In order to prepare our actors for extensive physical theatre, I have planned a series of exercises, many of which are influenced by Jerzy Grotowski, to train the body to develop and embrace intricate movements. Grotowski created the notion of ‘poor theatre’, and was “grounded in the belief that the personal and scenic technique of the actor is the core of theatre art” (Slowiak and Cuesta, 2007, 44), meaning practising exercises and techniques is of primary importance to performers. I have particularly focused on exercises which loosen the body, build balance and help the actors to find and use their ‘centre’ – the point where the actor’s physicality should emanate from; Grotowski believes that one must “eliminate the body’s resistances” (ibid, 93), and so the result of these exercises will particularly help Sam, the main actor for the ‘space scene’, with the difficult task of representing weightlessness and anti-gravity. Below are videos which show me being taught specific exercises fashioned to benefit the body in physical teatre, which I will then further prepare to target my specific aims. I am going to be continuing to lead these exercises throughout the rehearsal process, as consistency when practising these warm up exercises mean that over time the body will be trained to allow for more technicality in physicality, as aspects such as balance, flexibility and strength will be further developed.
The slowness of the spaceman’s choreography puts pressure on Sam’s balance, and so building this ability allows for more stable and fluid movements. Also, by finding and using his ‘centre’, Sam will develop a stronger core and hence gain more control on each movement; this will correspondingly help him give the appearance of weightlessness. In the video below, we can see the type of choreography that the spaceman does that will be developed from these exercises.
Slowiak, J. and Cuesta, J. (2007) Jerzy Grotowski. London, Routledge.
Since our performance has developed from focusing on moments of love to moments of life, we have found that the daily delusions of everyday people provides a fascinating representation of individuality and great opportunities for moments of artistic creativity. We have hence integrated another full scene of physical theatre, this time with dance incorporated movement.
The main scene that I am now choreographing is the Handyman’s delusion, also known as the ‘space scene’; this involves the character building a rocket and flying into space. It holds elements of escapism, as well as him chasing his dreams – all executed through the means of physical theatre. When thinking of movement, I began by researching ways to represent anti-gravity. I considered that the best way to represent anti-gravity was through the use of lifts, leans and balancing methods. For these to be implemented, ensemble work is necessary and therefore teamwork is crucial.
To prepare for choreography, I watched many spacewalk videos to analyse the speed, pace, and the physicality of astronauts.
After watching videos such as these, I noted the height, bounciness and floating elements of the movement and started to use the ensemble to practice ways to represent space walking. Our experiments can be seen from the video below.
After experimenting with base movements, I had to find a story within the choreography. Through discussion and character analysis, I worked with the director to develop the scenes narrative to hold representations of the Handyman chasing his dreams, but unable to reach or touch them. To portray this in a visually stimulating way, I incorporated a female dancer into the piece to represent a personified embodiment of the galaxy. The act of chasing his dreams can then be more clearly portrayed through a series of chasing sequences, as well as creating a magnetic draw between the Handyman and the Galaxy, yet having no contact between the dancers. Below are some video examples of this: here you can see the ensemble experimenting with leans and lifts, whilst incorporating the chase and non-contact elements.
We also often film in slow motion to analyse our intricate movements in more detail. This helps each actor clearly see where they need to improve, and how every part of their body works throughout each movement.
Graham and Hoggett talk of the importance of filming rehearsals when creating physical theatre. For their rehearsals with Frantic Assembly, the choreographers explain how “the video camera became a necessity in the rehearsal studio” (Graham and Hoggett, 2009, 33). The media provides actors to reflect of how their movement looks to an outside party; “[i]t is there to show you what you don’t yet know” (ibid, 35). I will continue to film videos for the actor’s benefit, so we can continue to improve and develop the movement scenes, and analyse the details of the choreography.
amovees (2013) Astronauts tripping on the surface of the Moon. [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2adl6LszcE&feature=youtu.be [Accessed 19 April 2017].
Graham, S. and Hoggett, S. (2009) The Frantic Assembly book of Devising Theatre. Abingdon: Routledge.
NTDTV (2012) Neil Armstrong – First Moon Landing 1969. [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwZb2mqId0A&feature=youtu.be [Accessed 19 April 2017].
