Despite the many obstacles we came across during this last few months, and especially the last week, we had successful performances. I've got many good feedback from the audience.
Here is a video of my reflection:
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Thoroughly Modern Millie: Last Rehearsals
It was the performance week (on the 23rd of November) and the time started running quickly. Problems were solved and created at the same time. One that affected me the most was the fact that the sound technician was not in the country. So I had to take over the sound effects and control the microphones. The sound effects gave me a little bit of difficulty at first but I got used to it quickly, as I knew the script thoroughly.
What was more complicated was controlling the sound with the sound-board. Genki Unno helped me with the technical part but it was mostly practice. I also wanted the songs to blend in smoothly with the dialogue, so I constantly changed the volume of the microphones. However I felt more at ease when I was responsible for everything (regarding sound). There was one time during rehearsal that the actor came on with the microphone muted and there was nothing I could do about it. So Genki and I fixed this problem by turning them on and taping the switch button so no one touches it.
Here are some things I've learned about the sound board
These are the sliders that adjust volume for the microphones.
These are the sliders that adjust the master volume (for the speakers).
The top row is what adjusts the "GAIN." The gain is how much sound is picked up.
There must be a balance between the gain and the volume. If the volume is too loud, then feedback will be picked up and there will be a "howl." If there is too much gain, then unwanted sound (in other words, noise) will be picked up. This balance greatly for each voice.
Other than my adventure with sound, the set was also finished. I helped painting some parts and putting up the wallpaper.
Here are some pictures:
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Sara did most of the design (such as the sincere trust insurance company billboard (figure 1) along with the billy ball and the bees-knees poster (figure 1), the speakeasy hidden door (figure 6)), but I helped with painting the bricks on the walls (figure 1 and 4). On Figure 4, we thought that it might look weird if the speakeasy wall just started from there, so I decided to blend it in with the hotel by painting some bricks on the grey area.
The crew and I also painted the flats grey before they went up. However Sara wasnt there on that day. We thought that she would paint over the whole thing (we were just priming it), so we were not really worried about having the same tone of grey for every flat. Then we decided to have the wallpaper only go up mid-way. However it did not look so bad since it gave the effect of a "cheap hotel."
Figure 2 and 3 are pictures of the hotel. The couch was lent by Maria's mom.
The counter in picture 3 was built by Mr. Meiklejohn, but Sara and I painted it. We tried to mix chinese and american 1920's designs. We thought that it would reflect what Mrs. Meers was, but also (since at that time, mixing different cultures was not so common) we thought it would show Mrs. Meers' lack of knowledge.
Figure 5 shows the whole backdrop and Figure 6 shows the whole set.
Overall, this set was amazing (seeing that we only had a limited time in doing this, and it was our first time in building such a big set). However, it could have been much better if we had started early. Especially with the painting. We only finished the set completely on the performing night.
What was more complicated was controlling the sound with the sound-board. Genki Unno helped me with the technical part but it was mostly practice. I also wanted the songs to blend in smoothly with the dialogue, so I constantly changed the volume of the microphones. However I felt more at ease when I was responsible for everything (regarding sound). There was one time during rehearsal that the actor came on with the microphone muted and there was nothing I could do about it. So Genki and I fixed this problem by turning them on and taping the switch button so no one touches it.
Here are some things I've learned about the sound board
These are the sliders that adjust volume for the microphones.
These are the sliders that adjust the master volume (for the speakers).
The top row is what adjusts the "GAIN." The gain is how much sound is picked up.
There must be a balance between the gain and the volume. If the volume is too loud, then feedback will be picked up and there will be a "howl." If there is too much gain, then unwanted sound (in other words, noise) will be picked up. This balance greatly for each voice.
Other than my adventure with sound, the set was also finished. I helped painting some parts and putting up the wallpaper.
Here are some pictures:
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Sara did most of the design (such as the sincere trust insurance company billboard (figure 1) along with the billy ball and the bees-knees poster (figure 1), the speakeasy hidden door (figure 6)), but I helped with painting the bricks on the walls (figure 1 and 4). On Figure 4, we thought that it might look weird if the speakeasy wall just started from there, so I decided to blend it in with the hotel by painting some bricks on the grey area.
The crew and I also painted the flats grey before they went up. However Sara wasnt there on that day. We thought that she would paint over the whole thing (we were just priming it), so we were not really worried about having the same tone of grey for every flat. Then we decided to have the wallpaper only go up mid-way. However it did not look so bad since it gave the effect of a "cheap hotel."
Figure 2 and 3 are pictures of the hotel. The couch was lent by Maria's mom.
The counter in picture 3 was built by Mr. Meiklejohn, but Sara and I painted it. We tried to mix chinese and american 1920's designs. We thought that it would reflect what Mrs. Meers was, but also (since at that time, mixing different cultures was not so common) we thought it would show Mrs. Meers' lack of knowledge.
Figure 5 shows the whole backdrop and Figure 6 shows the whole set.
Overall, this set was amazing (seeing that we only had a limited time in doing this, and it was our first time in building such a big set). However, it could have been much better if we had started early. Especially with the painting. We only finished the set completely on the performing night.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Thoroughly Modern Millie: Week 5
On Sunday, Sara, Mr. Meiklejohn and I have finally figured how to arrange the rostrums.
Here's a more simpler diagram:
When figuring this out, we needed to bear in mind some concepts:
1 - The audience's perspectives
2 - The area for the main section of the stage (there's going to be dancing so the actors need enough space for that).
3 - The area for the actors to move around on the elevated stage
4 - Area for backstage (The actors will have to be able to enter and exit freely and move around backstage swiftly).
Also, Mr. Meiklejohn had assigned me some musical numbers for me to block the movement for it. This coming Sunday, we will be working on Not for the Life of Me, Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life, They don't knowand What do I need with love?.
I have been listening to the music (from the cd sent by MTI) and trying to visualise how it could look onstage. This can be quite challenging as I do not know the full capacity of the actor. Since this is also a musical, I also have to know their voices as well. Sometimes there has to be some alterations due to the actor's voice. This will then affect the acting/movement for the scene.
This proves that the idea and visualisation is not enough and the director really needs to see it actually happen on stage. If it does not work, then an alternative has to be found.
To prepare and get some ideas, I've looked at some youtube videos and how the other schools/universities has approached this play. Here are two videos that I liked, especially the interpretation.
Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life:
The director had gone after a humorous effect here. When I first read/listened to the song, I felt that it was more of a romantic feeling to it.
What do I need with Love?
The contrast between the start of the song and the rest of the song is very clear in this interpretation.
Our stage has different levels so I could use that to my advantage and play with it (to compensate for not having the bars. Also, our stage has more of a connection with the audience. This helps a great deal since this song is Jimmy talking to the audience.
Soon, we will have to:
-start making the props we have to make
-start and finish collecting props
-Take out the flats and see what we can do with them
Here's a more simpler diagram:
When figuring this out, we needed to bear in mind some concepts:
1 - The audience's perspectives
2 - The area for the main section of the stage (there's going to be dancing so the actors need enough space for that).
3 - The area for the actors to move around on the elevated stage
4 - Area for backstage (The actors will have to be able to enter and exit freely and move around backstage swiftly).
Also, Mr. Meiklejohn had assigned me some musical numbers for me to block the movement for it. This coming Sunday, we will be working on Not for the Life of Me, Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life, They don't knowand What do I need with love?.
I have been listening to the music (from the cd sent by MTI) and trying to visualise how it could look onstage. This can be quite challenging as I do not know the full capacity of the actor. Since this is also a musical, I also have to know their voices as well. Sometimes there has to be some alterations due to the actor's voice. This will then affect the acting/movement for the scene.
This proves that the idea and visualisation is not enough and the director really needs to see it actually happen on stage. If it does not work, then an alternative has to be found.
To prepare and get some ideas, I've looked at some youtube videos and how the other schools/universities has approached this play. Here are two videos that I liked, especially the interpretation.
Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life:
The director had gone after a humorous effect here. When I first read/listened to the song, I felt that it was more of a romantic feeling to it.
What do I need with Love?
The contrast between the start of the song and the rest of the song is very clear in this interpretation.
Our stage has different levels so I could use that to my advantage and play with it (to compensate for not having the bars. Also, our stage has more of a connection with the audience. This helps a great deal since this song is Jimmy talking to the audience.
Soon, we will have to:
-start making the props we have to make
-start and finish collecting props
-Take out the flats and see what we can do with them
Monday, October 5, 2009
2009 Drama Festival
There has been a change since last year's drama festival; this year, no school takes anything with them. Everyone gathers, there are a few speeches and a quick warm up. After that, everyone just goes to their assigned workshop group. With our groups, we had to have a play ready to perform by 3:00.
I was in Kimberly Tierny's group. We started with some physical and vocal exercises just to quickly warm up. Then we jumped into brainstorming about the theme "dirt." We decided to work a bit on "dirt cheap" and do some improvisation exercises. Firstly, we went around (all at the same time) talking with other people, talking about anything they were wearing. This exercise was to help us think about anything and quickly, thus creating a story or a fact.
Then, with this idea, we did another improvisation exercise, where there were two people, one the model and the other the presenter. Basically, the presenter chooses what to model and says anything that comes to mind, even if it is bizarre. The model then has to listen and react to what the presenter says. If, for example, the presenter talks about the jacket, then a more exaggerated movement, showing the jacket, should be done.
From there, we moved into a discussion on a plot line for our play. We decided to go with dirt, as in earth. We then came to create a plot where two farmers are opposing each other and fighting for the cow. One farmer is rich and the other poor.
Once we had a basic outline of the plot, we then developed other character by just jumping right into improvisation. Once we had a few minutes of improv, Kimberly stopped us and asked each one of us what character we were, what our relationship was with the other characters and what the character wanted.
Although she did not mention it, I recognised this Stanislavski method. By having us answer in first person, it helped us develop more the character and thus become the character.
We then decided to devise another piece so that we have two to choose from. We used the method that David Ball presented, "But do it backwards." We started with the theme "dirty politics" or something along those lines. Then we started with the last scene, with a murder. Then we went "back in time" and saw the upcoming of the murder.
However, we made the plot too complicated. So complicated that even we, the actors, did not really understand it. So we decided to stay with the devised piece about the farm.
After lunch, we concentrated on refining the piece. We had difficulties in putting it together because the audience was in a round (all around the actors), we had to stage our play so that it was seen by everyone, and not neglecting half of our audience.
Some techniques we used to overcome this were speaking while facing outwards as if we were facing each other, created a scene where actors face many different directions and led the audience with words. To introduce our play, we each introduced ourselves with an introduction in 3rd person. For example, instead of me saying, "I am a 10 year old child, crying her eyes out," I said "The 10 year old child was crying her eyes out." Some how it gives more of a connection between the character and actor. If I had said it in first person, it would have a slight Brechtian element to it since it has a connotation of me saying "I am playing a role of a 1o year old child."
Overall, I found that this, out of all the drama festivals I have attended (3 years), was the best workshop day I have been to. We not only learnt techniques, theories and warm-ups (though Kimberly did not state it) we also got to know the other members from our group. Last year, I did attend and my workshop leader took us through improvisations however he split us into groups and we basically did only improvisations. Kimberly had taught us how to approach a theme (to devise a piece) with different methods, and how to develop our character etc.
Even though I had already learnt the theories of Stanislavski and David Ball, it was interesting to see their theories in practice.
I was in Kimberly Tierny's group. We started with some physical and vocal exercises just to quickly warm up. Then we jumped into brainstorming about the theme "dirt." We decided to work a bit on "dirt cheap" and do some improvisation exercises. Firstly, we went around (all at the same time) talking with other people, talking about anything they were wearing. This exercise was to help us think about anything and quickly, thus creating a story or a fact.
Then, with this idea, we did another improvisation exercise, where there were two people, one the model and the other the presenter. Basically, the presenter chooses what to model and says anything that comes to mind, even if it is bizarre. The model then has to listen and react to what the presenter says. If, for example, the presenter talks about the jacket, then a more exaggerated movement, showing the jacket, should be done.
From there, we moved into a discussion on a plot line for our play. We decided to go with dirt, as in earth. We then came to create a plot where two farmers are opposing each other and fighting for the cow. One farmer is rich and the other poor.
Once we had a basic outline of the plot, we then developed other character by just jumping right into improvisation. Once we had a few minutes of improv, Kimberly stopped us and asked each one of us what character we were, what our relationship was with the other characters and what the character wanted.
Although she did not mention it, I recognised this Stanislavski method. By having us answer in first person, it helped us develop more the character and thus become the character.
We then decided to devise another piece so that we have two to choose from. We used the method that David Ball presented, "But do it backwards." We started with the theme "dirty politics" or something along those lines. Then we started with the last scene, with a murder. Then we went "back in time" and saw the upcoming of the murder.
However, we made the plot too complicated. So complicated that even we, the actors, did not really understand it. So we decided to stay with the devised piece about the farm.
After lunch, we concentrated on refining the piece. We had difficulties in putting it together because the audience was in a round (all around the actors), we had to stage our play so that it was seen by everyone, and not neglecting half of our audience.
