Victoria Power 0805626

1.
The main themes which emerged from the V stage to the P stage throughout the creative process of the piece Four Ways to Speak Out, revolved around love, and how it can become oppressive, and in the case of our piece, turn into domestic violence; “domestic violence is physical, sexual, psychological or financial violence that takes place within an intimate or family-type relationship and that forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behavior” (http://www.womensaid.org.uk/domestic_violence_topic.asp?section=0001000100220041§ionTitle=Domestic+violence+%28general%29) . A common issue that we found when making the transaction from the validation stage to the performance stage, was how the whole of the community came together to detest Andy’s character. During the initial workings of the piece, this had not been present; however I think that a turning point was during the V stage, during the working weekend, when we began our character warm up’s. This emotion which we had then discovered was taken and amplified during the performance stage and allowed us to “grow both physically and emotionally through issue based theatre” (http://www.voidphysicaltheatre.com/). One shared experience that the community witnessed together, which I think is of great importance and effectiveness, was the fact that we all had an insight into the diary and the re-enactments of ‘The Woman’s’ memories. I think that if the community had not witnessed and been present during Naomi’s rape scene for example, the community would not understand why Hayley’s scene, where she was pulled back into the suitcase, was so emotional and in a way repulsive and heart-wrenching for us to watch. I also think that the audience felt a lot more emotion from the space with the community present. As we as a class discussed when we entered the Arena Theatre, there is always a member of the audience watching you, and if we are reacting from the sidelines, then they will also react to our reaction; “it can make us feel as though we are standing very close to them, wherever we are sitting in the theatre.” (Callery, 2006, pg84).
2.
The transition in which we moved from the studios into the Arena Theatre in my opinion could have gone a lot smoother and have been taken more seriously and professionally by some members of the group, “Commanding the stage demands control of the stage.” (Callery, 2001, p 79). Not all members of the cast were able to control themselves in an appropriate manner in order to control the stage. This may have been because we were entering a new space, yet the majority of the group managed to control themselves. “Emphasis is placed on the process by which new work is created” (http://www.dv8.co.uk/about_dv8/artistic_policy), and during the transition from the studios into the theatre, this is still a process, and should be respected as a vital piece of the work that we are trying to create. However I think that once the group entered the theatre, we were all intrigued with the scenography, and wanted to be able to explore how the piece would work with a real surrounding rather than an imaginary one, for example the street and the bedroom. Once we began to explore the space, I feel that we all began to find our connections with the different areas of the performance space, and through the use of the warm up and the character warm up, we were able to achieve these connections a lot easier. This then enabled us to let our characters grow even further with the aids of props and real environments which we were able to occupy. However, I do feel that even though it was made clear to us the first time that we entered the performance space, some people still believed that if they were not standing right on the front row, they could not be seen by the audience. During the final scene, myself and Huma were positioned right at the back of the stage next to the pillar. Whilst looking straight out at the audience, I could clearly see the majority of the audience through my peripheral vision. Also during Hayley’s scene, I was sat on the floor to the side of the stage with no lights shining directly on me, however, as mention previously, wherever we are when we are on the stage, someone is looking at us; we are all visible unless we deliberately place ourselves out of view. I think that with some people’s attitudes and opinions upon this matter, they forgot that they could be seen if they slipped out of character. It came to the point where during the ‘chaos’ scene, when the space wasn’t being filled accurately, Royona had to take it upon herself to place people into gaps. However when we were rehearsing back in the studios, this had never been necessary. I think this was a particularly big weakness within the group. During the ‘chaos’ and the following ensemble scene, the whole cast moves throughout the whole of the space, creating gaps and allowing room for others to fill them, for a more even and visually satisfying piece of theatre. I don’t think that some people at this stage of the process had grasped this, and were still waiting for their space in the front row.
3.
I think that during the three show period, the shows grew in both physical exertion and emotional climax. I believe that the ensemble pieces grew with intensity, especially during the ‘chaos’ scene as Andy began to interact with the rest of the characters, and we in turn reacted back. I particularly found it effective how during the chaos scene Andy pulled me along the floor away from Stephanie. In doing this is it made me panic in a failed attempt to get him off me, and also enabled other member of the ensemble, in particular Stephanie, to aid in this attempt. Over the three shows this grew and during the final show Andy also pulled Stephanie’s hair. This provoked many of the female character surrounding him and they all collectively helped to push him off her. Towards the start of the piece when Andy and Dan were taking part in their suitcase duet, the cast became more involved in the action over the three shows. During the first show not many people went forward and interacted, however by the time we got to the third show, the majority of the people were either reacting with Dan and Andy, or with each other. During this scene, I attempted to enter the piece in some way, however on many occasions when I tried to do this, I was either pushed or pulled back by other members of the cast. I believe that although this was effective in developing reactions from other people, I would have still liked to have had the opportunity to enter the space and interact with the boys. During the three shows I feel as though my character had a chance to develop both due to being in the performance space, and also by being able to interact with more people around the space. When we moved into the Arena, I did not feel restricted in one space like I had when we were back in the studio. I think that with the added set and props, and with the Arena being a larger space, I felt that it was easier and I had more opportunity to move around. During each of the performances, each character did something differently and found a new emotion at different times in comparison to the previous shows. I think this was mainly due to the fact that the RSVP process was still being applied even though we were in our final stage of Four Ways to Speak Out. Even though this was the case, it enabled us to grow as the community, as individuals, and also for the audience.
Overall, I think that the whole process was a very successful, enjoyable, informative, and inspiring experience for not only the performers but also for the audience. In my opinion, a successful piece of theatre is one where a member of the audience can leave being educated and enlightened, and ultimately to have enjoyed the performance, regardless of how upsetting and emotionally draining it may be. This we achieved.

