Blog #5: Todas las suplicas se escurren como arena en nuestras manos...

Description:

The third 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. Throughout this week, actors were divided into different groups, groups which included the people that are part of the same scene in order to start building the actual scenes for the play; incorporating dialogue and actions. In my case, I did not contributed to this process in a practical way, but rather helped to direct and give opinions on how to improve the scenes a bit more referring back to the general conventions of German Expressionism studied in class. I had the opportunity to help to develop two scenes; including the "Estación 1" and  the "Sueño Azul" on Saturday and Thursday respectively.

Analysis:

Since last Saturday I was not present during the rehearsal because I went to Magdalena del Mar with Katty with the sole purpose of attending a Commedia dell'Arte Workshop, I was not able to witness how scene 1 began to solidify. Therefore, on Tuesday I was really surprised with how this scene was being portrayed and staged as it was not similar to what I expected it to be in terms of scenery and stage directions. For example, the idea of the paint beaters being located in 3/4s at downstage right was really interesting as it gave the scene a sense of imprisonment, since it somehow reduced the space and gave a visual effect of roundness. It also broke away from the symmetry as it generated this feeling of repetitive cycle due to its roundedness; this idea was also supported by the repetitive sequence performed by the actors onstage.  The row generated by the tables placed together at left stage center reassembled clearly and assembly  line so Henry Ford-ish which gave the audience the idea of monotony and suffering from the workers' point of view. Moreover, I had to replace Bruno for a while on Tuesday as he was absent and this gave me the opportunity see the scene from a different point of view. 

I could noticed that most of the younger actors (Form 2) were starting to give their characters a more expressionistic essence; for example, Juan Pablo Tabja's characterisation really caught my attention. First, his body characterisation ws really unnatural and weird which fits with this theatre practice. The fact that he plays with levels, using mostly a low level, makes the audience understand how the character feels...that feeling of oppression and weakness. Since he walked bending his back and retracting one of his arms it highlighted his job in the factory and gave the idea that he does the same thing over and over again for so long that his body has molded and become a machine with the most efficient specs for it to fulfill his job efficiently. The bending of the back and one of the arms hanging lower than the other gave the idea that due to the weight of the paint cans he is always in that position. His eyes were also wide opened and his mouth remained in a horizontal position which depicted no clear emotion at all. In terms of his voice characterisation, I can say that the fact that he varied between medium and high pitch while playing with this eyes gave the character an image of being somehow grotesque and inhuman.  It was important for us, to ensure that the actors were being as expressionistic as they could be, therefore Roberto had the idea of making each actor walk along the stage individually one by one, to see how their characters moved. Although some did this without problems at all, there were some who struggled to give their character the expressionistic touch. For example, Jorge Arteta's way of walking seemed too natural and too similar to his. We had previously told the actors to find a deformity for their character, a physical characteristic that would be exaggerated and used even as a center of energy. However, Jorge's deformity was meant to be the arm and although he said it, it was not clearly shown by his way of walking. Roberto suggested that he exaggerated a little bit more his arm by raising it a bit more and by inflating a little the chest and bending it outwards a little bit. The purpose of this was to make his character look more unnatural and grotesque, and to highlight his deformity which once again was linked to his task in production... pouring pigment into the container.

Moreover, we also began implementing changes in the pace of the actions in the scene. Roberto gave letters to the different speeds at which the actions were meant to be done. "A" meant that everybody had to do their actions at a fast pace, "B" meant that some had to do them fast and some slow, "C" meant the same (the ones that did them fast one "B" had to do them slow and vice versa), and finally "D" meant that everybody had to do their actions at a slow pace. The purpose of these changes in pace was basically to create contrasts between different moments. It also intended to create tension, suspense or to drag the attention of the audience to different parts of the scene. On Saturday, I witnessed these changes in pace being implemented into the scene. For example, the scene started with everyone in D, doing their set of actions; then a still picture, and the audience witnesses a sort of transfer in energy starting from one side of the stage to the other and back. This for me, made the audience pay attention to each actor individually in a sequence. Afterwards there "El Jefe" entered and the pace become even slower which was contrasted with the high energy from "El Jefe". This contrast helped to generated a difference between workers and boss, establishing a hierarchy for the audience to see. It also created tension as the workers seemed to be unsure, hesitant and didn't know how to react to the situation (this is shown by the low energy and pace). Another clear example, is with Emilio's character's death. The scene was developing with a normal pace and the workers showed commitment and dedication to their work, which mostly was due to the fear they felt of being fired. Emilio's character suddenly starts choking and convulses until he lies dead on the stage. There is a sound of the falling cans...then silence; this major drop in the pace manages to reinforce the idea of tension and generate suspense. 

