Blog #4: "He's dead, the High Governor is dead!"

Description:

The fourth week of April just passed and the school play rehearsals this week were based on staging the fifth scene of the play. Since this is one of the longest scenes in the play, we divided it up into different sections in order to make progress quicker. Therefore, actors were divided into three different groups; the dinner party, Redwood and Mrs. Redwood, and the witches. In my case, I was in charge of incorporating the witches into the scene as they had to serve as a visual aid to increase tension exponentially. Throughout this entry I would like to discuss some of the issues and good ideas which arose from this week's work.

Analysis:

Firstly, I will being by analyzing the work done with the witches throughout both days as it involve much to it. One of the main issues regarding the witches was that they were incomplete during both days. Since each of the three witches is represented by 3 different actresses; when one is absent, the whole process of the witch is slowed down. For example, on Tuesday Giselle and Siu were absent, and both of them are part of the same witch along with Myra. On Thursday Giselle came to the rehearsal, however, Siu was still absent. To what extent was the progress of that witch poorer than the one of the witches that were complete? In order to start building the scene, we had to bear in mind the demands and limitations of the space and scenery that will be used during the performance. Since we had in mind implementing three different platforms/risers  located in the upstage, the witches had to have movements or actions that aren't going to put them at risk of injury during the performance. Therefore, we started working on still pictures; and the idea was mainly for them to have 2 main still pictures in which they were to remain during the scene looking down at the party and reacting to the different events taking place. The first still picture was to be used during the moment in which Mrs. Redwood is full of ambition and is trying to persuade her husband, Leon, to proceed with the assassination of the High Governor. Once the evil forces begin to move from her to him; the witches had to accompany this transition with a movement in which they go into their second still picture. The effect that this intended to create, was of a parallelism between the evil forces and the witches to give the impression of both being a single entity. This is why, when the witches see how evil begins to take over Redwood; they enjoy it and feel accomplished. It was interesting to see how each witch explored different levels at the same time; having each of the actresses filling different spaces and giving an essence of being big and unreal. For example, the witch which is at the center and is played by Mora, Deweena and Ana Lucia, during their first still picture gave a visual image of a ladder as they were one behind the other but at different levels. Likewise, during their second still picture, Mora who was at the back, bent forwards and grabbed the stick whilst Deween and Ana Lucia were tilted to one side each. All of these amplitude and coverage created by the three actresses had to be taken further and accompanied by an appropriate use of the face expression. In most cases, the eyes was the main focus; as they opened them wide and incorporated also a grim smile. All of these was effective in order to set a mystical and unreal atmosphere in the part of the corruption of evil. 

On the other hand, I would also like to comment on the other parts of the scene which I was not in charge of directing but managed to see afterwards. Firstly, the part of the scene in which Mrs. Redwood tries to persuade Redwood about killing the High Governor has to show two sides of the female character. At first, she intends to persuade him in lovely way and once she realizes that it's not having any effect, she becomes meaner and sassy. Sofia struggled establishing a clear differences between both attitudes; however the final product was an improvement. Her character remains in an upright posture which connotes her unwavering attitude that as the scene develops, is in charge of diminishing Redwood. Likewise, the fact that she articulates between medium and high pitched voice add a sense of roguery. The first moment in this scene was when Sofia's character tried to convince Redwood of the killing by seducing him into doing so; she had to flatter him and compliment him whilst explaining to him all of what he could be able to accomplish. There is an specific moment in which she joins her hand with his saying that everything would be at the tip of their fingers. This is a strong image that gives an impression the transmission of evil; there is meant to be contact between both in order for this disease to spread. Nonetheless, since it was the beginning, Redwood managed to break away from her and keep a distance. One of the strongest images in this scene is the lack of symmetry. We've got Sofia with all of the evil forces at center stage left whilst Jose Carlo is to the other side of the stage on his own. When Sofia begins to walk towards him and the evil forces accompany her; there is a visual image of a wave trying to suck in Jose Carlo. This connotes the idea of how strong is evil and what it is capable of doing; in this case, corrupting Jose Carlo's mind and transforming him into a different person. This dramatic change in attitude is contrasted with the moment in which he comes back from killing the High Governor. We are able to see that he has lost his vitality and is no longer able to fight back and defend himself. There is the contrast with the previous Redwood who womanizes Mrs. Redwood before and the Redwood at this moment; whose voice characterization clearly depicts the change in attitude. We can hear his monotonous voice which lacked expression and maintained the same volume. We can also see how this posture is different, his arms are lying besides his hips and is unable to fight any longer the evil forces taking over him. 

Finally, the other part of this scene involved the party itself with all of the guests. There are two key moments in this scene; one is the dance and the other is when they find out about the High Governor's death. In one side we've got the dance which in my opinion manages to add a lot of rhythm and fluency to the scene as it brings a different proposal to the scene. The fact that we got all of the different Ministers and Captains with their wives dancing together, gives the party a nice essence of friendship which is really key to contrast with the dark atmosphere portrayed by the other part of the scene; with Redwood's transformation and killing. Likewise, there is a comic relief just before the news of the death is told which makes the news more shocking and strong. We see both men and women talking in their respective groups of friends when the Secretary enters. I believe that Tabja's characterization is really good as it really allows for the scene to flow rhythmically without any problem. Everyone laughs at him until Donahue makes them quiet; then the news are told and everyone goes from having the easy and happy attitude to the quiet and shocked one. This adds dynamism and drama to the scene as we are able to see the different character's reactions. The fact that Redwood leaves as soon as this happens in order to confirm the news, adds tension as we don't know if he is going to get caught or not. Then Mrs. Redwood pretends to faint in order to distract everyone's attention, something which manages to also increase the tension in the audience creating dramatic irony. This works in order to catch the audience's attention; since we know what happened, we want to know what is going to happen afterwards and see if they eventually get discovered. 

