Holly Clark reflects on a Nest Residency exploring our relationship with reality TV.

During lockdown, some learnt to play an instrument, others started a new craft, I binged watched reality TV. The more I watched the more I discovered, each coming with new appeals and new ethical issues. I knew the ethics and practices on these shows were dubious, there’s been deaths connected to them, yet I and many, many others still watched. 

For about a year I’ve been thinking there is a performance about reality TV and my relationship to it that I want to explore. I applied for the Nest Residency with that thought, but nothing succinct or concrete yet. 

On the first day, after a brilliant tour of the place from Charlie, I was given my key to the space. There was something significant about this; a place that was mine to explore for the time I was there. It gave a feeling of creative sanctuary. I got into the room and sat on the comfy chair for a bit thinking, ‘Now what?’

I purposely had set no expectations for what the week would be apart from my proposal. Hopefully ideas and thinking would move forward, or pivot or change. I wanted to keep this free of any typical influences to see if it would inspire me to work differently, however there was one similarity. I had brought what feels like a staple for me, flipchart paper and sticky notes, and started to categorise different reality TV shows into genres. I then started filling notes with thoughts about why I watch so much reality TV, what hooks me, what keeps me watching a new series.

I allowed myself to go follow thoughts and tangents. I researched definitions and articles, which resulted in buying a couple of books. I wanted to take it beyond what I thought and really understand what happens backstage, the producer’s role in creating the ideas and what inspired their concepts.

This was a completely new way of working for me. As a deviser, I wanted to fight the feeling that I hadn’t made anything and I had done too much thinking. The thinking, researching, writing and reading allowed me to really discover why I wanted to explore the idea and what it could be.

I wrote a list of everything that ties my reality tv shows together; confessionals, voice-overs, audience voting, contestant voting, reunions, live critiquing, challenges, etc. These components are so core to the format that I feel several of these should be used in the performance to help frame it, create rules, etc.

Lunchtimes during the residency provided a great opportunity to meet and share with other residents and the Talking Birds team. I’d verbalise my thoughts on my work, which really helped to make sense of it, or I’d listen to others share their experience, which often worked as a good break out of the mindset of my own work and learnt from them too. Most days I would also go for a walk down the canal. The walks were great, I’ll be sure to build this into R&Ds and development in the future. Being out in the fresh air with trees and water is a great rejuvenator.

The residency allowed me to think of multiple ways this performance could work. A one- or two-person performance was what I initially envisioned, but the process of the week allowed me to think beyond this. It felt important that there were more people on stage, so now I think it will be an ensemble piece. Much like reality TV shows, there are a lot of people working behind the scenes. There are very few reality tv shows that have only one person being filmed. Typically, there are producers and story writers thinking of new concept ideas, twists and turns, aiming to keep each episode alive, to keep you hooked, outraged, engaged. I want to explore this in the next stages of development – a performance that somehow shows both sides of what you see on telly and everything behind.

Jane English came in on the 4th day. Jane’s a mentor for the project and she really pushed the ‘Why?’. ‘Why this subject matter?’ ‘Why theatre?’ ‘What’s the question?’ And so from all the research, thoughts and ideas that had come from the previous 3 days and her interrogation of that, a question was born.

The ultimate question came down to ‘Why do we participate in the exploitation of others and ourselves?’, with a particular focus on me, us, as audience members. 

On the last day, I really grappled with this being the right question. I tried out a few questions, but this just felt right.

This question could apply in many areas across society, but it’s particularly prevalent in reality TV, we keep watching, engaging, tweeting, complaining on Ofcom.  Reality TV may be ‘fake’ but there are real consequences for participants, where many people have come out feeling traumatised. Reality TV created the image of Trump we know today. 

This residency was a really great opportunity to have time to really grapple with what this show could be, ready for future stages of development. It allowed me time and space to think bigger. In the future I definitely want to build more time into the research and development. I think it will make the work richer.