Bibliography.

Callery, D. (2001) Through the Body: A Practical Guide to Physical Theatre. Routledge. New York.

Women’s Aid [Accessed on 23rd April] : < section="0001000100220041§ionTitle="Domestic+violence+%28general%29">

Void Physical Theatre [Accessed on 24th April]:

DV8 Physical Theatre [Accessed on 24th April]:

Final Post. Hayley Rockley. 0818681.

1.
As Four Ways to Speak Out finally came together as a performance piece it was quite clear that the main issue is domestic violence. However not just the physical aspects which is normally referred to, but the mental torture one can endure. In the finale of the piece, the images created by Andy’s character and the four women are that of claustrophobia, with him clinging onto them and ’smothering’ them with his love. The community also portrays the mental aspects of domestic violence by the subtle, pedestrian movements such as stroking each others face and holding hand. The finale image depicts a web of hearts that the women were trapped in, preventing them from leaving. This image leaves the audience with the notion that domestic violence does not have to be the obvious physical abuse, that it can be much more clever and disturbing than that.
However there are various other issues and themes interwoven throughout the piece. Male dominance and patriarchal views are reflected from the very beginning of the performance. The two male characters become involved in conflict between each other. Although it is because of secrets untold, ultimately the duet reflects male competitiveness. Whoever comes out as the winner is the stronger male. This is apparent in every day life, (when considering male dominated sports and rowdy pub culture) and is depicted through movement in Four Ways in an animalistic way, relating the two males to animals trying to mark their territory. It is also apparent how, although there are only two males in a predominantly all female performance group, they have a lot of control over the females. An example is how in the ‘street scene’ the girls movement is suggestive as though to compete and impress the men and how Gemma’s representation of the woman is so easily led into the two men’s arms with her movement like that of a rag doll suggesting she has no control.
The community has definite individual characters who go through their own emotional journey and it is these shared journeys that tie the community together as one. At the beginning of Four Ways there are various cliques that separate the community, for example there are people congregated at the bar who are rowdy, there are groups in the street who have their own conversations and there are the individuals who keep themselves to themselves. However when the suitcase is revealed, it is curiosity, confusion and eventually blame that starts to bring the community together as a whole in the first ensemble. As the Woman’s story is told through the diary entries the community experiences anger, sadness and guilt which is portrayed through the second ensemble. The once separated community now find themselves needing one another for emotional supports, for example they fall and catch each other as they can take no more of the guilt caused by their own ignorance.

2.
I was aware that moving from working in the studio to the theatre would create a completely different experience. Admittedly it was a lot to get used to, mainly because it was a much larger space. This affected the beginning community improvisation and the community in the periphery. It took a while to force ourselves to use all the space, as the theatre space has a lot of depth performers were worried that all action would be lost at the back. However the larger space created more of a sense of where the community lived. It meant that there was no need for a complicated set that would separate the bar, the street and the bedroom, simple lighting would be used just as effectively. I believe it enforces the audience to work harder at decoding who these people are and where they are as “The most fascinating and rewarding of lighting is the possibility of influencing the mental state of the audience.” (Reid, 2001, pg. 6)
However as performers we had to be aware of certain obstacles on stage, lamps for lighting were in danger of getting knocked out of focus and pieces of set were now needed to be aware of. This was a challenge as in the studio the ensemble at individual movement pieces could be carried out with the knowledge that nothing except the four walls were in the way. In the theatre performers needed to be extra sensitive and use their peripheral vision and memory of the space to know when the movement was too close to an obstacle. Performers also needed to be aware of whether they can be seen and that their bodies are in the light.
Personally I found that these technical issues could sometimes detract from the quality of the performance. When worrying about whether one can be seen or not, or bumping into set pieces, the emotional quality put into the performance can suffer.
As a warm up just before every performance we were made to choose a specific area within the performance space that means something to ones character. When in that space we are told to change our breathing patterns into that of our individual characters, and in our characters emotional state gradually become aware of the space and to start moving around it. This was an effective and beneficial warm-up exercise , as a space that may seem alien to us is made completely familiar to our character. When eventually performing Four Ways, we knew why we were in that particular part of the space and what it meant emotionally to our own individual characters as “Commanding the stage demands control of the space” (Callery, 2001, pg. 79.)

