Afraid of the darkness | Entry 2

Growing up the dark has always fascinated me. When we look through the history books mankind has always used the night sky as a tool for navigation, to gauge the weather or to create stories for its young. But for me, it’s not necessarily the darkness that is the key – its what lurks in it.

Whenever I watch a scary movie or told a spooky ghost story, I would always be apprehensive of the lights being turned off and having to lay in bed – my mind would always apply logic to what I had just watched or been told, but my imagination would be in overdrive. As children we always have the fear of something lurking under the bed and the minute, we put our feet on the floor it would grab us.

According to Dreams, ‘the monster under the bed is a variation of the bogeyman which has existed for centuries, in various guises, all around the world. It is likely that the bogeyman legend originated simply as a behaviour deterrent for children. For example, if a child doesn’t go to bed then they might be told that the bogeyman will ‘get them’. Not exactly grade-A parenting, but a common technique nonetheless, and one that is no doubt still used’.

For the purpose of ‘To Build a Home’ its this relationship, the audience and the dark, I am really intrigued to investigate. What happens to an audience when their sitting in a familiar and safe space, such as the theatre, and suddenly their plunged into the dark and hear dark events unfold before them, or even around them? What atmosphere does this help to create?

This week I decided to conduct all my rehearsals in the dark and I quickly found some things out about myself. Not only was I initially scared of this large empty space, but my mind began to create ideas and speak words previously unknown to it, which luckily for me, has helped create a prologue and end dialogue.

Moving forward, the darkness, and what I can do in it, is defiantly an area that will be developed.