Raphael Ruiz Feedback on Scratch Performance Monday 25th March 2014 Raphael Ruiz scratch production centred on the

subjective idea of memory and the ability of the human mind to invoke and recall information on any determined item. The simple notion that an inanimate item has the power to recall strong living memory to any individual or group when called upon. Just like an individual smell may simmer up thoughts unique to a person who notices the scent. The actor used five alternative items and handed them out to the audience asking them to try to utilise the object as a catalyst for memory. The peripetia in the production was that he openly stated that each member of the audience could falsely attach a memory, openly lie, about the recollection they were going to be asked to recall. What occurred was a series of interesting recounts by each of the five audience members as people alternatively attempted to lie, or tell a true story, about an item that actually had no relevance to them. Meanwhile, images of events relevant to the actor, Raphael, would flash cyclically on the background the actor as each audience member recalled their memory. A strange proximity was created and the entire room seemed split into three; the audience members recounting their tales whilst Raphael thoughtfully aided them on in the centre, framed by their recycling images that flickered in the background. It was a minimalist background that seemed perfect to have a very simple but honest conversation. It is similarly an idea that has a lot of merit and can be structured into what would a successful final production in May. The production is a very strong idea and memory is a fascinating area for both you as a researcher and for us as your audience. It was really nice to hear your stories from the past and the simple manner that the photos flashed up on the background helped hyperbolise the minimalism of your piece. You had a really nice tone with people and it was great to see you actually really listen to your audience members. In a spatially compressed and impatient modern society, we often forget to listen sometimes so it was great to see you actually listening and responding in accord to your audience member. I also loved it when people chose to lie, I cant really work out what it quite said about your audience, but it definitely said something and forcing people to lie is a fantastic idea at the core of your production. Keep that idea alive. The main area of critique about the scratch was that it seemed to be more a framed experiment than a final production. The dialogic tone of the piece worked in order to create an open environment however at times it seemed almost unscripted, a scripted piece intermingled with moments of improvisation may be more effective to order the piece towards a conclusive finale. In relation to this, although the idea is very strong, as an audience member I believe that it needs to have a stronger structure in order to make your practice based research more conclusive. At the moment you seem to be exploring ideas rather than filtering them into a concluding answer about your research. However, I do understand that notions of memory and the mind can be extremely difficult to finalise a definitive and objective answer upon. Perhaps an answer to this, is for you as a researcher to decide on how you feel about the attribution of memory to miscellaneous items and then begin to work this through your piece. Rather than just allowing the audience to evoke their own memories to your items. Similarly, some of the items seemed a bit banal. I would have liked more items like the masquerade masks and perhaps less items like the aftershave. Although, as mentioned earlier in this review, smell is the sense strongest linked to ideas of thought and recollection. It did also run for quite a long time and although you may be happy with the one setting that you had, you may want to break up the conversations you have with the audience with different forms of media or notions of performance. You could, perhaps, put a film or song between each conversation. However I am a notorious fan of non-linearity and the simple, minimalist structure of your piece may be something you particularly. So take that last comment at your will. Overall, the piece seems to be a good place to now expand and structure into a final production. Your ideas are all there but I do believe these must now be creatively formalised into a piece that will perhaps break the linearity of your scratch, and invoke a few more creative instances. You now have a month to begin to work these creative moments through your piece and I think by the end you will have a successful production.

Suggested Reading 1) Any material by Oliver Sacks. He is a famous literary neurologist whose most famous works include The Man who mistook his Wife for a Hat and Hallucinations. They are basically a collection of case studies about people with neurological disorders which are fascinating. Peter Brook adapted some of the shorter stories into a production back in the nineties I believe. They could be a great source of creative input. 2) Carl Jung and ideas on the formalisation of memory and symbols etc. 3) Your style also reminded me a lot of Spalding Gray, if you havent before definitely check his work out.