As we move into the rehearsal room thanks to Maketank and Orchard Café, it’s time to reflect on our online devising process. This is the first performance in a theatre space since the start of the pandemic so it felt odd to be starting it by working online. Would it work? Would it make the performance too static? How would it translate into a theatre space? As we began to work we quickly realised how useful the technical skills we have developed over the last year would be. We were able to record improvised scenes, transcribe them and then upload this to a shared document where we could make changes. This allowed us to collaborate on the writing in real time. Working from home also allowed us to grab objects and photographs to share as we talked about our memories. All this led to a much richer and more intimate devising process than I think expected from an online environment. Would we do it again? I think it depends on the show. But for this show, it was definitely the right decision.
