During the last session at the site, the Women of War group decided to alter the proxemics of the audience to the performers. Since our piece is set in the kitchen/washroom and has limited space, the group decided it would be more appropriate to keep the audience partitioned from the acting space. We recently visited The Museum of Lincolnshire Life, inspiring the idea of an audience viewing our piece as a form of an exhibition, which will create a different experience for the audience, as opposed to the rest of the performance. Furthermore, the journey that the audience will take through the site is largely participatory and the audience are controlled by a narrative. However, our piece is now designed to be seen ‘in passing’, and cordoned off by twine, to resemble a museum display. Mike Pearson states:
Both proxemics, interpersonal distances from performer to performer and performer to spectator, and haptics, the touch of self and other, may become part of the expressive repertoire of performers and of the dramaturgical fabric of performance ((Pearson, Mike (2010) Site-Specific Performance, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.)).
In reflection of Pearson, the Women of War group have recognised the effectiveness of framing the piece, by only allowing the audience in the alcove entrance of the room. Therefore, this creates either a highly intimate viewing point, if there is a large audience watching at the same time, or contrastingly, an isolated, reflective space for a single audience member. The literal framing of our piece also emphasises our cloth installation as a “theatrical vignette” ((Pinchbeck, Michael (2013) ‘Safe Bet’, seminar, Site- Specific Performance, Lincoln: University of Lincoln, 17 April.)), as apposed to the view during the journey of the performance, where it hangs above their heads. Instead, the installation in the framed ‘exhibition’ space can be viewed much more intimately, and its connection to our factory scene can be recognised.