After Hours at the Polestar Club

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The aim of After Hours at the Polestar Club is to produce a new piece of cabaret style performance which engages a general audience in the intriguing story of Earth's magnetosphere, the solar wind and the aurora - and how our understanding of these phenomena has developed. The story will be told through an original monologue and cycle of songs. This sung and spoken narrative will unfold alongside a series of projected images which are developed and worked into live on stage by a digital drawing artist - a process in which members the audience can also participate. (*nb further information about the technique of live performance drawing and its value in audience engagement can be found in the Summary below). This project is timed to coincide with the 2013 solar maximum, building on additional public awareness of the earth-sun relationship that might be generated at this time, and will have a legacy extending into 2014/15.In addition, the project will provide an opportunity for staff and students in two very different university departments to collaborate in the delivery of a piece of science outreach. Hitherto, The Centre for Performance Research and the Institute of Physics and Mathematics have tended to reflect a familiar art/science divide with a presumption that there are few crossover activities that are of particular value or interest to both science researchers and performance researchers. This project aims to challenge that presumption by inviting active participation from both quarters, with the opportunity to explore possibilities of shared vocabulary, contexts and settings between future scientists and future performers.This proposal is for a pilot project, including 5 initial performances, in different styles of venue and context which will enable us to test the format and ensure we have a flexible and engaging piece of work to tour on successfully in 2014/5. We will firstly stage an Invited Preview, jointly hosted by the Centre for Performance Research and the Institute of Physics and Mathematics, to which we will invite festival programmers and others who have offered to organise and support future performances, as well as staff and students from both participating departments within the University. We will incorporate a post-show discussion as an extension of this Preview performance, where each table will be encouraged to come up with a combined comment/critique. These will be recorded, with permission, for use in our internal evaluation and forward planning. There will then be four additional performances at venues chosen to give us an overview of how the show works in different contexts. The flexibility of staging and minimum technical requirements of the show will maximise the number of spaces and setting in which it can be performed. (More info on the venues in Summary below).Legacy: A significant aim of this pilot is to have a solid, inspiring and tested piece of work ready to tour on to a wider audience in 2014 and 15. This will be the main legacy of the project. We already have invitations for 2014 from The International Storytelling Festival, Beyond the Borders, a biennial event with a strong profile and wide appeal held at St Donat's Castle, and supported access to a linked programme of storytelling events. We will be inviting programmers and facilitators to the first Preview to generate future interest.The project website will remain as a signpost to further learning on the theme of the Magnetosphere and also more generally on performance/astrophysics collaboration. Scripts and other project documentation will also remain accessible to researchers at the internationally-renowned archive of The Centre for Performance Research. The groundwork will be in place for further possible collaborations between the Centre for Performance Research, Physics Departments and Theatre, Film and Television departments of Aberystwyth University.