Connections:

I can connect this week's work with last year's school play rehearsals in which we had to divide up scenes either due to their length or complexity; for example the scene of the circus. That scene involved several actions taking place at the same time; and that made it difficult to direct all at once. Therefore, we had to break it into different sections and distribute ourselves in order to direct each one of them. The same thing took place during this year's rehearsals as the length of the scene demanded for the division of sections to take place. Nonetheless, a recurrent problem that I have managed to recognize is the difficulty of putting the different sections together after working separately. It demands time and patience as in some cases the actors appear in more than one of the sections of the scene and when putting everything together, they feel lost and don't know what to do or what is going on. This was the case of both Sofia and Jose Carlo who didn't have much time to rehearse with the people that were in the other part of the scene. This, therefore, slowed the process a bit down and leaves us with less time to advance with the other scenes as we are working against the clock at all times. 

Reflections:

Although this week's progress was slowed down due to the absences and several problems that took place; the creative process of making the play is still on a good track. However we are still able of improving much more. The implementation of dialogue, as I mentioned last week, helps sometimes the actors in order to define their path whilst characterizing their character; however, this time, our major concern involved the fact that the scene appears to take forever. There are several monologues and moments in which the main characters have to say a long text and if these moments are not going to be accompanied by a great characterization or actions, they are going to become really boring for the audience. This goes in hand with what Grotowski intended; that the actor's acting is the most important and central core of theatre, and it is meant to be used as a medium to establish a connection with the audience as the performances are likely to be charged with energy. 

However, I think that our actors still are lacking the part of using solely the body as some have poor characterization still. This has to be worked on, especially by the main characters that remain on stage for a longer period of time. In my opinion, the chemistry between Sofia and Jose Carlo is improving, but we can still push it a bit further so it does not look unnatural or forced.  

How much of this scene can we cut off? Will the scene work if we try to increase its rhythm? To what extent are witches necessary in order to add creepiness to the scene? Will it be effective without them?

Blog #3: Proceed with the report

Description:

The second week of April is officially gone and this time the school play rehearsals revolved around a different idea, staging the first scenes of the play itself. On Tuesday we divided actors according to the scenes we wanted them to be a part of in order to start building the actual scenes; incorporating dialogue and actions. In my case, I directed the second scene of the play, the one of the High Governor and the Ministers, taking into consideration some of the conventions from Grotowski's Poor Theatre. Throughout this entry I would like to discuss some of the issues and good ideas which arose from this week's work.

Analysis:

On Tuesday, I was in charge of starting to pose a proposal for the second scene of the play which includes the moment in which the ministers discuss with the High Governor what is it that makes Redwood deserve a promotion in his military rank. According to Grotowski's conventions; everything is intended to be minimalist with the intention of focusing the audience's attention in the acting of the performers. I had a vision of the scene having 2 main beats; one being the moment in which the Ministers, Secretary and High Governor discuss about the current affairs regarding the nation, and the second one being the moment in which the Captains interrupt the meeting bringing news about Mayor Redwood's latest achievement. Regarding the first beat of the scene, I had in mind using only two chairs as they could be used in different ways, not just for sitting. The vision which this scene intends to show is how contrasting personalities can be complementary and eventually serve as a whole. For example, from the beginning of the scene, the audience can get a clear idea of the High Governor's peace and tranquility being contrasted with the Secretary's nervousness and fear. In order to make this contrast clear; the physicality and body expression of each of the two had to be worked on; as it was their sole medium of expressing the idea clearly. Juan Pablo at first had struggles finding a way of expressing the anxiety which characterizes the Secretary, nonetheless in the end he managed to define some interesting proposals. His body characterization was based on the idea of having his hands covering his mouth when he wasn't speaking and constantly shaking his body, looking in all directions. This gave the impression of him being dazzled, nervous and confused; which at the same time hinted that there was going to be a moment in which he was going to burst. When he spoke, he lowered his arms and grabbed his shirt whilst saying his text in a fast pace. Although this was effective when creating a contrast in relationship to Kim; it also needed work as it made his pronunciation unclear at times. On the contrary, the idea of Kim being a passive and reluctant character was our goal. This had to be worked on, as Kim's proposal at first depicted a moody and aggressive Governor who appeared to dislike his own country. Therefore, the stimuli given to him had to be changed in order to help him get there easily. We gave him the idea to be like Mr. Mitchell or Dumbledore, as both of them are really serene and tranquil. This intended to help Kim show in a more clear way his love and concern regarding the state of the country. He used legato moves which contrasted with Juan Pablo's staccato mannerisms; standing up slowly and using his arms while speaking. Since he remains seated for the first part of the scene, his reactions had to be made clear by the use of his face expression. For example, when he realizes that the Secretary is nervous and anxious, he gives a look of tenderness. However, when he sees that this is not changing, he begins to become impatient and eventually gives a look of concern and stress. 

Moreover, the two Ministers also had to be antithetical. Minister 1, represented by Patricio, had a more harsh and solid attitude in comparison to the clumsy and lost attitude from the Minister 2, represented by Joaquin. This attitudes had to be clearly shown by the interaction between the actor with the space; and how he moved along it. For example, Patricio used a chair which served to determine who were his movements going to be; he might stand on it, sit on it, lie on it and move it around. Visually, this gave an impression of roughness and savageness, ass the audience saw an unnatural physicality being portrayed on stage. This savageness was made clearly by the contrasting characterization by Joaquin's character, who's body did not used as many big movements as Patricio's, however, his presence was totally different. For example, Joaquin had a more upright posture and used his hands to indicate his different states of mind; hands on mouth, pulling his shirt, when talking, etc. Patricio's character broke away from the stillness of Joaquin's character and used a lower level. This would give the audience an effect of duality; both characters are different but at the same time complementary as they show two totally different attitudes which can be normally found in a regular human being.

