Features Published 30 July 2011

Everyday Moments

We take a listen to Fuel’s series of podcasts.

Christine Twite

Josie Long, one of Fuel's podcasters.

Fuel’s series of Everyday Moments podcasts is very much of the moment. Combing elements of both the site-specific and one-on-one theatre, the results are intriguing, fun and, at times, exquisitely touching.

Each podcast has been created to be listened to at a particular time and place by artists including Inua Ellams, Nic Green and Adrian Howells. There is an increasing thirst these days for experiences which don’t so much break the fourth wall as kick it in. Punchdrunk’s shows, which create vast experiences for audience to wander around in and wonder at, are greeted with great excitement by audiences (witness the response to their recent MIF piece for children, The Crash of The Elysium, or the recent New York Show, Sleep No More). One-on-one theatre has also grown rapidly in popularity with BAC dedicating a festival to it; as a form, it has an edgy glamour: you had to be there to experience it, and if you weren’t, well, you just won’t understand.

The changing relationship between what is considered secret and private versus open and public is a theme which feeds into a wider discourse as the Murdoch empire begins to crumble. As we become ever more connected, our thoughts and experiences exposed to all, there has been a counter shift back towards the private and the intimate.

Fuel’s set of podcasts tap into this. Now you can partake of a theatre experience, on your own terms and in your own time, at the press of a button: a carefully constructed narrative to be enjoyed by you and you alone. The narrator of each podcast usually talks to ‘you’ as an individual listener and a different location is specified for experiencing each one. To describe what happens in each podcast would be to undermine their capacity to surprise and delight, but a highlight for me was Kazuko Hohki’s beautiful story, the first podcast of the series (they are being released throughout the year on a monthly basis), which is intended to be listened to in the bath.  Her delicate, accented voice drifts over you as you become  immersed in a modern-day folk tale where the ‘everyday’ becomes beautifully bound to the existential.

More philosophical twists on the everyday comes via Inua Ellams’ unexpectedly moving podcast, designed to be listened to at night on the streets of a city, and the unforgettable podcast by the choreographer  Hofesh Shechter, which if listened to in the middle of the night as intended reaches into your dreams. More irreverent in tone, but no less enjoyable, is John Hegley’s effort; he revels in making both the mundane feel ridiculous and the ridiculous mundane. All of the pieces play on the fact that you are alone as you listen, part of a one-sided dialogue where you are acknowledged even if you cannot respond.

Whilst the idea of specific locations is key to the experience, I found there were occasionally problems with this – sometimes the locations stated are difficult to find, or places where I would not normally want to wear headphones, something which is encouraged for all the experiences.  (I opted for speakers to listen to Kazuko Hohki’s bath-time podcast). Finding a hill in the middle of London which is safe and accessible at sunrise to listen to Nic Green’s morning herald proved slightly more difficult. And beware – Hofesh Shechter is not joking when he says that room is needed to best experience his piece. But part of the joy of this project is in the planning, in setting aside the time to find the right place; you can decide when and where you want to listen.

Though each podcast is vastly different in tone, they all require you to take 10 minutes out of the day, 10 minutes in which you can pause and consider your everyday life in all its beauty and ridiculousness. Fuel have produced Everyday Moments in collaboration with Roundhouse Radio, and just recently have collaborated with The Guardian to create another platform for publicising them; they are all now downloadable via iTunes. When choosing your podcast do so wisely, as each one offers a very different experience, but it’s the process of actively listening that matters most, of taking time out of the day to engage with the work.

There are still five to be released, up until the end of 2011. Forthcoming artists include Josie Long and Melanie Wilson; keep an eye out on the Guardian Culture section to access them or visit the Fuel website.

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Christine Twite

Christine is a theatre academic, producer and project manager. She is currently researching a PhD in Contemporary Theatre Audiences with Queen Mary, University of London.

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