The audience does not know where to look during a performance and can look anywhere they want, so one of the roles of the director is to plan out where to place the actors on stage to force the audience to pay attention to that specific area. This is done through a variety of ways that includes placing the actors on the stage in specific formations/movements or through the use of light. These specific formations have often been called Stage Sculptures, Pyramid formations, or simply Blocking.
If we look only to the way in which we can manipulate people on stage, we have the ability to play with 4 main things:
1 (standing upright)
2 (hunched over or bent in some way).
3 ( Kneeling or sitting on the floor but majority is off the floor)
4 (on the floor)
Static stance is very box like without much movement of the body. It looks still, and creates no drama in its position. However Dynamic is the manipulation of the spine where the body contorts, twists, or bends to create a form of visual movement which causes interest for the audience to look.
Space: Positive space is your body. You occupy space. However, Negative space is the space that surrounds your body, in between your arms and around you. You can have varying levels of space... Low Negative space means that all of your limbs are quite tight to your body. High Negative space means that your limbs are spread far away from your body.
Place: Means how close or far away you position your actors. By changing the location of your actors it will play with the relationships that the audience will interpret. The audience craves understanding human connection and will interpret relationships between things/people that you may not intend. By careful arrangement of people on stage you can help manipulate the audience's understanding of the situation. Adjusting people's levels, space, dynamic or static poses, the way they face, and whether they are further away or closer to the audience will all adjust how the audience will feel.
The Audience will also interpret power and status from the characters on the stage through their use of body expression, facial expression and body position. Careful consideration of the way the actor stands, uses their body and voice will create a sense of power and status for the audience. It is important to consider things like: Height, Body expressions, Facial expressions, stance, and proximity to other's all help communicate a variety of emotions to the audience. Very intricate details in relationships can be interpreted by the audience, and without careful consideration and planning your efforts may not be communicated clearly.
Watch this powerful performance using levels, dynamics, and spacing and placing to communicate meaning to the audience, all done on a small 1m x 2m board. Add in to your Digital Journal your thoughts and comments about this performance.
“How does Sir Ian McKellen act so well?”
Is acting just this simple? Why or why not?
Do you think there is one way to act? Why or why not?
46 seconds
During this unit, you’ll learn many different ways to communicate emotions, objectives, and moods to the audience. That will be our working definition of acting method: how you communicate emotions and ideas through characters and movement. We’ll review method acting, but the majority of the unit will be focused on new methods.
The goal of this unit is to showcase 3 different acting methods and for each of you to begin to define what works best for you, as well as introduce you to different skills to add to your actors toolbelt.
You will be creating smaller summatives at the end of each acting method.
How do you learn to act? What makes a good actor versus a bad actor?
Are there different ways that you can approach acting?
What is your own personal acting method or way of getting into a character?
Creating: Theatre artists refine their work and practice their craft through rehearsal. How do theatre artists transform and edit their initial ideas?
Performing: Theatre artists create and refine their methods as they work. What can I do to fully prepare for a performance?
Responding: Theatre artists reflect to understand the impact of drama processes and theatre experiences. How do theatre artists comprehend the essence of drama processes and theatre experiences?
Connecting: Theatre artists critically inquire into the ways others have thought about and created drama processes and productions to inform their own work. In what ways can research into acting theories alter the way a drama process or production is understood?
What the Character wants.
HOW the character tries to get what they want.
In an action verb format.
The way in which a character relates to others.
Low status versus High Status
Watch these videos and be prepared to talk about them in class during discussion. You should be taking some notes on the F20 document as you watch these videos and through our discussions.
4:11
8:59
4:45
8:31
What is the audience expected to do after your performance?
What is your goal for how your audience will feel?
What are the struggles, or obstacles the character faces?
Why dont they do that? Voice your objections, criticize and defend
Bring in a personal story that touches you emotionally. Bring in detailed stories that you can visualize that touch you personally.
Some additional resources you may wish to look at to help you understand more about this style of acting.
Most students have only interacted with one type of acting method, the psychological method. The pioneer of this method was Stanislavski, who lived in Russia. He is certainly not the only person to have contributed to the development of this acting method, but he has had a large influence on it. This acting method is the most popular in theatre and film (especially film.)