Finally, I consider important to state the difference between the characterization of the characters already mentioned and the captains, messenger and Colonel Donahue; all of which enter on stage during the second beat of the scene. Carlos' and Jorge Ignacio's characterization was influenced in a way by martial arts as we had to find something which was totally opposite to what the ministers had been doing. Within the captains, both characters were also different and opposite; an idea which has been portrayed all throughout this scene. However, this time the differences weren't solely shown through the use of the body, on the contrary, they were made clear through the use of text. Whilst Carlos' character was the captain who appeared to be the most respectful and loyal of the two; Jorge Ignacio's appeared to be the most careless yet aggressive of the two. This was made clear through the way each one of them addressed the High Governor. Carlos' character played with a lower level once he entered the stage and saluted the Governor; bending his head down in a sign of respect. On the contrary, Jorge Ignacio's remained stiff and did not show any signs of respect. Therefore, we can see that in that sense they differed from the Ministers as both of these wanted to show respect towards the Governor; they wanted to appear noble to him. However, there is a sort of change in the attitude of the captains once they realize that the High Governor is capable of giving Redwood a better rank. They both begin to use more their body in order to transmit to the Governor the idea that they both deserve the rise in rank; especially when they visually represent a short moment from a war in which they supposedly came out victoriously. This transmits one of the main themes in our play, the idea of the thirst for power and control; something which later will be shown by Redwood.

Connections:

One clear connection that I can make with this week's process, is with last year's initial steps for building a character in a personal and outsider level. When exploring the different ways in which my character could be represented, I had to set my self some visual stimuli as that helped me to get a stereotypical and more clear image of the character that I should represent. For example, myself as the boss of the office had to look creepy and menacing, yet I did not wanted it to be the typical boss with a low pitched voice as that to me seemed too cliche. Therefore, I found myself some stimuli like the cat from "Alice in Wonderland" for the face expression and the "Slenderman" for the body characterization as it had long  extremities; an idea that I wanted to explore. 

In a more outsider point of view, I can conclude by saying that external stimuli is always very useful when building a character. Last year, I was in charge of helping Alejandro define or start building his character. His way of walking was the first thing that arose from the idea of his body controlling him rather than him controlling his body. Having ideas or stimuli to guide him managed to help him go from having nothing, to building a character which had a comical effect on the audience. This idea has been repeated once again this year as the actors on my scene all had a certain stimulus in order for them to define their characterization. In the case of the High Governor it was Mr. Mitchell and Dumbledore; for the Ministers and Secretary it were rodents and similar animals and for the Captains it was at first a gorilla.

Reflections:

I have realized that the creative process of making Grotowskian scenes in the play is going so far so good, however there is always room for improvement. The implementation of dialogue to the scenes really adds a completely different mood and pace. For example, during the scene I've been working on when the contrasting ways in which the actors say their text adds different rhythms to the scene; it all depends in the way the actors say it. One might say it a bit slower or faster and it all makes the scene fluctuate between different paces. This goes in hand with what Grotowski intended; that the actor's acting is the most important and central core of theatre, and it is meant to be used as a medium to establish a connection with the audience as the performances are likely to be charged with energy. However, I think that our actors still are lacking the part of using solely the body as some have poor characterization still. This has to be worked on in order to maintain the same level of achievement as it will not be cool to have actors on stage with different levels of accomplishment (one with a more solid characterization than the other).

I also believe that the idea that this play tries to transmit is really universal and can make the audience easily relate to it. Each one of us can become infected and blinded by greed and thirst for power, and this idea is going to be shown clearly by our game in which the actors do not enter from the off stage, and rather approach the stage from the audience; each one of them therefore working as an archetype for our society.

What might be an effective method to help the actors achieve a better characterization? Is it always useful to have contrasting characters on stage? Can monotony be equally as effective as opposites?

Blog #2: Incendios: a play of war and family

Description:

Last week; Friday 21st March, I attended "Teatro La Plaza" in Larcomar, Miraflores in order to see "Incendios", a play written by Wajdi Mouawad and directed by Juan Carlos Fisher. This tragedy narrates the story of Nawal Marwan, a libanese woman who suffers the consequences of being womanized, by managing time and space, following Kunio Komparu's statement regarding drama which said that it "is not a pure time art like music, for acting takes place in time while it moves through space". Therefore, the play portrayed on stage different phases of the character's life. Likewise, we were able to emerge into the life of Nawal's children as they undertake the challenge of fulfilling their mother's last will. The richness of the plot and the unexpected ending are two of the main factors which helped the play establish a connection with the audience. 

Analysis:

One of the most inviting aspects which the audience is able to grasp as soon as they enter the theatre to find their seats, is the simplicity yet complexity of the scenery already shown onstage. The most interesting aspect for me were the different levels which were used throughout the performance. The stage floor, I considered to be the first level, and it was were most of the actions took place and developed; also being the level in which the play begins and ends. As this space was the one which was closest to the audience, it involved scenes with high level of emotion and energy in order to intensify what the characters felt; this in fact, helped the audience feel identified with the characters' personal issues and thus reach the so praised connection with the spectators. E.g. The play alternates between three different times; the present, Nawal's adolescence and her young adulthood. During the flashback showing her adolescent stage, after she has the encounter with her mother in which they discuss her fate as she is now pregnant; Nawal lies on her knees at downstage right facing the audience and mourns as she is feeling devastated, fearing that they are going to take her baby away from her. At the same time, her boyfriend appears and lies on downstage left on the same position and facing the audience. Both characters are on a lamenting position; really similar to the way of sitting in Kabuki, and rely heavily on their face expression, voice characterization and use of the body to transmit the feeling of despair. The use of lighting is also crucial on this moment; there are only two lekos, illuminating each one side of the stage where the two characters are lying on their knees. This type of light helps to focus the audience's attention on the characters and their actions. Moreover, the fact that they are looking to the audience, to give the impression of them talking face to face, breaks the fourth wall in a way as it makes the audience feel talked to. I was able to see how the acting, lighting and scenery blended together to intensify a desired feeling, in this case despair and lament.

