The Monthly discusses a new play, “Blind Man’s Boat”, written by artist and playwright, Clinton Kirkpatrick – Part 2 – Making “Blind Man’s Boat”

How do you go about producing the play?

I had 6 months with the Tinderbox programme and during that period I was learning about theatre production. The cohort worked for a few months with the Theatre Company and we learned about techniques,  about how to write and perform for the theatre.

Then you would go away, in my case I was creating a show using puppets, so I had to work out how to create the world these puppets would inhabit. That meant it wasn’t all about writing for me because it was also creating the backdrops, creating the set, working on creating the puppets from scratch, effectively creating an entire world. I also had to find an actor as well which was a very interesting process.

And I only had 6 months, so a very short time to make something, but I was incredibly proud of what was done during that time.

What were the key themes of the show?

There were the concepts of “journey” and “memory” and they were quite substantial themes, and of course that suggests looking into the idea of travel, feelings, and relationships over time. There was a sense of being “inside” and “outside” the character; going inside the character’s mind and listening to the internal dialogue while observing the character’s external world at the same time. Effectively we were exploring his life and what led to certain circumstances taking place, like being on the ocean by himself. Or was he even really on the ocean by himself or was this just a feeling?

There are so many interesting themes contained within the work. It felt exciting to delve into them.

How did you fund the process?

I received some funding from Tinderbox and that allowed me to cover the key costs. I was able to hire an actor through that funding. Where I didn’t have the money to purchase specific things I just went ahead and created them myself; puppets, backdrops and parts of the set. Usually when I know something needs to happen then I find a way to do it.

And how did you feel when the play was performed?

30 minutes of the play was put on in The Mac and it really was an amazing moment to have your own work come to life like that. To have an actor come on to the stage and recite work that you had written, it really was an amazing experience, it was exhilarating and it was so emotional. I cried a lot that week when it was being performed. It is a very different way of experiencing my own creativity and obviously very different from my experiences showing an exhibition of my paintings. The actor, Michael Curran-Dorsano, was extraordinary in the role and embodied Blind Man in a way that far exceeded what I thought possible.

It really was extraordinary and emotional. I was very proud.

Where to now?

Well I think I have 30 minutes completed of what might be a much longer show. The experience at The MAC was really about me working out what I wanted to do with this piece of work. I know that I want my first work for theatre to be a one person show and about an hour long. I have a good sense of what I want from the work and where I want it to go. It is up to me, now, to go and finish it and to then look for a way to get it produced or made. Therein lies much more learning.

I want to finish it and that means finding the avenues: funding, a theatre, actors, and support from other people, that will allow me to make that happen.