Brook, 

Grotowski, 

Artaud.....

In todays sessions we began by exploring three different theatre practitioners. 

 

Brook 

In this workshop Will taught us about the Peter Brook and his methods which have baisically shaped modern theatre into what we would now view as being 'normal'.

Brook was Born in 1925 and still works today. Without any expearience of directing Brook was exeptionally lucky and began directing at the parisian experimentalo theatre Bouffes du Nord. Here he developed his method. Brook believed that if the actor can explore a real emotion on stage the audience will sympathise and feel the emotion.  

During Wills workshop we explored this with these exersizes. 

 Emotional Flocking: 

- We stood in a circle shoulder to shoulder.one person fakes an emotion and the rest of the group follow that emotion. 

-This continues with the emotion changing, however now there is no leader all the actors simply feel the energy around them using there senses and the meotion becomes real. 

 I really felt this when during one section in which we were all shjouting in anger at one actor. "get out,get out!" i felt the anger and I wanted this person to leave the room. Furthermore the tables were then turned on me as everyone started laughing and pointing. If im honest I wasnt sure how to respond but what I can say is I felt humiliated as the excersize had in advertantly created a mob and I was no longer on the inside. I felt vulnerable meaning that through just being, I had created something. 

 What did I get from this exercise?

This exercise was hard at first but it taught me that being vulnerable on stage is a good thing. It also allows large groups of actors tap into a group emotion but on an individual basis aswell  , despite it being dificult getting emotions to surface within the group proving difficult.

 

 This is a 2012 interview with Peter Brook conducted by the guardian in reference to his production ofn 'The Suite'. I found this video really interesting as Brook talks about findiong simplicity. This not only gave me an insight into a great practiotioners thoughts but it also showed me a cross over between Grotowski and Brook. It also taught me about the importance of simplicity within experimental and comtemporary theatre.

 

 

Grotowski

  "VIA NEGATIVA"

Grotowski was born in poland in 1923. Grotowsky was influenced heavily by relion and relious texts such as the Bible, the Qu'ran and religious writers such as dostoevsky. Grotowsky set up the Theatre Laboratory, wanting his actors to be exceptionaly fit he created a method of making actors run miles in the woods in poland, sometimes naked. This exhasuted the actors allowing them to become vulnerable through exhaustion. This was all in an effort to create Holy Theatre in which the audience come away having had some sort of epiphany triggured by the actors work also know as 'Via Negativa'. Another aspect of Growtowskys work was 'Poor Theare' which stripped back fancy sets and broke the fourth wall through allowing the audience to interact with the audience. 

Holy Theatre:

GOOD 
         PURE 
                 ICONIC 
                             SPIRITUAL 

The session:

- Began by coming in in silence. 
- setting our bags and coats neatly in one long line. Shoes. coat. bag.
- We then began running in a circle. 
- We had to change direction on comand and  concentrate.
- We had to then walk in the circle with out hands on out knees then with our hands under our feet (this was hard)
- After this everyone was tired and breathing heavliy meaning we had all picked up our heart rates. 

Once we had finished this exersize Sarah explained that this was a grotowski technique. This no speaking and organised belonings meant we were able to completely concentrate on ourselves and what we were feeling and what we were doing in the space. As i disgussed before the running was to improve fitness and exhasut us so we become more vulnerable and able to0 access emotions easily. 

What did I leant from this?

I learnt that being as tidy as possible and working in a clear space allows me to focus. Furthermore I now want to explore Grotowskis theory of exhasution and to me it makes sense. 

Artaud

" There is in every madman a misunderstood genius whose idea, shining in his head, frightened people, and for whom delirium was the only solution to the strangulation that life had prepared for him. " Antonin Artaud. 

Artaud was some what of a tortured soul and it could be argued that his  bouts of clinical depression and opium addiction fuelled his exploration of total theatre and theatre of cruelty. Artaud spent time as a patient in mental asylums and this is also another element which could be seen to shape his theory of everyone having a dark side. Everyone thinks of terrible things like murder and rape but no one discusses such taboo subjects. Artaud explored this as a director living in paris. He believed that is the audience were effected by the horrific scenes he created with actors then they wouldn't want to do it. Here comes the theory of Total theatre. This was Artaud's technique of breaking the actors audience relationship and amercing the audience using terrifying light sounds and visual effects. This was triggered by Artaud's theory of thoughts, feelings and dreams being as real as the actual world we live in. 

Total Theatre:

- We were put into groups, I was with James, Katie, Asa, Nina and Crystal.

- We decided on exploiting the idea of the unknown. We came up with the idea of a holiday camp. 

- James and Asa were the camp leaders. Crystal, Nina, Katie and I were witches. James wrote a story specificly for our piece. 

-Our aim was to exploit all the senses so we blindfolded the audience. put leaves on the seats for smell and touch. We brushed passed the audience as they came in and whispered and blew on them. As well as playing forest noise in order to create an eary atmosphere. 