Moreover, the use of the third level and fourth level was minimal in comparison to the other two, however it still created a significant effect on the audience. One of the moments in which it was clearly used, was during a flashback in which we saw Nawal and her boyfriend have a romantic encounter. There is a transition in space from both characters; as they move towards each other. Nawal's boyfriend appears at the fourth level and rapidly descends to the second level where he meets Nawal who was hurriedly ran up to this level. The rapid transition from one place on stage to the other (upstage right to center, and downstage left to center) has created the idea of passionate love. This gives the audience the impression of a loving couple who is going through its early stage where everything seems perfect. Therefore, I believe that the levels are key in order to highlight an specific emotion, according to the different situations of the performance.

Fig. 1.0 showing the different levels used throughout the performance

Other of the aspects of the play which caught my attention the most, and that I consider that worked really well was the use of lighting to create different ambivalent and supplementary spaces. As mentioned, Incendios treated the story of Nawal Marwan, and how her children try to discover the mystery behind her last will. Therefore, the play gives hints of Nawal's past by showing pieces of her as a youngster and young adult. In order to incorporate this, the plays has a game in which the lights divide the physical space on stage to have simultaneous scenes; one showing the young Nawal, and the other showing both Simone and Jeanine Marwan looking for clues about who their other brother is and whether their father is still alive or not; as Nawal left letters for them. In order to achieve this; lights of two different colours were used; one yellow and the other blue. When the blue light flashed, we were exposed to a young Nawal who is with her first love, the one responsible for making her become pregnant. The dimness of the light is complemented by the used of the different levels; as mentioned before, and together give an essence of mystery and intrigue. We see how they plan on escaping and being together forever; however, Nawal's boyfriends send him away and Nawal's mother forces her to give the baby away. This is a critical point in the play as it marks the beginning of the mystery which Simone and Jeanine will have to discover, as I will explain later. In order to give the dramatic air necessary for this moment, the use of face expression and voice from Nawal ought to contrast with the one of her mother. Young Nawal uses a high pitched and high volume voice, accompanied with the mourning; clearly giving a heartfelt suffering by the audience. On the contrary, her mother remains passive and barely rises her voice, showing her determination and cold heart; which surprises the audience as it looks like a robotic action. The audience is able to get into Nawal's shoes as we imagine the toughness of her situation. 


Likewise, the yellow light is used to show the actions that take place at the present; of both Simone and Jeanine as they travel in order to prove the truth behind their mother's will. It is going to be through this moment that the play will try to incorporate a few comic reliefs. Once again, these moments are going to be complemented by the scenery and the acting; which confirmed the idea of theatre being a creative whole which works together, blending all of its elements. The fourth level on stage was used when burring Nawal's corpse and the characters did this in a certain way that alleviated the tension of the story line. They had to pour water inside the whole; however, the way in which they did this, varied according to each character. For example, Simone Marwan did this in a careless way, pouring the water rapidly giving the impression that he just wanted to leave. On the contrary, the notary, took his time and looked at the corpse almost lamenting the loss of Nawal. Likewise, Jeanine took his time, however, she seemed indifferent whilst doing this. The audience, managed to get three different attitudes towards Nawal, which arose the curiosity as we wanted to know more about her and understand why are these characters feeling that way in respect to her. All of these attitudes were clearly shown by the use of the body and face expression; Simone looked away and didn't vary his face much, whilst letting his arms hang loose whilst spilling the water showing his reluctance. On the contrary, the notary looked directly towards the grave while taking as much time as possible to spill the water; showing his willingness to make that last moment of he and Nawal last longer. 

Connections:



The first connection I can make, is between "Incendios" and "Proyeccion Privada". Both plays have a similar game in which the use of lighting is key in order to generate the idea of different microcosms within the same space. Even so, both plays rely on the blue light to create an atmosphere which is not the present reality, but rather a previous moment or even an unreal situation. In the case of "Incendios" this type of light managed to set the play to a previous time in which the implicit protagonist is seen at a younger stage of her life. On the contrary, "Proyección Privada" used the blue light to create a sort of parallel universe in which the characters did a sequence in which apparently they did not related or talked to anyone; it wasas if each one of the characters was alone in his/her world. At the same time, I can connect both of these performances, to "Romper la Piel", last year's school play. Why? Because we also had this idea of using colored light in order to create a different world; the one of illusion. Even so, I can begin to think of how this play can be connected to our vision for this year's school play (spoiler alert!) as we should also include scenes which show illusion and unnaturalness during Mr. Redwood's madness and confusion.

Moreover, I can also connect "Incendios" with Ana Correa's "Confesiones" in terms of space and flexibility, as both plays worked with spaces which were given meaning and definition by their performers. In the case of "Confesiones", we were exposed to a series of characters which entered an undefined space which was flexible to adapting to the needs of the performer. Likewise, the space in "Incendios", although less fleixble, is also able to adapt to the meaning given by the characters. For example, at first it serves as the notary office; and then, with a sudden change in lighting, it either becomes Jeanine's teaching hall or Simone's training area; all depending on what the characters needed. This relates to Grotowski's theory of acting, in which he says that the elements surrounding the actors, if present, should serve as an aid which adapt to his/her needs, and not the other way around.

Reflections: 

To conclude, I discovered the importance of design elements in creating different atmospheres and settings; these being lighting and scenery. It was also interesting to see how lighting and color meaning can depict such a deep and profound message which can be interpreted in different ways. In this case, how lighting can serve as an aid in order to understand the background of the characters and to unwrap the mystery behind the plot of the play. Likewise, how the space can help to intensify the relationship between audience and performer, by making clear the emotions it ought to the create. The concept relates to how people have to learn to know fully someone's background in order to make critical judgement regarding that person. Furthermore, we can relate back to theatrical conventions. What does the audience expect to find when going to see a play? We expect to be entertained, we expect to laugh, we expect to understand the play, etc. Does this performance meet our expectations? Well, although it was not meant for entertainment whatsoever and it rather focus on making us reflect upon an important matter which is present nowadays, such as the search for identity and the many cases of abuse; it had parts which seemed endless. At times, the performance became monotonous as there were moments in which we were witnessing lack of actions and just long texts; for example, when the characters were reading the letters or thinking out loud. Personally, during those moments, I lost concentration and had to focus hard in order to get back to the hang of the play. 