It depends on “getting into the mind” of the character. It is important to note that most psychological methods are the basis of most of the acting that you see today in films, tv, and broadway theatre.
This acting method has only been popular for the last 50ish years. Psychological acting relies on the actor’s ability to put their mind (and thus body) into the experience of the character. Let’s practice some ways of putting our minds into the situation of a character.
Create a short sequence of action that you might normally do during the day. Getting up in the morning, brushing teeth, making breakfast or something similar. Then use your own memories of sensory experiences (for example, burning your hand on the stove) to inform your reaction in real life. You are substituting these memories for the ones that the character might have. Discover as much as possible about the other character. Practise walking around as the character. Introduce character actions from cleaning teeth to fishing to catching a bus. Explore natural, real actions. Consider this within the period of the play, and the effect of costumes for example.
Prepare to share this in class. This short sequence should be no longer than 1-2 minutes of action. You can use words, and explore a short dialogue, or experiment with how you might want to use some of these skills. Prepare to share out some of your reactions to the following questions below in class.
How did your memories inform your facial expressions, movements, and other things?
What do you think of this technique?
Do you feel like this method will allow you to make believable actions on stage? Why or why not?
This is when you recall more emotional memories and use them as a substitute. This is a challenging technique, so we are going to try to start small. It is also one that we must be very careful with. This requires us to use emotional experiences from our own lives, which means we must be stewards over our own selves. Don’t dip into anything too emotional for these activities. Recalling emotional experiences can result in pulling out unresolved issues that may trigger your emotions in a way that you didn’t plan or want. In fact, the more resolved the memory, the better it is to pull from it. For example, I might have to act out a short scene where my father in the play has just passed away. I might want to pull from life in that I might try and recall the emotions I felt when my pet died, or a best friend. I would then put myself into that time frame where I felt those emotions and use them in the acting sequence to substitute for the situation where my father would have passed away. Obviously, be careful in choosing these situations as if they are too raw, it might hinder the situation and could cause more damage.
This emotional recall exercise has two parts. In the first part, you will outline an event that happened to you with a strong emotion. The emotion could be positive like excitement, pride, joy, love, and/or it could be more challenging like fear or sadness. The google doc will guide you through your directions. First you will fill in and list the emotion felt, describe the setting, and then give an outline of the major events. You will end by describing what visible actions resulted from the event. You are looking back at this event and describing it as yourself for part one.
For the second part, you will write a monologue from the viewpoint of a character feeling the same emotion, but experiencing a different situation. This monologue will be written in first person and be active. The first part was reflective, but in this monologue, the character will be actively going for an objective, facing obstacles, and experiencing things at the moment. Here are requirements for monologue in bullet form:
1st person
Different situation from recall in part one.
Same emotion(s) as recall in part one.
Monologue should be active and not reflective. (Avoid letters or phone calls too.)
Character can listen to other person/people and respond. (These words aren’t spoken.) Or the character can deliver only his/her own thoughts
You will prepare, practice and then present this monologue to the group. As this activity can be quite significant, you will be recording this to share with the class in video rather than doing this live. Be prepared to share out your thoughts and opinions on the success and choices made by the person presenting. Keep in mind that giving critiques can be delicate and that we are encouraging ourselves to explore and grow in the process.
Be prepared to answer the following questions related to your activity.
How did your memories inform your facial expressions, movements, and other things?
What do you think of this technique?
Do you feel like this method will allow you to make believable actions on stage? Why or why not?
Stanislavski aimed to determine the core of the playwright’s work and devise a system whereby his actors would be true to that core, elaborate on the playwright’s intentions and observe the natural laws of human nature by deconstructing the play, analyzing the intentions and objectives and exploring techniques that would eradicate artifice and establish truth in believable performances.
Key Thoughts:
Given Circumstance- The facts information provided by the playwright.
Magic If- Encouraged actors to believe in circumstances. The actor needs to ask him or herself the question “If I were this person, how would I feel?”
Emotional Memory- When an actor remembers a situation when he/she felt the same, or similar, emotions as their character. Recalling the situation leads to emotion.
In this video assignment that you will post on Google Classroom for only my eyes to see and to assess, you will show your understanding and learning of Stanislavski process by doing the following:
CHOICE 1:
You will prepare a short scene where you are making a confession to someone about something you did. This could be something bad that caused some terrible reactions or situation, or the reverse where it could be that you did something as a surprise for someone else. You will act out this scene on video showing believable emotions that is based on emotional recall or sensory recall. Ensure that I can see your face clearly and can hear you well in your video.
