Reflective Practitioner: Inspiring Conditions of Play

I do not want to launch straight into my usual Siren Song tasks/games/play in the first session because I want to simply get a feel for the group and let them get a feel for each other…..I just want them to play a little. Once we find a group dynamic I will introduce more focused exercises. I already know lots of games that can be used for initiating devising but I have done some research to source some more here are my initial thoughts on those:

“The Grid”
This involves skills of group awareness and discipline, concentration, and trust. An area is marked out for the group to move in, in as simple neutral way as possible (eyes front, head up, no arms swinging), walking in straight lines and at right angles (ninety degrees), changing direction whenever they encounter another person travelling towards them. Someone outside the group claps to indicate that everyone should stop. This is developed so that the group can stop and start without help.

(sourced from Devising Theatre: A Practical and Theoretical Handbook
By Alison Oddey Pg 173)

I think that this exercise will be really useful for getting the group to concentrate and learn to become a team, develop being able to read and respond to each other.

A Boal exercise:
One person holds up the palm of their hand and the other person puts their nose really close to the palm. The palm leads the nose around the space. This can be done in pairs but also in 3’s with one person leading two noses. You can swap after a certain amount of time, so that everyone has the opportunity to lead.

This will involve trust and concentration, which is always useful in trying to develop a group dynamic.

Another Boal exercise- In pairs. One touches the other and at the point of contact shakes-you can also introduce melodic sound.

This exercise is useful for exploring reaction. If the performers are going to engage the audience in play then they will have to learn to respond and react to the situations that arise without self-conscious restrictions. I think that this exercise will help to develop their confidence with that requirement.

Ernst Fischer exercise- As a group. The leader calls out an emotion by saying ‘do it for love (or any other emotion). Once this has been called one person must step forward and begin to make two repetitive movements accompanied by two sounds. The rest of the group must do the same but have to fit around the first performer to create a machine. By the end of the exercise the whole group should be functioning as a single ‘love’ machine.

Again, I think that this exercise is really useful for working as a whole and for concentration.

Maker’s Diary: Rehearsal process and plans

We are going to have (as usual) a fairly limited amount of time to get this performance off the ground, so I have been considering the best ways to fully maximise our time and resources. We will effectively have 3 weeks to get things done, so I have broken that down into weekly objectives:

Week One- purely devising. Our objective is to generate ideas for more games/structures and to generate material for the speeches.

Week Two- Continued devising and tape work. We will rehearse and record all of the tape texts and develop performance persona.

Week Three-Fixing/Rehearsing. We will fix all of the structural elements of the performance and rehearse those scenarios.

Tomorrow I am going to plan some launching exercises for devising and prepare a more detailed schedule of work. This time I want to share my research objectives fully with the performers- I am hoping that this will keep things moving in the right direction and focused more tightly on the task at hand. This is my last chance to create the opportunity to gain insights into ‘participative’ performance from inception to reception.

Maker’s Diary: Success!

I have finally managed ti juggle time and space, so that a rehearsal is now possible. I have booked the Sports hall Room 1 from 2pm – 6pm on Thurs 20th Sept. I have e-mailed all of the performer’s with the details and am just waiting for their final confirmation. I am so excited; I can’t wait to get back into the studio and start to develop the new concepts and insights. A huge potential cast this time too….very very exciting indeed.

I have also been offered even more VL work by Rob…woohoo…good times!

Maker’s Diary: The More the Merrier

I had two e-mails from two more students today who might be interested in performing-Andy & Danielle…..just trying to find out their availability now too. It is proving to be VERY awkward to co-ordinate all people in the same space at the same time but I am determined to do it.

Reflective Practitioner: Confirmed Case Studies

Good news! Both Breatheartists and The Little Dove Theatre are happy to be used as case studies and are going to participate in correspondence interviews! I am just over the moon-‘ave it! I have now mailed them the questionnaires and an really looking forward to their responses.

On a slightly different note I am still phaffing about trying to pin down a space and suitable time for a 1st rehearsal. We really do need to get a wriggle on as time is slipping away…again!

Maker’s Diary: Space & Organisation

I am in the process of trying to organise a first rehearsal with the performers that have expressed an interest thus far. As ever, it is difficult to try and co-ordinate times and spaces to suit all of those involved. The performers who are interested so far are: Phil, Ruth, Dan, Adam, Felix and Debbie. This should actually be plenty of peeps to marshal the games etc…ooohhh! It is so exciting.

Maker’s diary: New Writing

There has been some to-ing and fro-ing between the student I mentioned previously and myself; although she does not wish to perform, she really wants to offer some writing for the performance. I have sent her a writing brief and am really looking forward to reading what she produces for me. Here is the brief (I have also posted this on facebook and the portal):

Writing Brief for Siren Song

I will need extracts of text and dialogue for performance. It will be recorded by performers onto audio tapes and used as part of a game in the show. The text/dialogue needs to be between 1-6 minutes long. It can be a conversation, a phone message, a monologue, a diary extract, pretty much anything but it must be about SHE/HER. You must remember that SHE/HER is not a single character or fixed persona. I would suggest that you perhaps take a look at Martin Crimps Attempts on Her Life and Sarah Kane’s Crave as examples of the style of writing that I am looking for.