According to the combination of design elements present in this play, can we be totally sure about Grotowski's statement about theatre being acting-centered? Can we provide a performance which transmits the ideas as clearly as this play without the use of fancy design elements, and lack of lighting which is not just for illuminating the whole space? If so, will it be effective?

Blog #1: Just take it or leave it

Description:

The second week of school passed and a series of activities have already taken place during our classes. We have been introduced to a new theatrical genre which is going to be the main driving force for the school play this year; Jerzy Grotowski's "Poor Theatre". In  order to get to know this genre in a little more detail, we underwent physical exercises on Monday and Wednesday of the former week. These exercises are going to be explain along this entry.

Analysis:

On Monday, we began our physical exercises during both periods of class. At first, we warmed up by performing different ways of walking as a group, since this is one of Grotowski's approaches to training as he states that "the elements of the exercises are the same for all" in order to create "the possibility of working 'in security'".  This process intended to make us aware of our physical and psychological limitations in regards to the training. What was difficult for me? What is stopping me from performing confidently? Is it a physical impediment? Is it something more superficial like laziness? What is it? These were the questions that we were meant to pose ourselves during the whole process. In my case, there were certain actions that were more difficult than others, such as walking in low levels by curling my back forwards and grabbing both of my ankles with my hands, trying to walk without bending much the knees. As it is an unusual way of walking and my body is not physically used to it, I began to felt both pain and even exhaustion.  In a sense, I was beginning to achieve what was it that Grotowski wanted me to do, "discover the cause which impeded" me from doing the actions without a fuss. Likewise, it was through this initial exploration process that I began to get some ideas which might be interesting to develop during the school play rehearsals in order to build interesting characters. For example, I consider interesting the idea of using different levels for different characters in order to visually create both the idea of power and hierarchy; therefore making characters such as the witches perform close to the floor and down levels giving the impression of the underworld and unnaturalness. However, assumptions should not be made yet as we have still to explore and study in greater detail this theatre. There is a certain connection between the exercises and the performing of German Expressionism which we studied last year: both caused exhaustion on the performer as they demand for great amounts of energy and concentration.

Afterwards, we began to do exercises on two big air mattresses. These intended to help us recognize are physical impediments and even so, try to overcome them by going beyond exhaustion. Grotowski says that "For every individual one must discover the cause which impedes him, hampers him, and then create the situation in which this cause can be eliminated...". As actors we all had different difficulties which could be tackled in different ways. We did exercises such as letting ourselves fall onto the mattress with nothing to stop us, or rolling along it, or even jumping over someone else and letting ourselves fall on the mattress. All of these, gave us the liberty to explore our bodies as actors and even so to get to know the difficulties of the others. In relationship to Grotowski's theory for the Laboratorium, I believe I managed to identify some of the factors which impeded me to follow the exercise with perfect ease. Due to the lack of practical and physical work I've not done in a long period of time, I have lost what Grotowski praises as "muscle memory" and therefore at moments the exercises were hard for me as some of my limbs began to hurt. Another factor which prevented me from performing to my fullest potential

Moreover, on the second day of training, following Grotowski's ideal of the essence of theatre being the "actor, his actions and what he can achieve" we created a sequence of movements using a different stimulus each. In my case, I used as a stimulus a constrictive plant which is meant to wrap around a tree with the intention of dominating it. During my sequence I used my body as a means of movement, I wanted to go beyond my physical impediments and make clear the idea of constriction and dominance over an imaginary branch which lied parallel to the floor. This sequence demanded for my limbs to bend and give the impression of roots or stalks that go towards something; my second self-given stimulus included the relationship between sun and plants: the search for the needy light. I used the root of the imaginary tree as my light source, I needed to get there although at first I was unsure. I wanted to present three different stages throughout the sequence; the rise, dominance and eventual fall: all of which are themes that ought to be portrayed on our school play. "By gradually eliminating whatever proved superfluous, we found that theatre can exist without make-up, without autonomic costume and scenery, without a separate performance area (stage), without lighting and sound effects, etc." The sequence of actions came from my imagination but from the starter exercise we did at the beginning of this session, in which we had to experiment with different ways of walking using a random musical piece as inspiration. Likewise, we intended to represent different feelings through the representation of different animals (e.g. crocodile represented for me subtle fierceness, and a flamingo represented delicacy). I took the animals which represented the most strong feelings to apply to my sequence; by varying the rhythm of my movements different effects were meant to be created. For example, the beginning of the sequence was performed at a very slow pace and used the down level (inspired on the crocodile) and gave the impression of "searching for a pray". Then, I varied my rhythm drastically once I approached the imaginary branch and used as an inspiration the movement of the spider when getting over an insect. This vivid image created a sense of an unavoidable imprisonment. In respect to Grotowski's principles, I believe that my exploitation of physique was appropriate, however, we are not training nearly as hard as the actors from the 20th century who trained daily for over 7 hours.

Connections:

The most salient connection in my opinion is with German Expressionism. Both theatre practices demand a high amount of physical energy and expression; which in fact, is meant to make the actors feel exhausted. During the performances of "Romper la Piel" last year, it was almost impossible for me not to feel tired afterwards, something which I noticed with the Grotowskian training. By the end of the session I was covered in sweat and felt really tired, therefore I believe that I have reached one of Grotowski's principles in regards to the training, reaching my fullest potential and once I reach that level, go beyond. This was achieved due to the variations in the physical movements and changes between tense-relaxed, fast-slow or strong-soft, as applied to last year's play. Likewise, both theatre practices intend to create close link with the audience; German Expressionism links with the audience through its social protest-like themes and Poor Theatre creates audience participation by "breaking the division" and creating a space in which both audience and performers are physically together.