CHOICE 2:
You will present your monologue from F22 with the new adjustments made from reading your peer feedback. You will act out this scene on video showing believable emotions that is based on emotional recall or sensory recall. Ensure that I can see your face clearly and can hear you well in your video.
REQUIREMENT
At the end of the video you will then explain to me how you used the Stanislavski skills to create your scene. Focus on some the key elements of what Stanislavski taught and how you implemented them.
Remember:
What is your own personal acting method or way of getting into a character?
Creating: Theatre artists refine their work and practice their craft through rehearsal. How do theatre artists transform and edit their initial ideas?
Performing: Theatre artists create and refine their methods as they work. What can/did I do to fully prepare for a performance?
Responding: Theatre artists reflect to understand the impact of drama processes and theatre experiences. How do theatre artists comprehend the essence of drama processes and theatre experiences?
Connecting: Theatre artists critically inquire into the ways others have thought about and created drama processes and productions to inform their own work. In what ways can research into acting theories alter the way a drama process or production is understood?
Choose 3 out of the four options here to record your ability to create a gesture.
Today we’ll be focusing on Psycho-Physical acting, specifically the Michael Chekhov’s acting techniques. Can anyone guess how this is different from psychological acting?
Respond to the question in the form on Google Classroom.
Chekhov argued that the emphasis should be on the character’s feelings, not the actor’s – not ‘how would I feel?’ but ‘what does the character feel?’ – and that this would enable the actor to transform into the character, rather than reducing the character to the personality of the actor.
Use this document to fill in with notes as we go through this unit of study. Feel free to add notes at the bottom of the chart if they do not fit in to the category listed. The more detail in these notes, the more you will have an understanding the concept.
You will be submitting this document after we have finished studying Chekhov.
Watch these videos and respond to the questions on Google Classroom.
History & Information 12 mins
Chekhov 5 guiding principles. 7 mins
Critical Stages: 6 mins
you were asked to observe people and determine the types of gestures that people made. Prepare to share out some of the observations you made in our class discussion.
The psycho-physical technique relies upon drawing emotion from both the mind, and the body.
In this technique, these two things are connected.
This also makes sense because many psychology experiments have shown that when someone does the body language of an emotion (for example, smiling) the person will eventually feel that emotion (which can mean certain chemicals, like serotonin or the chemical that makes you happy, are released in the brain just by doing the physical action. Literally, fake it till you make it can work to your advantage.
Intro to Chekhov - 9.5 mins
Psycho Physical - 12.5 mins
Chekhov notes that we often use gestural language when talking of psychological processes. For example we ‘grow pensive’, ‘draw conclusions’ or ‘grasp ideas’. a ‘tendency to produce such a gesture’ exists at these moments, and can stimulate us to make the physical gesture if necessary. Chekhov uses the term to refer to ‘visible (actual) gestures as well as to invisible (potential) gestures’. Either way, the PG has an effect on the actor’s inner life. The Michael Chekhov Acting technique is a Psycho-physical approach to acting that uses the imagination, the body, energy and movement as the source of creativity and inspired acting. Where we explore the technique Chekhov called Archetypal Gestures (AG). It is exploring "why" the energy is expanding/contracting.
There are 7 basic AG's :
pull, push, lift, smash, tear, drag and reach.
Every gesture imaginable can ultimately be pared down to these 7. It is pure ACTION with no justification and no emotional value placed onto it. It should charge the whole body with the urge/desire to push, pull, etc with a neutral attitude.
Watch this video (9:15mins) and prepare to share out some observations in class discussion.
what is the definition of a gesture?
A shape with a beginning, middle and end.
Describe what psychological gestures?
A movement that embodies the psychology of a character.
How are psychological gestures related to viewpoint gestures? How are they different?
Psychological gestures are a specific acting technique used to get into character, and to explore the relationship between mind and body for the character. They are always gestures (shapes with a beginning, middle, and end) but they are not to be used in a drama work necessarily. Only in the preparation of a dramatic role.
When you add a reason or emotion it can become a Psychological gesture.