3.
The growth of the performance developed significantly, especially when moved into the actual theatre space. Personally my character within the community completely changed. In rehearsals, as my character, I tended to interact with others and become a part of the ‘cliques’, however when in the theatre space I completely isolated myself and chose to remain at the back. I believed my character to be waiting for someone and developed nervous tendencies such as scratching my arm and wringing my hands. I believe this was due to the warm up of emerging into our characters (I.e. developing breathing patterns, noticing and reacting to who is around you), with the seriousness of the piece’s content fresh in my mind I felt like I had to isolate myself to protect myself from the truth, which leads to the overall guilt of the community. Therefore Robert Lepage’s “V” and “P” is still very much valid in the very final stages of the performance.
At first when performing the piece as a whole I found it difficult to get into the mindset of the woman, when I had previously been a completely different character within the community. However after the first show, experiencing the woman’s flashbacks became more and more emotional and poignant. My peripheral reactions of sadness, anger and fear became stronger and more significant which provided me with appropriate mindset and emotional ammunition to portray a woman who is clinging on to her last hope.
I am aware that music should not be an influence when creating the work, however I found that when performing the flashback of the woman trying to leave it completely heightened the emotion. The song “And Then You Kissed Me” by The Cardigans was used and when performing to it again and again I realised how real the woman’s situation is. Each time, throughout the three performances, the song managed to pull upon a slightly different emotion but always allowed me to convey the sense of hopelessness that will affect the audience.
At the first I believed that, as performers, we were telling the story of a victim of domestic violence through physical movement. However as the ‘RSVP’ process progressed my opinion changed. While the main issue is domestic violence, Four Ways To Speak Out is also about how the community deals with the knowledge of how the woman suffered. When performing it in the theatre, I became less focused on the storyline, which is not as important in physical theatre, but more focused on the emotions and how these emotions can join people together. As performers we had to convey these emotions as truthfully as possible in order to not only entertain the audience but to send out an important message about domestic violence and create more awareness by “communicating ideas and feelings clearly and unpretentiously […] to be radical yet accessible.” (DV8 Physical Theatre http://www.dv8.co.uk/about_dv8/artistic_policy) After realising this, for me the remaining two shows became emotionally heightened, and every emotion portrayed in the community and as the woman had attached to it a very important and significant meaning.

Bibliography.

Callery, D. (2001) Through the Body: A practical guide to Physical Theatre. Second Edition. London. Routledge.

Reid, F. (2001) The Stage Lighting Handbook. New York. Routledge.

Other Sources.

DV8 Physical Theatre http://www.dv8.co.uk/about_dv8/artistic_policy [accessed 26/04/2010]

Final Post - Andrew Smith - 0823118

There are many common themes explored within Four Ways to Speak Out. Many themes did not surface until we had moved into the ‘P’ stage of the process and others had been set and clearly identifiable from the ‘R’ stage through to the ‘P’ stage. I speak for the whole ensemble when I say each of us felt at some point a certain concrete emotion and theme. It is fair to say that we all felt these emotions at different intensities during the development of the piece, however no matter at what stage or intensity; these feeling were shared by all of us and it is important that this is communicated to the audience. ‘If your body does not truly reflect the world of the world of the performance and the complexity of the people and ideas in that world, the audience cannot experience it’ (Marshall, L, 2001, pg 9). Themes of selfishness, manipulation, friendship, love and anger were common within Four Ways, and these grew to a more realistic level as travelling from the ‘S’ into the ‘P’ stage of the process. One truly noticeable thing during the process was that during the rehearsal period, I would often attempt to portray an emotion because the rest of the ensemble felt that emotion at that particular time. However, it became increasingly noticeable leading up to performance that my own personal journey through the process was making my characters reactions to the situation and surrounding completely individual and different, therefore isolating myself from the community. It became increasingly obvious as we continued through the rehearsal process that my characters reaction to the environment around him would continue to modify right up to the final performance. “The fine tuning of all performance elements did not happen until the dress rehearsal stage and run of performances” (Oddey, 1996, p128). During the ‘V’ stages of the process, I had developed a character that did not desire to reconcile with the community. Even though he desired to be forgiven and helped to be invited back into the community, he done little about it. However, as we moved into the ‘P’ stage, I discovered that my character has been emotionally broken by his severment with the community and he would do anything to be accepted and belong once more.
One shared experience that tied the community together was the discovery that the woman was no longer there. This was inevitably a pivotal point during the production. It is here were the community formed a line cascading up the street. Each member of the community entered into the line at different points. Some did so without any hesitation, whereas others were dubious as to why the community was acting in such a way. Dan especially felt this way, therefore, the community took responsibility for this and drew him in. This ensemble seen gave a kick-start to the common themes which were to be explored and focused not only on confusion, but also the skills of manipulation of society. For example, I began the ensemble movement during this section and by doing so inadvertently created a cycle of manipulation by getting other members of the community to copy my movement.