Grotowski describes the training as a medium of self exploration in which the actor is free to explore different spontaneous movements and shall repeat those movements which he finds interesting various times in order for "muscle memory" to remember them. Japanese theatre, Kabuki, also demands previous and extensive training from the performers; something which was essential during 2011's school play, "Miyuki y los tres demonios". This theatre practice also exploited the physical movements of the actors, however they are accompanied of elaborate costumes, scenery and make-up. During the training for "Miyuki y los tres demonios" we were meant to put a lot of energy to each movement and step; sloppy steps were looked down. However, during our exploration, the strong movements came at some moments, just when it was required. Unlike, Kabuki, Poor theatre seems to center on the beauty of the movements, not the power or strength but the beauty of each stroke.

Reflections:

Through the exploration of this type of theatre practice I began to understand Grotowski's approach to the training. He disliked commercial theatre, the type of theatre which intended to compete against other media such as film or TV; he was sure that all of the unnecessary excesses should be removed in order to highlight the core of theatre: acting. I also realized that theatre should be a personal experience in which the actor dictates the movements he/she should portray onstage. The exploration of an actor should be individual, as it demand concentration and should not be influenced by other actors. One should take personal experiences and try to represent those feelings physically through movements which are somehow symbolic for his persona. 

Moreover, I also believe that the rapidness of the training which we underwent does not allow me to fully understand the Grotowski's training fully. There has been a lack of reflection from my part, at least to its fullest potential, as I have not left behind the idea of performing in order to get a certain response from the audience; something which Grotowski hates. He states that the actors should not worry about what the reaction would be, but center on exploring his inner self and true core from which all of the movements and expressions arise. I also found interesting the idea of the face expressions, although they are somehow similar to the expressionism's, they are intended to be fixed and create a "facial" mask following one of Noh theatre's principles, which dictates that masks are more expressionistic than the face of the actor itself. 

Can we truly rely on the actor's sole body in order to transmit clear ideas to the audience? To what extent will the lack of conventional design elements affect a performance of this character? How much more exploration time will I need in order to purify myself away from the conventional believes of modern theatre actors?

Blog #19: However our celebration didn't last long

Description: 

"A spoonful of trust", according to the One Act Play organizers; or, "6. A spoonful of trust" according to us, is partially over! This Wednesday was the day of the performance and, as usual, we have received both positive and negative comments, as well, as feeling either disappointed or pleased with our own work. This entry will be focusing on the critique received after the performance and I'm gonna analyse in what way we could have ameliorated the play. 

A spoonful of Trust <3

Analysis:

The process of creating and building up the One Act Play was no close to being easy as I thought it would be. This process demanded of a bunch of hours of planning, trying out and practicing; with the purpose of reaching a final product that fulfilled our expectations. In my case, this process was not easy at any stage as once I reached a certain of level of satisfaction with one aspect of my performance, other problems began to arise. For example, when we got the idea of using the duel disk as a prop to help raise the energy in my scene; the other half of it was not taken care of; making it have a low energy and becoming rather repetitive and boring. I'm aware of the fact that the play could have been better, at least my scene could have been more flawless; however the presentations are not over, we still have two more presentations on Tuesday and Wednesday for the Form II and Form I respectively. I consider energy to be a key element in order to make the scene entertaining and understandable; my scene, for instance, demanded high energy and concentration at all times as it does not only rely on dialogue but on actions as well. If we look back at the first drafts of my scene in which there were many actions at the beginning of the scene when Spencer Alexis III was supposedly cleaning his wounds; and to the end product in which the actions were reduced and the main focus was melodrama; we can definitely see an improvement. This process helped me to understand the true essence of this theatrical genre, as I managed to get the idea that body expression and face expressions are much more useful than the dialogue itself. The dialogue can be dull, but as long as the actions that accompany them are exaggerated and grotesque, it will work (el asunto funciona). 

Blog #16: It's time to D-D-D-D-D-D-D-Duel!

Description:

Back to school after the already-missed holidays. However, that doesn't mean that there is no work to do; on the contrary, we are somehow delayed with the building-up process of the One Act Play. This week, we started to completely focus on the development of the scenes of the play; and polishing the characterization of our characters. We also decided on the name of our play based on the main conflict that it depicts. This entry will be focusing on the implementation of props and physicality. 

Analysis:

On Tuesday was the first rehearsal of the week and it began by me practicing with Roberto the first few lines of the first scene, since I hadn't finished writing my script. This was a major drawback as it didn't allow for me to develop or have a solid base for the scene. I couldn't work much as the script was incomplete, so Roberto told me to sit down and write down the rest as I had lost the first draft that I wrote before the July holidays. However, this allowed me to look at how Scene 3 was going on; and analyze it from an outer perspective. This scene is the last of the play and it takes place around the toilet seat. Grandpa Alfie constantly suffers from strong diarrhea due to the food prepared by the maid, Berlinda Jones. In this scene, we can see how Spencer Alexis II, the father, is helping grandpa Alfie clean himself; then, Berlinda Jones bursts in and demands that she needs to clean the bathroom. One thing that really helps to create humor in this scene, is the fact that the whole situation is absurd. For example, it is really improbable that you'll have a situation in which the maid tries to impose herself over the owner of the house, and even so, try to make him leave the room, forcing the grandpa to stand up. 

Moreover, the implementation of exaggerated face expressions, noises and movements in this scene is crucial. For example, taking as an example grandpa Alfie, who at first does not take much participation in the discussion, we can see that the noises he makes contribute to create a grotesque and disgusting atmosphere that at the same time creates humor. While, Spencer Alexis II and Berlinda Jones fight about him leaving and start pulling him from side to side, he is there making noises. These noises reassemble grunting, and somehow the pain a constipated man goes through; which create an absurd atmosphere as the audience realizes that everything is going on while a really old man is trying to defecate, something both disgusting and funny. Moreover, the exaggerated face expression and movements done by grandpa Alfie in this scene help to create an idea of his suffering. For example, when Spencer Alexis II is grabbing hold of him by the neck in order to keep him away from Berlinda, Alfie extends both his arms and legs while opening his mouth and making a choking sound. The fact that both Spencer and Berlind don't realize the trouble they are putting grandpa Alfie through, is somehow comedic and fun as the audience perceives as ironic the lack of concern that these two characters have towards Alfie's needs. Furthermore, we could argue that Alfie's vulnerability help to increase humor as the audience feels that he is submissive and therefore is forced to withstand all of what goes on. Another that I found to be interesting in this scene, is how Berlinda manages to impose over Spencer Alexis II who is supposed to be the man of the house, who has to be in control. For instance, in the beginning of this scene, after Berlinda bursts into the bathroom we can see how she manages to diminish Spencer who is trying to give the image of power. This gives the idea of Spencer's weakness and Berlinda's power which somehow is absurd as the audience knows that it is usually the other way; the employer (owner of the house) is the one in control, and thus the one who decides over the decisions. On the contrary the employee (the maid) is usually the one more submissive, however, in this scene we are seeing the opposite. At one point, Berlinda even raises her broom as if it was a sword, showing that she truly believes that she is superior to Spencer and that no one can act against her. This gives the audience a feeling of confusion and humor as our perspective of a functional family is being distorted.