The AG becomes a training tool to develop the PG's in a scene or monologue.
It can be used from the first work piece to approach the character as a whole. It can also be worked separately to address specific scenes.The gesture is the secret architecture of the character, it should not be shown to the public. It is a tool for exploring and incorporating the character.
How to find the appropriate psychological gesture?
When you approach your character, you ask what is the main desire of your character. Then from there, find a gesture to represent that main desire. Start first with using the hands and then involve the whole body. You can start from a neutral position or a position suggested, or motivated by the character. By continuing to regularly work at your psychological gesture, and by reading the play or the scenario, you will find enhancements to make your move that will become more accurate and close to your character.
Warmup using the whole body. OPEN up and imagine becoming larger where you are awakening every part of the sleeping body. CONTRACT bringing arms on your chest and making yourself as small as possible. Repeat these movements several times.
LUNGE: Front, Sides, and Back and Hold. Imagine pushing energy out past your limbs into the space around you.
Blacksmith Hammer, Throwing, Lifting, Hold High above the head, Drag, Push, Toss. Don't hold your breath during these exercises and pause after each one. Be aware of sensations.
Centers: From here flows all movement and power. Send the power to the Head, arms, hands, torso, legs, feet. Limbs are not connected by the spine but are connected to the source. Imagine the power coming from the and moving into the arms, and legs. Lift arms and lower, stretch with this imagination in place.
Send the impulse for the movement before you do the movement. Move the center outside of the body and use your body to follow that center around you. Walking around the space with different centers. Allow the movement to sustain and hold... extending outwards.
Mould the space around you. Every movement you create leaves forms in the clay. Create a distinctive beginning, middle, and end of the movement. The Air around you resists you. Change tempos. Move with different parts of the body. Shoulders/back/elbows/knees/forehead/hands.
Once able to do this, now move with the idea that your core is sending out the energy to your limbs as they move through the space carving out the shapes. When you encounter space or shapes, pour your strength and energy into them. Push your energy towards other people. Lift and Isolate your hands and fingers separately. Take/move/lift up/ put down/touch
Simple well shaped - floating in space. Air is like the surface of water where you pass your fingers over it. Tempo and body parts change.
Imagine Lightness and ease as though you are a bird flying through the air. Tempo and body parts change.
Warm up moves now with energy pushed into the air. Imagine rays of energy or light coming from your core to through your limbs and out into the space around you. Pass this energy to another.
Expansion is pushing your energy out to the world around you through body and face.
Contracting is pulling in and recoiling your energy back into your body and face.
Radiating is the ability to send out the invisible essence of whatever quality, emotion, or thought you wish. It is an activity of your “will.”
Receiving is the ability to “pull in” the qualities, thoughts, and feelings of another character in a scene.
You can think of this as the ability to send or use tactics, as well as react or receive tactics by other characters.
How do you think the idea of radiation and psychological gesture are linked?
Have you ever walked into a room and felt the mood in the space?
Have you been alone in a room and felt someone else come in?
Have you ever walked down a space in the dark and were aware of someone walking behind you?
The Actor will strive to bring LIFE AS IT IS onto the stage,
and by doing so become ordinary photographers rather than artists.
They are perilously prone to forget that the real task of the creative artist is not merely
to COPY the outer appearance of life but to INTERPRET life
in all its facets and profoundness, to show what is behind the phenomena of life...
to let the spectator look beyond life's surfaces and meanings.
Expansion/Contraction/Veiling: 15 mins
We’ve focused a lot on individual character work, but in most drama work, you are trying to achieve your objective through or with the help of someone else. For Stanislavski, this means you understand what tactics you are using to get what you want (to convince, to bribe, to beg.)
Chekhov thought that these things also need to be found in physicality. He called it expanding/contracting & radiating and receiving.
What the author has given you in the form of a written play is THEIR creation, not yours; they have applied their talent... but what is your contribution?
Using only your mannerisms the actor becomes UNIMAGINATIVE; all characters become the same to them.
The Actor is not a puppet compelled to make the kind of movements that the author has provided.
They are an artist and have contributions.
Find the folder that stays Act 2 or Act 6 depending on your class. Inside you will find a folder called F30 Group video: Chekhov. Submit your video there. Label it F30 and your names on it.
