Sarah Kane 4.48

Now ya see, I really like this script.
Even though some may call it sick and twisted, I think it's amazing, it shows pure human emotions. Sarah would have never expected anyone to read these, notes, and so was raw and honest and so for me the script shows a clear insight into another human's mind, and it makes me feel that much more normal; and though I recognise it's strange I call it normal when she was labelled a 'psychopath', what can we define as normal? I think she was fine, despise suffering insomnia and depression, her thoughts were purely human, yet she had no motive for life and in my eyes, that was her downfall.

Picture Collage

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 


 

Antotin Artaud

"Never tire yourself more than necessary, even if you have to found a culture on the fatigue of your bones."

Artaud believed that theatre should represent reality and, therefore, affect the audience as much as possible, therefore he used a mixture of strange and disturbing forms of lighting, sound, and other performance elements.

In his book The Theatre and Its Double, which contained the first and second manifesto for a "Theatre of Cruelty", Artaud expressed his admiration for Eastern forms of theatre, particularly the Balinese. He admired Eastern theatre because of the codified, highly ritualized and precise physicality of Balinese dance performance, and advocated what he called a "Theatre of Cruelty". At one point, he stated that by cruelty he meant not exclusively sadism or causing pain, but just as often a violent, physical determination to shatter the falsereality. He believed that text had been a tyrant over meaning, and advocated, instead, for a theatre made up of a unique language, halfway between thought and gesture. Artaud described the spiritual in physical terms, and believed that all theatre is physical expression in space.

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Artaud#Theatre_of_Cruelty

The idea of a theatre of cruelty . He therefore tried to provoke conditions that would force the release of primitive instincts he believed were hidden beneath the civilised social veneer masking all human behaviour. Describing the energy and impact of a radical new way of performing and responding in strong and often dark imagery, he envisioned a theatre that rejected rational interpretation. Instead, he welcomed the irrational impulses that could be stimulated by suffering and pain and argued that every facet of theatricality should be employed to increase a sense of danger, violence and disorientation in the audience. However, Artaud argued that his concept of cruelty was not sadistic. He wanted to stimulate what was honest and true and the cruelty he envisaged required a rigour and determination that was necessary if performers and audiences were to confront and experience the dark and terrifying responses that lay at the heart of each human being.

was first introduced by Antonin Artaud to describe a form of theatre that he hoped would unleash unconscious responses in audiences and performers that were normally inaccessible. Artaud was opposed to theatrical productions based on venerated classical texts or established literary forms and thought they merely represented worlds that were irrelevant and highly artificial constructions. He wanted audiences to find in the theatre not an area for escape from the world, but the realisation of their worst nightmares and deepest fears.

Taken from http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/staffhome/siryan/academy/theatres/theatre%20of%20cruelty.htm

Dairy Log

Today we studied artaudian theatre and so to "affect the audience as much as possible" we searched the school for the best place to do so which we decided would be under the stage as it you can get a full blackout under there and so the audience would loose one of their senses. Then the class split in half and we was given a set of actions to peform to/on the other members of the class to play on their senses, which involved alot of sound. My half of the class would be the first audience; the performance actually, instead of scaring me, really excited me, it was a completely new type of performance to me and was actually done really well. When it was my turn to perform I really enjoyed that the underneath of the stage was filled with props and so when hitting these against various other props, or around the room, my audience would react in a different way to each different prop. They for our next performance, as a class for/on our teacher, we added strobe lighting which meant our acting skills would be more required to which I expressed myself as quite animistic and clung to the darkness as my ally.

Butoh

"Not thinking, Only soul"
Kazuo Ohno

Butoh  is the collective name for a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement inspired by the Ankoku-Butoh  movement. It typically involves playful and grotesque imagery, taboo topics, extreme or absurd environments, and is traditionally performed in white body makeup with slow hyper-controlled motion, with or without an audience. There is no set style, and it may be purely conceptual with no movement at all. Its origins have been attributed to Japanese dance legends Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno.

Butoh appeared first in Japan following World War II and specifically after student riots. The roles of authority were now subject to challenge and subversion. It also appeared as a reaction against the contemporary dance scene in Japan, which Hijikata felt was based on the one hand on imitating the West and on the other on imitating the Noh. He critiqued the current state of dance as overly superficial.

