Devising

The history of devising:

The history of devising should start with its early influences starting in the 19th/20th century which was romanticism and symbolism. Symbolism was started in France by Jean  Moreas But was created for theatre in 1890 by a man called Paul Fort. It is the idea of putting color or an object with meaning into a play or film to represent something.  Romanticm was introduced to theatre by Victor Hugo and was introduced to challenge political and social norms. The style focuses on an individuals imagination and emotion. Both of these styles help within devising to show what one is feeling but also to represent something or someone without the use of words. Brecht and stanislavski both helped provide a foundation for devising. Stanislavski wanted to focus on emotions and truth within improvisation and Brecht wanted theatre to not follow naturalism and to change narratives.

Even earlier thern the 19th and 20th century was Commedia dell'arte. It can be traced back to the 16th century to italy where it was a form of of traveling theatre that would show off individuals like street entertainers and acrobats. The name of the company means unwritten or improvised performance, They were the first company to decide not to have a writer or a director. It was up to the performers what they wanted to perform. It was very big onjm the use of masks and even to this day we still perform with masks. They believed that the mask was more important then the p[layers. To this day since a lot was lost we still use the Style of there Masked characters. 

These are called stock Characters.

The Master: Usually an Authority figure has a lot of money and is pompous.

Pantalone: Sometimes wealthy, Loves women and is a very greedy man.

Dottore: An intelect who is usually a professor Often shout a lot of gibberish.

The lovers: Graceful people who are the romantic protagonist of the story and usually have a high status.

The sevants/Zanni: They are lower class characters who usually provide the main source of comedy for the play.

Another company within the devised theatre was Joan Littlewood. During the 1950s and the 1960s this is where a lot of actors received there training. Joan Littlewood had a very strong belief that the physicality of theatre was way more important then the dialog. Her Company is known as Theatre Workshop.

Jacques Lecoq was a practitioner throughout the mid to late 1900s. He created what is known as the 7 levels of tension. The purpose of this technique was to allow performers to show and generate 7 different levels of energy and tension and to control them. During the training for the the performer should remember these levels and have the ability to bring a specific level out on stage at a moments notice. 

The 7 Levels of Tension:

Exhausted- This consists of having no tension in your body at all, Your limp and floppy with no care.

Californian-  This is relaxed and laid back but no longer floppy.

Neutral- This is where your character is himself. Its his everyday life stood up right and is efficient.

Alert- Now your Cautious and aware.

Suspense- There's a possible threat in your room but you don't know. 

Passionate- Now there is someone in your room. Your energy is skyrocketing. Your either scared worried or angry.

Tragic- Max level of energy. Your terrified. Freezing to the bone.

Frantic Assembly was produced by 3 students who wanted to create a company that was unique. It is the concept of direction through movement. They prefer to tell stories through moment on stage rather then with there words and a script. 

Devising is a process in creating theatre and other performing arts. This is a style that is created by a group of artists rather than it being based off a pre-existing piece/script. In devising, the directors and performers work together to create themes and ideas. Resulting in developing a piece through improvisation. 

Devising starts with the process of choosing a stimulus, which is a concept or theme. For our performance we started as a group by deciding that the stimuli should be a Christmas-themed murder mystery. Personally, I found this a great idea, but it very quickly became difficult to work with. Once the stimuli had been chosen, we decided to take inspiration from a murder mystery game called "Masquerade Murder." This game was fun to play and gave us many ideas to put into the show. The stimuli is the most important part of this project since it gives everyone a common theme and direction. Otherwise, everyone would be creating different ideas for a theme that no longer works. A stimulus doesn't just revolve around a word but can also be a personal experience or a piece of music.

Devising my character. I found this process really fun but also difficult. It was decided that I should be this old reverend who disliked the poor and loved money. During the performance, I go around and steal various items on the tables of the audience. One of the main parts of my character devising was his movement. Commedia dell'arte helped with this process. This is a form of improvised theatre and physical comedy. There are many types of character types in Commedia Del'arte; I chose the pantalone, who is usually a wealthy, old, miserable man. The main thing I took from this character type was the way he walks. The style of the pantalone walks with his nose. If you walked by being pulled by string, it would be tied to the nose. I am hunched back a bit with my head and nose pointing forward with my body following. 

During this performance there were many techniques used, A Main that was used was:

Improvisation is also known as spontaneous creation. This consists of quick thinking and being able to flow in a conversation on the spot. To improvise you need no prior preparation or set script. It involves the process of making up dialogue to fit a prompt or situation. This is vital in all live performances and was very important for ours. During the show, at the end of scene 2 and the end of scene 5, we have to walk around and interact with the audience. Originally this was nerve-racking, but once you get back into character, the words start to flow in which I was pushing blame on to anyone I could. Also, during the show I am constantly improvising my movement and the noises I make.

7 Levels of tension:

I Used the 7 levels of tension through the whole performance. I started off small as this innocent priest who was just there to say hello. I was at about a level 2 for this. Once the Countess walks in the room my character switches up to about a 6 as I am excited and mainly at this party to steal things. My character pretends to obsess over the countess to try to win her love. Both times a murder happens i am right up to a level 7 in energy. I am terrified that someone had just been murdered. Thinking about this technique helped me to harness the right level of emotion for my character without going over the top or being to melodramatic.

Comedia Del'atre helped me to choose how i wanted my character to look and act but mainly move over the stage. I was struggling to figure out how i wanted my character to walk due to the fact he was old. After looking through the stock characters i decided he was very similar to the pantalone. Because of this i was able to remember that the pantalone walks as if he is being pulled from his nose and almost hunch back. Not only did this help the way i looked while walking but due top the position i was in it also helped me to speak better in the voice i was putting on for him.

Viva Voche

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9FUnXtJG0o