You will complete the 3 activities listed below on video and submit to the Google Drive for peer evaluation. Consider the targeted question for feedback that you wish to receive.
Keep in mind that you should be using the following things:
Moulding, Floating, Flying as a way that you are moving through the space
Expanding, Contracting, Radiation or Receiving as a way that you are channelling the energy you have in the performance.
Gestures: Push, Pull, Lift, Reach, Smash, Tear, Drag as the essence of the movement you are creating.
Focus on where your CORE is located in your body. Is it stationary? is it moving?
1: Using the Body to Show Environment
The Weather
Groups of 2-3 create a tableau that shows the weather without using words or hands. (e.g. Holding out a flat palm to show that it’s raining.)
Entrances and Exits
Students enter the space, sit and then exit. Their objective is to show both the location they’re entering and where they’re going.
2: Using the Body to Show Emotion
• Show enthusiasm in your eyebrows, your shoulders, your fingers, your knees, your feet. Do the same with sadness, and anger.
How do the specific body parts tense or release depending on the emotion?
• Create a full body physical movement for an emotion: What happens to the body when you’re happy, mad, sad, scared, proud?
Pick 3 emotions and as a group showcase these in your video
3: Using the body to show character
You can tell a lot about a character by how they stand, how they gesture, and how they walk. An audience should know what type of character an actor is playing the moment they step on stage, before they even open their mouths!
Shoulders
The easiest way to establish a character is by placing their shoulders. Practice creating the following character types with the following shoulder positions.
• Are they a tense character? (shoulders up around the ears)
• Are they a relaxed character? (shoulders sloped down)
• Are they a shy character? (shoulders slumped forward)
• Are they a confident character? (shoulders pulled back)
In each pairing think of a character who walks that way. For example – what kind of character moves quickly? (a businessman on his way to work)
What kind of character moves with slow steps (someone going into a haunted house)
Then start combining the pairings:
• Fast, small, light.
• Slow, big, heavy.
Each student picks three types of movements and creates a character. They come up with a name, an age, and a job. They appear in the same video together.
Step 1: Create gesture in your mind.
Step 2: Begin to rehearse the gesture. Make it huge, full of energy, and abstract.
Step 3: Continue doing the gesture in a large, non-realistic way, while saying the line.
Step 4: Begin to make gesture more realistic, while saying the line. Keep the energy but dial down the movement!
Choose one of the quotes below to create your own version of this. Record yourself going through the process above in your video. You will submit your video to the Google drive
We will be doing a Peer Assessment to give you feedback on your process. Please prepare a targeted question you would like to receive information about.
You will create videos that will showcase your skills. Explore the process of creating Psychological gestures for each line of the monologue.
1) Label this Video NAME & EXPLORATION You will record yourself showing your choice of each line with a gesture slowly, similar to what was done in class with the line. Keep in mind: Mould, Float, Fly, Core location, Expanding-Contracting-Radiating-Receiving in addition to the gestures you are creating. (Push, pull, drag, reach, tear, lift, smash)
2) Label this NAME & MONOLOGUE You will create another video showing the finalized monologue in regular speed with your movements dialed down to about 20%. Make sure that we can see and hear you clearly in this video.
3) Label this NAME & EXPLANATION In a third video you will then explain to me how you used the Chekhov skills to create your scene. Focus on some the key elements of what Chekhov taught and how you implemented them. You will need to discuss in your video about how successful you feel it was, and how you might have seen changes in your acting process and abilities. You will also need to COMPARE this process to Stanislavski's work.
Look back at your original videos you did at the beginning of the Chekhov work and evaluate how you have improved/changed/or stayed the same in your aciting ability. Why or why not have those changes happened?
At its simplest, you could define Physical theatre as a form of theatre that puts emphasis on movement rather than dialogue. But remember there are a huge number of variations as the genre covers a broad range of work. But essentially Physical theatre is anything that puts the human body at the centre of the storytelling process. As a result it’s often abstract in style, using movement in a stylised and representational way. With the expression of ideas choreographed through movement, such performers use very little or no dialogue at all.