Most butoh exercises use image work to varying degrees: from the razorblades and insects of Ankoku Butoh, to Dairakudakan's threads and water jets, to Seiryukai's rod in the body. There is a general trend toward the body as "being moved," from an internal or external source, rather than consciously moving a body part. A certain element of "control vs. uncontrol" is present through many of the exercises.

Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butoh

Dairy Log

Butoh is a style of performance that is meant to come from within and so to start the lesson, we practised a Butoh style walk which I think helped my understanding of how, traditionally, Butoh performers would express themselves. Then in pairs, we raced crawling across the room carrying each other as dead weights being told to really let our emotions out, not verbally but still with noises and physical interpretations. We then constructed a Butoh dance to 'Black Skinhead' by Kayne West which was actually quite good however I didn't particularly enjoy studying Butoh; for me it seemed more about strength and rebelling against western stereotypes than a focus on conveying a message to an audience. 

DV8

"...dramatic coherence, human integrity, irresistible visual power, were all there in the most outstanding work I have seen all year."
The Daily Telegraph

DV8 Physical Theatre was formed in 1986 and has been led since its inception by Lloyd Newson.

The company has produced 17 highly acclaimed dance pieces, which have toured internationally, and four award-winning films for television.

DV8 Physical Theatre receives regular funding from Arts Council England and is an Artsadmin associate company. DV8 has also received project support from The British Council. DV8 is a member of the ITC and Dance UK.

DV8 Physical Theatre's work is about taking risks, aesthetically and physically, about breaking down the barriers between dance and theatre and, above all, communicating ideas and feelings clearly and unpretentiously. It is determined to be radical yet accessible, and to take its work to as wide an audience as possible.

DV8 is motivated by artistic inspiration and creative need: these, rather than financial, organisational and touring demands dictate the creation of new works.

Great emphasis is placed on the process by which new work is created. The company has fought successfully for funding to cover lengthy research and development periods in order to maintain rigorous artistic integrity and quality in each new project. The focus of the creative approach is on reinvesting dance with meaning, particularly where this has been lost through formalised techniques.

DV8's work inherently questions the traditional aesthetics and forms which pervade both modern and classical dance, and attempts to push beyond the values they reflect to enable discussion of wider and more complex issues.

DV8 (Dance and Video 8)'s strong commitment to film and video continues. This reflects its ongoing interest in how two primarily visual media can enhance one another and reach a crossover audience from within both forms.

The company's reputation relies on pushing its own boundaries and on the constant re-examination of the roles and relationships of men and women in our society. Its policy insists on the importance of challenging our preconceptions of what dance can, and should, address.

Taken from across http://www.dv8.co.uk/

Physical theatre Mind Map/Word Cloud

01/10/13 - Morning Routines

Today we started our devised pieces with the stimulus title 'Morning Routines'. We Mind-mapped plenty of Ideas and decided we wanted to perform in the style of Frantic assembly because we felt we could relate to their take on Physical theatre most.

The piece started quite abstract with lots of jumping and the use of "quaqua", which we had taken from a previous script, to try and wake up a character but we soon saw it as a battle of day and night nymphs and became more comical.

The two nymphs have set a bet to see if one can wake up the character 'Phil' (Phillchey), whilst the other tries to keep him in bed.

Rudolf Laban

"A life for Dance"

Rudolf Laban was born in Bratislava, Hungary in 1879.  He was an architect and painter and became fascinated with rituals, folklore, mythology, dancing, art and mathematics.  He saw life as a dynamic movement experience.  He founded several dance/movement schools in Germany and in 1930 became Director of Movement at the State Theatres in Berlin.  Eventually, however, the Nazis banned his notation and books.  Laban fled to Paris and later travelled to England where he turned his energies to education and improving the efficiency and harmony of the industrial workforce.  He died in 1958.

Laban looked upon movement as a two way language process through which the body could communicate by giving and receiving messages.  He believed that movement stems from the inter-dependence of body, mind and spirit and he understood that our inner life relates to the outer world.  Laban created a theoretical language in order to help the observer understand and record movement objectively.  This is still widely used in many fields of the movement/dance and therapy worlds.

