Yesterday, I worked on production management. I have generated, but not yet completed, a spreadsheet of the Honouring Mr. Stevens (HMS) experience variations. I am puzzling through how many participants can attend (72 in total), divided (using percentages) by the various experience variations and mapping this with performer availability and scheduling. I have drafted (most) of the Eventbrite page so that bookings can go live and drafted an EDM (Electronic Direct Marketing email) to go out as soon as I have the green light from RMIT.

All participants attending HMS will be able to explore the installation and are invited to touch, move, or alter certain installation elements. All participants will experience the kinetic puppetry inclusions. This is my “control” for the research. With surveys, interviews and remote ethnographic observation, I hope to work out if, why and how variations impacted participants and whether they experienced (without leading questions) a sense of wonder and/or playfulness and when this may have been (during which part of HMS).

The variations are:

Control (as outlined above) with two participants at a time.
Control with three participants at a time.
Control + Shadow puppetry with two participants.
Control + Shadow puppetry with three participants.
Control + Shadow puppetry + Body puppetry, Mr Stevens on child’s chair with two participants.
Control + Shadow puppetry + Body puppetry, Mr Stevens on child’s chair with three participants.
Control + Shadow puppetry + Body puppetry, Mr Stevens on an adult-size chair with two participants.
Control + Shadow puppetry + Body puppetry, Mr Stevens on an adult-size chair with three participants.

I am considering adding a recording of the Honouring Mr. Stevens story - a sound recording that participants can elect to listen to. This would be available in all variations, however, for sessions 1-4, the playback device would be located at or near the children’s table located at Station 3 (most recent floor maps below).

This station needs enlivening with the absence of the Mr. Stevens body puppet character. The story playing from a radio may add a liminal quality to the experience, which will be included in the feedback questions and prompts. Where the playback device would be located in sessions 5 through 8 I am yet to determine. This will depend on the equipment/device used and how easy or otherwise it is to relocate. I could possibly use an old-school radio with Bluetooth capacity, and the participant can turn the radio on and off manually to hear as much or as little of the story as they please. Whether the story is on a loop or not is yet to be decided.

I have drafted a floor plan of the space, 4.2.3, with the correct dimensions (below). This floor plan additionally includes the wardrobe dimensions. Viewing the floor map (design) Version 3 alongside the 4.2.3 floor plan with correct measurements is helpful as this enables me to envisage the design more effectively.

HMS Floor Map (Design) Version 3 (27/01/2025)

HMS floor plan with correct measurements (27/01/2025)