Moving on, it was also interesting for me to help Manu in the direction of the scene of "El Sueño Azul" in which the 6th graders acted. It was interesting to see how almost everyone was implementing conventions of German Expressionism body characterisation such as the face expression and the strong staccato movements which were made due to their muscles being tensed and moved. They played a lot with their heads, making subtle thrusts and changes in the direction of their glare which increased the tension and pressure being applied onto "El Hombre" who is meant to be surrounded by them in the scene. The fact that they use the chorus when saying phrases such as "A tu alrededor... ¡Mira!", generates an effect of masses, of greatness and plurality. This helps to generate tension and fear amongst the audience and "El Hombre" itself since it portrays him as the vulnerable victim who is not able of escaping his own thoughts. This is linked to German Expressionism's context, and the idea of people not having a clear identity; in this case "El Hombre" is unsure of what to do with his life and is overwhelmed by a series of emotions. 

Connections:
I can make connections between scene 1, "Estación 1" and "Proyección Privada" the part of the green scenes. Why? Because in these scenes we are able to see different actions taking place at different areas of the stage and sequences being repeated over and over again. In scene 1 we are able to witness sequences within the production and sealing of paint cans, whilst in "Proyección Privada" we witness what might be incoherent sequences at first but then can be analysed as the perception of reality from the woman's point of view. The fact that everyone does more or less the same actions in "Proyección Privada" gives this sense of uniformity and equality as it, in my opinion, gives the idea that we are all the same and that there is no one better than the rest. In "Estación 1" the same sense of equality and monotony are present, however in this case we are not dealing with a perception of reality, but rather with reality itself...crude reality for workers of the paint factory who suffer from the exploitation by "El Jefe".

Moreover, I also found a connection between the play itself and "El Lazarillo de Tormes", although it might look quiet strange and rare at first, the idea is basically pretty and simple and relates with ease. In what way? Well, in this novel we are exposed to the story of this young boy who does not have a established home as he constantly switches of attorney due to various reasons such as lack of appreciation, abuse or fear. In the play we basically see the same idea in a less extreme way, "El Hombre" changes from one job to another because he has not being appreciated, he has been abused and he fears the fact of being unemployed due to the rage of his family. Another way of connecting to this play is the idea of being influenced by society. "El Lazarillo de Tormes" has as a theme the idea of society changing and corrupting our minds. In the play we see how every worker has been affected and changed by his surroundings and the job they profess. For example, Tabja's character's physicality depicts the idea of transporting cans from one side to another. We see some sort of corruption of the body in this case as it has been changed due to what he had to do.

Reflections:
I have realized that the creative process of making expressionist scenes in the play is going so far so good. The implementation of dialogue to the scenes give it a completely different mood and pace. For example, in scene 1 the contrast between the part in which the workers talk to the audience in their normal voices and using a normal physicality when saying "the poem" is suddenly changed at the end when they completely transform their body into the one of their character and intend to use their voice characterisation which somehow breaks this bit of "unreal" (the part of the normal voices and body). In class we have learned that rather than focusing on the self discovery and relationship between the actor and his character, German Expressionism seeks to represent those emotions and use your body to transmit that idea without restrictions or constrains. Actors in those times did so because they wanted to relate to the German society of those times who suffered from many things such as lack of identity and economic crisis. Since this type of theatre was not intended for entertainment, everything was to be presented in the most crude and real way; therefore it not only tried to show something real, but something twisted about reality.

In the play, we are exactly seeing this and therefore I think that the main idea of German Expressionism is being accomplished and effectively applied. The fact that we see the story and life of a man that is not successful at all and who does not have a clear identity (this is why he is always questioned in his dreams) is really crude and sad, but it also represents the story of many of us...people who have not been able to accomplish what they wanted at first or their goals in general.

To what extent will music help to intensify suspense in the scenes?