As Four Ways moved from the rehearsal space into the performance space, it was inevitable that we were to experience obstacles and radical changes. During rehearsing in the studio, we were used to a space which was very wide however not very deep, so we devised to accommodate the space. However, we noticed that when we arrived at the theatre, that the width of the space was less than the studio and the depth was greater. This caused a number of problems. For example during the beginning ensemble section, a line of people cascade down the street, however due to the fact our company were not used to working in a large space, many members found it hard to fill the entire space and many arranged themselves further downstage creating a clump of people downstage right. I believe the reason for this was because now we were working with a bigger space, people may have felt like that they may not have been seen. This is a perfect example of a selfish performer.
During the technical rehearsal I realised that due to the change in space, I would not always reside on the stage where I had done in the past. This is something that I had to accept and take time to work through as moving from rehearsal space to a theatre space requires one to accept that things will change and do all that they can to accommodate these changes. Work like this takes time to develop, and requires a lack of inhibition.”(Callery, 2001, p.139)
One particular scene in which I found repositioning difficult was the duet between Dan and myself. It took the both of us many times of running the duet to decide and define where new positions would be. Having said that this was a slow and tiring process, I found it equally exhilarating as it focused our attention on the theatre space and provided a great sense of a company moral. Another difficulty the company had top overcome was the fact that we were using a considerable amount of props onstage which had been mimed up until production week. These included plastic filled cups with liquid in the bar, bar stools, a self destructive suitcase and hearts attached to string which was used during the finale. However, despite these difficulties I feel that the ensemble took it in their stride and overcome these obstacles with ease. I believe entering the theatre space was the pinnacle point in the company becoming a tight unit. We all began to realise that we have a very well structured show and we are now in a theatre in which will showcase our work. Therefore, our professionalism matched this. Many people felt that moving into a theatrical space created a new sense of focus. I noticed that the majority of the company felt more at one with the surroundings and the focus obtained during the longer warm-ups helped the company to find the complex emotions we would need during the performance.
I feel that as each performance had taken place it had developed and changed in positive ways resulting in greater communication to the audience. I believe as each performance passed, we as actors developed a stronger emotional attachment to the work. This resulted in us caring for the product more each night, yearning to gain something extra with each performance and working collectively as an ensemble to heighten energy and emotion and yearning to gain something extra with each performance. ‘The responsibility of the actor is to work creatively as part of an ensemble and contribute ideas’. (Callery, D 2002 p.197) Every single performance was different and it was interesting to see that the company felt different about each run. Even though the ensemble follows the same choreographed movement each night, the feeling and intension behind the movement may be different from previous performances.
I feel that throughout the performances my character did stay the same somewhat. The majority of change my character experienced was during the scoring process. Therefore, during the performances my character remained the same, however depending on the intentions of other members of the company, my intentions changed to match. I feel working as an ensemble you do not merely focus on who you are and your own personal motivations, you must be aware of other people’s intentions, motivations and more importantly respect that they may react differently depending on how they feel within the piece and what intentions they bring to the work. ‘Not all decisions that are made in making a piece have completely thought-through reasoning behind them. Intuition and personal preferences come into it too.’ (DV8 Physical Theatre http:// www.dv8.co.uk/faqs/faqs.html#one 2009).
I believe R.S.V.P played an equally important role during production week. I believe as an ensemble, we realised during the ‘S’ stage that domestic violence does not necessarily mean physical torture. It can also be an overwhelming and passionate love that completely consumes someone to the point in which they don’t exist as an individual anymore. It is during the ‘P’ stage that it became clear the effect this ‘loving’ abuse had on the audience. Therefore, with each performance, I strived to ensure that this love was not only overwhelming for the woman but consumed the audience as well, resulting in them not wanting to watch this uncomfortable, tainted love the ‘man’ obtains. During the performances the ‘V’ stage played a huge role also. During in the first performance in the ‘Bobbies Girl’ section, I sat crossed legged on the floor just slowly rocking to myself, however, this to me felt staged. It was something that would look visually enticing to the audience, yet had no intention behind it. Therefore during the second and third performances I validated and modified this somewhat and ended up lying across the floor with my head facing the audience. This not only allowed me to seem and feel helpless, it gave me a chance as the character to sit and think about what I had done to the ‘woman’s’ life, which in turn, allowed me to get emotionally active for the finale scene which was to follow.

Bibliography:

Callery, D (2001) Through the body: A practical guide to Physical Theatre, 2nd Edition. London: Routledge

DV8 Physical Theatre (2008) [online]. London: [Home Page] [cited 25th April 2010].

Marshall, L, (2001) The Body Speaks: Performance and Expression. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Oddey, A (1996) : Devising Theatre: A Practical and Theoretical Handbook: New York: Routledge

lauren walker 0803093 Blog Task 3

The theme that was the main focus of the piece was domestic abuse; it was also one of the starting points from where our devising process started. “Devised theatre can start from anything. It is determined and defined by a group of people who set up an initial framework or structure to experiment with ideas”(Oddey, 1994, p 1 ) Not only has domestic abuse become a political issue within society and media, it is also a socially tabooed subject which people choose to be oblivious to as it an emotional subject to discuss. The other themes which ran through the performance were issues of guilt and blame, showing an audience that it is so easy for you to blame someone else if you don’t know anything about the situation, but also allowing the audience to question what they would have done if they had been in the situation themselves as either the woman or a member of the community. The guilt and blame was evident in the performance by the ensemble being manipulated by guilt and the urge to conform to join into ensemble 1. From an outside perspective, looking in on the woman’s life the over consuming love has been turned over into something more sadistic and heart-wrenching to watch.

