.Arguably the most well-known autobiographical performer of recent decades. Spalding Gray led way to a turn in the American Avant-Garde theatre. I specifically like his use of direct address within his performances. His fast paced and erratic speech adds a touch of comedy to his performances, regardless of the subject matter. As a solo artiest he explicitly address the problems within society through the use of recorded media and stories.
.I have chosen to research Gray as I am keen to use his performance style and his performance techniques within my own work. Like Gray, I want to use coordinated writing, live performance, and audio recording to develop the monologues of both Virginia and Sylvia. Autobiographical storytelling will play a big part in performance. As I will be using various sources and stimuli to bring the two women to life. These been Virginia’s suicide note to her husband, as well as poems she had written. I will also be using her book Mrs Dalloway as a base for my performance and I will also be using quotes and references she herself had made before her death. For Sylvia I will be using Ted Hughes Birthday Letters as a stimuli to create her monologue, as well as poems she had written and like Virginia i will also be using things she said in interviews about what she things about life.