The actual perofmance: 

The performance was succesful to an extent. We wanted the session to be like a holiday camp and the audience were being led on an activity. This worked well to begin as Asa and James had good consistant characterisations as camp leaders. The blindfolds were definitly a success as they really disorientated the audience as they couldnt see a thing. Furthermore the brushing past of the audience proved effective as the audience freaked out. Unfortunately  sitting everyone down was difficult because It was dark for us aswell so finding the seats and sitting histerical people down was hard. Also the narrative of our piece was polluted by peoples reaction to the environment. This meant that James was unable to be heard at points. If I could have improved this piece I would definitely make sure that the Forest sounds could be heard as they weren't loud enough. Furthermore I would ensure that the audience could hear the story as it was central to the piece. Adding to this I would build the tension by not touching the blindfolded audience until once the story had been told as this would have created a climax within the piece. 


Tian, Alex, Jordan and Gavins Piece:

This was was only piece I saw due to filming. However this piece truly was 'Total Theatre'. I say this because we were led by Gavin into what we were led to believe was a psychiatric ward. Gavin's calm characterisation created a sense of ambiguity around the piece. The group used the space and the room was pitch black. This amongst many triggered a fear of the unknown which was further exploited in the piece when the patients disappeared from the area which had been highlighted as 'theirs' through the use of a flash light. The use of light was key and aloud the group to control what the audience was seeing. This worked really well. To improve this piece I would suggest that interaction with the audience happened slightly faster as many audience member left before this even occured because they were so frightened by the first section however that could count as a success. 


Our Challenge:

We were each given a challenge in order to help us learn something about ourselves. I wasn't in the lesson in which challenges were chosen therefore mine was chosen for me. Some of the challenges were wearing clothes inside out for two days, not washing your hair for three days and even not being able to eat sugar for a week. 

My Challenge:
 This was to not wear makeup for three days. I didn't find this a challenge as I don't wear a lot of makeup. I must admit that my challenge was disappointing as I didn't actually feel challenged meaning I didn't learn anything or change anything about myself. However I completed it. 


Our Piece of Experimental Theatre:

 Our Piece of Experimental Theatre

For our piece of experimental theatre we are using 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S.Elliot' as stimulus. From this We are exploring the idea of not being able to say how you feel to someone your care about or are inlove with, mating rituals and total theatre. 

http://amayaowenrowlandspoetryasstimulus.blogspot.co.uk/

How do I feel when I cant express my feelings?

"So you lie in bed or sit in the train and caugh the perfect sentence in your mind and Imagain yourself saying it. But it's never said. This sentence is constantly on the tip of your tongue but never escape the the wall your teeth create."

This is the piece of writing I created in response to the question. We read these out to the class. I must admit I felt rather vulnerable when reading because Im not normally one to express my feelings. This was then made into a piece of movement comprised of about 4 movements. I wasn't in this part of the lesson however I was there when we learnt Tifs version, therefore I will perform this one. 

Sign Language:

This tiny motif explores expressing emotion in different ways. Rachel had an idea which meant to whole class learning 'tell me how you feel' in sign language and 'I don't know how' in Sign language. This element adds to our piece as its using a completely different way of communicating in order to portray emotion. Its experimental as its not a conventional method used within theatre to communicate.

This video is jesse demonstarting the 'I dont know how' sign language we perfmorm with tape covering our mouths.

Speed dating!

Our piece is about being unable to express our feelings. Therefore the 21st centuries answer to courting rituals is SPEED DATING!!! The high pressured dating scenario allows a 5 minute date with potentially total strangers. This allows members to get to briefly know one another without awkward silences and uncomfortable introductions. Our piece revolves around audience participation. I play 'Lisa Cupid' the event organiser. My role is to guide the audience into the space once they have been split into males and females. Here is a section of my characters speech:

 " ladies and gentlemen Good Evening and welcome to this evenings speed dating event. my name is Lisa cupid, me and my associate Gabby valentine have been in the match making business for 21 years. I understand many of you may be nervous but don't be we are all friends here, however if anything does go terrible wrong dont hesitate to contact myself or Gabby and we will be with you ASAP. 

If you can bare with me while I map out how this evening event is going to work that would be fab. You will each be handed an ice breaker card, This is just a card with a selection of questions on it to get conversation flowing. You will be given a few minutes to get to know one another and when the belle is rung you will be expected to move on....."

The audience will then be sat with an actor, this actor will respond as if they want to speak but something each time is stopping them from doing so. This way of approaching theatre in my opinion is very brave as it relies on audience participation, However it is immersive. The actors are able to directly work with the audience create unique relationships each time. This works really well as we are giving the audience an experience which could be classed as a norm in todays society however we are portraying our message through our creation of the speed dating event. When trying the speed dating out on teachers within theatre, Jack and Tim both said as an audience member they felt very awkward. This to me could be seen as a positive because it means that we have made the audience feel something that is relevant and furthermore mirrored in out piece.  

I used this video to gain an insight into the world or speed dating, having never gone myself this allowed me to do some character research aswell as some devising research. This is not how our speed dating will work as this is far more methodical. However you can see that peoples attitudes towards the experience and showed me real people going through something I was part of creating. 