Some techniques we used to overcome this were speaking while facing outwards as if we were facing each other, created a scene where actors face many different directions and led the audience with words. To introduce our play, we each introduced ourselves with an introduction in 3rd person. For example, instead of me saying, "I am a 10 year old child, crying her eyes out," I said "The 10 year old child was crying her eyes out." Some how it gives more of a connection between the character and actor. If I had said it in first person, it would have a slight Brechtian element to it since it has a connotation of me saying "I am playing a role of a 1o year old child."
Overall, I found that this, out of all the drama festivals I have attended (3 years), was the best workshop day I have been to. We not only learnt techniques, theories and warm-ups (though Kimberly did not state it) we also got to know the other members from our group. Last year, I did attend and my workshop leader took us through improvisations however he split us into groups and we basically did only improvisations. Kimberly had taught us how to approach a theme (to devise a piece) with different methods, and how to develop our character etc.
Even though I had already learnt the theories of Stanislavski and David Ball, it was interesting to see their theories in practice.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thoroughly Modern Millie: Week 4
This past week, we have started to collect props and fabric. Mei had contacted the "Yokohama Theatre Group" asking whether we could see if there were any props in their prop-shed we could use. We went on Sunday and although we could not find suitcases or the candlestick phone we were trying to find, we did find four items that could be used as either set decoration or props (mainly personal props).
We also made modifications in the set design:
* Drawn by Sara Suzuki
The only thing we have to figure out now is the balcony where act 1 scene 11 and act 2 scene 2 takes place.
We also made modifications in the set design:
* Drawn by Sara Suzuki
The only thing we have to figure out now is the balcony where act 1 scene 11 and act 2 scene 2 takes place.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Thoroughly Modern Millie: Week 3
Rehearsals have been going smoothly (although it could have been better, it was a good start) and so far, I've attended rehearsals, took notes and made the register, gathered personnel to help with the jobs done behind the scenes.
Our class has decided on the portfolio heads:
Andrea - Assistant Director
Mei - Lighting and Sounds Head
Maria- Make-up Head
Sofia - Costumes Head
Sara - Props and Set Head
Portfolio head just means that if there is something wrong, we go to the responsible.
For example, today, Sofia came to us to say that we did not design costumes for the minor roles and so she assigned some character to each person again.
Here are the characters in which I drew the costumes for:
-Rodney
-Kenneth
-Daphne
-Dexter
-Ms. Flannery
-The Pearl Lady
By the end of this week, we had to also calculate the Budget Projection.
For this, we have to put into consideration the costumes, make-up, set construction, props and also how many audiences will come. This is to see how much we will profit from it and how much we will lose.
Our class has decided on the portfolio heads:
Andrea - Assistant Director
Mei - Lighting and Sounds Head
Maria- Make-up Head
Sofia - Costumes Head
Sara - Props and Set Head
Portfolio head just means that if there is something wrong, we go to the responsible.
For example, today, Sofia came to us to say that we did not design costumes for the minor roles and so she assigned some character to each person again.
Here are the characters in which I drew the costumes for:
-Rodney
-Kenneth
-Daphne
-Dexter
-Ms. Flannery
-The Pearl Lady
By the end of this week, we had to also calculate the Budget Projection.
For this, we have to put into consideration the costumes, make-up, set construction, props and also how many audiences will come. This is to see how much we will profit from it and how much we will lose.
Thoroughly Modern Millie: Week 2
Already into week 2, we have discussed about costumes, props etc. For costumes, we designed the costumes for the main roles and the minor roles as well. However before this, we did some research on 1920's fashion. I found a good site that shows the types of outfits they wore in each year.
http://www.fashion-era.com/C20th_costume_history/1922_silhouettes_1.htm
Using this as a base, we discussed and exchanged ideas, and then assigned each person (who is doing costuming) a character or two. I was in charge of designing Millie's costume and Mrs Meers' costume.
Millie:
Millie has a total of 5 outfits.
- beginning where she is not a modern yet (1.1)
- Beginning where she turns into a modern (1.1)
- Muzzy's party (1.9)
- Scene where she tries to seduce her boss (2.1)
- When she goes on her date with Jimmy (2.4)
Mrs. Meers:
Although Mrs. Meers is the antagonist, we decided to have her wear only one outfit since she does not come out that much.
However there is one scene where she comes out in the middle of the night to attend to Muzzy. I thought that a night gown on top of her dress would do.
This week, we also decided on our portfolio. I am going to do Assistant Directing as my major and Costuming as my Minor.
As an assistant director, I have to:
- Attend rehearsals.
- Take note of blocking, staging, problems etc.
- organise paper work (such as registers, lists etc)
- Take actors through rehearsals when the Director is not there.
- Assist the director in any way.
This is kind of similar to Robin Hood, however in that play, I was more of an assistant stage manager.
http://www.fashion-era.com/C20th_costume_history/1922_silhouettes_1.htm
Using this as a base, we discussed and exchanged ideas, and then assigned each person (who is doing costuming) a character or two. I was in charge of designing Millie's costume and Mrs Meers' costume.
Millie:
Millie has a total of 5 outfits.
- beginning where she is not a modern yet (1.1)
- Beginning where she turns into a modern (1.1)
- Muzzy's party (1.9)
- Scene where she tries to seduce her boss (2.1)
- When she goes on her date with Jimmy (2.4)
Mrs. Meers:
Although Mrs. Meers is the antagonist, we decided to have her wear only one outfit since she does not come out that much.
However there is one scene where she comes out in the middle of the night to attend to Muzzy. I thought that a night gown on top of her dress would do.
This week, we also decided on our portfolio. I am going to do Assistant Directing as my major and Costuming as my Minor.
As an assistant director, I have to:
- Attend rehearsals.
- Take note of blocking, staging, problems etc.
- organise paper work (such as registers, lists etc)
- Take actors through rehearsals when the Director is not there.
- Assist the director in any way.
This is kind of similar to Robin Hood, however in that play, I was more of an assistant stage manager.
Thoroughly Modern Millie: Week 1
Although being the first whole week since school started, we already had work to do. Before rehearsals start we discussed about the set. We decided to have the musical as a vaudeville or a cabaret style, which is a production with a restaurant set-up, where food and drinks are served.
There were various ideas such as dividing the stage into areas, having the audience at a diagonal, raising the stage a bit etc. My ideas was to have the audience in the middle and the stage around the audience.
However, after looking at various set ideas, we combined the parts that work and came up with this:
We eventually ended up with this (with Mr. Meiklejohn's modifications):
I'm very pleased with this stage layout because it breaks out of what the stage originally is (with the audience sitting on the bleachers and the actors performing in front of them). However, the only issue we have is the amount of space. For big musical numbers, we must keep that in mind, especially when the audience is going to sit at tables.
We also discussed that since we are going to make this production like a vaudeville set-up, we thought we might get the ushers to dress up as the maids and butlers from that time. So when the audience walk into the auditorium, it is no longer 2009 and no longer Japan. It will be a hotel in the states in 1922.
For this, I also researched slang for the ushers to use, and I found a site where it has a long list of slang:
http://local.aaca.org/bntc/slang/slang.htm
There were various ideas such as dividing the stage into areas, having the audience at a diagonal, raising the stage a bit etc. My ideas was to have the audience in the middle and the stage around the audience.
However, after looking at various set ideas, we combined the parts that work and came up with this:
We eventually ended up with this (with Mr. Meiklejohn's modifications):
I'm very pleased with this stage layout because it breaks out of what the stage originally is (with the audience sitting on the bleachers and the actors performing in front of them). However, the only issue we have is the amount of space. For big musical numbers, we must keep that in mind, especially when the audience is going to sit at tables.
We also discussed that since we are going to make this production like a vaudeville set-up, we thought we might get the ushers to dress up as the maids and butlers from that time. So when the audience walk into the auditorium, it is no longer 2009 and no longer Japan. It will be a hotel in the states in 1922.
For this, I also researched slang for the ushers to use, and I found a site where it has a long list of slang:
http://local.aaca.org/bntc/slang/slang.htm
Monday, August 31, 2009
Costuming Workshop
During my summer in Brazil, I took the opportunity to take part in some workshops. There was one that I got interested in.
"Figurino para Cinema, Teatro e Tv" was the name of the course. In English it would be "Costumes for Cinema, Theatre and Tv."
The teacher who taught this workshop was Fausto Viana. He studied not only in Brazil but also in Harvard, Yale and NYU. He also studied to get his Masters and Doctors degree in Theatre.
Here are some of my notes I took during the workshop
Day 1:
- 3 biggest categories of costumes: social clothing, military clothing and religious clothing. All these categories have symbolic/meaningful colours and may symbolise rank.
- Colour is important.
- Greek theatre, for example, used colours to show what type of characters there were: Yellow meant prostitute, Red meant Romantic hero, Black meant a fighter etc.
- Antonin Artaud also used a colour code: Yellow meant that the character will suffer a violent death, Red meant that the character will suffer a great loss of blood etc.
- Costumes may change. For example, in the movie Hairspray, the costumes of the blacks change from when they were rejected to when they were accepted.
- Background information is important when creating costumes. E.g. In Elizabethan times, the poor people wore clothes that didn't work for the wealthy. In other words, the clothes that failed to dye properly were sold at a cheaper price and therefore the poor people wore that.
Day 2:
-Eiko is a costume designer who makes costumes that work with light, since costumes always interact with light.
-Appia, a Swiss dramatist, created costumes that allowed physical freedom.
-Craig, an English theatre practitioner, decided to revolutionise theatre so that every concept in theatre are connected. I.e. Costumes that interacts with lights, that interacts with music, that interacts with .....etc
Day 3:
Unfortunately I missed this day because of various reasons
Day 4:
-In a musical, within the first 7 minutes, something must happen. To finish Act 1, there should be a good number. At the start of Act 2, there should be a shorter number. (This ensures that the audience will stay to watch.)
-When there is a number with many actors, to make them seem the same height, have their skirts the same height.
- With Choreographing, there should be a rehearsal skirt, so that the actors can get used to it (e.g. Moulin Rouge).
Day 5
- 3 ways to make costumes:
- Base it on the text
- Base it through the indirect characterisation
- Create it for the beauty of the production (photographic realism > to recreate the moment)
-Artaud once had an actress wear a dress in which it had a triangle on the front. The actress would hold the cloth and throw it so that it seemed like blood was spilling. (This was to foreshadow her death/suffering)
- Bertholt Brecht had Mother Courage wear a spoon on her shirt. It did not mean that she was gluttonous, but was worried with survival, i.e. ate what she can to survive. Also, to age this costume, Brecht scraped it on steel, put it in chlorine and then made the actress wear it so that oil would fall on it, dirt will get on it etc.
- One production by "Teatro de Vertigem" had fallen angels. These fallen angels wore nothing but a loin cloth, but they had their bodies covered with a mixture of toilet paper, water and corn flour. During the play, they would sweat and eventually the mixture would crack and fall apart. It was as if the angels were being humanised.
- There are 6 important aspects when making costumes:
- colour
- form (the shape)
- texture (important because it interacts with light)
- volume
- movement (What's the effect you're after?)
- origin (Where does the style come from? What was its original purpose?)
Day 6:
-Talked a bit about Theatre du Soleil. It was the actors who created their own costumes.
Some tips I've gathered:
-Details make the costumes (they're important!!)
- Motifs of the era also is important
-For a dancing number, fringes enhances the movement of the dancer.
- Don't get deceived by cliche/ideal ideas and images. They're often wrong.
- If a body part has a certain movement, the costume has to be compatible with that.
-When do you know you're in the light? Light reflects under your eyes. Although you can't see anyone, they can see you.
- The costume is meant to help the actor, and not just make them look "pretty."
- Contrast is important even if the costume is simple.
- When making swords, a good technique to customise one is to buy a fake sword (a toy) and reform it with a mixture of glue and corn flour.
- Make sure the "ages" match. If the top part is old and the bottom part is new, then the two facts are contradictory.
Many of the things Viana talked about, I was able to follow because we had studied it before; theatre practitioners like Brecht, Artaud etc. However it went a bit more in depth with costuming. During the workshop I've learnt a great deal of tips and concepts with costuming, and for a theatre practitioner, it would be tips on theatre, because costumes interact with the whole theatre, and is not a category by itself (like how Craig thought).
"Figurino para Cinema, Teatro e Tv" was the name of the course. In English it would be "Costumes for Cinema, Theatre and Tv."
The teacher who taught this workshop was Fausto Viana. He studied not only in Brazil but also in Harvard, Yale and NYU. He also studied to get his Masters and Doctors degree in Theatre.
Here are some of my notes I took during the workshop
Day 1:
- 3 biggest categories of costumes: social clothing, military clothing and religious clothing. All these categories have symbolic/meaningful colours and may symbolise rank.
- Colour is important.
- Greek theatre, for example, used colours to show what type of characters there were: Yellow meant prostitute, Red meant Romantic hero, Black meant a fighter etc.
- Antonin Artaud also used a colour code: Yellow meant that the character will suffer a violent death, Red meant that the character will suffer a great loss of blood etc.
- Costumes may change. For example, in the movie Hairspray, the costumes of the blacks change from when they were rejected to when they were accepted.
- Background information is important when creating costumes. E.g. In Elizabethan times, the poor people wore clothes that didn't work for the wealthy. In other words, the clothes that failed to dye properly were sold at a cheaper price and therefore the poor people wore that.
Day 2:
-Eiko is a costume designer who makes costumes that work with light, since costumes always interact with light.