Combining art forms Physical theatre has a focus on movement but can be separate from the spoken word or united with it to expand and explore its meaning. It may well be devised or contain substantial elements of work beyond the printed script. These elements could be other art forms such as music, dance, the use of media or visual images. So you could use a combination of elements that may also be combined with script, for instance. You could reach out to the audience in a way that challenges the so-called fourth wall, making the audience a collaborator in the action. (It’s not unusual for Physical theatre to actually encourage or demand audience participation.)
Companies that use Physical Theatre are: Theatre du Complicite, Theatre du Soleil, Cirque Du Soleil, Legs On The Wall, Mummenschanz, DV8, Frantic Assembly, Familie Flos, Wonderheads, and Fling
This renowned actor and teacher used a mix of mime, mask work, and other movement techniques to develop creativity and freedom of expression within his students. It draws on historical movements like Commedia Dell’arte and clown work as well as Lecoq’s famous neutral mask technique and psychological exercises involving elements, colors, and seasons. Jacques Lecoq developed an approach to acting using seven levels of tension. You can train by slowly moving through these states so that you can become comfortable with them, then begin to explore them in scenes.
student examples connected
great explanation
Exhausted or catatonic. The Jellyfish. There is no tension in the body at all. Begin in a complete state of relaxation. If you have to move or speak, it is a real effort. See what happens when you try to speak.
Laid back – the “Californian” (soap opera). Many people live at this level of tension. Everything you say is cool, relaxed, probably lacking in credibility. The casual throw-away line – “I think I’ll go to bed now”.
Neutral or the “Economic” (contemporary dance). It is what it is. There is nothing more, nothing less. The right amount. No past or future. You are totally present and aware. It is the state of tension before something happens. Think of a cat sitting comfortably on a wall, ready to leap up if a bird comes near. You move with no story behind your movement.
Alert or Curious (farce). Look at things. Sit down. Stand up. Indecision. Think M. Hulot (Jacques Tati) or Mr Bean. Levels 1 – 4 are our everyday states.
5. Suspense or the Reactive (19th century melodrama). Is there a bomb in the room? The crisis is about to happen. All the tension is in the body, concentrated between the eyes. An inbreath. There’s a delay to your reaction. The body reacts. John Cleese.
6. Passionate (opera). There is a bomb in the room. The tension has exploded out of the body. Anger, fear, hilarity, despair. It’s difficult to control. You walk into a room and there is a lion sitting there. There is a snake in the shower.
7. Tragic (end of King Lear when Lear is holding Cordelia in his arms). The bomb is about to go off! Body can’t move. Petrified. The body is solid tension.
Trestle Theatre Company
Example of Tension Level 4 : Alert & Curious
saw the body and how it moved through space as crucial. He wanted to shift conventional word based theatre to a body centred theatre by exploring the relationship between movement and acting.
believed in the notion of 'play' within theatre. To play allowed the actor to shift the rules to understand the rhythm, tempo and space in a performance.
He believed metaphor transformed an actor's imaginative and creative energies. "The Journey"
His actors explored the push and pull, struggle and stability, certainty and uncertainty of life.
believed in collaborative work to create a dynamic acting ensemble and an auto-cours is where his student actors prepared a short devised performance to present to the whole school.
believed that actors should train from neutrality to characterisation understand the dynamics of space
explored what kind of relationships were possible between performers and the audience,
Find something you could use at home as a mask and slowly, and with great interest:
inspect yourself completely from all angles, explore your gestures and movements, look around the room
examine and explore all the windows and their functions, examine and explore all the chairs and their functions
go in and out of the doors, find a place in the room where they make themselves at home.
Film yourself completing a mime of pushing a boulder. Watch the video back and consider:
your hand position when indicating the location of the boulder, and how your arms indicate the weight of the boulder
the movement of your knees, the tension in your arms and the push from your pelvis.
Complete the activity again but imagine a group of five people have joined you in lifting the boulder. What would have changed?
Use the associated exercises below to assist you with this work.
Importance of stripping away - of shedding - superfluous habits and mannerisms.
Learning as a sensory and somatic experience: knowledge accrued through movement.
The expressive potential of the whole body, not merely face, hands, etc.
Importance of simplicity prior to layering, elaboration and complexity.
An acceptance of concepts such as 'the truth', 'the real' and 'the artificial'.
Pair-up with a classmate using the script below, decide upon the who, where, what, when and why and then explore and block the physicality, ambiguity and opposite emotional states of the characters. Notice the lack of punctuation.