Ice Breaker cards:

Phoebe made some brilliant card with questions on them, these are left on the desks and the audience ask the actor things such as:

- if you were an ice cream flavour what would you be?
- Whats your favourite fruit?
- what did you want to be when you were younger?

These cards play a key role as it forces the audience to ask questions and not talk at the actor. This allows the actor to react. As the actors are unable to do so it creates a tension between the actor and audience. 

Dance Cards

We are using Dance Cards for our section devised around the idea of courting rituals. Dance Cards were paramount in the process which surrounded the tradition of balls and debutants  as they organised a woman's schedule for the evening. The dance cards were owned by the woman and at events woman would make appointments with the desired male for a dance. For example the waltz will be danced with Freddie and the Foxtrot with Peter.  

Here are a few examples of dance cards filled in by guests of the chosen dance. They often had intricate designs in order to portray wealth or position in society. 

In our piece we are using dance cards to hand to the audience in the final section of our performance.  We Will be performing a group waltz in which the audience will be handed dance cards and urged to join in. To me this adds another dimension to our piece as the audience are handed material items that signify something we are exploring.  This section is relevant to the idea of suppression of emotion as it allows the audience to be free and communicate with the actors which isn't achieved in for example the speed dating. 

Gus and Nina have created the dance, my job is to make them look 'glamorous'..... However after seeing the final product this was not necesary. 

The Waltz 

As part of our 'Ball' We all learnt to walktz. This was really hard to teach because some people have better rhythm than others. The waltz will be used as another technique of immersing the audience and using them in out piece. Members of the audience will be asked to dance. This works in theory however the problem is some members may be more reserved than others. However I love the energy that created from the piece its a contrast to the manic nature of the game show. 


I used this video when learning the waltz. I think the poise and grace of the women is important to apply when performing as it draws the audience in as the experience appears more realistic. This section could be improved if  the movement was more precise, however it has been lernt quickly and works as it is. 

THE GAME SHOW!!!

The game show is set up through the ending of the speed dating section. The initial idea game from a laboratory idea which then someone moved onto being a game show.  It revolves around a host: Dr Love. A specimen: Alfred Prufrock.  a band, some scientists and some contestants. 


http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4188128166657502149#editor/target=post;postID=841124725793797338


The shows energy relys on Gavin so in rehearsals, when his pace slowed the pace of whole group did. Here is a video of the developed version of the game show and this highlights Gavins energy being the catatlyst to a successful piece.

Prominade 

 We are using prominade in our piece. The audience will start out at reception be led through the old building. Past the window and see people telling them they love them through the window. This instant interaction with the audience to me seems likie a really interesting idea of subtley involving the audience and in a way.


"Should I after tea and cakes and ices, have the strenght to push this moment to its crisis."

This is my line from the prminade along the second floor. Its a line from the poem.  web were asked to find an object or activity to explore this line. I choise the idea of eating cakes. This is because of the obvious reference to cake but furthermore the opition of chooosing a cake represents the indesicive nature of the line.  

Evaluation

The show was an overall success, it allowed me to experience breaking down the fourth wall and interacting directly with the audience. During the performance timing the promenade was crucial, the group outside had to walk past the audience as they watched the locker section. This worked as the audience was completely focused on the action Goin on within the locker sequence. Furthermore In regard to timing our transitions worked really well, the audience just moved with us and we moved around them. I must admit some members of the audience looked slightly lost at points however, an actor was always on hand to guide them in the right direction. As I had to directly adress the audience and split them into males ad females while I had to be assertive but polite. Due to this I created a character that was able to do these things. Adding to this a big challenge for me was staying in character as 'Lisa Cupid' during the speed dating section was harder than in rehearsal. I say this because I had to improvise a lot when interacting with confused members of the audience. When deviding the audience once they had walked through the promenade was tricky. there wasn't enough room and some members of the audience stop on the side of the stairs. I had to just work with this and it worked ok. This  was a really valuable Expearience because I learnt how to be more confident when improvising and that it's ok to do so. During the actual speed dating there were quite a few people who were apprehensive about joining in. This meant that the actors had to work harder and join in more than anticipated. However the section was really effective and the audience seemed to respond to the silence they experienced. Some people become frustrated by the silence and to me this is really important as we made the audience feel. Our transitions within the space were wobbly in rehearsal however we managed to pull them off in the performance. The game show was set up swiftly. Gavin creates an up beat atmosphere within the game show and led the narrative. He worked really hard to maintain the level of energy and to maintain his strong characterisation. The game show section was a light hearted contrast to the physical motifs we performed. The tape we used to cover our mouths to me looked really powerful. The motifs went really well and I felt the atmosphere change when we began. If I could improve this section I would have made longer motifs, the performance could have benefitted from a longer section exploring the physicality of frustration. Furthermore I would work even harder on my charcterisation as I felt myself slipping at points. However I would view this as a succesfull and immersive piece of theatre.