-Appia, a Swiss dramatist, created costumes that allowed physical freedom.
-Craig, an English theatre practitioner, decided to revolutionise theatre so that every concept in theatre are connected. I.e. Costumes that interacts with lights, that interacts with music, that interacts with .....etc
Day 3:
Unfortunately I missed this day because of various reasons
Day 4:
-In a musical, within the first 7 minutes, something must happen. To finish Act 1, there should be a good number. At the start of Act 2, there should be a shorter number. (This ensures that the audience will stay to watch.)
-When there is a number with many actors, to make them seem the same height, have their skirts the same height.
- With Choreographing, there should be a rehearsal skirt, so that the actors can get used to it (e.g. Moulin Rouge).
Day 5
- 3 ways to make costumes:
- Base it on the text
- Base it through the indirect characterisation
- Create it for the beauty of the production (photographic realism > to recreate the moment)
-Artaud once had an actress wear a dress in which it had a triangle on the front. The actress would hold the cloth and throw it so that it seemed like blood was spilling. (This was to foreshadow her death/suffering)
- Bertholt Brecht had Mother Courage wear a spoon on her shirt. It did not mean that she was gluttonous, but was worried with survival, i.e. ate what she can to survive. Also, to age this costume, Brecht scraped it on steel, put it in chlorine and then made the actress wear it so that oil would fall on it, dirt will get on it etc.
- One production by "Teatro de Vertigem" had fallen angels. These fallen angels wore nothing but a loin cloth, but they had their bodies covered with a mixture of toilet paper, water and corn flour. During the play, they would sweat and eventually the mixture would crack and fall apart. It was as if the angels were being humanised.
- There are 6 important aspects when making costumes:
- colour
- form (the shape)
- texture (important because it interacts with light)
- volume
- movement (What's the effect you're after?)
- origin (Where does the style come from? What was its original purpose?)
Day 6:
-Talked a bit about Theatre du Soleil. It was the actors who created their own costumes.
Some tips I've gathered:
-Details make the costumes (they're important!!)
- Motifs of the era also is important
-For a dancing number, fringes enhances the movement of the dancer.
- Don't get deceived by cliche/ideal ideas and images. They're often wrong.
- If a body part has a certain movement, the costume has to be compatible with that.
-When do you know you're in the light? Light reflects under your eyes. Although you can't see anyone, they can see you.
- The costume is meant to help the actor, and not just make them look "pretty."
- Contrast is important even if the costume is simple.
- When making swords, a good technique to customise one is to buy a fake sword (a toy) and reform it with a mixture of glue and corn flour.
- Make sure the "ages" match. If the top part is old and the bottom part is new, then the two facts are contradictory.
Many of the things Viana talked about, I was able to follow because we had studied it before; theatre practitioners like Brecht, Artaud etc. However it went a bit more in depth with costuming. During the workshop I've learnt a great deal of tips and concepts with costuming, and for a theatre practitioner, it would be tips on theatre, because costumes interact with the whole theatre, and is not a category by itself (like how Craig thought).
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
David Ball: But do it backwards.
For our Monday lesson,
We already decided on our synthesis aspects, and a rough plot. Our task this lesson was to refine the plot and create more depth into the planning. To help us, Mr. Evans gave us an extract from a book by David Ball. He said that instead of going from beginning to end, chose the beginning and the end, and then start at the end and work backwards.
We decided to do this. Our ending was the protagonist jumping into an empty pool.
our thinking process went something like this:
This is our finished timeline:
We were discussing how to show the ending, and we thought of projecting a newspaper article. Then we decided in putting it in the front.
Then that's when I came up with the idea of synthesising times. At the beginning we could have two actors who are discussing about the news about a guy who jumped into an empty pool. Then, the protagonist comes in and passes by them, and that's when the focus changes.
On our next lesson, we decided to try and physicalise the last scene. We experimented until we got an idea combing Shun-kin's use of sticks and a Butoh aspect. Maria, the protagonist, comes on a higher level with Sara and I holding sticks to form a part of the pool. Then Maria with a red sarong comes on and when she jumps she almost jumps in a slow motion way then floats a bit (to show that in her mind she is actually swimming) and then fall with a frown. Slowly, Sara and i fall as well as if we are mourning her death.
We already decided on our synthesis aspects, and a rough plot. Our task this lesson was to refine the plot and create more depth into the planning. To help us, Mr. Evans gave us an extract from a book by David Ball. He said that instead of going from beginning to end, chose the beginning and the end, and then start at the end and work backwards.
We decided to do this. Our ending was the protagonist jumping into an empty pool.
our thinking process went something like this:
The protagonist jumps into an empty pool.
But why?
Because he couldn't stand not going to swim for such a long time
But why?
Because he's obsessed.
But why?
Because he wants to wash away his sins (ablutions)
But why?
Because he feels guilty for his wife's death.
This is our finished timeline:
We were discussing how to show the ending, and we thought of projecting a newspaper article. Then we decided in putting it in the front.
Then that's when I came up with the idea of synthesising times. At the beginning we could have two actors who are discussing about the news about a guy who jumped into an empty pool. Then, the protagonist comes in and passes by them, and that's when the focus changes.
On our next lesson, we decided to try and physicalise the last scene. We experimented until we got an idea combing Shun-kin's use of sticks and a Butoh aspect. Maria, the protagonist, comes on a higher level with Sara and I holding sticks to form a part of the pool. Then Maria with a red sarong comes on and when she jumps she almost jumps in a slow motion way then floats a bit (to show that in her mind she is actually swimming) and then fall with a frown. Slowly, Sara and i fall as well as if we are mourning her death.
Augusto Boal
Moving on from Theatre for Development, we started to look at Theatre of the Oppressed founded by a Brazilian director, Augusto Boal.
Boal had lived through the dicatatorship in Brazil and thus created the Theatre of the Oppressed.
The first type we looked at was Image Theatre. The process we used was this
We had 2 groups (for now, call them A and B.)
A were asked to form a freeze frame (a tableau) of a particular aspect as a typical image. (We chose school)
B then had to input suggestions until A forms a tableau that satisfies everyone, according to experiences, thoughts etc. This is the "real image."
Then B creates their image of their ideal thoughts. This is the "Ideal Image"
From here, we used a slightly different method. We thought of the two images and created 3 more images as the process of getting from one image to the other.
Boal, however, puts the two images side by side and then change the real image until it gets as close as possible with the ideal image. This allowed the actors to break free from their everyday lives and have a chance of changing the "real image" of their lives, and therefore, breaking free from oppression.
Another type of theatre we looked was Invisible theatre. Invisible theatre is a performance, generally to educate people like TFD, performed anywhere. It is called Invisible theatre because the audience do not know that it is an actual performance. Boal liked to call these audience as "Spect-actors" because they are not just spectating but they are also acting since they are involved in the scene.
Often in invisible theatre, there is a "broadcaster." For example, in an invisible theatre performance Boal's group did on the metro about sexual harassment, there was a mother and child. The mother asked her child what was going on, and the child described the scene in a way that everyone on the carriage could hear.
The last type of theatre we looked at was Forum Theatre. Forum theatre includes spect-actors as well but instead, it is on a stage and the audience is aware that it is a performance. When they do watch it though, they have the opportunity to replace an actor and re-act the scene. There usually is a leader controlling what goes on so that nothing gets out of hand, which, in a way is similar to the broadcaster in invisible theatre.
During class, we were thinking even performing an invisible theatre. Maybe in the canteen or something. I think it's a good idea, but if we're after realism then I think it should be somewhere else. My argument against this is that the people at school knows us well enough to know that we wouldn't steal, we wouldn't fight etc. They don't necessarily need to know us really well to figure that out, so I honestly think we should either do something in public if we're up to do it, or if we do decide to do it in school, something not so extravagant, but with a good moral.
Boal had lived through the dicatatorship in Brazil and thus created the Theatre of the Oppressed.
The first type we looked at was Image Theatre. The process we used was this
We had 2 groups (for now, call them A and B.)
A were asked to form a freeze frame (a tableau) of a particular aspect as a typical image. (We chose school)
B then had to input suggestions until A forms a tableau that satisfies everyone, according to experiences, thoughts etc. This is the "real image."
Then B creates their image of their ideal thoughts. This is the "Ideal Image"
From here, we used a slightly different method. We thought of the two images and created 3 more images as the process of getting from one image to the other.
Boal, however, puts the two images side by side and then change the real image until it gets as close as possible with the ideal image. This allowed the actors to break free from their everyday lives and have a chance of changing the "real image" of their lives, and therefore, breaking free from oppression.
Another type of theatre we looked was Invisible theatre. Invisible theatre is a performance, generally to educate people like TFD, performed anywhere. It is called Invisible theatre because the audience do not know that it is an actual performance. Boal liked to call these audience as "Spect-actors" because they are not just spectating but they are also acting since they are involved in the scene.
Often in invisible theatre, there is a "broadcaster." For example, in an invisible theatre performance Boal's group did on the metro about sexual harassment, there was a mother and child. The mother asked her child what was going on, and the child described the scene in a way that everyone on the carriage could hear.
The last type of theatre we looked at was Forum Theatre. Forum theatre includes spect-actors as well but instead, it is on a stage and the audience is aware that it is a performance. When they do watch it though, they have the opportunity to replace an actor and re-act the scene. There usually is a leader controlling what goes on so that nothing gets out of hand, which, in a way is similar to the broadcaster in invisible theatre.
During class, we were thinking even performing an invisible theatre. Maybe in the canteen or something. I think it's a good idea, but if we're after realism then I think it should be somewhere else. My argument against this is that the people at school knows us well enough to know that we wouldn't steal, we wouldn't fight etc. They don't necessarily need to know us really well to figure that out, so I honestly think we should either do something in public if we're up to do it, or if we do decide to do it in school, something not so extravagant, but with a good moral.
Theatre for Development
Using this concept, we looked at a play that was inspired by a folk tale of the Brothers Grimm. This play was performed as a piece of TfD and it is called Lady Will You Marry Me?
The script we got (which is only a section of the whole script) is about Mr. Cat trying to persuade Lady Mouse to marry him, but she is outraged since she cannot imagine a matrimony between a cat and a mouse.
We read the script and interpreted it as if we were going to perform it (as a TfD) here in Japan:
We discussed about it and here's our ideas:
>The stage here would be at a park (maybe at actually a park and perform in an open theatre) since lady mouse says "The sun, the flowers. the fragrance..." and she picks up a flower, thus indicating that this scene is set at a park.
> Incorporating Japanese elements into the play.
-The song "You are my Sunshine" will be sung with a different melody (Sakura or something well known).
> Moral: Don't rush into marriages.
Since divorces are frowned upon in Japan, we are trying to educate people to not rush into decisions like matrimony.
>Grotowski's theory with the poor theatre: Although Mr. Cat is meant to be a cat and Lady Mouse is meant to be a mouse, we will not use animal costumes but rather normal clothes (according to their personality or where they work) and the actors use their imagination to create a cat, or a mouse.
> Comedy: to keep the audience interested (otherwise they will not learn the concept) we will use comedy as an element. Although it is leisure, they will still learn the moral.
> Participation: This will ensure that the audience will watch the play "actively." Kind of like Boal's "spect-actors".
Since this is in a park, the actors could go around the actors so that it seems like this scene is happening for real.
> Mr. Cat will be a "host." They are popular here in Japan, and they are meant to be good-looking.
Lady Mouse will be a rich graduate (who doesn't work and lives off her parent's money). Since she isn't doing much of her life, she is naive in the sense that she doesn't have much experience.
The script we got (which is only a section of the whole script) is about Mr. Cat trying to persuade Lady Mouse to marry him, but she is outraged since she cannot imagine a matrimony between a cat and a mouse.
We read the script and interpreted it as if we were going to perform it (as a TfD) here in Japan:
We discussed about it and here's our ideas:
>The stage here would be at a park (maybe at actually a park and perform in an open theatre) since lady mouse says "The sun, the flowers. the fragrance..." and she picks up a flower, thus indicating that this scene is set at a park.
> Incorporating Japanese elements into the play.
-The song "You are my Sunshine" will be sung with a different melody (Sakura or something well known).
> Moral: Don't rush into marriages.
Since divorces are frowned upon in Japan, we are trying to educate people to not rush into decisions like matrimony.
>Grotowski's theory with the poor theatre: Although Mr. Cat is meant to be a cat and Lady Mouse is meant to be a mouse, we will not use animal costumes but rather normal clothes (according to their personality or where they work) and the actors use their imagination to create a cat, or a mouse.
> Comedy: to keep the audience interested (otherwise they will not learn the concept) we will use comedy as an element. Although it is leisure, they will still learn the moral.
> Participation: This will ensure that the audience will watch the play "actively." Kind of like Boal's "spect-actors".
Since this is in a park, the actors could go around the actors so that it seems like this scene is happening for real.
> Mr. Cat will be a "host." They are popular here in Japan, and they are meant to be good-looking.
Lady Mouse will be a rich graduate (who doesn't work and lives off her parent's money). Since she isn't doing much of her life, she is naive in the sense that she doesn't have much experience.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Ugandan Theatre
Taking a closer look into storytelling, we started with an activity where we would tell a story to a partner then modifying it and then seeing what it ended up as. Here's how we did it:
Sofia and I were partners. I would have to tell a story to Sofia about a secret box. Then we would switch partners with Mei and Maria and Sofia would tell the story to Maria (and Mei would tell Maria's story to me), but they had to include a leopard. Then we switch partners again and I had to tell Sofia (and Maria had to tell Mei) the modified story, but changing it again, including an issue (like suicide, teen pregnancy, abortion, bullying etc).
