Storytelling is much a part of performance, and most performances have a narrative of some kind. Recently, I have focused on the techniques in which we can tell a story better, alongside looking at places where we can gain inspiration for a story from.

Looking at simple devices such as red herrings, in which the story teller may go off on a tangent,or use of voice in which the story teller may convey the voice of the character they perform, we can improve the way a story is told/performed to an audience.

A way I have found to inspire a story may be to use the form of live writing. This is where I go to a place and chose a person or place in that moment, and construct a story through my own imagination based upon what I see. We used this form in Serbia, and then produced a tour of Novi Sad, which we then performed to the locals.

In Serbia we created a flashmob which we performed in the town centre. The flashmob, which was a co-creation between the Bristol based people and the locals to Novi Sad, was based on tourism, and how our interpretation as visitors was different to the locals perception of their home. Both of our inputs created an interesting ensemble performance. While the performance in terms of actions and voice was relatively simple, performing as an ensemble meant that timing was key. With enough rehearsal we achieved this. From the reaction of the locals, the flashmob seems to have been a success. For me, performing in another country introduced how, with a slightly altered culture, the way performance is seen is altered. Yet, with international touring in the modern day, many performance styles are becoming wide spread and globally recognised.