Today we are speaking with Sam Kioni Roberts, a current student on the Advanced Theatre Practice, MFA about his art project Exhibition Theatre and new art event It Was Fated… .
Can you tell us about your current project?
‘My project focuses on the creation of a new type of ‘Exhibition Theatre’, as exemplified by a show called It Was Fated…. The idea is to blend art exhibition with live performance so that we get a form of art event that really exemplifies working in an interdisciplinary style, allowing for the power and importance of every artform present to be fully realised.
Did you get involved with this project through Central?
This project is a significant part of my final sustained independent project. I did a callout for participants through Central, and got an incredible response.
What made you want to get involved?
This project was mainly created as a way to focus my final sustained independent project as a part of my course, but the ideas have been there for a while, pushing me to explore new ground. It started partly as a rebellion against immersive art / theatre, and the way that the word ‘immersive’ is used so exhaustively as an umbrella term for all sorts of theatre. I also wanted to work on this as a way of codifying a really collaborative form of art event that I had been vaguely thinking about for years.
Tell us more about the project!
My collaborators and I have been doing many workshops over the last couple of months, creating a catalogue of creative performance work, while several have been creating artwork outside of the rehearsal room. ‘The performance work has been remixed various times, and we’ll be working with this ‘catalogue’ of material, improvising around and developing it as we go to create a structure full a full-day durational performance
The event will last a whole day, from 10.00am to 6.00pm, with various timeslots throughout the day. It’s a very exciting experiment with form and content, and a process unlike any I have facilitated before.
How has this related to your course work?
The project is a realisation of research and experiments I have done over the past year, and documentation from it will be included as part of my final pieces of submitted work. I do view the project as an experiment with potentially wide reaching effects on theatre itself. We can codify a new form of art event as a result of this, which I think is very exciting.
What has surprised you most about your experience?
Running a workshops-based process has been really surprising and rewarding as we’ve really had a chance to explore the skills and interests of everyone in the room, and create work that they are really invested in. It’s a process I’ve never used before, but it has been really joyful and creatively ‘sparkly’ if that is a word I can use.
How did you find out about Central and decide to study with us?
I originally found out about the course through online research into what Masters course would be best for me, but I also had friends who had previously attended and said that the School would be a good fit for me.
What are you planning to do after graduation?
I have a plan to move to Germany in about a year’s time, but I’ll be in London for the next year. I have a few writing projects that I am involved with, and will be working as a freelancer over the course of that year as a director, writer and facilitator.
Keep up to date with Exhibition Theatre on Instagram @exhibitiontheatreuk, Facebook Exhibition Theatre, or on the Exhibition Theatre website.
Catch It Was Fated... on Friday 3 June 10.00am - 6.00pm at Silver Building, 60 Dock Road, London. Book tickets on Eventbrite