When we finished, we shared the modified version and tried to show choose one and present it.
We even modified it even more, but adding more issues, and trying to make them clearer.
Here we included the issues of bullying, racism, depression and suicide.
We tried to present issues because we started to look at Theatre for Development which is a theatre where it has an educational aim. Uganda has lots of these, especially to educate people about AIDS.
Which is why we started to look at videos of TFDs and here are the things I've noticed:
-includes chanting
-includes comedy
-there's minimal costumes and no make-up.
-there's no lighting but the natural lighting.
-open air theatre.
-includes singing
-includes dancing
-there is no audience area. The audience just stands or sits around. Generally in a round.
We could definately keep one of these concepts in our project that we are headed towards.
Sofia and I were partners. I would have to tell a story to Sofia about a secret box. Then we would switch partners with Mei and Maria and Sofia would tell the story to Maria (and Mei would tell Maria's story to me), but they had to include a leopard. Then we switch partners again and I had to tell Sofia (and Maria had to tell Mei) the modified story, but changing it again, including an issue (like suicide, teen pregnancy, abortion, bullying etc).
When we finished, we shared the modified version and tried to show choose one and present it.
We even modified it even more, but adding more issues, and trying to make them clearer.
Our story (the last version) was a man named Anoop (Indian) and he was given a box of trinkets that were given to him by his grandmother. She told him not to let anyone else touch the contents of the box. He took care of the box. Then he had a party with some of his classmates, and when he went to the bathroom, his British classmates had tried to pull a prank on him and tried on the jewelry, and when they tried on the leopard necklace, it started to choke his classmates. Anoop then feels guilty and sulks away, until he dies.
Here we included the issues of bullying, racism, depression and suicide.
We tried to present issues because we started to look at Theatre for Development which is a theatre where it has an educational aim. Uganda has lots of these, especially to educate people about AIDS.
Which is why we started to look at videos of TFDs and here are the things I've noticed:
-includes chanting
-includes comedy
-there's minimal costumes and no make-up.
-there's no lighting but the natural lighting.
-open air theatre.
-includes singing
-includes dancing
-there is no audience area. The audience just stands or sits around. Generally in a round.
We could definately keep one of these concepts in our project that we are headed towards.
Athol Fugard and Jerzy Grotowski
We continued looking at Fugard, but we also looked at Grotowski. Jerzy Grotowski supposedly influenced a great deal in Fugard's theories. Despite their different nationalities, they seem to have connections.
Here's a bit of information on Grotowski.
He was a polish director who worked with experimental theatre.
He had similarities with Artaud, believing that the actors should shock the audience to "[strip] away of the mask of everyday and revealing the innermost core" (quote from worksheet), meaning that fear will alert the audience and will make them forget their everyday lives and reveal their inner self.
Grotowski was also a minimalist. He believed that the actor should not have any help (such as make-up, costume etc) in developing a character. The costumes were not to reflect the character, but rather the set. He believed that the actors should use their own body and skill to create a character.
With this, Grotowski developed the Poor Theatre.
Poor in the sense that there were no tricks in the theatre but rather just the actor revealing the character.
He also developed The Holy Actor, which was an actor who does exactly what he believed; an actor who does not rely on tricks and depends only on their skills and creativity.
Although Grotowski had activities to train actors, he rather have the actor think on their own, and create a character with their own creativity.
Fugard first thought that the actors should have to use their creativity and on stage, the actor should "[fill] and [define it] by movement and gesture." He also did not have the script be the main part of the play, but rather the actor (which is very opposed to Brecht's ideas).
However, after his encounter with Grotowski's work, he took out the text of his plays, and based it on just improvisations.
They always had a stimulus, which was often a photograph, and this was how Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act was created.
Here's a bit of information on Grotowski.
He was a polish director who worked with experimental theatre.
He had similarities with Artaud, believing that the actors should shock the audience to "[strip] away of the mask of everyday and revealing the innermost core" (quote from worksheet), meaning that fear will alert the audience and will make them forget their everyday lives and reveal their inner self.
Grotowski was also a minimalist. He believed that the actor should not have any help (such as make-up, costume etc) in developing a character. The costumes were not to reflect the character, but rather the set. He believed that the actors should use their own body and skill to create a character.
With this, Grotowski developed the Poor Theatre.
Poor in the sense that there were no tricks in the theatre but rather just the actor revealing the character.
He also developed The Holy Actor, which was an actor who does exactly what he believed; an actor who does not rely on tricks and depends only on their skills and creativity.
Although Grotowski had activities to train actors, he rather have the actor think on their own, and create a character with their own creativity.
Fugard first thought that the actors should have to use their creativity and on stage, the actor should "[fill] and [define it] by movement and gesture." He also did not have the script be the main part of the play, but rather the actor (which is very opposed to Brecht's ideas).
However, after his encounter with Grotowski's work, he took out the text of his plays, and based it on just improvisations.
They always had a stimulus, which was often a photograph, and this was how Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act was created.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Theatre and other activities.
On May 2nd 2009, I was performing at the Y150 event, in the choir.
The day before that though, Genki (one of the school's IT manager) asked me if I could bring the walkie talkies I had at home to the event, and also that he might need my help in management. So on the day, I kept one of the radios, and stayed outside and led everyone who came late into the building.
Then, coming up to the performance, Genki had said to get to "action stations"... But Of course, I didnt know mine... All I did first was just stay outside and see if there were any YIS students. So I asked him.
"Your job is to make sure people are on schedule and are prepared."
Ok... simple enough. I thought...
That day, however, was also the day of SATs. People taking them were coming in late. So I was to make sure they came on time, knew what was going to happen on stage and also get ready. We had problems. SATs were running late and they came around 30 minutes before the performance and some came 15 minutes before. I started to panic.
Then I also had to make sure people were going on the same times and knew what was going to happen etc...
But everything went well, and it was a successful concert, with a full house (without much people leaving).
While cleaning up I felt good. Despite the panic and the stress during the concert, I enjoyed managing.
Then I thought about it, and it was very similar to what I was doing in Robin Hood; I was making sure the actors go onstage on their cue, making sure they were ready, including props, costumes and make up etc.
I knew that Theatre would help me somehow in the future, for example, knowing about lighting could help me in art (with the use of lights) and set design etc. but I didn't know that it would help me at a music concert. After this epiphany, I felt a slight burst of confidence. (Before taking this subject, I was in doubt whether or not to take theatre, or whether I should take a science rather than theatre) I feel Confidence in the sense that i know that Theatre will definitely help me in the future and not necessarily in the Theatre area.
The day before that though, Genki (one of the school's IT manager) asked me if I could bring the walkie talkies I had at home to the event, and also that he might need my help in management. So on the day, I kept one of the radios, and stayed outside and led everyone who came late into the building.
Then, coming up to the performance, Genki had said to get to "action stations"... But Of course, I didnt know mine... All I did first was just stay outside and see if there were any YIS students. So I asked him.
"Your job is to make sure people are on schedule and are prepared."
Ok... simple enough. I thought...
That day, however, was also the day of SATs. People taking them were coming in late. So I was to make sure they came on time, knew what was going to happen on stage and also get ready. We had problems. SATs were running late and they came around 30 minutes before the performance and some came 15 minutes before. I started to panic.
Then I also had to make sure people were going on the same times and knew what was going to happen etc...
But everything went well, and it was a successful concert, with a full house (without much people leaving).
While cleaning up I felt good. Despite the panic and the stress during the concert, I enjoyed managing.
Then I thought about it, and it was very similar to what I was doing in Robin Hood; I was making sure the actors go onstage on their cue, making sure they were ready, including props, costumes and make up etc.
I knew that Theatre would help me somehow in the future, for example, knowing about lighting could help me in art (with the use of lights) and set design etc. but I didn't know that it would help me at a music concert. After this epiphany, I felt a slight burst of confidence. (Before taking this subject, I was in doubt whether or not to take theatre, or whether I should take a science rather than theatre) I feel Confidence in the sense that i know that Theatre will definitely help me in the future and not necessarily in the Theatre area.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Synthesis
The focus of the class on monday (27th Apr 09) was SYNTHESIS again.
We discussed about our homework, where we had to find connections between the following:
-Meisner
-Repetition
-Stick Work
-Ionesco
-Andrei Serban
-Peking Opera
-The Lesson
-Romania
-Meyerhold
-Absurdism
(I will scan the worksheet and post it up as soon as I get it back).
Then we were given a task. The task was to choose at least 5 connections and synthesize them to make a devised play.
Since we had to choose 5, and we were in a group of 5, we decided to choose one each:
-Repetition
-Stick Work
-The Lesson
-Meyerhold (The torture and his death)
-Absurdism
We were brainstorming ideas with this list as our guidelines, and Maria suggested "Multiple-personality." From there we discussed more about these mental disorders and we came to discuss about Schizophrenia (where the person hears voices in their heads and becomes more aggressive due to that).
With this, ideas came flowing into my head. I remembered the scene we once read in class from Heroin Lies, when Vicky, the drug addict, started to hallucinate or hear voices and it was abstract to show the audience the situation in Vicky's point of view.
I thought that the person that suffers from Schizophrenia would be repetitive and almost use Meisner's techniques to make him or her seem very annoyed and aggressive. For example:
A: How are you?
B (suffers from Schizophrenia): How are you? Fine.
This could be said in a way that it is very abrupt and show that the person may be paranoid and has some kind of problem.
Connecting to dialogue, the dialogue with this person with Schizophrenia and a normal person could be very abrupt and terse, like how Sofia and I did our scene from The Lesson.
Also, absurdism and stick work could be incorporated into my idea with one person with this disorder, and the rest with sticks creating sets, and even abstract images, that may or may not be symbolic. It could represent cages or like in Shun Kin, it could represent doors (sets). They could also be the voices in the person's head.
However, we thought of other ideas, and Sara brought up that she once read a Japanese book that was about this person who could not stand it if he did not swim for at least 2 hours per day. Which then brought up "The Swimmer." Mr. Evans showed us the trailer and talked about it a bit more. It was about a man who decided to swim home through a path of swimming pools.
Going back to Sara's idea, I think it could work. We could use the sticks to create a swimming pool like Mr. Evans suggested. I also elaborated on this idea. Since the person is obviously ill, he has a doctor, and the conversation between the doctor and the patient could be very much like the conversation between the professor and the pupil in The Lesson. Sara had said that the doctor said to the patient not to swim anymore, but it didnt work, so I pondered on that a bit more. I came with a scene in my head where the patient and the doctor are having a conversation and then the doctor tells the patient not to swim anymore. This caused the patient to go berserk and then he could go into a trance-like state, where he lies down (or even falls) and four or three other people come on and form a bow around the patient. Then with little sound effects and movement, it could represent the water and the patient could be moving as if he was swimming on his back. This incorporates the ideas of absurdity and stick work.
The idea of restraining him from the swimming pool could also link to the torture and death of Meyerhold (not exactly having Meyerhold the character, but keep the idea of the torture and death parallel to the plot. It could be that the restraint is causing the character mental torture).
We discussed about our homework, where we had to find connections between the following:
-Meisner
-Repetition
-Stick Work
-Ionesco
-Andrei Serban
-Peking Opera
-The Lesson
-Romania
-Meyerhold
-Absurdism
(I will scan the worksheet and post it up as soon as I get it back).
Then we were given a task. The task was to choose at least 5 connections and synthesize them to make a devised play.
Since we had to choose 5, and we were in a group of 5, we decided to choose one each:
-Repetition
-Stick Work
-The Lesson
-Meyerhold (The torture and his death)
-Absurdism
We were brainstorming ideas with this list as our guidelines, and Maria suggested "Multiple-personality." From there we discussed more about these mental disorders and we came to discuss about Schizophrenia (where the person hears voices in their heads and becomes more aggressive due to that).
With this, ideas came flowing into my head. I remembered the scene we once read in class from Heroin Lies, when Vicky, the drug addict, started to hallucinate or hear voices and it was abstract to show the audience the situation in Vicky's point of view.
I thought that the person that suffers from Schizophrenia would be repetitive and almost use Meisner's techniques to make him or her seem very annoyed and aggressive. For example:
A: How are you?
B (suffers from Schizophrenia): How are you? Fine.
This could be said in a way that it is very abrupt and show that the person may be paranoid and has some kind of problem.
Connecting to dialogue, the dialogue with this person with Schizophrenia and a normal person could be very abrupt and terse, like how Sofia and I did our scene from The Lesson.
Also, absurdism and stick work could be incorporated into my idea with one person with this disorder, and the rest with sticks creating sets, and even abstract images, that may or may not be symbolic. It could represent cages or like in Shun Kin, it could represent doors (sets). They could also be the voices in the person's head.
However, we thought of other ideas, and Sara brought up that she once read a Japanese book that was about this person who could not stand it if he did not swim for at least 2 hours per day. Which then brought up "The Swimmer." Mr. Evans showed us the trailer and talked about it a bit more. It was about a man who decided to swim home through a path of swimming pools.