“The creating of theatre is a collaborative process, requiring the active responsibility of all those involved ” (Dennis, 1995, page 71)The shared experience started from the beginning of the devising process in the R stage as we all collectively developed what we believed to be a part of the women by bringing in items which we thought belonged to her. This began the devising process as a group this journey went through to the final performance where as the community our characters all were looking to blame someone. As a whole everyone decided to blame Dan for the disappearance of the missing women but to Dan he may have just not been drawn into joining the community for ensemble1, therefore leaving himself excluded from the community and becoming the only person at the time for the community to blame. This blame then shifted when the woman’s possessions are taken by Andy’s character and the community now want to know what is happening, this is evident by Dan’s character also analysing the situation and confronting Andy in their duet. Lloyd Newson asks himself the same questions when devising work with his performers, “What are they/we trying to communicate?”(www.Dv8.co.uk) this can be answered by the entire ensemble as we all felt that the theme of domestic abuse was one which needed addressing in a sensitive and poignant way.

The transition from the studio to the performance space was at first quite over whelming as the shape of the space was different, therefore changes had to be made to the performance, but this included adjusting ourselves to fit the space and did not require us to change the devised work as we had been aware and cautious during the devising process that the theatre space would be different and would require us to make mental and physical changes when it came to working in the new space. However in the new space, we had to tackle technical issues and had to be aware of lighting rigs and lamps being placed in the performance space, this required us as an ensemble to be collectively aware of what was around us, including the furniture. We had to adjust ourselves so we had enough space to work in, especially in ensemble 2 as we required significantly more room for the partner work. Our characters had to become more open to performance changes which were not an issue during the Score and Validate stages of RSVP as we were working in the studios.

A weakness that developed when moving into the theatre space was keeping the periphery alive whilst we were not in the centre of the space. During the first and second show this was an obvious problem to us all and for the third show we all developed our characters further by developing a character gesture which became stronger and more intent throughout the whole performance. This gesture added to the heightened emotion and was developed through the warm up. The warm up became longer and more focused once we had moved into the theatre space, the warm up built our breathing exercises, which aided us to get into our characters emotions and thinking and built our awareness. Dennis says that “breath will take an actor to the action, and will dictate how an actor will move only when the body is at its maximum awareness and responsiveness” (Dennis, 1995, page 110) The warm up also focussed on the building of a character and finding that emotion that is needed to work carefully and for a heightened emotional exchange between performer and audience.

The actor informs through his ‘physicality.’ Lights go up, the actor takes the space and is perceived by the audience, and theatre begins. A dramatic moment has been created and a response in the audience is imminent. Communication has begun. (Dennis, 1995, page 8)


A clear example of this happening is the very beginning of the performance where Sarah, Annette and Huma enter, their body language and speech is very natural as they all ask ‘Where is she,’ then the movement of the pedestrian gestures starts as they recite text, this is unnatural to a viewing audience so they straight away have some response, whether it is a negative or positive response comes down to whether they understand what is happening or if they decode something more from this section in a different interpretation. The space felt a comfortable move for us as a group as we were all confident in working in this space and this aided the work to develop that bit further.

As an ensemble, majority of the group felt the first two shows didn’t convey much emotion that the audience and each other could respond to, where as others felt the first two shows ran more smoother, showing that every persons gets something different out of a performance and each person is an individual and will feel different to other people as their characters may have fulfilled different needs and experienced different insights during the performance. Westergaard states that ‘Groups are complex. They are composed of a number of individuals, each with unique qualities, skills, personalities, experiences, expectations, insights and needs’. (Westergaard, 2009, pg 116). Throughout the performance you could see characters building and growing in their entirety, different emotions were sensed from my character to others therefore my character wanting to comfort others would be different every performance as it would be a different person and they would be feeling something different to the show before. This shows that “no two performances are exactly identical.” (Oida and Marshall, 1997, p 33). For the first show my character felt sorry for Andy’s character being pushed away from everyone as my character felt that he didn’t realise that the over consuming love had become suffocating and unbearable. Domestic abuse may start with physical abuse but then “He tries to make up for the brutal incident by showering the victim with gifts and affection.” (www.pattiaustin.com) The false gestures of love become a cover-up in our performance for something more underlying and cruel and from an audiences perspective I think the situation may look compulsive, as a result my character in the second and third show become angry towards Andy’s character and at one point towards the end of the performance when Andy was sitting near me, I felt the urge to want to hurt him back and make him understand what he had done to drive the woman to run away. Having the audience present gave the situation a different feeling, as if there were more people reading the diary extracts with us and watching what was unfolding. The character development for us all gave each character a different style of vulnerability and from an audiences perspective, Dawn’s character was the most vulnerable as she gave into Andy’s persistence by taking his hand, the vicious cycle of domestic abuse could start again with another woman now the missing woman had gone, but now the community had discovered Andy’s background they were reluctant to let Dawn go. I think the RSVP model did continue up until the last performance as our characters were kept alive and interactive with not only the other performers but the audience as well, the performers had to stay spatially aware at all times and their movement and reactions always had to have an intention, be committed and have a driving force behind the emotion. This made the piece real and gave the audience more to decode as they were watching and reading the performance and gave strength to the issues and themes we were addressing.