A: Did you
B: I thought so
A: Really
B: Great
Can you describe the rhythm of this script? How did you and your partner incorporate the physical pull and push of the words?
Why did you choose to phyzicalise the script in the way you did? Why should this engage an audience?
So if the body is the actor’s musical instrument, how can you produce the music of Physical theatre?
Mime – This usually means stylised movement but can be comparatively realistic.
Gesture – A gesture may be something small but can have emotional impact or it can be a particular movement that defines a character.
Status – This may be executed by use of levels or by distance or strength of contact, or a combination of all of these with voice work.
Proximity – How close or far you are from your co-performers can be a source of very powerful impact. For example, the threatening gangster who speaks to his victim from a distance of perhaps a couple of inches.
Stance – This is associated with strength as the body could radiate assertion and authority or weakness by stance, incorporating posture.
Harshness and tenderness - Used here as umbrella terms to focus on the fact that in physical work the gestures and bigger movements come together to express the emotions of the piece.
Movement - Every movement needs to be rehearsed with precision.
Not moving – If the stage is full of characters moving, immobility can have a powerful effect.
Mask work - The impact of a mask is visual and without the facial features to show action, movement becomes an even more central performance instrument.
Dance work – Don’t be afraid to include dance in your work; you don’t have to be an experienced dancer. ‘Dad dancing’ can work well in a comedy for instance!
Motif – This is repeated use of a movement pattern which has meaning and reminds us of the central theme of the work.
Laban’s Eight Efforts to explore character in the body. They used it as a way to extend an actor’s movement vocabulary and ability to play characters physically. They help an actor both physically and emotionally identify and play characters who are different from themselves. This embodied work helps the actor in understanding internal impulse and in developing an expressive body that can make clean, precise choices. It also helps the actor create and maintain a strong physical instrument that will serve them throughout their training and future professional work.
Direction is either direct or indirect. Weight is either heavy or light.
Speed is either quick or sustained. Flow is either bound or free.
Direct movement involves a channeled, singularly focused awareness of the environment.
Indirect movement involves a flexible but all encompassing attention to the environment.
Light movement can be described as delicate and overcomes the sensation of body weight.
Heavy movement is forceful and uses the sensation of body weight to make an impact.
Sustained movement is prolonging, lingering or decelerating.
Quick movement contains a sense of urgency and rapidity.
PAIRS: FLICK & DAB, GLIDING & FLOAT, PUNCH & SLASH, WRING & PRESS
Start thinking about ....Does this character move with a flicking movement? What weight does this character have? Am I bound or free?
There are many different ways an actor can begin to employ these efforts into their work.
The actor can take time observing individuals and creatures in the world around them with an eye towards identifying the Eight Efforts within the movement and behaviour of the observed subjects. After careful observation and replication of the efforts, the actor can begin to apply what they observed to the creation of a character, borrowing elements of what they observed and rehearsed.
One can look at the personality of the character and the emotional makeup of the character to look for what kind of Effort to experiment with. We can look at a character’s personality and think of them in terms of the Efforts.
On the TV show South Park, the character of Cartman is pushy and aggressive with his friends. He tends to try to dominate any situation he is in and is quick to anger. You could think of his personality as a Punch.
Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh is light and indirect in his personality and the way he interacts with the world. Argue whether he could be described as a Float/Glide or Press/ Slash
What would Cookie Monster, Gonzo, Elmo or Animal from Sesame Street be like as an effort?
There is mask law when it comes to handling and acting in a mask.
There is the law idea of completing forgetting ones self, and in stead taking on the role of the mask.
1) An actor must not put their fingers through the mask face, again this ruins the illusion of the mask.
2) Don't put a mask on or adjust/touch the mask while in front of an audience
3) Do not talk into a full faced mask
4) Face towards the audience (no profile) so the audience can't establish a difference between you and the mask
Once a state of neutral was achieved, you would move on to work with larval masks...
... and then half masks...
... gradually working towards the smallest mask in his repertoire: the clown's red nose.
Mask work is a very physical form as many of the characters wear masks so their facial expressions can’t be seen by the audience. As a result actors must rely more on their bodies to be understood.
“There are three masks: the one we think we are,
the one we really are, and the one we have in common”
— Jacques Lecoq