Going back to Sara's idea, I think it could work. We could use the sticks to create a swimming pool like Mr. Evans suggested. I also elaborated on this idea. Since the person is obviously ill, he has a doctor, and the conversation between the doctor and the patient could be very much like the conversation between the professor and the pupil in The Lesson. Sara had said that the doctor said to the patient not to swim anymore, but it didnt work, so I pondered on that a bit more. I came with a scene in my head where the patient and the doctor are having a conversation and then the doctor tells the patient not to swim anymore. This caused the patient to go berserk and then he could go into a trance-like state, where he lies down (or even falls) and four or three other people come on and form a bow around the patient. Then with little sound effects and movement, it could represent the water and the patient could be moving as if he was swimming on his back. This incorporates the ideas of absurdity and stick work.
The idea of restraining him from the swimming pool could also link to the torture and death of Meyerhold (not exactly having Meyerhold the character, but keep the idea of the torture and death parallel to the plot. It could be that the restraint is causing the character mental torture).
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Statements After An Arrest Under the Immorality Act
Athol Fugard is a South African playwright, director, actor and a novelist, who wrote about his ideas against the apartheid in South Africa. One of his plays, Statements After An Arrest Under the Immorality Act is about a white woman who falls in love with a black man and they start a relationship in secret however one of their neighbors saw them together and told on them, breaking up their relationship.
We looked at the last scenes of this play. The policeman has a narrative role, which reminded us about Heroin Lies. In Heroin lies, there is the newspaper boy who tells the audience what happens just like the policeman.
We found that the language in the monologues of this play was very powerful, and as a reader and audience, we would get deeply affected by this emotionally. Here's a line that stuck in my head,
I like this quote because it shows clearly that the government would choose their fates and they have no control over their lives, especially their love-lives.
On Tuesday, we were to interpret the monologue in the play. I was paired up with Sara.
We chose the man's monologue. We cut it down because it was long, and we introduced lighting, staging and physical acting. Although it was a monologue, Sara was still in it.
In sections such as the one above, Sara would read the longer bits "If they take away your eyes you can't see" etc, and I would read the shorter bits "I can see" etc. I was the man and Sara was the conscience or God, who was inside the man's head. (This also reminded me of the last scene of Heroin Lies where the girl goes crazy and hears voiced in her head.)
We decided to have a blue light in the beginning to show his depression and also the night, and then change to red light where he says "They put on the light." To show his helplessness and panic. Then we also had the idea of using flash from an actual camera when the man says "they take your picture."
Also while we were rehearsing, the other group had been doing their rehearsal with the lights and the lights came from the side. Sara and I were looking at it and found that it was more effective than just using light straight onto the actor. This can also be symbolic, to show that the man is not living his life fully since the government is restricting their other parts. The light only comes on and lights half of the actor, showing this half-heartedness.
Here's an example:
As the actor who plays the man, I looked up constantly as if I was looking up to God, seeking help. He is religious, as he says "So I tell God that I don't smoke, I don't drink and I know the price of bread."
I really liked doing this monologue and interpreting it was challenging (as we had to cut off bits as well) because we have not read the entire play. However, despite this, I still found it interesting and very powerful. It gives the audience something to think about, especially where he keeps referring to himself as a "man without a name" and a man that "can't love."
We looked at the last scenes of this play. The policeman has a narrative role, which reminded us about Heroin Lies. In Heroin lies, there is the newspaper boy who tells the audience what happens just like the policeman.
We found that the language in the monologues of this play was very powerful, and as a reader and audience, we would get deeply affected by this emotionally. Here's a line that stuck in my head,
My hands still have the sweat of your body on them, but I'll have to wash them...sometime. If I don't, they will. Nothing can stop me losing that little bit of you
I like this quote because it shows clearly that the government would choose their fates and they have no control over their lives, especially their love-lives.
On Tuesday, we were to interpret the monologue in the play. I was paired up with Sara.
We chose the man's monologue. We cut it down because it was long, and we introduced lighting, staging and physical acting. Although it was a monologue, Sara was still in it.
If they take away your eyes you can't see
If they take away your tongue you can't taste
If they take away your hands you can't feel
If they take away your nose you can't smell
If they take away your ears you can't hear
I can see
I can taste
I can feel
I can smell
I can hear
I can't love.
In sections such as the one above, Sara would read the longer bits "If they take away your eyes you can't see" etc, and I would read the shorter bits "I can see" etc. I was the man and Sara was the conscience or God, who was inside the man's head. (This also reminded me of the last scene of Heroin Lies where the girl goes crazy and hears voiced in her head.)
We decided to have a blue light in the beginning to show his depression and also the night, and then change to red light where he says "They put on the light." To show his helplessness and panic. Then we also had the idea of using flash from an actual camera when the man says "they take your picture."
Also while we were rehearsing, the other group had been doing their rehearsal with the lights and the lights came from the side. Sara and I were looking at it and found that it was more effective than just using light straight onto the actor. This can also be symbolic, to show that the man is not living his life fully since the government is restricting their other parts. The light only comes on and lights half of the actor, showing this half-heartedness.
Here's an example:
As the actor who plays the man, I looked up constantly as if I was looking up to God, seeking help. He is religious, as he says "So I tell God that I don't smoke, I don't drink and I know the price of bread."
I really liked doing this monologue and interpreting it was challenging (as we had to cut off bits as well) because we have not read the entire play. However, despite this, I still found it interesting and very powerful. It gives the audience something to think about, especially where he keeps referring to himself as a "man without a name" and a man that "can't love."
Meisner... Cont'd
On Monday, our focus for the class was "Synthesis." We started as a group to create a short scene that included a synthesis of some kind. It could have been a physical or a cultural or a sound synthesis. We decided to combine some such as vocal and physical synthesis.
We started all going around saying only one word, with different physicality and different voices. Then we came together to form the phrase "I am so happy."
Then we did some prop work by first balancing a stick on either the palm of our hands or on our finger/s. Then we had to balance the stick and say a line at the same time.
Once we got the grasp of that, one by one, we would have to balance the stick and have a conversation with someone else (the other person just observes the one balancing the stick. I had an advantage in this since in martial arts (in which i have some experience in), balance is essential, especially in kendo.
How is this related to Meisner?
Since Meisner believed that an actor has to live the moment, Mr. Evans thought that this exercise would help us. Since we were concentrating on the stick more, and only a little portion of our concentration was on acting, our voice became more natural.
On stage, it is unlikely that an actor would be balancing a stick, so instead, we tried having a conversation with something a bit more complex, like packing your bag neatly, or building a lamp. These actions are most likely to be happened on stage.
Later, we were given a script and tried to interpret it with some Meisner technique whether it was something we learned this lesson or a previous lesson. The script was a page from "The Lesson" by Ionesco (a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist who wrote many plays for the Theatre of the Absurd). We were paired up; I was with Sofia and Maria was with Sara.
I played the pupil and Sofia was the Professor. We made the cues very short and quick while looking through books. So we would go with the impulse, like Meisner said.
Maria and Sara went for a very different approach than us. They were both balancing sticks and saying their lines. The only difference was that Maria was walking around whereas Sara was sitting down.
We started all going around saying only one word, with different physicality and different voices. Then we came together to form the phrase "I am so happy."
Then we did some prop work by first balancing a stick on either the palm of our hands or on our finger/s. Then we had to balance the stick and say a line at the same time.
Once we got the grasp of that, one by one, we would have to balance the stick and have a conversation with someone else (the other person just observes the one balancing the stick. I had an advantage in this since in martial arts (in which i have some experience in), balance is essential, especially in kendo.
How is this related to Meisner?
Since Meisner believed that an actor has to live the moment, Mr. Evans thought that this exercise would help us. Since we were concentrating on the stick more, and only a little portion of our concentration was on acting, our voice became more natural.
On stage, it is unlikely that an actor would be balancing a stick, so instead, we tried having a conversation with something a bit more complex, like packing your bag neatly, or building a lamp. These actions are most likely to be happened on stage.
Later, we were given a script and tried to interpret it with some Meisner technique whether it was something we learned this lesson or a previous lesson. The script was a page from "The Lesson" by Ionesco (a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist who wrote many plays for the Theatre of the Absurd). We were paired up; I was with Sofia and Maria was with Sara.
Professor: Let us proceed a little further. What do two and one make?
Pupil: Three
Professor: Three and one?
Pupil: Four
Professor: Four and one?
Pupil: Five
Professor: Five and one?
Pupil: Six
Professor: Six and one?
Pupil: Seven
Professor: Seven and one?
Pupil: Eight
Professor: Seven and one?
Pupil: Still Eight
Professor: Very good answer. Seven and one?
Pupil: Eight again
Professor: Excellent. Perfect. Seven and one?
Pupil: Eight for the fourth time. And sometimes nine.
Professor: Magnificent! You're magnificent. Sublime!
I played the pupil and Sofia was the Professor. We made the cues very short and quick while looking through books. So we would go with the impulse, like Meisner said.
Maria and Sara went for a very different approach than us. They were both balancing sticks and saying their lines. The only difference was that Maria was walking around whereas Sara was sitting down.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Frank Wedekind
On our lesson with Mr. Evans on Monday, we started with some recap on Meisner and a little exercise that forces us to go with the "impulse." The one word at a time story, where we pass an item and each time you get it you have to say a word and pass it on, creating a story together.
Then to get an introduction to Frank Wedekind, we were to spend 10 minutes researching on any facts about this playwright.
Here's some facts about him:
- He was a german playwright, born in 1864 and died in 1918.
- He criticized bourgeois attitudes, especially sexual behaviors.
- He seemed to have a major influence in epic theatre (Brecht's theatre)
- Brecht attended his funeral.
We then took a look at his a scene of one of his most successful plays, Spring Awakening.
The scene was when a mother found out that her daughter, Wendla, who's 14, was pregnant. The interesting part was, that Wendla did not understand how she got pregnant, which evokes sympathy in the audience. Wendla kept on repeating "but we just lay in the hay," showing her ignorance of the situation.
"But how can that be? I'm not married!" Wendla says, indicating her innocence in the situation since she is ignorant of the fact that she can get pregnant even if she is not married.
The mother, of course, is horrified because Wendla is not even married, yet she was going to have a baby, and so she calls in an abortionist. This abortion is what caused Wendla's death.
Wedekind criticizes the fact that the adults do not educate their children about important things such as pregnancy. If Wendla knew about sexual intercourse and pregnancy, she would not have needed an abortion, and thus she would be alive for longer.
Then to get an introduction to Frank Wedekind, we were to spend 10 minutes researching on any facts about this playwright.
Here's some facts about him:
- He was a german playwright, born in 1864 and died in 1918.
- He criticized bourgeois attitudes, especially sexual behaviors.
- He seemed to have a major influence in epic theatre (Brecht's theatre)
- Brecht attended his funeral.
We then took a look at his a scene of one of his most successful plays, Spring Awakening.
The scene was when a mother found out that her daughter, Wendla, who's 14, was pregnant. The interesting part was, that Wendla did not understand how she got pregnant, which evokes sympathy in the audience. Wendla kept on repeating "but we just lay in the hay," showing her ignorance of the situation.
"But how can that be? I'm not married!" Wendla says, indicating her innocence in the situation since she is ignorant of the fact that she can get pregnant even if she is not married.
The mother, of course, is horrified because Wendla is not even married, yet she was going to have a baby, and so she calls in an abortionist. This abortion is what caused Wendla's death.
Wedekind criticizes the fact that the adults do not educate their children about important things such as pregnancy. If Wendla knew about sexual intercourse and pregnancy, she would not have needed an abortion, and thus she would be alive for longer.
Introduction to African Theatre
We were introduced to this type of theatre through videos and hence brainstorming on what were the theatrical conventions in African Theatre.
[Conventions in theatre are aspects of a particular theatre. E.G. A convention in Brechtian theatre would be the music and dancing. A convention in Artaudian theatre would be the use of lights and sounds.]
Here are some:
Masks: Very important. It is also the main part of a masquerade, which is the theatre we will be looking into.
Costumes: Also important. Mainly made out of natural materials such as grass etc.
Drumming: Sets the tone. Also controls the tension with the tempo. Often synchronized with physical acting.
Dance: Mostly consisted of dancing. Normally extreme including some gymnastics as well (flips, twirls etc)
Storyline: Stories told are usually legends and well-known stories (similar to Balinese Theatre)
Once we finished this brainstorm, we were given a story. Ekineba. She was a human, who had connections with the gods.
-Story copied from http://www.answers.com/topic/ekineba-and-the-water-people-
Using the conventions we discussed about before, we interpreted this story. We didn't have much time and also didn't have access to that much of a variety in masks. The masks that Mr. Meiklejohn had available were masks that had japanese characters on them and we thought that it didn't quite fit. So we selected some that fit some characters.
Mei, being Ekineba, had a half-face mask that had some bright colors on them and Sofia had a full silver mask.
Mei wore the mask to show that she was a special human being as opposed to the drummer (Maria) who did not had a mask.
Sofia wore a mask to show her superiority over Sara and me, who were the water people.
We took mostly the most important plots of the story and left out the little details, and what we had was:
Ekineba got kidnapped by the two water people while strolling around. The water people took her to their mother who was not pleased at all about this kidnap and ordered both to return her to the human world. Once the water people returned her, they gave her a tambourine. Ekineba then started to drum but there was another drummer who would want the most attention, making her feel out of place. Because of her sadness, the water people went to get her and escort her to the water world, leaving the tambourine behind (signifying that she left the duty).