Bibliography
Dennis, A. (1995) The Articulate Body: The physical training of an actor. London: Nick Hern Books
Murray, S and Keefe, J. (2007) Physical Theatre: a critical introduction. London: Routledge.
Oddey,A. Devising Theatre: A practical and theoretical handbook. London Routledge 1994
Oida, Y. and Marshall, L. (1997) The Invisible Actor. London: Methuen.
Westergaard, J. Effective Group Working with Young People. (2009). Open University Press.


http://pattiaustin.com/the-vicious-cycle-of-domestic-violence (accessed 25/4/10)
http://www.dv8.co.uk/about_dv8/interview_in_conversation_with_jo_butterworth (accessed 25/4/10)

Lauren Walker 0803093

Lauren Walker 0803093 Blog Assessment 2

Lauren Walker 0803093 Blog Assessment 2

1.The main strategy of devising through the process and in particular the R (Research) phase of the devising model was the method of working on impulse and response. This was conducted at the very beginning of the process through the play sessions which are allowed for the group as an entirety to experiment and develop their characters based on what we already knew about the synopsis, which came from previous devising. Oddey states that “Devised theatre can start from anything” (Oddey 1996: 1) which from working through this process I have learnt is true, we started by writing letters, which told our own story about the woman that had gone missing and from this we’ve built upon our own characters and developed the woman’s story. We then researched by bringing in items which we felt reflected those that belong to the missing woman. Through processes of play using impulse we have created devised material which has both been added to the final piece and material which has been thrown out. Marshall states that ‘all of us are in a constant state of impulse and response’ (Marshall, L., 2001, pg32) and we can use this experience in our work to showcase impulsive behaviour on stage. A method which had been useful in developing ensemble pieces was the clap method which allowed for a fair process and allowed the work to develop without the need to discuss what to do; this therefore led to a more impulsive and exciting ensemble pieces.

2.At the beginning of the devising process my character had no clear definement until we were set the task of writing a letter regarding the missing woman and to state in what capacity we were involved in this. My character originally was very distant from the missing woman and did not know her as well as other in the community, but as the devising process has built my character has built and changed as well. This is because my character was drawn in by the other people in the community and my character felt their sadness and distress of not knowing what has happened to this missing woman. My character has fed off other people in the community and drawn her own conclusions from the feelings of others around her. I believe the reason for this is because my character has formed relationships with others on stage, “devising depends on relationships and chemistry between people.” (Oddey, A. 1996:P.66) This is where my character has changed, and now feels sympathy for the missing woman and also for the other people in the community who also want to know what has happened to the woman. I think my character constantly builds every session, which in the devising process is expected as devising is work in progress; therefore my character isn’t completely refined at this moment in the devising process and may change again as a result of impulses developed on stage between myself and other characters.


3.The main physicality that my character takes is to be close to others, feeling safe around others. One physicality which I think is strong with my character is the constant eye contact with others, this is a strong signal to the audience that are watching and can mean many different things, in the instance there is a strong linked contact through the eyes that means that the other person is being watched my character, this is mostly aimed to Andy’s character. My character also demonstrates at this moment in the process a lot of closed body language such as folding her arms to shield herself away from others, but then when she feels a sense of security she clings on to other for support and safety. All though there is a feeling of conformity during the group ensembles, there is still a feeling of individuality displayed physically by my character. Callery states that ‘characters change during the course of a play’ (Callery, D: 2001 p 211) and this I believe is a statement which describes my character physicality as my character gets stronger mentally as the play goes on by standing straight backed. During the bar scene, my character displays a lack of concern in the body language for the woman. Later on in the second ensemble piece my physicality to Andy changes as I become more closed to him as my character wishes to distance herself away from Andy, even though she doesn’t completely know what has happened, she has some kind of idea from the rest of the ensemble.


Bibliography
Callery, D (2001): Through The Body: New York: Routledge

Marshall L. (2001) The Body Speaks. London: Methuen Publishing Ltd.

Oddey A, 1996, Devising Theatre: A Practical and Theoretical Handbook :Routledge: London

Hayley Rockley. Blog 2. 0818681

1.
Physical theatre is essentially story telling through the body. In order to convey a story, characters and emotions through just the body one must utilise the most effective key strategies.
During the devising of Four Ways To Speak Out, it was decided that abstract and pedestrian movements were to be used. In order to for the group to communicate their views the ‘Clap Method’ was used. We would stand together in our ensemble and when a performer had an idea they would clap, perform the movement and the group would follow and so on. This is a particularly efficient strategy as the group remains focused and quite, there are no disruptions or struggling to ones ideas heard. The ‘Clap Method’ also gives the actor the option to be pedestrian or abstract. As I have found out it is just as effective for the ensemble to convey more pedestrian gestures to communicate a strong meaning, than as with abstract movement
Improvisation was also used in the devising process, as a way of becoming a naturalistic community as we ''all improvise everyday when we talk to our friends and family" (http://artswork.asu.edu/arts/students/tb/05_00_acting.htm). It also enables us to build ensemble rapport and develop each individual’s character.For example, when reflecting on the ensemble when we started to our current stage, the improvised moments are natural, the performers know who they are with, why and where in the space wich results in a more natural performance. Improvisation also meant that as a group we did not talk and analyse the action as much and to see what we naturally got out of it.
During the devising process we consciouslly reffered back to Rober Lepage’s ‘RSVP’ theory, (Research, Score, Validate and Performance). I believe research is an important part of devising. Without it the story would not be at all believable or truthful. So to avoid this we researched the domestic violence charity ‘Four Ways To Speak Out’, read real life stories, and listened to interviews with the victims familys. This helped to provoke the emotion that the performance needs to be believable and convey some sort of reaction out of the audience.