On Thursday and Saturday I worked with Roberto on my scene, trying to define a set of actions that will accompany my monologue as it is pretty static at first. These actions go as follows:

1. Lavar la cara
2. Secar la cara y manos
3. Poner alcohol en las heridas
4. Poner hielo en las heridas
5. Pomada
6. Curitas
7. Maquillaje
8. Peinar
9. Perfume
10. Sacar la chompa manchada
11. Lavar la chompa
12. Sacar el polo
13. Coger el saco de pijama
14. Poner el saco de pijama
15. Abotonar saco de pijama
16. Sacar cartas de Yu Gi Oh
17. Poner gorro de pijama
18. Tomar pastillas
19. Sacar y poner "duel disk"

What these actions intend to do is add dynamism to the first scene of the play, as it is monotonous at first. The audience is able to see how Spencer Alexis III is reflecting upon what has just happened, her sister humiliated him in front of everyone by hitting and getting him hurt in a party. He is confused, and does not know what to think about this whole situation. However, he is really sure about something; he is not guilty of betraying the Prokopowicz DeBille. In this scene, the interaction with the props is necessary in order to avoid repetition and monotony. For example, at first, Spencer is trying to hide and cover the "traces of the crime"...the wounds. He does so by using the legato movements while drying, applying ice and alcohol to these bruises. The pace he uses to do these movements help to give the sense of pain, that pain caused by his sister. After he's done covering and cleaning his wounds with foundation and makeup; another facet of Spencer is revealed to the audience; his excessive eagerness towards self care... metro-sexuality in a way. He starts combing his hair and applying perfume, even do he does not needed... as he has just returned from the party. He then takes off his stained sweater and tries his best to clean it and remove those marks; which intend to represent his will to move on and forget what happened. However, that is not possible... At one point, Spencer lets a tear stream down his face. That tear is meant to represent all of his suffering which in a way has been contained. The audience therefore, perceives Spencer as a kid trapped inside the body of an almost adult man... so big yet so vulnerable.

There is also a twist in the monologue, the moment in which Spencer shows his true self to the audience; that moment in which he somehow gets possessed by the child that lives inside him... that Yu Gi Oh maniac. This happens, as he discusses with himself giving reasons to why he is not guilty of the betrayal. There is a sudden crescendo in the pitch of his voice and slowly the volume goes up to... There is an increase in tension and the audience can foreshadow that something is about to happen; that Spencer is about to burst. He kneels down and takes out of the cupboard, a "duel disk". This action is accompanied with a low pitched voice; which gives the audience the idea that Spencer  is coming out of his shy and weak crust... to the inner and powerful one. He activates the "duel disk" and starts narrating what happened with Algernon Balthzar Clayton; making exaggerated moves with the hands and having a separated feet stance. The audience is able to feel Spencer's passion towards this card game and really believe that it is all that means to him. When he says "you've activated my trap card" his sudden change in voice, making an unclear high pitched voice... gives a sense of creepiness... this guy is crazy! However, that is what melodrama is about... exaggerating little things. 

"Duel Disk" the prop that will be used by Spencer

The use of props, helped me explore another personality of Spencer; the audience will also have clear what he likes and dislikes by using these series of utensils to clean and cure himself; as well as the cards that will show his fanaticism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR-F99N10Pc

Connections:

I can once again connect the work done this week with the one done during the exploration process during the beginning of the school play, "Romper la piel". Why? Well, I specifically remember a rehearsal in which I didn't managed to find the character Roberto expected me to be. Therefore, with the help of Eduardo I tried an exercise in which He remembered me any memory that made me feel angry, and as this happened I had to focus and use my breathing in order to get these contained emotions out. The use of deep and continuous breathing managed to help me get concentrated on what he was saying, making me feel angry and frustrated as well vulnerable. I even managed to cry and it was inevitable. In the One Act Play rehearsals I also had to rely on breathing in order to help the feelings inside of Spencer Alexis III come out. During the rehearsals I try to accompany each set of actions with a specific breathing pattern; this helps me to concentrate on what is going on and the intentions of this character. It also helps me to connect with him and put myself in his shoes; abuse is something frustrating and depressing for him. 

Another connection that can be made with this week's work is related to an actual melodramatic soapopera, "Maria la del Barrio". In this entry I have mentioned how the absurdity of the plot itself is one of the main generatora of humor. In this soapopera, the characters exaggerate and make a big deal out of situations that don't demand it; and the fact that they care so much and believe that everything is important creates humor on the audience. In "6. A spoonfull of trust" the audience will be able to see how the characters exaggerate a lot everything. For example, the fact that Berlinda is so desperate about cleaning grabdpa Alfie's poop barrage. 