Additional notes: Maria was the drummer (the character) but also the percussionist of the play, so she was drumming the whole time.
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MASQUERADES
In masquerades, the costumes and masks are symbolic to represent an ancestor, an animal, a human, or a spirit. Often these roles are very hard to achieve, requiring a long term training to learn specific characteristics, dance steps and musical accompaniments. The performers are often men and some act as female characters (which reminds me of Balinese theatre because the dalang has to be all characters, including the women).
Masquerades can be performed for purely entertainment purposes or it can be performed for religious purposes.
Also, there is a saying,
meaning One does not stand on one spot to watch a masquerade.
this implies that the masquerade involves not only the actors but also the audiences. The audience could also be from all ages but still enjoy the masquerade.
Bibliography:
Answers.com.Ekineba and the Water People.15 Apr 2009.URL:http://www.answers.com/topic/ekineba-and-the-water-people
American Museum of Natural History.African Spirit Dancer. 15 Apr 2009. URL: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/expeditions/treasure_fossil/Treasures/African_Spirit_Dancer/dancer.html?50
Umunna Cultural Association of Indianapolis. Masquerade from the Igboland. 15 Apr 2009. URL: http://umunna.org/masquerade.htm
[Conventions in theatre are aspects of a particular theatre. E.G. A convention in Brechtian theatre would be the music and dancing. A convention in Artaudian theatre would be the use of lights and sounds.]
Here are some:
Masks: Very important. It is also the main part of a masquerade, which is the theatre we will be looking into.
Costumes: Also important. Mainly made out of natural materials such as grass etc.
Drumming: Sets the tone. Also controls the tension with the tempo. Often synchronized with physical acting.
Dance: Mostly consisted of dancing. Normally extreme including some gymnastics as well (flips, twirls etc)
Storyline: Stories told are usually legends and well-known stories (similar to Balinese Theatre)
Once we finished this brainstorm, we were given a story. Ekineba. She was a human, who had connections with the gods.
Ekineba was so beautiful that even the Water People, changing themselves into humans, courted her. The son of the chief priest of Ojoma took a dowry and went to her. Her spirit told her this was the man she would marry. They married, and he took her away in his canoe. Some Water People were upset, and caused a storm to capsize the canoe. Ekineba was taken to the town of the Water People. The mother of the Water People was angry that the canoe had been capsized. When the Water People came home from work, the mother expressed her anger, and they said that they would return her to the land of humans. The chief priest of Ojoma had died, but the son was angry with the gods for not helping him when his wife died. The Water People, before they took Ekineba home, danced for her and told her to beat their drum, the first human to do so. They warned her that at every party she must be the first to beat the drum, to purify the drums. Then they returned her to her home, telling her not to allow her husband to embrace her before he had purified her. He did that, and they embraced. Later, Ekineba told her husband how the Water People had wanted to marry her but she had refused. That is why two of them had taken her away. Then she showed her husband how to make drums, what people should do when she beat them. But some were annoyed that she was always the first to play the drums, and one drummer kept playing before she did. She knew that the Water People were encouraging him, and she did not long to stay in the world of men. She told the people she would be leaving, and she sat and wrapped a cloth around her face. It was evening, and a storm came up: the Water People were coming. She told the people to beat their drums, night fell, a thick cloud descended, and the Water People took Ekineba away.
-Story copied from http://www.answers.com/topic/ekineba-and-the-water-people-
Using the conventions we discussed about before, we interpreted this story. We didn't have much time and also didn't have access to that much of a variety in masks. The masks that Mr. Meiklejohn had available were masks that had japanese characters on them and we thought that it didn't quite fit. So we selected some that fit some characters.
Mei, being Ekineba, had a half-face mask that had some bright colors on them and Sofia had a full silver mask.
Mei wore the mask to show that she was a special human being as opposed to the drummer (Maria) who did not had a mask.
Sofia wore a mask to show her superiority over Sara and me, who were the water people.
We took mostly the most important plots of the story and left out the little details, and what we had was:
Ekineba got kidnapped by the two water people while strolling around. The water people took her to their mother who was not pleased at all about this kidnap and ordered both to return her to the human world. Once the water people returned her, they gave her a tambourine. Ekineba then started to drum but there was another drummer who would want the most attention, making her feel out of place. Because of her sadness, the water people went to get her and escort her to the water world, leaving the tambourine behind (signifying that she left the duty).
Additional notes: Maria was the drummer (the character) but also the percussionist of the play, so she was drumming the whole time.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MASQUERADES
In masquerades, the costumes and masks are symbolic to represent an ancestor, an animal, a human, or a spirit. Often these roles are very hard to achieve, requiring a long term training to learn specific characteristics, dance steps and musical accompaniments. The performers are often men and some act as female characters (which reminds me of Balinese theatre because the dalang has to be all characters, including the women).
Masquerades can be performed for purely entertainment purposes or it can be performed for religious purposes.
Also, there is a saying,
Adiro akwu ofu ebe enene nmanwu
meaning One does not stand on one spot to watch a masquerade.
this implies that the masquerade involves not only the actors but also the audiences. The audience could also be from all ages but still enjoy the masquerade.
Bibliography:
Answers.com.Ekineba and the Water People.15 Apr 2009.URL:http://www.answers.com/topic/ekineba-and-the-water-people
American Museum of Natural History.African Spirit Dancer. 15 Apr 2009. URL: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/expeditions/treasure_fossil/Treasures/African_Spirit_Dancer/dancer.html?50
Umunna Cultural Association of Indianapolis. Masquerade from the Igboland. 15 Apr 2009. URL: http://umunna.org/masquerade.htm
Monday, April 6, 2009
Sanford Meisner
Sanford Meisner is an American director who studied Stanislvaski, but then created a theory of his own. He believed that the actor should not relive the situation with memories but experience it first hand in the situation. (The following quote illustrates this).
"Acting is the ability to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances."
We practiced this through exercises such as only reacting when something makes you to.
Also Meisner believed that the actor should listen and pay attention to what the other actor is saying, even though it is expected. We also tried this though exercises where we would repeat what our partner says such as "you're wearing black." (This exercise was done in Meisner's classes as well) We had to be careful in adding variety. If we add variety, according to Meisner, we are thinking and not acting on impulse.
In the theater, silence is an absence of words, but never an absence of meaning
We also worked from this quote. We tried seeing what meaning we could put into silences. Each of us would ask Mr. Evans "Will I get a 7 in IB?" and he wouldn't respond in words but rather in gestures, facial expressions, putting meaning into the silence, which made it powerful.
I think that if we had, perhaps, included these ideas into, for example, Tina!, it could have improved it and made it more authentic, and convincing. For example, the secretary scene where Zebub first comes on, the secretaries were expecting that, and it may have not been as convincing (luckily we had the mask to cover some of this).
"Acting is the ability to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances."
We practiced this through exercises such as only reacting when something makes you to.
Also Meisner believed that the actor should listen and pay attention to what the other actor is saying, even though it is expected. We also tried this though exercises where we would repeat what our partner says such as "you're wearing black." (This exercise was done in Meisner's classes as well) We had to be careful in adding variety. If we add variety, according to Meisner, we are thinking and not acting on impulse.
In the theater, silence is an absence of words, but never an absence of meaning
We also worked from this quote. We tried seeing what meaning we could put into silences. Each of us would ask Mr. Evans "Will I get a 7 in IB?" and he wouldn't respond in words but rather in gestures, facial expressions, putting meaning into the silence, which made it powerful.
I think that if we had, perhaps, included these ideas into, for example, Tina!, it could have improved it and made it more authentic, and convincing. For example, the secretary scene where Zebub first comes on, the secretaries were expecting that, and it may have not been as convincing (luckily we had the mask to cover some of this).
Antonin Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty
Antonin Artaud was a french actor, poet, playwright and director.
He was the one who put forth the "Theatre of Cruelty." He believed that the audience should be involved as much as possible and with that the statements he wanted to make would be put across. He also believed that to involve the audience, the actors should shock them, to grab their attention. To Artaud, this was cruel, because the actors are forcefully engaging the audience through fear and shock, and thus creating the Theatre of Cruelty.
An interesting connection with what we have studied before and with Artaud was that he was intrigued with Balinese Theatre. He admired that fact that they used almost no dialogue and the message conveyed was mostly through gestures, facial expressions, sounds, lights etc..
We started to study his theories through simple exercises, such as trying to catch other people's attention other than using words, for instance, making faces at them or jumping up and down etc.
Then Maria, Sofia and I did a group exercise where we had to include five aspects: Mirror, Follow, Shadow, Echo and Pine Away. With improvisations, we ended up with a basic story of two girls wanting to be like another and follows and imitates her until she rejects her, which then they start to pine away.
Our main aim was to try to use as little words as possible.
Then we moved onto a larger assignment. An Artaudian approach to the retelling of the story of Echo and Narcissus. Basically what we did was:
We started with Mei and Maria sitting on the ground with Sofia sitting on one of the black stages. This was in the dark. Then scratching started and then a red light turned on. From there some drumming started as Mei and Maria started to move around kind of disturbingly. Then assembled, along with myself, at the feet of Sofia, who was playing the goddess, Juno.
>The beginning was to, firstly, set the mood of the piece, and secondly, to show how cruel goddesses can be.<
Echo came in and talked to Juno (but in mumbles so it seemed like she spoke a lot in general), then Juno got fed up and silenced her, pushing her to the ground along with her servants. Then she used her magic to take away Echo's voice. The servants screamed whilst this happened and then once Sofia clapped her hands, the screaming stopped to signify that there was no voice left. Then we all exited the stage. I, as Narcissus went on walking around until I tripped on Sara, who was playing Echo. Then I just stepped over her, until she grabbed my legs, as if trying to get my attention. Once Narcissus ignored her, she started crying, helplessly. While she cried, a hand comes from behind the black stages (that were standing on its side), and signals Narcissus to come closer. After Narcissus admired and fell in love with the reflection (indicated by him saying "so beautiful"), the reflection suddenly gets a hold of Narcissus and brings him down into the pond and a flower replaces him. One of his friends (Mei) comes, picked the flower up and said "Narcissus." After a few moments, the whole cast starts laughing and assembled at the black stages. Suddenly Mei says Narcissus towards the audience (the camera) and we all approach the audience saying "Narcissus," as if we want to get a hold of someone.
>The laughing represents our opinions on this matter. Falling in love with your own reflection and being so addicted to it that you die is a laughing matter. It is so pathetic that anyone would laugh at it.
When we assemble is like a curtain call but where some people are placed is symbolic. Sara (Echo) sat at Sofia's (Juno) feet, and I (Narcissus) sat with Maria (the reflection) behind me.
The very end is to put a statement to the play. Narcissism is a sin and therefore it will backfire one day. So when we approach the audience as if we were to strangle them, was to act as if there was a narcissist person in the audience and we were out to get him/her.<
I thought this was successful, in the sense that we improved from what we had before. First, we were mostly interpreting the story rather than using Artaud's theories. I think what were the main highlights were the red lighting and the use of sound, however that may have hindered our message and even the plot.
To conclude this entry, I got one of Artaud's poems.
Who am I?
Where do I come from?
I am Antonin Artaud
and I say this
as I know how to say this
immediatly
you will see my present body
burst into fragments
and remake itself
under ten thousand notorious aspects
a new body
where you will
never
forget me.
The part of this poem in which I remember well is "Where you will never forget me." It reminds me of the Theatre of Cruelty, because it shocks the audience so much that it is very rememberable.
He was the one who put forth the "Theatre of Cruelty." He believed that the audience should be involved as much as possible and with that the statements he wanted to make would be put across. He also believed that to involve the audience, the actors should shock them, to grab their attention. To Artaud, this was cruel, because the actors are forcefully engaging the audience through fear and shock, and thus creating the Theatre of Cruelty.
An interesting connection with what we have studied before and with Artaud was that he was intrigued with Balinese Theatre. He admired that fact that they used almost no dialogue and the message conveyed was mostly through gestures, facial expressions, sounds, lights etc..
We started to study his theories through simple exercises, such as trying to catch other people's attention other than using words, for instance, making faces at them or jumping up and down etc.
Then Maria, Sofia and I did a group exercise where we had to include five aspects: Mirror, Follow, Shadow, Echo and Pine Away. With improvisations, we ended up with a basic story of two girls wanting to be like another and follows and imitates her until she rejects her, which then they start to pine away.
Our main aim was to try to use as little words as possible.
Then we moved onto a larger assignment. An Artaudian approach to the retelling of the story of Echo and Narcissus. Basically what we did was:
We started with Mei and Maria sitting on the ground with Sofia sitting on one of the black stages. This was in the dark. Then scratching started and then a red light turned on. From there some drumming started as Mei and Maria started to move around kind of disturbingly. Then assembled, along with myself, at the feet of Sofia, who was playing the goddess, Juno.
