The Monthly interviews Brona Jackson about Wild Ones – Part 1 – Creating work during Lockdown

How did you go about creating, “Wild Ones”

The process of creating “Wild Ones” came about during Lockdown. I had just returned from Maternity Leave and I was on public transport going to rehearsals, when everything shut down. I found myself navigating a very strange world as a new mum. grateful to be safe at home with my 6 month old baby, while also having time, for probably the first time, to really reflect on my practise. It meant I was having loads of ideas and and that was leading to lots of things I wanted to create. I started to explore, through play, using my little one as a test audience.

These explorations, things I experimented with during this time, have gone on to become a number of different projects. I was very fortunate to receive funding from the Arts Council’s “Individuals Emergency Resilience Programme” to research and develop new work. The funding was a lifesaver to keep artists going and to find new ways to work from home.

What happens during that period?

First, I tired to re-establish my movement practise in my postpartum body. I created some movement phrases in the kitchen, squeezed in some improvising or an online class, while my little one was napping. But that rarely went according to plan. Inspiration really came from me desperately trying to get my baby to sleep. It was all those movements parents use to sooth and settle their little ones; the rocking, swinging, swaying, bouncing and how instinctual and universal they are which stimulated the original idea of a swing dance show for babies called “Little Ones”.

As I continued working on the idea, I realised that although I’m really keen to work with parents and babies, a theatre performance, a show, wasn’t the medium I wanted to use. That piece of work has evolved into something else now, an idea for a long term community engagement project that celebrates supporting mothers. The working title is ‘Hold the mother not the baby’.

At this stage I had gotten really into researching the science behind how and why those instinctual swinging movements are so relaxing and settling. How they regulate our nervous system. And I thought this piece would be perfect for disabled audiences. especially for audiences with complex needs or neurodivergent young people that are movement seekers and need that sensory feedback to regulate.

How do you develop your ideas from there?

Lockdown was ever changing. Things were opening and shutting down again. There was so much uncertainty and anxiety at the time. I created a narrative around the idea that there were beings who had not had contact with anyone in a very long time, and how they go about re-engaging with society. And “Wild Ones” was born.

These beings have to re-learn how to mix socially with people and the narrative investigates how wonderful those moments of reconnecting were. All the little things, the  mundane, ordinary things that we had taken for granted; having a cup of tea with someone, hugging your family and friends, playing a game,  had now become quite magical. In the end, it was about celebrating the joy of connecting with other people, how good for the soul shared experiences and collective movement is.

Then I started working with a brilliant composer Bobby Cole to create a swing dance inspired soundtrack for the show. I had worked with him previously on a show called “Yes Sir! I can Boogie,” by Replay Theatre Company. Although we were both in Lockdown, me in Ireland and him in Wales, we were able to work remotely. We would send voice-notes emails and texts back and forth. He produced a beautiful sound score shaped around the narrative. I learnt so much from working with him.

So you develop your show from that starting point?

I received some funding from Derry and Strabane District Council as part of their Disability Awareness Week Programme in 2021 and from there I was able to facilitate some in person creative consultation. The Covid restrictions had finally lifted a little at that point, so we were able to engage with an audience at Ardnashee School and College in Derry to test out the ideas.

Myself and dancer Irena Noonan worked within the Junior Profound and Multiple Disability Unit trying out all different aspects of the show, the swinging action, music, props, narrative, characters and used their feedback to shape the work. We especifically worked with the youngest/smallest children aged between 5 and 7 because we were manually swinging or hammocking the audience members.

It was still a pretty tense time, all the young people we were working with were very high risk so we had to be very careful. Staff were so delighted for them to finally have extra activities happening. This period of R&D ended with a day of sharing the work in progress to small audiences and staff. By this stage Replay Theatre had very kindly offered their support to get the performances on their feet. They very generously provided set and tech for the day

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