Through discussion and exploration as a company, we have begun to shape our performance into a narrative that follows seven strong characters, and we have finally arrived at a destination for our shows name: Kalopsia. Kalopsia has developed from focusing specifically on love, to focusing on individuals and their hopes, dreams, and true selves. Our performancehas therefore been shaped to consist of two modes of performance: office life, and delusions. There is a stark contrast between these two modes, the office life is performed in a realistic format, whereas the delusions are artistic, contemporary representations of the limitless possibilities of the imagination. The delusions are where my focus as choreographer is, as particular styles of movement and physical theatre come into play.
The first delusion is a representation of a silent movie. Because of the lack of sound in this form, the physicality has to be visually gripping and have clear indicators as to what is happening, as well as having a strong storyline to keep viewers gripped. This is achieved through the archetypal use of a hero, a villain, and a damsel in distress. Such characteristics are seen in Commedia Dell’Arte, and so physical characterisation from this era of theatre can be put into practice.
To begin my research, I took the three characters of the villain, hero and damsel, and analysed the different movements each would adopt.
The villain is typically a suited or caped man with a moustache, who hunches over and rubs his hands together. Of the Commedia Dell’Arte characters, I related our villain closely to Brighella: “he is capable of intrigue, deceit, making a mockery of the entire world with his mordant, salacious wit” (Rudlin, 1994, 86). He can woo the ladies with his persuasion and “rakish attraction” (ibid, 87). He also stays calm whilst hatching his cunning plans, but gets more excited as his plans spring into action.
The hero, on the other hand, stands tall and strong which the stereotypical ‘hero’ gestures on crossing the arms or showing his strength. Despite this, our hero is more of a wishful thinker. I have related this character to Pedrolino/Pierrot. Though he suffers constant unrequited love, and he is “bottom of the pecking order[, …] he never loses his dignity” (ibid, 134), much like our hero of the silent movie delusion.
The Damsel in distress is especially feminine, and relies solely on the hero to save her. I have connected this archetype to the innamorata (female lover); it is known of these characters that “[t]he Lovers exist very much in their own world” (ibid, 109). Our damsel is especially similar to the famous Isabella, who is a “prima donna […] developed from innamorata, but less dilettante, more perspicacious” (ibid, 116).
I have passed on my conducted research to the actors of these characters, with the intention for them to begin to study their characterisation and physicality. These Commedia Dell’Arte characters provide the actors in this scene with a base point on which to physically act and what gestures and stances to incorporate. I will work more on their physicality once an understanding on the characters has been established.
The silent movie genre has very particular characteristics; namely, the overdramatised gestures and physicality of archetypes. Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), one of the most famous silent movie actors of his time, was my next point of reference when researching for this delusion. His very particular and peculiar walk clearly shows the overdramatised style that we need in our first delusion.
A primary part of the silent movie scene is drawn on the well-known cliché of tying a woman tied to the train tracks. We drew from this to emphasise the overdramatisation and delusion aspect of the scene, and tap into the well known aspects of the medium. This also offered a strong storyline for us to follow which would be easy for the audience to understand, which explained above is important for a medium that lacks dialogue and speech. Also, evident from the Charlie Chaplin video above, there is a sped up nature to silent movies, and so within the movements I aim to keep a heightened pace to represent this without it looking rushed. We made sure to draw on the comedic element of silent movies as this is something which has prospered throughout its history . I believe physical comedy is a strong way to begin our performance of Kalopsia as it engages the audience’s attention and prepares them for further moments of humour in the following scenes of the play.
JoseMonkeys (2011) Charlie Chaplin – The Lions Cage. [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpjEyBKSfJQ&feature=youtu.be [Accessed 8 April 2017].
Rudlin, J. (1994) Commedia Dell’Arte an Actor’s Handbook. London: Routledge.
I have been actively looking at physical theatre performances, one such performance being Lovesong (2011), written by Abi Morgan and performed and choreographed by Frantic Assembly. The movement in this performance is very similar to what I see our performance containing. It is very personal and emphasises the relationship between the characters.
