Theatre and performance has always been a feast for the eyes and a delight for our ears, but what about those senses that are hardly ever explored within performance? During our research, we happened across some information which told us the exact refreshments that were served during the races at the grandstand from the serving hatches outside. The items were; gingerbread, fresh fruit and alcohol. We had already found out at this point that the Grandstand was no longer licensed to sell alcoholic beverages so we knew that this was out of the question from the start. During our process we have also already decided to play with the audiences sense of smell by using tea and perfume during the piece, experimenting with emotional memory being triggered by scent. Once we had learnt of the refreshments, we decided to take this idea one step further and experiment with taste. “Taste, however, is linked to the olfaction and therefore deserves mention. The Bread and Puppet Theatre shares freshly baked bread after their performances, and it contributes to the communal meaning of their work” ((Whitmore, John (1994) Directing Postmodern Theatre: Shaping Signification in Performance, United States of America: The University of Michigan Press))We wanted taste to be a integral part of our performance like the Bread and Puppet Theatre, we just needed to determine which tastes would bring the most meaning into our performance. By using our own emotion memories we have decided that the smell of baked gingerbread alongside tea links in with the community feel of the piece, Ideally triggering thoughts of community events that people would have attended; such as village fetes and charity fundraisers.
By using taste our aim is to create a sense of the community that the Grandstand previously enjoyed when it was in use. We really want the audience to feel as though at any second a horse race could begin or a soldier could walk through the room in which they are sat. Our first idea as to where to serve the gingerbread was to do so on a table decked out with some bunting, that we found at the grandstand itself, to recreate the community fete feeling as the audience arrive. However when we learnt that another piece was taking the audience on a small tour of the outside parts of the grandstand, and that it included the serving hatch where they actually used to serve the gingerbread, we decided that we couldn’t ignore the sense of authenticity that this would add.
We may come into some difficulties serving outside however. “At site environmental conditions may change and need to be accepted or actively countered” ((Pearson, Mike (1010) Site-Specific Performance, Palgrave Macmillan)) The weather will play a huge factor in decided if we can do this on the day or not. For example if it does rain we will have to think of a way to either serve it within a container that is waterproof or go back to the original idea of the community fete table as the audience enters the weighing room. We will have to be prepared for both eventualities of course. Other than weather, we need to be aware of factors such as insects and birds as the food with be served outside. we also need to be aware of hygiene when dealing with food and drink. We will solve this by covering the food inside until it is served on plates, washing the mugs thoroughly with boiling water and washing up liquid in between shows and washing our hands regularly.