In this episode, London based theatre maker, Kane Husbands, discusses the quality of patience and its importance when leading co-creative practice. He talks about how embodying the quality of patience in his workshops is very different to the often high energy theatre and dance performances that he co-creates. He notices that it requires him to find stillness in the busyness and that often this quiet reflection time enables him to really find the story that is emerging and explore why the choices have been taken.
He talks about the importance of being patient in really enabling everyone who is in the room to be fully present and show up as they choose. And he remembers other artists who he has had the experience of role modelling patience with him and how powerful this can be; a sense that there is all the time in the world.
Kane also explores how patience plays out over the course of a whole co-created project, not just within a workshop. He thinks it is important not to rush people to the next stage of a process, as harm can be done to people by going too fast. He asks who projects are serving, the funder, arts organisation, or the people who are participating. It's okay to say that something is not ready, that more patience and time is needed for something to reach its full potential.
He talks about how important the quality of patience is to him in the choices he makes about the work he takes. Co-creating takes time and rushing it is disrespectful and care is lacking. He talks about the importance of being transparent about the pressures on a producer or commissioning company that might not have got all the money that they needed for a project. Professional and non-professional artists can get on board with the struggle facing a project if they understand the bigger story or context.
Kane also explores how people's personalities show up in the room and how some people might need to learn about how to be more patient when they are either leading or participating in a co-creative process. He talks about the importance of therapy as a support mechanism for artists that lead co-creative processes. Where do artists get support from when leading these processes? And how to artists learn to be patient and learn to be patient with themselves?
Naomi Alexander is the CEO and Artistic Director of Brighton People's Theatre . Her AHRC funded research Let's Create: Do we know how to? identified 20 qualities, skills and responsibilities that are important for artists leading co-creative practice. The report and illustrations are available here.
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Kane Husbands is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Pappy Show.
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