Facebook:
​

Sometimes we find ourselves searching in and from a “don’t know” space that is filled with echoes, reflections, and glimpses of children’s games. 
It is un-nerving. 
I think of the term “playwright.” Why don’t we spell it “play-write”? 
Because we need our hands not just our heads to shape the new. 
"Playwright" comes from the archaic English term, wright. We are like wheelwrights, cartwrights - ready not only with ears and eyes, but with hands trained to shape and craft play. 
We are fishing in the land of paradox to catch edges, moments unseen, and words un-whispered. 
I want my intuitive leaps to lead to something timeless and hypnotic – creating a space to pause and re-figure.

Let’s hope that we can mix vulnerability with skill, to keep things as raw and fresh as possible - to fill a bottle with light and more that just one P.O.V, perhaps some Beckett, Brecht, and a little Shakespeare. 

Tonight, Wednesday 9th November, like many I don't feel like I understand anything. 

So I reach back into my mind to a book I read many years ago by Jonathan Raban called "Bad Land." 
The critically acclaimed book takes the rarely told story of the journey of European immigrants that were sold the enterprising idea of rich farming lands in the state of Montana. The story is of dreams, homesteaders, railroads, promises, false propaganda, drought, and desperation of people misled and abandoned. 
Tonight as the world faces a new chapter, it is a book that sticks in my minds as strongly as images like Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother", Grant Wood's "American Gothic", "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper, or even more viscerally the iconic "Christina’s World" by Andrew Newell Wyeth.

I'm reaching for a horizontal but like for the people in Raban's "Bad Land" there is no horizon just a dizzying empty sky line. 
​
As quoted in a Guardian article about his book set in Alaska, "Passage to Juneau", “Journeys,” says Raban, somewhere towards the end of Passage to Juneau, “hardly ever disclose their true meaning until after – and sometimes years after – they’re over.” 

This journey is going to take a lot of time to understand. Turning to art is perhaps our best resource in times like these as Sigmund Frued said, “Everywhere I go I find a poet has been there before me.” 
​
In this case Jonathan Raban in 1997 told stories than we need to go back towards and revisit just as he did, in which case the Los Angeles Times prediction will be true when they said; "Championship prose. . . . In fifty years don't be surprised if Bad Land is a landmark." 
​
I certainly think so. 

• "No one has evoked with greater power the marriage of land and sky that gives this country both its beauty and its terror." Washington Post Book World 
• "Bad Land should be recognized as a blazing classic." - Sunday Telegraph
• "Raban's journey, made through empty landscaped that once brimmed with optimism, reveals what happened when American innocence begins to curdle. The tale, borne along by its superlative writing, is a riveting one." - Observer

Answer - the art of copywriting.

You know when you stumble across something that is really basic but makes perfect sense. I figured out a while ago about the importance of re-looking at communicating on the arts from getting really bored by the copywriting sent out by much of the classical music industry and un-subscribing from an emailing list. Alongside this, my fascination with how to attract audiences to "new" work or "contemporary" material when these have become dirty words makes me super keen to learn more about the art and craft of writing that moves. 

Long time back I discovered Seth Godin's inspiring thoughts on how to create ideas that circulate, and he continues to be one of the most important voices in the field whose daily email I relish. 

But this week I made another unexpected leap forward by receiving information from writer's coach Shelley Hitz about an online copywriting summit with some of the best of the best. I love to hear it from the horses mouth so I was thrilled.

The summit is led by Ray Edwards who is most famous for being able to combine faith and ethics in writing sales copy that is authentic and isn't too pushy or salesy. He is known as the man who has created money-getting copy for business leaders like Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Jeff Walker, and Stu McLaren. Plus he has a really impressive list of New York Times best-selling authors, entrepreneurs, and achievers. What's more, he is a really enthusiastic and generous guy who has gathered 30 of the best copywriters on the planet to teach you their freshest insights, tools, and techniques… All at no charge.

What is also wonderful is that the interviews are are not “pitch interviews” – far from it! It is all really valuable material and great conversations that take advantage of Ray Edwards years in radio. 

• Click here to Register For the FREE Copywriting Virtual Summit:

Having listened to the first six days of the summit I've just added a book to my reading list after hearing the talk by the author and star of copywriting and marketing, Jay Abraham.

Having listened to the first six days of the summit I've just added a book to my reading list after hearing the talk by the author and star of copywriting and marketing, Jay Abraham. 

Abraham's book is called The CEO Who Sees Around Corners. It is all about hindsight, insight and foresight - my cup of tea!


​The blurb on Amazon says;

"Jay Abraham and Carlos Dias wrote this book for CEOs and senior executives who want to lead their organizations onto a better path for success in a fast-moving, turbulent world. The CEO Who Sees Around Corners introduces the powerful theories, mental models, and proven processes you need to reset your business to succeed in non-linear times."
​
Abraham talks in the interview with Ray Edwards about how to be pre-eminent in your field by finding out what's driving your heart and soul, and of the power of making small progressive movements.

Ray Edwards has given a huge gift with these interviews that are so packed with insights so it is well worth jumping in immediately. 

If you know very little about copywriting - like I did - but love writing, and know how powerful a skill it is to be able to reach new audiences, and bring big crowds to your events and your business, then I strongly recommend this as both a starting point / crash course. 

Just by listening, I feel that I have upped my game as a communicator - in fact I feel a bit more nervous writing today because I recognise even more the power and the beauty of words. 

How else would I have heard about names like Ben Settle, David Garfinkel, John Carlton, Kevin Rogers, Brian Kurtz, Bond Halbert, Pauline Longdon and many many more.

In the arts there can sometimes be a suspicion that advertising smacks of manipulation. However when it means reaching out to one more person who can benefit from access to the arts, then I feel it is an essential skill to develop and develop and develop and develop....

About the Author: Procter is an independent artist and thinker working in the area of production, strategy, and development in the arts and culture sector. She is a multimedia artist and has worked for companies like Theatre Alibi and Centre for Performance Research. With over 30 years of experience in the arts, spanning four continents, she founded her own production company, Clear Insight Productions which makes theatre, opera, film, music and dance productions that represent the opportunity to find wider perspectives and new ways of seeing the world. The company has a growing team of collaborators throughout the world who are interested in the role of the arts in creating change. Procter mentors other transformational and creative businesses, as well as continuing a career as a singer, and spending time growing a balcony garden in Buenos Aires where she splits her time with Aberystwyth. 

To subscribe for Clear Insight Productions newsletter email info@clearinsight.co.uk with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Or use the box below. 

? Your privacy is important to us - we are committed to protecting your personal information. If you sign in we use your name & email to send you periodic emails, including email newsletters & occasional business announcements & updates. Your information will never be shared or sold to a 3rd party. If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails it is easy to do so.

There is much to say about the latest news in Britain that is is impossible to know where to start. 

I'm at a loss, I think we all are so today I was digging through old notes and randomly found this great set of tips from determined British film-maker Terry Gilliam who has seen his fair share of up and downs, and the twists of outrageous fortune.

Read it to take your mind of the current whirl wind, and as we search for a horizontal which is going to take us quite a lot of time to re-find. 

Whole article: Ten Lessons on Filmmaking From Terry Gilliam