Workshop 1

Workshop 1:

Cost of the Actor:

Cost of the actor is an interesting concept, which explores pushing an actor to their limits and then pushing them even further after that. The result of this if done successfully brings new colours and life to a performance.

Grid Walker:

The purpose of this exercise was to walk along a grid where in which we had to try and reach something at the end, however there was no end. At first this seemed like a very basic exploration, follow the lines and keep a pace, however the results were very different. Throughout the music was being stopped and replayed at different points this affected my fluidity as I began to become more rigid in my movements. It also distracted me from my task, making me more frustrated. To resolve this I increased my pace and kept my glare straight, this reminded me of Horses when racing and how they are forced to only keep their eyes facing the finish line; I hoped if I could keep this same mentality I would become closer to reaching the end. The idea of an objective worked well. Objectives are apparent in many styles of theatre but give the actor purpose to reach towards something. If the walking was for nothing I would of felt like it was to repetitive and mundane but by fighting for something at the end I suddenly found new ways to move an intertwine with my ensemble. From this I felt a positive effect by pushing myself on an emotional roller coaster until I reached realisation to just focus on my objective and not the surroundings.

Slap The Back Of Each Others Knees:

This exercise was my favourite of the lesson. The ultimatum was as simple as slap the back of your partner’s knee while not allowing them to slap yours. Again as with the previous task this seemed simple. However by being shouted at to work harder and push myself this brought on a very strong unexpected competitive edge. The result in this saw me moving swiftly and fast with my complete focus on slapping my partner’s knee. My competitive edge became so powerful that it overruled me into slapping my partner’s arm by accident; this was due to moving so fast. I began to sweat heavy as there was no break in-between and as it went on it became more real as though I had to win. The purpose of this was to make the actor as real to the situation as possible in order to make the audience feel the same.

Fishing Rod:

This exercise was centred on imagination. We had to create a fishing rod that at one end a partner was pulling and on the other a partner was being pulled in like a fish. The reasoning was to test our use of physicalizing things that are not actually there. From this we can make the real even more real and the non-existent come to life. When I was being pulled in I had to consider the weight of myself and the strength of my partner. As my partner seemed like she would struggle to carry me I put up a fight when being dragged in. I would try and pull back and then do sudden jumps that brought me closer. After a while the exercise became more organic as I almost actually felt like I had a string around me, this shows the effect fullness of the exercise.

Lover Leaving:

This was based on the idea of one person being a lover and the other leaving. I was the one leaving and my partner was trying to stop me.  This was very interesting as our objectives were complete opposites. My partner Oscar was strong and so therefor it was a challenge trying to escape him. I was being lifted, dropped and pulled which were both physically and mentally draining. I became actually irritated; as Oscar was so in the moment that even if I told him to stop he would continue. At points I felt like I was being crushed and when I broke free an overwhelming feeling of happiness came over me. This for me was a perfect example of how being put in a situation as close to real life as possible brings out true emotions rather than just reading a script. From this exercise I would be more successful in perceiving relationships as a result.

 Alphabet Drawing:

I found this the most difficult task. It was based around memory and concentration as we drew an array of letters in mid air. After placing my letters I lost track of where exactly they were, this affected my fluidity and as a result I tensed up. I began to become frustrated as I was constantly going back to the beginning of the alphabet and so I feel I was putting too much pressure on myself rather than allowing it to happen naturally. The mix of physicality was my favourite part. I found my self changing levels and hitting different body parts. We then moved on to doing the task in groups, working together became increasingly easier, showing the effects of teamwork. For me the exercise helped my multitasking and also concentration, which is vital when performing, as you must give your undivided attention to the person or emotion you are creating.

Dancing In Pitch Black:

This was the strangest out of all the exercises. We were put in complete darkness and told to respond however we would like to a song that played. This song was highly repetitive and only had one bridge but apart from this sounded the same throughout. At first I took this more as a selfish activity and took the opportunity to dance and have fun. I continued to freely do this for 10 minutes. At this point I realised my surrounding and how it was very hard to see anyone however I tried not to let this put me off and continued. At 12 minutes I started to feel lonelier, the vulgarity off the music added to this, as the beats were strong and trance like. At 15 minutes I felt like I was in a repetitive cycle as minutes felt like hours. By this point I was sweating heavily and so sat down. When sat down I felt this was when I was alone with my thoughts that were slightly frightened. To escape this I continued to dance, which was a vicious cycle. This exercise was a great way to test the cost of the actor. I got to my limit and carried on going, as it was the only way. I began to stop dancing and instead was making body shaped and feeling the music through myself.  I found new moves and colours in myself that I wasn’t aware of but this strengthened my behaviour in tense situations.

Jet of Blood:

This is a short play written by one of the visionaries of experimental theatre Antonin Artaud. I found the play very confusing as it uses highly descriptive language on scenes with complex metaphors and references that seem randomly put together. The lines we chose to explore were from the opening scene ““I love you and everything is beautiful”, “You love me and everything is beautiful,” To use Artaud’s style of Theatre Of Cruelty we all threw these lines at the audience in different tones and styles until aggression grew. At first I began calm until by the end I was screaming with rage. This was to provoke the idea to the audience that “do I love you?” and “Is everything actually beautiful?” or are we in a self-destructive society. I enjoyed making the audience think by immersing them in the scene. The goal was to make them feel uncomfortable in order for them to question themselves.

I enjoyed one group’s interpretation that turned of all the lights and played with our various senses. I remember someone blowing in my ear and another stroking my back. From this I felt isolated and uncomfortable which showed I was fully immersed in their scene, creating a visual idea of what they were trying to show without using words.

Questions:

What is Theatre?

It if a form of entertainment performed within a space however our perception of entertainment can be different, I feel knowledge is entertainment and anything theatre portrays will be entertaining even if it may be difficult to watch.

Have We Become an Unshakable Nation?

I feel the growth of technology and the lack of mystery in life have caused us to become more inclined to except the disruption around us. The Internet allows us to see terror around the world as the planet is more in tune as to what is happening globally than ever before but yet we lack in making an effort as the general public to help. This comes down to us being desensitised to violence and disruption, as we are subconsciously force fed it from a young age. It is so hard to prevent a child from accessing shocking things at a young age and so therefor we are almost accepting of our ignorance to everything happening around us.