2.
At the beginning of the devising process, it took me a while to fully understand the character I would portray. At first I thought of myself as the woman’s friend, however during the improvistation I found myself becoming frustrated and uninterested. So I began to feel that maybe my character was friends with the woman but often got let down by her, maybe because of the relationship that the woman was in. I came to this conclusion by drawing upon my own experiences.
However, as I am now one of the four representations of the ‘Woman’, I have felt my other character change slightly. It is portrayed more passive, as if I did not know the woman well, but has heard rumours. I still have a slight disinterested stance at the beginning, although when acknowledging the diary entries, my ensemble character does not quite understand, (maybe does not even want to understand) and cannot imagine how someone could let themselves be bullied like the woman is. This originates from my own views on domestic violencen and from playing a part of the woman. From the ‘Attemping to Leave’ section I have begun to emotionally feel how it would be like to be in that situation because the movement is so intense. For example, I am thrown around like a rag doll. It almost too awfull to think about or comprehend and so has influenced my ensemble character to be reluctant in wanting to hear what the woman has endured.
At the current stage of devising I must refine my two characters so they are clearly differentiated.

3.
It is vital, that through nutrality, I lose my own personal mannerisms and characteristic in order to make my characters believable.
With conveying two very different characters it is essential that they are differentiated through their movements in the space. The ensemble character occupys a guarded whereas the woman representation holds a more helpless stance.
When walking through the space as the ensemble character my arms cross infront of me, my head down and my spine curved , as if the body is closing into a tight fist ready to defend itself if anyone comes near. I do not speak thoughout the performance, as I do not feel it neccessary to do so. The ensemble character is defensive and so I distance myself from the other performers and do not verbally interact. I believe this will be just as effective as long as I maintain strong body language as " there is an authenticity and truthfulness about these forms because they retain the potential of being untainted and unmediated by the sophistry and deciet of language." (Keefe and Murray (2007) pg. 21). When observing the diary entries and flashbacks I am rarely sitting, it feels more alert for the character to stand.
Whereas, when portrayin the ‘woman’, my body is almost lifeless, helpless and so is often falling to the floor. This communicates the lack of will and ennergy the woman has in escaping or atleast doing anything about her situation.
When performing ‘Attempting to Leave’ I feel as though I am at odds with my body, I want to stand up straight as if to stand up for myself but am constantly battling setbacks that (quite literally) knock me down.

Bibliography.

Murray, S and Keefe, J. (2007) Physical Theatre: a critical introduction. London: Routledge.

Other Sources.

http://artswork.asu.edu/arts/students/tb/05_00_acting.htm [Accessed 24th March 2010]

Andrew Smith - 0823118 - Blog Post 2

Andrew Smith – 0823118
Assessment: Blog 2

‘Devising is about thinking, conceiving and forming ideas’ (Oddey, 1994, pg 1)
Devising for Physical Theatre requires intense amount of research, understanding of appropriate devising methods and more importantly complete consideration of the subject matter being focused upon. During the process of creating Four Ways to Speak Out, several concepts of devising have been explored. One theory is that of Robert Lepage’s ‘RSVP’. This outlines the process in which devised theatre is created. It is a breakdown of how the devising process is ordered: Research, Score, Validate and Performance. This method soon provided a structure for creative play in which we explored the clap method. This allows ideas for ensemble movement to be created quickly without constant verbal interruptions and provides the opportunity for ideas to be placed into the piece or discarded easily. Many members of the ensemble thought the clap method to live up to reputation and felt they had made sufficient progress by using this. However, I disagree somewhat with this. I can appreciate how it allows large groups of people opportunity to physicalise ideas without the need for constant conversation, but on the other hand, the devising process can become increasingly intense and masses of ideas may be lost by constant use of clapping for new ideas. Therefore, I feel some degree of verbal communication is needed in ensuring ideas are developed and fully explored to their potential. During the creative process, especially during the early stages ‘play’ sessions of contact improvisation was used to not only help us understand the need for contact within physical theatre, but also to fully appreciate how we can use different parts of our body when working with other people. “Contact Improvisation is a dance form in which the point of contact with another dancer provides the starting point for a movement exploration”. (http://www.contactimprovisation.co.uk/whatis.htm) The ‘play’ sessions undertaken also aided the ensemble to strip any embarrassment and self consciousness which allowed freedom for creativity. After all, we are portraying a community that has very tight relationships with one another, therefore, it is paramount we develop a strong working ethic and trust the group before even thinking of creating material. ‘Groups are complex. They are composed of a number of individuals, each with unique qualities, skills, personalities, experiences, expectations, insights and needs’. (Westergaard, 2009, pg 116). The knowledge gained during creative ‘play’ was bewildering. It opened up the company to the idea that movement can be creative not only by using the mind, but relying on the body to create a foundation of movement which can be modified and built upon. It important to note that during the devising process things will change and performers should avoid become precious and attached to what they create. This is one challenge I faced during this module. It is very hard as a performer to not grow and attachment to material in which you create, however devised theatre requires you to put this practice aside and adhere to the notion that any material that is not used is a stepping stone to material which is more appropriate for the subject matter and character development. The final element used during this process was the constant use of research and investigation. Our subject matter is domestic violence and it is vital that we understand the stimulus before attempting to explore it. Articles and journals were brought in and read to the company and our own individual character research was untaken. This was achieved in the form of letters. Each member of the community wrote a letter speaking of the disappearance of the ‘woman’. This allowed each of us to create a basis for a character and establish the relationship we shared with her, which would later prove to be imperative in establishing the reaction to her disappearance.

