Rebecca Riggs-Bennett

Hello! My name is Rebecca Riggs-Bennett. I am an emerging sound artist, writer and performer. I want to write, direct and produce my first full-length performance piece entitled, 'my sandman'. 

(Photos by AMY KING MEDIA)

I’ve been given an amazing opportunity to present 'my sandman' at Crack Theatre Festival 2017. Crack Theatre Festival is part of This Is Not Art, a cultural festival held annually in Newcastle, NSW. It is a platform for national experimental performance artists to deliver unexpected, challenging, innovative and unconventional works in development. The entire festival is free, providing an opportunity for each artist to learn and grow from each other.

'my sandman' is a one-on-one performance and live music piece about connecting our encounters with dreams during sleep into our everyday consciousness.

It is an intimate investigation into the ways that music can trigger our reactions, responses and emotions, whether that be consciously or subconsciously; awake or asleep. 

Audience members will be welcomed into a beautifully-lit bedroom space and guided through the work with an audio soundtrack depiciting dreaming landscapes.
They are invited to make themselves comfortable with their own imaginative encounters whilst I handle and musically tailor what will be their very own 'sandman' experience. 

I am going to be using my own original compositions, recordings, ambient and transportative soundscapes in order to depict different dreams/dream ideas/'dreamscapes' for audiences to interact and play with during the performance.  

'my sandman' is being presented by rebecca's world, aka. me and my production company! I am a Western Australian-based independant sound artist and performer, born in the UK, raised by theatre makers and music festivals. 

I've been working as a music producer and sound designer for some time now, composing pieces for a selection of different performers, dancers, theatre-makers and circus artists. 

Here is my website! http://worldofrebecca.weebly.com/

And here is where you can hear my compositions: https://soundcloud.com/worldofrebecca

In May, I was featured as part of Kiss Club: a performance club for ideas in development, presented by PVI Collective at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art. I performed a work in development called “bad noise” an intimate exploration of sounds that are considered unpleasant, ugly and incorrect. (Photo by Amber Bateup Photography). 

'my sandman' will be my first finished full-length work, and I am honestly so excited to share it.

Personally, I have never been to NSW. Other than Perth, I have only ever been to Melbourne within this country I call home.
Being programmed into a nationally recognised, experimental performance-driven platform is HUGE to me. I truly expected my application outcome to this festival to be unsuccessful, but here we are. And as hard as it is to travel a show across Australia when you are an independant and unfunded artist, I still want to do it.  

The festival goes from September 28th until October 1st. 

I’ve asked Steven James Finch to be my co-producer for the show and heaven-sent supporter. Steven is a community artist, writer and arts worker.  He wrote and co-produced a performance work called Five Petals with Alina Tang, which was also at Crack Theatre Festival. He also co-produced Grr Nghts, a mini-festival of theatre works inside a yurt that he built. Grr Nights was a part of the 2016 Summer Nights festival at The Blue Room Theatre. He's an exceptionally cool guy. 

I also have mentorship and design assistance from my beautiful mother, Rachel Riggs, who is an internationally experienced theatre-maker, and the artistic director of DNA Puppetry & Visual Theatre. Rachel will be my overall visual design mentor, and is creating some stunning set pieces, such as a hanging mobile and a dream journal for collecting sandman experiences.

'my sandman' comes from my fascination with dreams. Why do we have dreams? Why is there so little conversation about dreams? And why are my experiences of dreams so vivid that they resemble memories, as if there are whole sections of my life that are locked behind sleep? With my sandman, I want to find out if I can make dreams happen for others, through my art practice and people's emotional response to certain kinds of music.

I grew up absorbing a lot of fantasy stories and fairytales that were based around being asleep and experiencing dreams (Alice in Wonderland, Coraline, Peter Pan - just to name a few.). I see my works as distilled pictures of my own visual and imaginative encounters, and I want to find out how that resonates emotionally and physically with other people. I recognise that as adults we have very few opportunities to freely allow our imaginations to take over, without attempting to reign in our fantasies, or allowing the ideas of others and our learned experiences to dampen our unique and individual worlds. It’s become quite important to me to find our core imaginations. I really want to ignite emotional and imaginative response from the audience members that experience ‘my sandman’, and record this information for future developments and creations. 

But I NEED YOUR HELP to get there. In order to develop and perform my sandman, I will need funds to pay for flights to Newcastle, accommodation, equipment and props, and transport.
I want to give you the chance to be a part of this project as much as I want to share it by asking for your support in advance. So I've come up with a range of rewards to give back to you all! 

I'm going to be producing a digital album, mixed and mastered and sent to those in the $20+ tier! Eventually it will be released to the public via Bandcamp as well. But you guys can get first dibs.

Steven and I will also be creating My Sandman the zine, an a5 collection of illustrations, writings, and dreams from both WA and UK-based artists. Artists include Ewan Mulligan, Fransien Snyman, Ellen Hope-Thomson (pictured top to bottom). These illustrations will depict both their own dreams experiences and their experience of the 'my sandman' original compositions:

There is also cake, a development opportunity and the 'sandman' experience within the walls of your own home. Sounds pretty neat. 

I really, really, really want to bring this work back to WA. Possibly even over to my grassroots in the UK at some point. Very recently I decided not to perform this work during Fringe World 2018, and I feel quite relieved about the decision. I want to keep the essence of intimacy and wonder within this work and I believe Fringe wouldn't have truly supported that. However, I am going to fight to perform this work in WA, even if that could be this time next year. Plus, this work will work way better in winter. 

Lots of love! Thank you for checking out our Pozible project page. Check out the rewards and please pledge your support. The thing I want most in the world right now is to share the music I make in this way: a theatrical musical combination of magic. 

Big hugs,

Rebecca x

The bottom line of this campaign is for me to be able to travel to and from Newcastle, and give my audiences at Crack Theatre Festival the best 'sandman' experience of this work as possible. The funds will go into traveling there, staying there, set design and (hopefully!) paying my artists. 

TRAVELING: Return flights to Sydney from Perth, followed by return trains/coaches from Sydney to Newcastle. 

ACCOM:  Airbnb accommodation from September 25th until October 2nd.
SET DESIGN: The set for this work is basically furniture. Steven and I will be sourcing a bedframe, mattress, desk & chair, table & chair once we arrive in Newcastle. We're hoping borrow items rather than acquiring them, but that might prove difficult. We're going to be collecting lights and lamps in order to create warmth within the work.
We're also going to be filling the space with a variety of comforting and soft sensory items. Scented candles, fluffy rugs, soft blankets and pillows, etc. 

STRETCH GOALS ! 

$2000 - PAYING THE ARTISTS & MENTORSHIP FEES

Crack Theatre Festival is a FREE festival: there are no ticket sales and subsequently no box office takings. No artist fees are confirmed for those performing. If the world really opens up to this project and we get over our $1000 goal, I will make sure the artists that have generously supported me profit from this work (I'm talking Steven James Finch, Rachel Riggs, etc.). I'd also be able to pay my mentors both before the festival and in the 'my sandman' secondary development later this year. 

Getting to Newcastle and building a show is going to be at a minimum $1000. As much as I would like to ask for less, this is simply the situation in order for me to fly over east. I wish I could support myself and this work on my own but alas that is not to be. With your IMMENSE generousity I'll be able to share this show, and that I am truly, overwhelmingly grateful for.

This is a pivotal turning point in my career and my sandman is only happening because of the kindness, selflessness and support of humans. No matter what challenges might occur within the next few weeks I will still take this show to Crack Theatre Festival.