>The beginning was to, firstly, set the mood of the piece, and secondly, to show how cruel goddesses can be.<
Echo came in and talked to Juno (but in mumbles so it seemed like she spoke a lot in general), then Juno got fed up and silenced her, pushing her to the ground along with her servants. Then she used her magic to take away Echo's voice. The servants screamed whilst this happened and then once Sofia clapped her hands, the screaming stopped to signify that there was no voice left. Then we all exited the stage. I, as Narcissus went on walking around until I tripped on Sara, who was playing Echo. Then I just stepped over her, until she grabbed my legs, as if trying to get my attention. Once Narcissus ignored her, she started crying, helplessly. While she cried, a hand comes from behind the black stages (that were standing on its side), and signals Narcissus to come closer. After Narcissus admired and fell in love with the reflection (indicated by him saying "so beautiful"), the reflection suddenly gets a hold of Narcissus and brings him down into the pond and a flower replaces him. One of his friends (Mei) comes, picked the flower up and said "Narcissus." After a few moments, the whole cast starts laughing and assembled at the black stages. Suddenly Mei says Narcissus towards the audience (the camera) and we all approach the audience saying "Narcissus," as if we want to get a hold of someone.
>The laughing represents our opinions on this matter. Falling in love with your own reflection and being so addicted to it that you die is a laughing matter. It is so pathetic that anyone would laugh at it.
When we assemble is like a curtain call but where some people are placed is symbolic. Sara (Echo) sat at Sofia's (Juno) feet, and I (Narcissus) sat with Maria (the reflection) behind me.
The very end is to put a statement to the play. Narcissism is a sin and therefore it will backfire one day. So when we approach the audience as if we were to strangle them, was to act as if there was a narcissist person in the audience and we were out to get him/her.<
I thought this was successful, in the sense that we improved from what we had before. First, we were mostly interpreting the story rather than using Artaud's theories. I think what were the main highlights were the red lighting and the use of sound, however that may have hindered our message and even the plot.
To conclude this entry, I got one of Artaud's poems.
Who am I?
Where do I come from?
I am Antonin Artaud
and I say this
as I know how to say this
immediatly
you will see my present body
burst into fragments
and remake itself
under ten thousand notorious aspects
a new body
where you will
never
forget me.
The part of this poem in which I remember well is "Where you will never forget me." It reminds me of the Theatre of Cruelty, because it shocks the audience so much that it is very rememberable.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Performance Self Evaluation (Completed sheet)
Name: Andrea Masuda
Role: Narrator (acting), lighting, troops (voice)
1) Before attempting this show, I thought the most difficult part to accomplish would be the manipulation of the puppets. We had no experience whatsoever in relation to puppetry, even less shadow puppetry. I believed that this skill would be the hardest to grasp.
2) After completing the show, I still think the most difficult part to accomplish was the puppet manipulation, but also the multi-tasking backstage. I mainly think that this is due to the lack of rehearsals and planning.
3) The most important thing I learned from this show is time management and planning is important. Our planning was not so bad, but we did not stick to it, and that is what caused us some problems.
4) The most surprising or interesting thing I learned from this show was that the synthesis between traditional aspects and physical acting can be effective due to the contrast presented. The difference between the shadow puppetry and the acting was and interesting approach to the performance, and was successful.
5) The aspect of my work on the performances that I am most satisfied with is the physical acting, mainly because the outcome of the audience's participation was better than I expected.
6) The aspect of my work on this show that I am least satisfied with is some of the lighting. For example, when we used the light that shone onto the close-up screen, and I was flashing the colour gels, the case for the gels appeared and the effect lessened because the audience could notice that they were colour gels.
7) Please describe your contributions to this show. Include rehearsal process as well as the actual performances. Be specific and explain in detail.
During rehearsal periods, I attended them, including the morning rehearsals we had. Also, I invested my own time in buying the decorations for the room that we were performing in.
Before the performance, I mainly set up the decorations such as the potpourri, fake hibiscus flowers and also the sarongs that we laid for the audience.
I also set up the lights and the narrator area (including bringing my own laptop and gathering dictionaries).
8) Did you miss any rehearsals? Please explain in detail No I have not. The only times I missed was not rehearsals but to buy materials for the puppet theatre, which was because I was in the Robin Hood rehearsals.
9) Please describe, in detail, what you did during the performance.
I had 3 roles:
lighting: Although I was who mostly manipulated the lights, it was not always I who turned on and off the lights but I was in charge of the colour gels.
acting: I acted as the narrator or rather one of the writers. Here, I would attempt to interact with the audience so that they become more interested and also involved with the show.
voice: I was the troop's voice in the scene where Serena was traveling with her brother.
10) Any other comments that you would like to make
>It was pointed out the the troops puppet was not clear enough, which upon watching the performance video, I agreed, even though it was me who made it. I think it could have been in more detail and the troops could have been larger/longer.
11) I believe I deserve the following grades for the performance:
Rehearsal process/technical planning: 85% - I attended all rehearsals however, as a group we were not committed enough, and we should have been more productive during rehearsals and also added more rehearsals.
Learning lines/completing tech: 85% - With the lines, i had learnt them more a less but not completely. I had to glance at my lines once in a while which was stuck onto my laptop. However, I made sure that it was not obvious/noticeable.
Tech./Dress Rehearsals: 90% - although we did not have much rehearsals, during the rehearsals I tried to put all my attention and concentration into the performance.
Attendance (class, rehearsals, scene shop): 95% - I attended all rehearsals and also invested my own time in buying decorations, but we could have had more rehearsals outside of class-time.
Final Performances: 95% - I think we did a good job however, we had difficulties which could have been avoided through more time investment. Despite the obstacles (we overcame them and), we gave a good performance.
Role: Narrator (acting), lighting, troops (voice)
1) Before attempting this show, I thought the most difficult part to accomplish would be the manipulation of the puppets. We had no experience whatsoever in relation to puppetry, even less shadow puppetry. I believed that this skill would be the hardest to grasp.
2) After completing the show, I still think the most difficult part to accomplish was the puppet manipulation, but also the multi-tasking backstage. I mainly think that this is due to the lack of rehearsals and planning.
3) The most important thing I learned from this show is time management and planning is important. Our planning was not so bad, but we did not stick to it, and that is what caused us some problems.
4) The most surprising or interesting thing I learned from this show was that the synthesis between traditional aspects and physical acting can be effective due to the contrast presented. The difference between the shadow puppetry and the acting was and interesting approach to the performance, and was successful.
5) The aspect of my work on the performances that I am most satisfied with is the physical acting, mainly because the outcome of the audience's participation was better than I expected.
6) The aspect of my work on this show that I am least satisfied with is some of the lighting. For example, when we used the light that shone onto the close-up screen, and I was flashing the colour gels, the case for the gels appeared and the effect lessened because the audience could notice that they were colour gels.
7) Please describe your contributions to this show. Include rehearsal process as well as the actual performances. Be specific and explain in detail.
During rehearsal periods, I attended them, including the morning rehearsals we had. Also, I invested my own time in buying the decorations for the room that we were performing in.
Before the performance, I mainly set up the decorations such as the potpourri, fake hibiscus flowers and also the sarongs that we laid for the audience.
I also set up the lights and the narrator area (including bringing my own laptop and gathering dictionaries).
8) Did you miss any rehearsals? Please explain in detail No I have not. The only times I missed was not rehearsals but to buy materials for the puppet theatre, which was because I was in the Robin Hood rehearsals.
9) Please describe, in detail, what you did during the performance.
I had 3 roles:
lighting: Although I was who mostly manipulated the lights, it was not always I who turned on and off the lights but I was in charge of the colour gels.
acting: I acted as the narrator or rather one of the writers. Here, I would attempt to interact with the audience so that they become more interested and also involved with the show.
voice: I was the troop's voice in the scene where Serena was traveling with her brother.
10) Any other comments that you would like to make
>It was pointed out the the troops puppet was not clear enough, which upon watching the performance video, I agreed, even though it was me who made it. I think it could have been in more detail and the troops could have been larger/longer.
11) I believe I deserve the following grades for the performance:
Rehearsal process/technical planning: 85% - I attended all rehearsals however, as a group we were not committed enough, and we should have been more productive during rehearsals and also added more rehearsals.
Learning lines/completing tech: 85% - With the lines, i had learnt them more a less but not completely. I had to glance at my lines once in a while which was stuck onto my laptop. However, I made sure that it was not obvious/noticeable.
Tech./Dress Rehearsals: 90% - although we did not have much rehearsals, during the rehearsals I tried to put all my attention and concentration into the performance.
Attendance (class, rehearsals, scene shop): 95% - I attended all rehearsals and also invested my own time in buying decorations, but we could have had more rehearsals outside of class-time.
Final Performances: 95% - I think we did a good job however, we had difficulties which could have been avoided through more time investment. Despite the obstacles (we overcame them and), we gave a good performance.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Robin Hood: After performance
During the performances of Robin Hood, I was backstage crew and stage manager.
Before the performance starts, I would set up the prop table and make sure every thing's in place. I also check the stage set and see if there were any wrecks, especially on the second performance because it might have been wrecks on the first night.
I also gave warm-ups to the actors (while they were not doing their make-up or hair etc). I used the warm-up Mr. Evans normally gives his actors in his productions, such as Tina. We got into a circle and passed on a line from the play. It seemed to work and the kids got energetic, since most seemed to enjoy it.
When the audience started to arrive, I would make sure every actor stayed in the backstage area, double check the props, and also check if the actors had their props that they initially need, including personal prop. Also, when there is 3 minutes left till the play starts, I gave all the actors the warning, then I signaled the lighting/sound crew.
]
During the performance, I mainly checked if actors were at the places they needed to be and tried to keep them quiet. I had help from a few teachers, which was helpful. On the first night, Sara was there as well to help. The main problem was not noise but the curtains. Many actors still had a habit of flicking the curtain instead of smoothly entering, and I had to make sure that the curtain was not opened most of the time. Again, I had help from the teachers and Sara, and I was grateful for that. Bernie, the other backstage crew was in charge of the other entrance through the castle, and that allowed me to focus on the rest of backstage.
When the interval finished, I also had to do the same process as before and give everybody a 3 minute warning. I also had to call in the audience as we could not start without them.
I was amazed at the performance the elementary students gave. Many, or rather almost all raised their voices and pronounced their words (I could hear them from backstage clearly as well). Although there were some slips, and people forgot their lines, the others covered them well and collaborated nicely.
The second performance I believe was as equally as good but the audience had much more small children and made more noise so the actors had to speak up more.
I enjoyed being part of this play and playing a role like an assistant stage manager was a new experience to me. I found that if I had less activities, (because I had activities like field hockey) then I could have attended more rehearsals and thus learning more about being an assistant stage manager. I thought that other bits such as props could have been done quicker so that the performance week wouldn't have been that hectic.
This is a picture of most of the cast in their costumes. As you can see, both costuming and make-up were done well. Although I was not part of the costuming and the make-up, I thought it might be an interesting role I could take on in another project or production.
Before the performance starts, I would set up the prop table and make sure every thing's in place. I also check the stage set and see if there were any wrecks, especially on the second performance because it might have been wrecks on the first night.
I also gave warm-ups to the actors (while they were not doing their make-up or hair etc). I used the warm-up Mr. Evans normally gives his actors in his productions, such as Tina. We got into a circle and passed on a line from the play. It seemed to work and the kids got energetic, since most seemed to enjoy it.
When the audience started to arrive, I would make sure every actor stayed in the backstage area, double check the props, and also check if the actors had their props that they initially need, including personal prop. Also, when there is 3 minutes left till the play starts, I gave all the actors the warning, then I signaled the lighting/sound crew.
]
During the performance, I mainly checked if actors were at the places they needed to be and tried to keep them quiet. I had help from a few teachers, which was helpful. On the first night, Sara was there as well to help. The main problem was not noise but the curtains. Many actors still had a habit of flicking the curtain instead of smoothly entering, and I had to make sure that the curtain was not opened most of the time. Again, I had help from the teachers and Sara, and I was grateful for that. Bernie, the other backstage crew was in charge of the other entrance through the castle, and that allowed me to focus on the rest of backstage.
When the interval finished, I also had to do the same process as before and give everybody a 3 minute warning. I also had to call in the audience as we could not start without them.
I was amazed at the performance the elementary students gave. Many, or rather almost all raised their voices and pronounced their words (I could hear them from backstage clearly as well). Although there were some slips, and people forgot their lines, the others covered them well and collaborated nicely.
The second performance I believe was as equally as good but the audience had much more small children and made more noise so the actors had to speak up more.
I enjoyed being part of this play and playing a role like an assistant stage manager was a new experience to me. I found that if I had less activities, (because I had activities like field hockey) then I could have attended more rehearsals and thus learning more about being an assistant stage manager. I thought that other bits such as props could have been done quicker so that the performance week wouldn't have been that hectic.
This is a picture of most of the cast in their costumes. As you can see, both costuming and make-up were done well. Although I was not part of the costuming and the make-up, I thought it might be an interesting role I could take on in another project or production.
After the performance: Wayang Kulit
Reflection for…
Wayang Kulit Project: Serena
Andrea Masuda
In this project, my roles were acting, lighting and also decorations. I was the voice for King Wrath’s troops and also I was one of the narrators. Although my role as well was lighting, it was also Mei’s role as well.
When we were given the assignment, I thought that the puppet manipulation would be the hardest, and I thought this during the whole of the preparation process for the presentation. The other parts such as lighting, sound etc, I did not think was going to be so difficult, and I was right. The puppet manipulation seemed to be the hardest obstacle to overcome.
