Tréteau- The tiny stage is called a trestle (or tréteau, in French). It’s derived from the portable stages traveling Commedia dell’Arte troupes would perform on in Renaissance Italy. Commedia troupes relied on the virtuosity of the performers rather than fancy set pieces and elaborate productions to amaze and entertain their audiences. Treteau Theatre is a concept evolved from the tréteau nu of Jacques Copeau in the early 1900s. Using the roots of classical pantomime, we progress to a fast-paced style of gestural language physical theatre on a platform. The reduced space functions like a camera lens, focusing the audience’s eye on a tight stage picture. The compressed stage size also serves to develop ensemble awareness and physical imagination. The performers never leave the tréteau, but instead become shapeshifters using the small stage to tell the biggest stories.
ASSIGNMENT:
Divide into groups of 4 - 5 students
Write and perform a three-four minute scene (At least 4 pages typed, 14 point, Arial font, double spaced) for a fairytale.
Fairy Tale Examples: Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, The Ugly Duckling, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, The Princess and the Pea, Little Red Riding Hood, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Rapunzel, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Elves and the Shoemaker, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, The Three Little Pigs, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Ugly Duckling, Pinocchio, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Little Red Hen, Rumpelstiltskin,
How to PERFORM a Treteau Narrated Pantomime for physical theatre:
The performance space is only a 4’ x 6’ rectangle that all of the cast must perform in at once. Actors never leave the space during the scene.
There is no blocking across the stage, but there IS body movement: gesture, pantomiming stage business, posture, quirks and habits, and facial expression.
Each actor must use their voice for dialogue and sound effects to tell the story in character. Actors may play multiple characters.
Actors are required to be memorized.
Actors must introduce their scene and characters in a stage picture before the scene begins. Actors must freeze at the end of the scene with a stage picture, bow all together, and then exit the stage.
How to WRITE a scene: When you’re ready to develop your idea for a play, you need to express it in terms that other playwrights and theatre people understand. Here are some of the more common playwriting terms:
Protagonist: The main character of your story; the character with a mission.
Antagonist: A character or thing that stands in your protagonist’s way.
Conflict: The opposing objectives of your protagonist and antagonist.
Backstory: Events that have taken place in the past.
Exposition: Setting the scene and introducing the characters. The motivated revelation of the backstory through dialogue.
Rising action: Action during which the conflict becomes more and more complicated as the antagonist (villain) and protagonist (hero) struggle against one another. The protagonist’s uphill journey, alternating gains and setbacks.
Climax: When the action reaches its highest peak and there is a turning point (for good or bad). The final confrontation between the protagonist and the antagonist.
Resolution: The aftermath of the climax; how the dust settles. The action reaches the final outcome and the story concludes.
Playwriting:
Time/Place: Where and when will your narrated pantomime scene be set?
Role/Character: Who are your main characters? The characters will convey the majority of the story and set the scene in the mind of the listeners.
Situation / Dramatic Tension / Conflict: What is going to be the main problem for these characters in the time and place that you have set your play?
How will it be resolved?
Who is your character? Describe their qualities? What kind of voice and body movement will they have?
Script Format Example of SNOW WHITE Treateau
Snow White - Mommy!
Sound- Crying / bell toll
King - She’s gone, sweetheart.
Movement - Evil Queen gives King a drink of poison.
King drinks, then grabs his throat like he is choking.
King falls to the ground dead.
Sound- Crying
Queen- Come, child. Your parents will never return, so don’t wait for them to come out of their graves.
Movement- Snow White grows
Hand Puppets on leg shows queen walking to her mirror.
Two actors make the frame for the mirror.
Queen looks through fourth wall.
Mirror actor looks through fourth wall
Sound- music noises that Mirror is listening to.
Queen- Mirror. Mirror! Mirror, I am losing my patience!!!
Movement- Mirror turns off music with right hand.
Mirror - Hey, how are you doing?