In the therapeutic field, studying and using the basic fundamentals of Laban movement, these come under the titles of body, space, relationship and effort, enables one to obtain a greater understanding of one’s own movement patterns and preferences.  It helps to increase observation skills of others and to record and assess the movement needs of clients in the clinical setting.

Taken from http://www.sesame-institute.org/movement-rudolf-laban

Dairy Log

When first seeing Laban's language, it shocked me alittle; it seemed alien as I have little dancing background and so me and Ali mocked our teacher alittle about it but as we gave it a try, the language started to make sense. Although I didn't fully understand, it made me watch, and learn from, the others in the class and I feel this is a useful skill that can also be applied to my acting.

Danny's Manifesto

1. No idea is stupid.
2. Put your all into every rehearsal and performance.
3. Be inspired by everything around you.
4. Co-operate with the other actors.
5. The script doesn't have to be followed.
6. Be open-minded and willing when approaching new techniques.
7. The visual of a performance is often as important as the story.
8. The piece should mean more than meeting up and rehearsing, you should rehearse at home as well.
9. Embrace the style of performance, whatever it may be.
10. Have fun.

Frantic Assembly

"THE VIBRANT AND VISCERAL FRANTIC ASSEMBLY" THE INDEPENDENT

Frantic Assembly creates thrilling, energetic and unforgettable theatre. The company attracts new and young audiences with work that reflects contemporary culture. Vivid and dynamic, Frantic Assembly's unique physical style combines movement, design, music and text.

Frantic Assembly is led by Artistic Director Scott Graham. Scott formed the company with Steven Hoggett and Vicki Middleton in 1994 and continues to collaborate with many of today's most inspiring artists. Having toured extensively throughout the UK, Frantic Assembly has built an enviable reputation as one of the most exciting companies in the country. The company has also performed, created and collaborated in 30 different countries across the world.

In addition to its productions Frantic Assembly operates an extensive Learn & Train programme introducing 6,000 participants a year to the company's process of creating theatre, in a wide variety of settings. Frantic Assembly also delivers Ignition, an innovative vocational training project for young men, particularly targeting those with little previous experience of the arts.

Taken from http://www.franticassembly.co.uk/what-is-frantic/

Dairy Log

For today's lesson we looked at the style of Frantic assembly and focused alot on working as an ensemble, so alot of similar movements and movements together. When watching some of their work, I felt inspired as it reminded me alot of the Billy Eliot 'Dance of life' where the police men make every day actions become a performance, and I feel Frantic Assembly were able to create the same thing but in their own style of performance.

Absurdism

In which acting styles absurdism should be placed is a bit difficult. It can have elements of all kind of styles and still be absurd. In order to explain absurdism there are some specific elements to be extracted.

In an absurd play you see magnified characters in an abstract situation. Absurdism is about provoking your thoughts with laughter. It has no beginning, middle or end and doesn't look like conventional theater at all. This theater of the absurd subverts all expectations at every turn.

You might even say that if it slightly DOES look like conventional theater it is not really absurd. Absurdism on the other hand is always informative. 

Like no other acting styles absurdism puts all reality in weirdness, and still it makes you think. When you get to see an absurd performance, in style, you'll think: what and who I am watching has to be crazy. On the other hand it always has intense moments. It looks like reality but is not the reality we know.

In other words: Absurdism is the philosophy which believes that a human being's attempt to understand the universe and find meaning in it will always fail, because no such meaning actually exists. An interresting but kind of depressing thought. Still Theatre of the Absurd in the 20th century evolved into a certain genre and acting style of the performing arts which represent works of the absurdist philosophy. So for theatre this philosofical approach is quite interesting. 

An amazing example is Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett. This is the play that started a trend which became known as "theater of the absurd. Other wellknown absurdist writers are Eugene Ionesco and Harold Pinter. 

Taken from http://www.acting-classes-online-tips.com/acting-styles-absurdism.html

Matilda idea

Today we've discussed some ideas for the workshop piece inspired by a track from Matilda, we also created an opening that goes:

• A young child's used toys are scattered across his room
• He enters, tidies up and then goes to sleep and lights go out
• Strobe lighting starts along with the song 'Tip toe, through the tulips'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMyICWx-plU

• The Toys then start moving towards the boy 
• He wakes and shouts in fear taking all the life out of the toys but his imaginary friend still stands

My general overall idea of the whole thing is that the boys is unappreciated by his parents, or something similar, and his toys, who are quite traditional but become more Gothic and worn down through out, manipulate this into seeming like his friend but actually use this to do something outrageous like ruin his Family's life or even turn him into a toy. The overall idea needs working on but we have some greater detailed ideas for other parts of the performance.

