The Meaning of Black by Caroline Astell-Burt

My art teacher once told me that all colours mixed together come to black- which is a consoling thought when you live with blackness most of your professional life. It makes black a rich resource for the puppeteer.

The Space
The stage floor, the legs, drapes, linings of the tabs, the walls of the wings, the back theatre wall. We perform in smalland large theatre spaces, all painted black. We paint windows black, we hang
thick black curtains to keep out light, we make a black place for performance. The same art teacher also told me that black harmonizes- so we play comfortably against it.

The Artists
The strangest thing is to see the assistants in Otome Bunraku Theatre creeping around in black showing up in stark contrast against the painted scenery. We wear black to perform- in the West we say it is not to distract from the action. We wear informal blacks -but at other times we take great trouble with black velvet to be 'crushed out' against the black velvet background. We check for any place our flesh might show and cover up-we make ourselves a background for the puppets. Are we saying "I am in black so I am not part of the action- no need to look at me"

What does black mean?
To understand what black means you first have to understand how signs of the theatre work in the weaving and creating of a unique experience for both puppeteers and the audience.
To develop a basic methodology for making your work is to equip yourself with the tools to appreciate the way puppet theatre is understood by the audience. You are all involved in the making of your performances by means of a process of analysing, distilling and crystallising your ideas. You are finding out what works for the audience and what does not.

Black.
Ask yourself these questions:

1. Does the use of black symbolise a funeral on the stage?
   
2. or does it point at a coming storm?
3. Does your use of black figure inside or outside the performance?
4. Does your use of black derive from some kind of convention?
5. Are you playing with ambiguity?
   
6. Are you subverting convention?
   

Everything on stage means something to the audience. What can black mean?
What are you doing with black?

Caroline Astell-Burt

see:
Esslin, M. (1988) The Field of Drama . London: Methuen.

Taviani,F(1991)Views of the Performer and the Spectator. In Barba, E and Savarese,N. Gough,R(Ed.),A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology The Secret Art of The Performer: (pp. 256-264). London: Routledge.