QUAD Derby

One of the benefits of being a QUAD Member (apart from the free cinema tickets and discounts!) is the unique and exclusive events that you are invited to.

QUAD Members were recently invited to a fun and fascinating evening with author Nicola Monaghan, all about the writing technique 'Exquisite Corpse'.

The event took place in QUAD's Meeting Room, overlooking the Market Place.

After introductions we began with a game of 'Consequences' as an ice-breaker. Most people have played this parlour game before...

Each person has a sheet of paper, then they each write down something, fold the paper over so that what they have written cannot be seen, and pass the paper on to the next person.

The aim of the game is to produce a short story, which often turns out to be funny

Here is the basic outline of what has to be written:

1) A man's name / 2) A woman's name / 3) A place / 4) He said to her... / 5) She said to him... / 6) And the consequence was...

As you can imagine, we had some great result which included Karl Marx meeting Penelope Cruz on the Isle of Man, and Quentin Crisp running away with Gwen Taylor!

Similar to the game Consequences, an ‘Exquisite Corpse’ is the construction of words or images that are collectively assembled to create a whole. The technique was first created by the Surrealists, who adopted the name 'Exquisite Corpse' when it appeared in a sentence during a game.

(For more information visit Wikipedia)

The objective of the evening was to collectively create a story or stories. So we began by agreeing some basics for our story:

Theme: Ghost story

Setting: Derby Playhouse

Characters: Box Office Assistant Rosie, Murdered Actress Frances, Director Hugh, Backstage Hand Jim, Actor Lawrence.

The next stage was for everyone to write a short paragraph of their own, and then as a group we took a sentence from each person's paragraph and created the beginning of a story on the flip chart...

Opening night had a frenzied atmosphere. "I've got an awful feeling about this." said Frances, cackling maniacally, before she went on stage. Lawrence was showing off as usual. Frances was shocked.

Frances glared at him. "You're a bloody old tart Lawrence. I don't care how many Lears you've played."

Ever the professional, determined not to let down her paying audience, she quelled the pre-performance nerves that had plagued her all her long career and marched into the spotlight to ad lib this cheeky imposter off the stage. The auditorium was full of expectant customers. "We have a full house tonight and someone famous is going to be in the audience, so let's make sure we're all spot on and word perfect." said Hugh.

The memories of the old Playhouse hung over the whole company. At that point, Jim the stagehand interupted with a knock on the dressing room door; "Miss Frances, I've got your gun."

As you can see - it doesn't quite make sense, but that was part of the fun!

We decided to continue this story like a game of Consequences, by each writing another sentence on a piece of paper, folding it over and passing it on to the next person. By doing this, we ended up with eight stories, all equally as wonderful and peculiar! Click the link below to read the finished stories.

Click here to read the finished 'Exquisite Corpse' (each page is a separate story).

About Nicola Monaghan

Nicola Monaghan’s debut novel The Killing Jar was published in 2006 to critical acclaim and went on to win a Betty Trask, the Authors’ Club First Novel Award and the Waverton Good Read. She has since published a second book Starfishing and The Okinawa Dragon, a novella. See her website: www.nicolamonaghan.co.uk

This event was organised in association with Writing East Midlands.