Associate Artists 2018/19 |  Produced Moon

Produced Moon has two artistic directors, Melanie Phillips and Leonie Rae Gasson, who work collaboratively to create a programme of exciting new theatre experiences. We spoke to Leonie and Melanie to find out more about their work and their relationship with Platform.

What is your favourite performance or event you have attended at Platform?

MEL: Making games with a really exciting group of young people who had very little engagement with the arts before. Almost all involved noted that the sense of community was so exciting and new for them and that was largely down to the amazing welcoming and supportive environment and staff at Platform.

LEONIE: Bringing NTS’ Adam to Platform and having a brilliant mix of local people and members of the trans community come and be the show’s first audience together. Everyone was made to feel so welcome and supported.

What is it you enjoy about working with Platform?

Platform has an incredible ethos and working atmosphere that is so present when you walk into the site. All the participants and staff we have worked with over our time there have been so generous and open to opportunities, new thoughts and ideas which makes it a stimulating and exciting place to be a creative.

This atmosphere is generated in part by the significant relationship Plaform has, and continues to build, with the local community. As a company that also makes participatory work, this relationship with the local community offers a really interesting and intriguing environment and context within which to be making work and creates lots of opportunities for collaboration and communication with this group.

As artists who work predominantly in open spaces, developing adventures that might allow audiences to roam and discover or experiences that lead them through a site through a specific narrative, the scope and potential of what the Bridge holds is a fantastic creative offer and the site is one in which we’d love to make work.

Can you tell us a little bit more about your practice?

Produced Moon makes interactive experiences that are innovative and surprising; we integrate digital technologies into the heart of our work. We make work for theatre audiences and are rooted in the theatre industry but are constantly inspired by and experimenting with cross industry collaboration exploring new frames and structures for our work.

We are women led and are committed to diversifying not only theatre but the digital industries and this is reflected in who we make work with, what our work is about and how we engage with the digital industries.

We make adventures, experiences, performances and games; our work is feminist, political and playful. While our work is often technological in form, we are rooted in liveness, and all our projects involve the bringing together of groups of people to share in experiences together.

We are based between London and Glasgow drawing on the cultures and opportunities of both contrasting cities. We were one of the 2017 New Diorama Emerging Graduate Companies and we are currently engaged in a mentorship and an exchange with Coney.

Who or what are you inspired by?

We are inspired by play, and experimenting with what play can do. How it can allow us to change the way we think, challenge our perspectives, or allow us to become someone else.

Our current practice is primarily focussed on a dialogue with modern technology: the ways technology is changing how we communicate, how we organise in society and how we play.

Our work is often documentary in focus, telling the stories of real people and events and is informed by scientific and social research, news articles and journalistic pieces as well as collaborative processes with relevant professionals.

We continue to be inspired by interactive theatre makers from across the world, most notably: Coney, Punchdrunk, You me bum bum train, Shunt and Gob Squad.

What are you working on at Platform?

We recently ran a Cashback for Creativity Summer School on Gaming from 9 – 20 July, for 13-18 year olds. Future projects involving another Gaming workshop (level 2) and an escape room workshop.

Links

https://www.producedmoon.co.uk/

If you would be interested in hearing more about the Produced Moon gaming workshops or to book a space contact Platform Programme Coordinator Anna Lomas: anna@platform-online.co.uk