Our project was successful to an extent, but could have been better. It was mainly because of time issues but I think that our ideas were good and interesting (I explained these ideas in one of the previous entries) just our action time was not fast enough. Time management was clearly an issue.
The reason we had time issues was that we had to make the shadow puppet theatre and also the puppets and that took time. Until we had the puppet theatre and the puppets, we could not rehearse. In the end, we only rehearsed it the day before the performance, which then became a hectic two days for all of us.
My contribution backstage was mainly lights (for during the performance), however (as I stated in the beginning of this reflection) I was also in charge of the decorations. I thought about it, discussed it with the rest of the group to get more input and finally, I went out on a Sunday to buy these decorations at Daiso (100 yen store). I also contributed in the sense that I attended rehearsals. I had attended the extra morning rehearsal that we had before the performance.
Before the performance, we had many technical difficulties. One major one was that we had not rehearsed it with the close-up puppets so we could not get much practice with that. Also, we could not find speakers for the sound effects. Mainly because we did not have the cable that would go from the computer to the speakers, so we had to use the weaker ones.
During the performance, we had further problems. One was the lights. We had a moment that some one (I could not catch who it was) did not know which lights to turn on and there was one time that we turned on a light and then turned it off soon after which made it seem like a mistake.
Another complication was the puppets. During scenes in which included many actions, the puppets would get damaged and during the performance, the puppeteer would have a tendency to overdue it and with that, the arm of one of the puppets fell off. Lancelot’s arm fell out and the Serena’s hand fell off, which created unintentional humour for the audience.
Also, another major problem was that there was a transition between scenes in which the puppeteers did not know what was next. There was a time that there was a long pause in the dark. Perhaps, if we had a list of scenes in big letters below the screen, then that complication would have been prevented.
Despite the problems we faced, it was successful. The audience had reacted the way we expected them to (such as laugh at the right times), and some transitions were smooth. The live music worked well, but could have been more planned out so that it did not just sound like a bunch of pans hitting each other (which is good for only particular effects).
The audience’s participation during the narrator’s scenes was unexpected but rewarding because Mei and I had been preparing just in case if the audience was not participating. This precaution was worth it in the end because at the beginning, when I asked them if they had any ideas why Serena was upset, they simply answered “No.” So then I asked further questions and that was when they had participated more.
From this performance I have mainly learnt that time management and practice is very important, but this is what I learnt through a mistake. I also learnt through an achievement, which was that the synthesis of traditional aspects and physical acting can be effective and create different effects.
Although this was a tougher project than “Perfection,” it was more rewarding in the sense that there was more research and backstage work than practical work.
Here are some pictures:
This is the main screen. The characters on the screen are the King and Serena.
This is the close up screen. This scene is the scene where the King gives the letter to Serena.
This is the narrator area.
This is how the set looks like. Where the sarongs are is where the audience sits. Around the audience there is a border of potpourri and fake flowers (hibiscus).
Wayang Kulit Project: Serena
Andrea Masuda
In this project, my roles were acting, lighting and also decorations. I was the voice for King Wrath’s troops and also I was one of the narrators. Although my role as well was lighting, it was also Mei’s role as well.
When we were given the assignment, I thought that the puppet manipulation would be the hardest, and I thought this during the whole of the preparation process for the presentation. The other parts such as lighting, sound etc, I did not think was going to be so difficult, and I was right. The puppet manipulation seemed to be the hardest obstacle to overcome.
Our project was successful to an extent, but could have been better. It was mainly because of time issues but I think that our ideas were good and interesting (I explained these ideas in one of the previous entries) just our action time was not fast enough. Time management was clearly an issue.
The reason we had time issues was that we had to make the shadow puppet theatre and also the puppets and that took time. Until we had the puppet theatre and the puppets, we could not rehearse. In the end, we only rehearsed it the day before the performance, which then became a hectic two days for all of us.
My contribution backstage was mainly lights (for during the performance), however (as I stated in the beginning of this reflection) I was also in charge of the decorations. I thought about it, discussed it with the rest of the group to get more input and finally, I went out on a Sunday to buy these decorations at Daiso (100 yen store). I also contributed in the sense that I attended rehearsals. I had attended the extra morning rehearsal that we had before the performance.
Before the performance, we had many technical difficulties. One major one was that we had not rehearsed it with the close-up puppets so we could not get much practice with that. Also, we could not find speakers for the sound effects. Mainly because we did not have the cable that would go from the computer to the speakers, so we had to use the weaker ones.
During the performance, we had further problems. One was the lights. We had a moment that some one (I could not catch who it was) did not know which lights to turn on and there was one time that we turned on a light and then turned it off soon after which made it seem like a mistake.
Another complication was the puppets. During scenes in which included many actions, the puppets would get damaged and during the performance, the puppeteer would have a tendency to overdue it and with that, the arm of one of the puppets fell off. Lancelot’s arm fell out and the Serena’s hand fell off, which created unintentional humour for the audience.
Also, another major problem was that there was a transition between scenes in which the puppeteers did not know what was next. There was a time that there was a long pause in the dark. Perhaps, if we had a list of scenes in big letters below the screen, then that complication would have been prevented.
Despite the problems we faced, it was successful. The audience had reacted the way we expected them to (such as laugh at the right times), and some transitions were smooth. The live music worked well, but could have been more planned out so that it did not just sound like a bunch of pans hitting each other (which is good for only particular effects).
The audience’s participation during the narrator’s scenes was unexpected but rewarding because Mei and I had been preparing just in case if the audience was not participating. This precaution was worth it in the end because at the beginning, when I asked them if they had any ideas why Serena was upset, they simply answered “No.” So then I asked further questions and that was when they had participated more.
From this performance I have mainly learnt that time management and practice is very important, but this is what I learnt through a mistake. I also learnt through an achievement, which was that the synthesis of traditional aspects and physical acting can be effective and create different effects.
Although this was a tougher project than “Perfection,” it was more rewarding in the sense that there was more research and backstage work than practical work.
Here are some pictures:
This is the main screen. The characters on the screen are the King and Serena.
This is the close up screen. This scene is the scene where the King gives the letter to Serena.
This is the narrator area.
This is how the set looks like. Where the sarongs are is where the audience sits. Around the audience there is a border of potpourri and fake flowers (hibiscus).
Monday, February 23, 2009
Random moments I've witnessed
These are some random moments I have witnessed before which could possibly be used in theatre.
1) LITTLE BOY SHOCKED
Once I was waiting in line with my mother, and this little japanese boy (around the age of 6) was running around and messing around. but upon hearing my mother and I speaking portuguese, he froze and stared at us, looking at us like were aliens or something. This created humor because of the contrast between his activeness and still reaction.
After thinking this awhile, I realised that we HAVE used this before. This technique was used in Tina! in the secretary scene where Zebub comes out for the first time. When the secretaries heard his voice, they start screaming and started to become agitated, but when he comes out dancing, they all freeze and let their mouths drop open.
This was what created humor in this scene.
However contrast also can enhance other things such as fear, or tension. it makes the scene more memorable.
I once watched a scene from a Brazilian soap opera, and one death scene that I thought was very powerful was when a lady was dying in a hospital. Both her husband and her lover (who she had an affair with) were there. She started to shout and beg for her husband to forgive her lover and kept shouting then suddenly there was a long beep. And she froze, then slowly laid her head down. She was dead.
I remember this scene clearly because of the use of the contrast between when she was dying and when she was dead.
Also, Mr Evans had told me this story of a couple he knew when the girl smiled and said to guy "you can rot in hell." This makes the situation scarier, again, because of the contrast. Looking nicely and saying something very unpleasant evokes a sense of fear in the audience, which again, makes the scene more memorable.
2) TENSION DURING HOCKEY TOURNAMENT
While I was in my Field Hockey Tournament, the other varsity team were in the semi-finals, and they had just drawn the game. So the referees had continued the dispute with penalties. Each member would go forth and try to get the ball into the goal. Even by just watching, this one-on-one situation had my heart racing and i was "on the edge of my seat."
Then on the way back, I wondered why I had felt so nervous just by watching the game.
Then I referred back to the lessons on the theatre elements.
Tension was one of them and I identified this moment as the Tension built by task.
The task was to get more goals in than the opponent. It was almost as if I was asking myself, "Will they get it in?" "Will the goalie miss?" "What if this goes wrong?"
3) LADY ON PHONE
While I was walking in Motomachi Street, I saw a lady of around 20 to 25 years of age and she was on her celphone. The first thing I noticed was that her voice was extremely loud. I then realized that she was fighting over the phone with someone. The most interesting part of this moment was the reactions of others. Anyone that passed didnt fail to glance at this lady.
Also, I referred this moment to my past productions. The reactions of others is what makes the situation realistic. For example, in Woyzeck, while the grandma was blabbing on about her little story the other three girls would be looking at each other and exchanging puzzled looks. They then would gather and then run after the grandma worried that she had gone crazy. If the girls had just stood there, then the scene would not have been realistic enough. The reactions of other characters develops the characters themselves and also the relationship between them. In this case, the audience could infer that the grandma was a bit crazy and also that the three girls were some kind of family to her.
1) LITTLE BOY SHOCKED
Once I was waiting in line with my mother, and this little japanese boy (around the age of 6) was running around and messing around. but upon hearing my mother and I speaking portuguese, he froze and stared at us, looking at us like were aliens or something. This created humor because of the contrast between his activeness and still reaction.
After thinking this awhile, I realised that we HAVE used this before. This technique was used in Tina! in the secretary scene where Zebub comes out for the first time. When the secretaries heard his voice, they start screaming and started to become agitated, but when he comes out dancing, they all freeze and let their mouths drop open.
This was what created humor in this scene.
However contrast also can enhance other things such as fear, or tension. it makes the scene more memorable.
I once watched a scene from a Brazilian soap opera, and one death scene that I thought was very powerful was when a lady was dying in a hospital. Both her husband and her lover (who she had an affair with) were there. She started to shout and beg for her husband to forgive her lover and kept shouting then suddenly there was a long beep. And she froze, then slowly laid her head down. She was dead.
I remember this scene clearly because of the use of the contrast between when she was dying and when she was dead.
Also, Mr Evans had told me this story of a couple he knew when the girl smiled and said to guy "you can rot in hell." This makes the situation scarier, again, because of the contrast. Looking nicely and saying something very unpleasant evokes a sense of fear in the audience, which again, makes the scene more memorable.
2) TENSION DURING HOCKEY TOURNAMENT
While I was in my Field Hockey Tournament, the other varsity team were in the semi-finals, and they had just drawn the game. So the referees had continued the dispute with penalties. Each member would go forth and try to get the ball into the goal. Even by just watching, this one-on-one situation had my heart racing and i was "on the edge of my seat."
Then on the way back, I wondered why I had felt so nervous just by watching the game.
Then I referred back to the lessons on the theatre elements.
Tension was one of them and I identified this moment as the Tension built by task.
The task was to get more goals in than the opponent. It was almost as if I was asking myself, "Will they get it in?" "Will the goalie miss?" "What if this goes wrong?"
3) LADY ON PHONE
While I was walking in Motomachi Street, I saw a lady of around 20 to 25 years of age and she was on her celphone. The first thing I noticed was that her voice was extremely loud. I then realized that she was fighting over the phone with someone. The most interesting part of this moment was the reactions of others. Anyone that passed didnt fail to glance at this lady.
Also, I referred this moment to my past productions. The reactions of others is what makes the situation realistic. For example, in Woyzeck, while the grandma was blabbing on about her little story the other three girls would be looking at each other and exchanging puzzled looks. They then would gather and then run after the grandma worried that she had gone crazy. If the girls had just stood there, then the scene would not have been realistic enough. The reactions of other characters develops the characters themselves and also the relationship between them. In this case, the audience could infer that the grandma was a bit crazy and also that the three girls were some kind of family to her.
Robin Hood: Elementary Production
When I heard that there was an elementary production, I thought I would volunteer for that and use it for IB.
In this production, I am taking the role of Assistant Director and Stage Manager. However, since I missed most of the play rehearsals and could not be as involved, I decided to be more of an Assistant Stage Manager, which is kind of between a stage manager and an assistant director.
Rehearsals started after the winter break and will be performed this Friday and Saturday. Since I had Field Hockey throughout January, I was only able to attend rehearsals on Sundays. During rehearsals, I would take notes on the script on entrances and exits, props etc.
Later on in early February, I started to organize the prop list and seeing which props go where.
Last Sunday (the 22nd of Feb), we (Sara and I) helped set-up the stage. Firstly, we put up the white curtain. Then we helped with other details such as the castle, the benches and the rock/forest.
Here are some pictures:
In this production, I am taking the role of Assistant Director and Stage Manager. However, since I missed most of the play rehearsals and could not be as involved, I decided to be more of an Assistant Stage Manager, which is kind of between a stage manager and an assistant director.
Rehearsals started after the winter break and will be performed this Friday and Saturday. Since I had Field Hockey throughout January, I was only able to attend rehearsals on Sundays. During rehearsals, I would take notes on the script on entrances and exits, props etc.
Later on in early February, I started to organize the prop list and seeing which props go where.
Last Sunday (the 22nd of Feb), we (Sara and I) helped set-up the stage. Firstly, we put up the white curtain. Then we helped with other details such as the castle, the benches and the rock/forest.
Here are some pictures:
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