Rough Mix
Rough Mix is Magnetic North's inter-disciplinary creative development programme. It is an opportunity for theatre makers to collaborate with other practitioners, try out new ideas and introduce them to an audience. We bring together a small group of practitioners from different disciplines and give them time to start developing new projects in a supportive and collaborative atmosphere. The practitioners work together with a group of performers over a two week period before making a work in progress showing at the end. We believe that this project offers a unique opportunity for both established and emerging artists.
The next Rough Mix programme will run from January 11th-22nd 2010 at Dance Base in Edinburgh, supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation and Scottish Arts Council. The artists taking part are:
- Ruth Barker - visual artist
- Nicholas Bone - director
- Catriona MacInnes - film-maker
- Linda McLean - playwright
- Ian Spink - choreographer/director
Who'll be working with emerging theatre artist Harry Wilson and performers Catherine Gillard, Veronica Leer, Kirstin Murray, Michael Sherin and David Walshe.
There will be a public showing at 5:00pm on Friday 22nd January (Dance Base, 14-16 Grassmarket, Edinburgh) - entry is free, just turn up.
If you are a practitioner and would be interested in finding out more about future Rough Mix programmes, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . There are opportunities for both established and emerging artists.
Rough Mix 1:
The first Rough Mix ran in December 2006 at Dance Base, Scotland's National Centre for Dance in Edinburgh with a core group of:
- Nicholas Bone – Director
- Clare Duffy – Playwright
- David Fennessy – Composer
- Ronan O'Donnell – Playwright
- Sans façon (Tristan Surtees & Charles Blanc) - Visual Artists
- Marisa Zanotti - Choreographer & Filmmaker
They were joined by playwright Debbie Jones, choreographer Rosalind Masson and performers Ewan Donald, Pauline Lockhart, Nico Major, Kirstin Murray and Keith Macpherson.
Each practitioner brought an idea for a project that they were interested in developing. Over a period of two weeks they worked with one another and a group of performers in the beautiful surroundings of Dance Base.
The projects developed were:
- Walden (Nicholas Bone) – an exploration of approaches to dramatising Thoreau’s book about the two years he spent living in the woods. Walden was developed into a full production which was first produced in 2008 and then toured in 2009.
- You Had To Be There (Clare Duffy) – used the local area (Grassmarket) as a starting point for the development of a series of vignettes in different styles. The project was developed further as Local Reality Expo and was presented at CCA, Glasgow in May 2008.
- A Study In Three Parts (David Fennessy) – a moment of interruption explored with an actor, a drum kit and feedback. The idea was developed further into Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside) which was premiered by Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt in May 2007
- Carrot (Ronan O’Donnell) – inspired by the story of Jeannie, a child kept in complete isolation for several years by her parents.
- Untitled (Sans façon) – an “unseen” performance within the Dance Base building. The ideas explored developed into Odd Sympathies, a collaboration with composer John Metcalfe presented as part of Artes Mundi in Cardiff in May 2008.
- Edges (Marisa Zanotti) – projected video, 2 chairs, 4 performers and a series of instructions.
During the course of the two weeks we kept a Rough Mix blog which is still available to read.