Throughout the devising process, it is expected that characters will change and modify from rehearsals to the final performance. “All of us are in a constant state of impulse and response” (Marshall, L, 2001, pg32) However, I underestimated to what extent my character would change. The initial writing of my letter insinuated that I was a very close friend of the woman who disappeared and I was traumatised by her disappearance that I had become a complete social recluse, avoiding contact with other people in the community at all costs. However as the preset to Four Ways to Speak Out was constructed I noticed that other people in the ensemble reacted to my distance differently. The community interpreted my distance as a sign that I may have known or have had something to do with her disappearance. This changed my character somewhat. I realised that other people involved in the ensemble had huge influence on my character development which reflects the point of Oddey who states ‘it is about inventing, adapting and creating what you do as a group’ (Oddey, 1994, pg 1). It is from this point onwards my character gradually progressed from someone I wanted the audience to sympathise with to someone who they would detest and blame. The devising process requires the creation of a character to be continually modifying. The audience are taken on a journey with the characters; therefore, the actor must play an active role in that journey, being guided and moulded by their surroundings, being led by the characters natural development, not by analytical thought processes. At the time of writing the company are within three weeks of going to performance, and I am sure that my character will continue to develop up until the opening night and beyond until the final performance. ‘The length of process varies with every show’. (Oddey, 1994, pg 91). This is utterly thrilling for me as a performer. Most conventional theatre require the actor to understand their character fully weeks before the performance goes public, however devised performance works differently. You are constantly learning new things about your character, discovering different intentions and relationships and finding new focal points within the work. It is these above points which make devised theatre an enthralling performance genre.

In order to develop my character physically, it was vital that all the physical and habitual traits I embody as person were stripped away. ‘Focus on breaking down ingrained patterns of movement before creating new ones’ (Callery, 2001, pg 19) I not only had to dismiss the make-up of my personality, but had to create a blank neutral slate for which to re-invent my character. “The concept of neutrality embraces both the idea of stripping away our habitual ways of moving and discovering an inner calm where we are relaxed and open to possibilities.” (Callery,2001,p36) Most of the personality and movement traits we have as individuals are completely involuntary and very rarely noticed by ourselves. Therefore, becoming aware of what our traits are as individuals was the first process in which to create a fresh character. During the initial opening sequence, my character is comfortable with his surroundings and has no emotional baggage in which he is carrying. I hold my head high, my shoulders back and my feet firmly rooted in the ground which communicates stability. One essential character trait is that he feels he is above the rest of the community. He can do no wrong and people within the community look up to him. Women want to be with him and men inspire to be him. Therefore, I constructed a slight strut for my character, which was created by embodying relaxed gestures, hands in my pockets, relaxed and well poised shoulders and bent knees avoiding seeming ridged at all times. These simple redefined bodily stances help communicate that my character is at ease with himself and his surroundings. However, this contrasts dramatically as the piece progresses. During the period the community realise the woman has disappeared by physicality changes somewhat. No longer do I stand up right, well poised with my feet rooted in the ground, I embody a slightly bent back, holding my head down, constantly shifting my weight from side to side, which displays that my character has become unstable with a negative approach to everything in his path. Again this is contrasted when the community turn their back on him. He tries his upmost to become a part of the community once more and the only way to do this is to seem well balanced. He returns to rooting his feet in floor, resting his chest high and bent knees. However, there is one vital difference. Unlike before, he snaps his movements; his head jerks whenever he draws his attention to something and his eyes are constantly wandering sporadically. This communicates that no matter how hard he tries to seem to have a stable mind, subconscious shows something different. Finally I have come to the conclusion that my character has one repetitive movement when faced with pressure. He constantly rubs his eyes. This I hope will communicate to the audience that not only is he agitated, he regularly closes his eyes and rubs them in attempt to hide his vision from the horrific reality of what he has done to the person he claims to love.

Bibliography:
- Callery, D. Through the Body: A practical guide to Physical Theatre. 2001: Routledge: New York. Nick Hern Books: London.

- Marshall, L. The body Speaks (2001) London: Methuen.

- Oddey, A. Devising Theatre: A practical and theoretical handbook. 1994. Routledge.

- Westergaard, J. Effective Group Working with Young People. (2009). Open University Press.

Other Sources:
- http://www.contactimprovisation.co.uk/whatis.htm. Accessed on 20th March 2010.