My Character is a Jack in the Box. I think it'd be cool if the other characters called him Jack or 'JB' in the performance however names could also deteriorate and shorten as the play goes on as a motif for the deterioration of the boy's life or something similar, as could the make up and costume.

 

17/09/13

Periods 3&4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kobdb37Cwc
In these classes I worked in a group with Jake, Connor C, Zach and Rosie to devise a piece centred around the lyrics of 'I don't like Mondays'. Although it did take us a while to sort out, we created a really good piece of physical theatre where the characters were rushing their Monday morning routine repeating "I don't like Mondays" and "Tell me why?" At points, tasks such as taking a shower, making breakfast and driving were shown by the other actors becoming objects related to each task. The song played over the top of this.

Periods 5&6
These lessons were 'Performance workshop' so we created a short, quite random, quirky piece in two different groups. I really enjoyed this because we worked well as a team, but also both the final pieces looked great and could be interpreted by an audience in plenty of different ways; Phil saw the others groups characters as quite poor people fighting over something important to them whereas I saw their characters as a rich, snob type who were fighting over something quite petty just to be one up over the other.

16/09/13, Pina Bausch and the exhaustion technique

16/09/13
On Monday I quite enjoyed using the exhaustion technique. I felt motivated and part of a team; we were all suffering together and if one of us was held back, the others would be jumping to make up the effort. At one point me and Liam were the last running against each other in a test of stamina, I didn't feel like I was against him but I felt more encouraged that he was there because like before, we were running and suffering together. However at the end I did write in my log book that my head felt like it was going through combustion.

I felt the exhaustion technique worked to an extent; yes we genuinely were, and therefore looked, tired, I don't see how that would work in a performance, or atleast not in one I'd enjoy being part of. I tried to watch the film "Pina" where it is used effectively however I got bored quickly and as an actor, this technique doesn't interest me.

Pina Bausch
"I am no one's pupil"
Pina Bausch was a German performer of modern dance, choreographer, dance teacher and ballet director. With her unique style, a blend of movement, sound, and prominent stage sets, and with her elaborate cooperation with performers during the composition of a piece, she became a leading influence in the world of modern dance from the 1970s on and was the developer/inspiration of the 'Exhaustion technique'.

Week 09/09/13

I've really enjoyed our first proper week of Drama; we looked at Physical theatre and also worked well together to devise two pieces surrounding a collection of images. In the double we plan to devise a serial circus themed piece, I think it'd be cool to have some dance and music in it because it would be different to our other performances. If we go down a more strange route, I think costume will be great to focus on; things that I think would look good in this sort a piece are coloured eye contact lenses, possibly wigs/masks and/or outfits all one colour.
 


Also, for the larger scale production in the single class, I'm thinking of growing my hair bigger, or even cutting it shorter, to develop more of a character.

Physical Theatre

Definition
Physical theatre is used to describe any mode of performance that pursues storytelling or drama through primarily and secondarily physical and mental means.
Taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_theatre

Initially when I think about the term 'Physical theatre' I would associate it with using actors/actresses bodies to present scenery such as a bar or even objects and vehicles for example a tank. However Physical theatre expands much further than this and can be used to tell stories without using words as the actors connect with the audience; this creates empathy for the actors but also keeps the audience intrigued. Another advantage of not using words is that the audience can interpret the piece however they want too giving endless possibilities to a piece. 

Physical theatre can also include speech and can be used well to create a very comical or serial piece. I also like this idea because it moves away from naturalism, which is the style that I'm used to performing in, so it is a chance for me to develop new skills.

However I think it would be hard to devise a Physical theatre piece that does this to a good standard and so I hope either I'm wrong or that we are given a piece to perform.

When using physical theatre I would like to experiment with music and dance as the three all link in with each other and can bring out the best in a performance if used correctly.