Reflections:

I have realized that all of this process serves a purpose. Character exploration is not only useful in order to identify and build your character externally, by getting to know his way of walking, face expression, etc. It also serves to know your character internally and help you to know what are the reasons behind his behaviour. For example, during the character exploration I pictured my character to use as a center of energy his shoulders and forehead and him using a way of walking based on small and fast paced steps. However, after practicing my monologue in which my character is pretty static and reaching the part in which he is supposed to transform completely; I had a different vision for his physicality in comparison to the one previously explored. He was more extroverted, he was inside his comfort zone and therefore his steps where bigger and stronger; he had something else... An attitude generator: the "duel disk". The audience can therefore perceive Spencer's double personality: the one that is more reserves that he shows to the outside world, and the one more extroverted, true and crazy that he only shows to himself.

Can a sudden change in the character's behaviour be truly a humor generator in the scene?

Blog #15: Characterisation... Please not again

Description:

The second week of July passed, which means that the rehearsals for the One Act Play continued. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we focused on characterisation and exercises that could help us to get into the character. We also decided how our characters should look physically and what clothes they should wear. In my case, there was a day in which Roberto helped me to start building the first scene of the play, in which I'm doing a monologue. This entry will be focusing on the things that were difficult for me and on how effective have been the things we've done so far.

Analysis:

On Tuesday was our first rehearsal of the week and we began by revising what we had so far concerning the script as Roberto told us to bring proposals. After reading out loud, part of our script Roberto pointed out some details that we should take into account. In my case, he gave me a structure that will help the monologue to not be too direct and give away so much information all at once. The structure went as follows:

1. Limpieza
2. Fiesta
3. Herido...?
4. Problema/Discusión
5. Golpes
6. Mujer
7. LÁGRIMA
8. Hermana
9. Cómo paso?
10. SUBE EL MELODRAMA
11. Cómo termino?
12. Razón
13. Descargo, Yo no fui

What this structure intended to do is to help give the monologue a sort of crescendo, a progressive increase in tension and dramatism. Since melodrama focuses on exaggerating actions and making little things into really big things; by going little by little and step by step, the melodrama will start to take over the monologue. For example, at the beginning my character could start by cleaning his bruises with alcohol and a piece of cotton; not much melodrama here as he is not speaking and just focusing on the actions, making them as clear as possible. However, when he starts to talk about the party and the unfairness of him getting hurt by a woman, things start to get intense as a tear starts to fall down his cheek. What we are intending to do by exaggerating little things and making them bigger is to create a feeling of absurdity, we want the audience to laugh at the misery of Spencer. Therefore, the characterization is going to be important in this matter; if the actions and the suffering looks fake then the scene will lose its funny essence. I should also take into account the setting, the place in which my character will be reflecting upon this conflict with his sister. We decided that the setting for the whole play is the bathroom, and we divided it into three sections: the section with the sink, the section with the shower and the section with the toilet seat. Spencer will be in the first section, therefore the actions he does should be relating to the sink and a potential mirror. I started to think about what actions could be possible, taking into account that everything should be exaggerated.

On Thursday, we arrived to the second rehearsal of the week with the improved script, the pictures of our character stimuli, and a sketch of our costume. In my case, I chose Nandito from "Maria la del Barrio" as a stimuli for the physical aspect of my character. Why? Because I perceived him as being in a way the typical, weak and delicate male that easily gets abuse by the power of a sister. Moreover, we also had in mind the idea of making this character sort of metro sexual, and the perfectly coiffed haird of Nandito gave this sort of impression of delicacy and extreme care for his own appearance. In the end, we decided to use pastel colors; therefore my costume ended up being light pink skinny jeans, a light blue shirt, a white sweater, white shoes and a blonde wig like Nandito. I believe that these aspects will help to present the personality of the character in a clearer way as these colors are soft and subtle giving this idea of weakness which my character should portray.

Nandito's face of pleasure and enjoyment.

Moreover, this day I also began to rehearse the first scene of the play. This process was somehow tiring and repetitive at first as I didn't seem to find the character very much. Roberto started dictating to me some of the lines that I wrote that he considered to be best. However, before Spencer starts speaking there is a previous moment in which he is cleaning the bruises. If we look back at the structure for the monologue, the cleaning goes first. Therefore, I started exploring, miming as if I had a piece of cotton on one hand and a bottle on the other. I explored using legato movements, making sure that I rubbed the areas where I had my bruises with delicacy and a slow pace. This intended to give the idea that I was suffering as the wek and slow movements gave the idea that I could hardly do it. The face expression that I maintained through out this moments was also important as I had to try and maintain a sort of poker face with the eyes looking apparently lost and the mouth in a straight line. what I wanted to do was to create the effect of confusion and sadness; Spencer is sad and feels bad for the whole discussion and misunderstanding he has gone through. The audience will therefore feel that it was not Spencer's intention for that to happen, and that now he is regretting everything. Likewise, I tried to implement my breathing in order to reinforce the idea of pain. By making the breathing louder and more consistent the idea of feeling pain could be intensified. In the end, exaggerating everything is better for this type of genre.

Connections:

I can connect this creative process to the one I experienced not so long ago in the school play rehearsals. It is always somehow difficult for me to start planning how to do a character but I think that once I get a stimuli an a starting point things get a lot easier. In the case of this year's school play, I wasn't sure about the character at first as I didn't seem to find the powerful and menacing characterization for "el jefe"; in this case at first I didn't seem to find a way in which I wanted to represent the character of Spencer. Now I have a vision for my character, by finding a stimuli the process of building the character has somehow become easier as how I have some guidance and the ideas are clearer. The challenge for me right now is going to be to implement melodrama to my acting, making sure that the majority of my actions are big and exaggerated. I should also be able to use the voice in order to depict pain and suffering, maybe a voice varying from high to low pitched will be useful...giving the impression that it is about to crack and the character is about to cry.

Reflections:

Linking back to one of the first performances we went to see this year, "Confesiones", I have managed to reinforce what Ana Correa meant when referring to theatre and acting. I understood that the character and us are basically the same as both of us share characteristics and emotions. I also realized that it is sometimes difficult to come out of our comfort zones, as I previously mentioned it was difficult for me to start picturing my character.  I would like to continue exploring the physicality of Spencer as I consider that the variation in pace and energy really manages to give ideas of weakness and power. Legato and staccato movements are important and manage to have a powerful effect.