The following is an essay based on my Working Notebook for an Street Theatre module whilst at university, and how we devised an ‘alien invasion’ of Ormskirk, Lancashire - to the theme of nuclear waste disposal.

No matter what the performance and production size, a considerable amount of effort always goes into making the final product worthwhile and enjoyable. Starting on a new project is not an easy task, especially when individuals in the group have their own ideas and want to use them. From the very beginning of this project, we had the idea of an ‘alien invasion of Ormskirk.’ How we would present this and whether we would have a real meaning for doing so did not concern us at this point.

For our first ‘alien’ rehearsal we all grouped into pairs and played with possible alien communication, showing our ideas to the rest of the group. The communicative sounds created were short-listed and we chose the favourite – a kind of garbled cooing noise - that in the end was never used. (Other alien communication ideas including the use of body language – which a very basic version was used in the performance - mechanical noises, telepathy, an almost Klingon sounding language, grunting, the banging of hands onto the ground).

It was decided a few weeks later that the use of sounds would not be used as the main alien language. However, a high pitched whine was used to warn the other aliens of the radioactive waste left in the performance area and the alien leader used a sound that was very close to a train’s horn. This signified a new command for the aliens, which also doubled up as a sign to tell us to move onto the next part of the performance. As we could not see each other’s faces though the masks, it was hard to communicate with each other to tell us when the next part should begin. So with the alien leader watching over us, the ‘train hoot’ acted as signal informing us to begin the next stage of the performance.

From the beginning we never really had an actual structure for the performance. We split up into groups and came up with ideas but there was nothing that we liked. In the end, I suggested that we should have some main moral theme/issue running through the performance. We made a short a list of topics that interested us the most: oil pollution, smoke pollution, litter, deforestation, car fumes, nuclear power and the ozone layer. We came up with a few ideas on how we could represent the topics and went away to come back with a rough plan for each one. I did not like this idea at all, but came up with the best I could for deforestation.

Over the following weeks ideas came and went and in the end we dropped all the ideas we had so far and looked at it all from a different angle. After we all sat down and though about it, we stuck with the aliens and chose nuclear power for the theme. After some research we all thought about the props and costumes for the aliens and realised that they would look good with the yellow and black symbol. Over the following weeks the props and costumes were designed and made. The props were painted water bottles and Pringles packets that represented the radioactive waste that was to be dumped. In most of the rehearsals we practiced with them, as these were an important part the performance. We also used three vegetable oil barrels painted to look like radioactive containers. These were important to rehearse with. Playing the role of the Toxic Twins, we had to dump the barrels in a slapstick way, in the town centre. The other Toxic Twin had to harm me in every way possible with the containers, and we spent many rehearsals devising ways of doing this and making it look big and funny.

Most of the costumes made covered the entire body and the masks that went with them were hard to see out of, so it was important to practice a few times with them on so that we could get use to wearing them. My mask in particular did not allow in much air and I had to wear it up to 15 minutes at a time. This did not bother me at all, but the condensation forming inside the mask did.

The costume design played an important part of the visual aspects of the performance. In a theatre, lighting can greatly enhance the colour of the costumes, but because we where working outside we knew that lighting would be a problem. Our only source of light would be from the sun, which of course we could not guarantee would be out. If it should be dull and rain, the costumes would not look colourful. After research, we all agreed with the yellow and black colour scheme. No matter how much light the sun would shed on us, the costumes would still look colourful. And they did. The sun shone brightly for us, although a few rain clouds did seem to cause a threat.

From the start of throwing our ideas together we wanted to move around freely in Ormskirk and interact with the audience, which is something most of us have never done before. We would walk up to people in our alien costumes and copy their moves, follow them around a bit and just generally entertain the public. This would not work though because ideally, we wanted to attract a large audience to watch us. No one is really going to stop and watch a few aliens walking by.

On a site visit into Ormskirk, we looked at possibly performing on the podium near the clock tower. After some consideration, we all agreed to use it. This raised us above ground level and give people a chance to see us from a distance. It also acted as a focal point for the performance, where the public could stand around and watch us perform. I had never performed in front of the public in this way before. (In 1996 I was part of a contemporary Nativity in Blackpool, in the cold with no audience). This time we had a good reception from the public. This was the first time that I had played a character that interacted with an audience. I was not sure what to expect from the crowd, but I was surprised at how well I managed. From the very start the audience were joining in and this gave us a lot of energy. At points we had to improvise a little as vans and cars rolled by, the drivers looking very confused at to what was going on.

I think that we chose a very good spot to perform on. When we arrived as the Toxic Twins and I started to yell out about us dumping toxic waste. Many people stopped and stared and a few heads appeared from several shops as their curiosity drew them to us. As the crowd grew, more people noticed us and in the end many people watched our 20-minute performance. It was commented by a few friends who watched us that we took a great risk and were daring to do something like we did. They really enjoyed it and thought that we ‘had guts.’ I agree with them, one thing I was worried about was whether we would be able to cope with any ‘unwanted’ reactions from the audience. But we ignored the comments made: ‘Who are you?’ one lady asked. ‘I am Death,’ our Death character replied. The lady then said, ‘Well, perhaps you should go to Africa - there is a lot of death there.’ But we did well and although it is so tempting to reply to these kind of comments, we kept our cool, focused and carried on with the performance.

Over the years new ideas have taken place in outdoor theatre. Companies are trying new styles and skills, and are forever attempting to make them bigger, colourful and entertaining. One main aspect of any outdoor performance is taking risks. You never know how an audience will react to what you have created. From what I was told, we scared a couple of young children in our alien costumes and they ran off crying back to their parents. But we could not just ‘tone down’ the alien masks just for them. We wanted to show the public our performance as we intended it to be; the nuclear dumping, aliens with sinister costumes and masks, and including its overall haunting warning.

People do not always go to the theatre. Most that do either follow a show they like or are experiencing something new (which is quite rare). But with street theatre you do not have that option. Like it or not, it is there and the only thing it will cost you is your attention. Most performances anywhere will no doubt carry an underlying meaning, which you can simply chose to ignore. But outdoors, things are different. Our performance drew in the audience because of the loudness of the Toxic Twins and the strangeness of the aliens and their costumes. Before the public knew it, they are hooked and cannot walk away. Simple but effective, our message and warning was heard by Ormskirk.

From the very beginning of the project I loved the idea of street theatre. What we were going to do was my main concern and was more than happy when it was suggested that we use aliens for a theme. When we all went away, I became worried that we might need to include more than just visiting aliens. The next week I suggested that we should have an underlying theme. When we finally agreed on nuclear power, this became the main subject of the performance and the aliens then were to show us what we are doing wrong with it.

We all split off into groups and put the whole thing together. Two of us worked on our ‘Toxic Twins’ routine and we both put together the barrels that we were going to use. A lot of the time during rehearsals we were all lacking energy and concentration and this slowed down the production process. Often people would just start loosing faith in the project and they would become miserable for the rest of the week when rehearsing. This did not put us off though. A few words at the right time soon put the whole thing on the move again.

I thought that we all worked as a team and because of that, we pulled through successfully and achieved a superb project.

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