Frantic Assembly have become my foremost influence when choreographing, as I want primary focus to be on the performers relationships and connection within the scene, something which Frantic Assembly always show in their work, as they understand that “[t]heatre exists between performers, lighting, the audience, the music and that moment on that day” (Steiger, 2006, 314).
Intimacy between performers in Lovesong, from citz.co.uk
Frantic Assembly are skilled in lifts, leans and weight shifts. This is something I have taken influence from as I believe lifts are a great way to show an exclamation of emotion. To prepare for lifts, I researched into how Frantic Assembly prepare for lifts through trust exercises, and the common lifts that can be done. The video below was my starting point in this research.
Frantic Assembly have a seamless balance of extravagant lifts, and small, subtle movements in their work. Of their performances, the co-founders of the theatre company state that “much is made of the limb-threatening, high-octane, full-blown physicality that has become our trademark [… yet] we are as dedicated, if not more so, to the subtle, nuanced end of the physical spectrum” (Graham and Hoggett, 2009, 40-41).
Lifts between performers in Lovesong, from citz.co.uk
It is important that I find the balance between extravagant and subtle, as one accentuates the other. Because of this, I have begun practising ground work which will emphasise the lifts we have been practising; subtle movements such as stylised walking can be just as effective as a lift. To develop this, I will dedicate as much time choreographing the nuanced movements as I will the lifts.
Graham, S. and Hoggett, S. (2009) The Frantic Assembly book of Devising Theatre. Abingdon: Routledge.
Morgan, A. (2011) Lovesong. [performance] Scott Graham & Steven Hoggett (dirs.) London: Lyric Hammersmith, 11 January.
National Theatre Discover (2015) Frantic Assembly Masterclass: Learning to Fly. [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4mXhW7TXQ8 [accessed 7 March 2017].
Steiger, N. (932006) ‘Absolute immediacy’: A conversation with Scott Graham. Contemporary Theatre Review. 16 (3) 312-317.
The Pin Hinge Collective have established the theme of their first show: Love. Mundane love, ordinary love, real love. Our company is extremely interested in pinning together what it means to be human, and as we explored how one may discover their identity, we found that we have all had experiences with love – these experiences have shaped our lives and helped us discover ourselves. This, we recognised, is a universal wonder.
What better way to discover love stories than to recount our own? Each member of our company prepared short stories to share with each other, specifically about our experiences of love. We brought to the table a range of narratives, from inspirational lovers to adultery, to historic love and to listing the personal, little things in love that make us happy. These stories helped us to create a structure for our performance.
Love is a physical being, it exists not only emotionally but physically. As we worked through a storyboard, we outlined how a simple story of love can be portrayed through movement. To explore further into this possibility, I looked into Frantic Assembly, a physical theatre company founded in 1994. Their movement explores the energy between performers, something which is particularly interesting to me as Movement Choreographer. A movement story of love must inevitably involve a close connection between performers; energy must be ever present and must pass through each actor as they work together.
Here are some videos of the company exploring movement, and our recent experiments with physicality.
To find out each actor’s movement capabilities, we discussed who was comfortable with physical movement, and who has prior experience with methods of physical theatre. I then led a warm up and a series of physical theatre exercises to explore people’s flexibility, strength and abilities in physicality. These exercises included contact improvisation and lifts, as well as ‘push hands’ exercise, of which Frantic Assembly describes that it “helps participants get used to the notion of non-verbal and essentially physical communication between performers” (Graham and Hoggett, 2009, 105).
You can see from the two videos below the advancements we made in our rehearsal, going from three lifters to two lifters. These are developments we hope to continue as we move forward with movement routines.
As Movement Choreographer for The Pin Hinge Collective, my aim for future sessions is to build trust between performers, and continue with exercises such as ‘round by through’, which “requires fluidity and balance” (ibid, 131) and ‘hymns hands’, which is used “to show the flexibility of choreography” (ibid, 155). Movement can show the strong emotional connection between characters, and has the potential to be a beautiful addition to our first performance as a company.
Graham, S. and Hoggett, S. (2009) The Frantic Assembly book of Devising Theatre. Abingdon: Routledge.
