IBTA: November 2013

City lights
I fall in love with city lights all the time especially at night. Similar to the bright and colourful lights shining upon the different glass buildings, I find that stage lights have the same effect on me. Like a moth, I seem to zone out while looking into the light(s). I love the way that my eyes glaze over and I seem to daze off into my imaginations. It also helps me remember my lines when I look up into the lights on stage. My infatuation with the city lights came from what a friend had told me once. What he said, I translated into thinking that the only way for you to fully engross yourself into your character, would be if you were to were to look up at the light, and let it clear everything out of your head.

Good Soul Of Szechuan:
This was the first play where I felt truly free on stage. I think that this was the first play where I started out method acting as well. Method acting to me seems to be the only acting that can help the actor make it seem realistic for the audience. Believing that the things your character is going through is real, you yourself are forced to think like your character does on stage. I think there's a big psychological element to this as well. In the movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, the director required the whole crew to stay in the insane asylum for the duration of filming. Some of the crew became a little bit crazy. To me, it's an art form. To me, it's a beautiful thing.

Stage:

I look at the stage as being a big blank canvas (even with the set pieces on it). It's a small piece of imagination that humans have put together, through the vision and creativity of the many involved with a production. Something that I've always loved about theatre and film, is that it's a piece of imagination. Scientists can't see into your dreams, or your creative mind but through theatre/film, you can.

Andong:

I went to Andong along with my theatre class in order to see 'Talchum.' A traditional Korean form of Mask Dancing originating from ancient times.

It was here where I found myself falling in love with the nature around me. I'm not a flower type of person, but if I've ever felt close to nature, it was here. Along with the dancing, I felt at peace with myself. The music that went along with the nature and dance that I was seeing and feeling around me made this an unforgettable experience.

This is just one of the many masks that we had seen on the trip, and technically, I think that it is the best out of all the fourteen traditional masks that there are. I love how with this mask, the mouthpiece moves according to however the user moves it. Looking up to look happy, and looking down the look mad. The number of wrinkles on each side of the mask having a specific meaning to it also gives me the influence that I would need in order to wake up one night from a dream and make some of my own masks (what the young boy had done).

What really gives me the creeps about the mask though, is how spirits travel all the way from the top of a mountain just to reanimate themselves into one of the actor's bodies. I mean, the faces are already there to control the facial expressions of the actors, but to think that a spirit is actually controlling you like a puppeteer is truly remarkable. This kind of brings me back to what Mr. Hill had been talking about when people preform in acts with Butoh theatre. When people have to wake up the theatrical Gods around them in order for them to use the actor's bodies on stage.

The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot:
First production that had an actual emotional effect on me. It was from this play where I realised that theatre had a lot to offer. Much more than what I initially thought. There was a moment in this play where the whole cast had cried together at a certain scene. This was the scene where Jesus (my character) was trying to get Judas to accept his love again, thus ending his time suffering. It was the first time I ever saw a cast get so emotionally attached into the production that they themselves were involved in. This was a remarkable yet unsettling experience further making me question the things that art has to offer within human life.

Mark Hill:

I'm not going to lie, I had my doubts at first. I thought that this wasn't going to be a pleasant week, seeing as the 'drama' class which I had once known had turned into some p.e class with a drop of artistic profanity in there. I thought "If this is a p.e class, why not just chuck away the artistic drama side of it?" How wrong could I have been?

The second day of Mr. Hill's lessons took me by surprise. It wasn't a p.e class anymore. His first intentions (I think) where to make us feel as if our second home was located in the Blackbox. This meant we had to find every aspect of the blackbox and make it ours by cleaning the floors. Each and every stroke of the watered-down towel scrub felt more and more as if we actually cared about the ground we were going to practice our physcial theatre. Suddenly the ground wasn't just a black surface anymore, it was an entire canvas awaiting to be painted by each of the strokes of our limbs. In a way, I thought that we were painting ourselves down in the blackbox through the use of dynamic stillness, levels of energy and how each and every one of us interacted with each other. Mark had told us about the time where he had to practice with people in nothing but a shack, but I guess that's theatre.

This is Mark Hill. One can see how much energy he puts when on-stage by looking at the veins pulsing from his neck. How his arm is so charismatic the way it just sits there with his fingers positioned in such a way, that you feel as if he's trying to grab at you. In this one photo, you can see so much about Mark Hill and to think, how much we've soaked up from him, considering the fact that we've had him for a whole week...

Mr. Hill always talks about energy levels and how you've got to keep them high, even when you're just standing there. He talks about how all this energy can induce so much synergy onto the stage with your cast members. Wherever you are on stage, whether your at a counterpoint up-close or maybe at a distance from the audience your energy level must be at least at a 5.

  On the third day, we had talked about being physically aware when mimicking somebody as if you were their mirror. Mrs. Moon had gone through this with our class in a session as well. Mr. Hill had tried to test our focus, by making somebody ask you questions while you would mimic the other person.

  What all of this has done for me as an actor:
First of all, now I really don't care how I look up on stage or if sweat is trickling down my face. I've learned that the audience love to see the actors struggle with their own problems when up on stage. It's interesting, and it will eventually show how much focus the actor has and how much pride the actor has for what he/she is aiming for in the play.

  I've learned that acting is something that we can't learn through a teacher, or learn from a book. It's a mental challenge with yourself. Do you want to be you? Or do you want to make your body but a shell, so that the character's personality can use you as it pleases. In Butoh, you awake your theatrical 'Gods' by stomping on the floor and totally letting yourself go out towards the audience. This is an example of when we as actors need to make our bodies hollow and a shell that the spirits can use for that moment in time. In Butoh, you sweat yourself out making you vulnerable towards the audience. I think that when we sweat out, we're also releasing all the tension that we have, and our spirits for that moment, so that the theatrical spirits can help guide us through the performance.

  Another thing that I've learned, is the meaning of what Mark Hill likes to say: "The best type of acting, is reacting." What does this mean? It means that the play can't just be about lines, or memorization of the script. It's how much focus the actor puts into the play and if he/she knows what's going on around them, in the story, and in each character's minds. How would we know what everybody else is thinking? Well we can know by the use of synergy, perception, if somebody goes up to a counter point, you must support their decision. Maybe go the distance and go parallel across from the counter point, or make a distance from you and the audience watching. It's also how you react to the things around you. If somebody falls on accident, make it a part of the script. Mark Hill had also said that the play has to always be constantly updated, renewed and added to. I think that this means that whatever happens in the performance, has to be a part of the play. You can't break out of character because you'll lose your energy and focus of your spiritual character.

  Energy is another factor that Mark Hill had been talking about. You need to bring energy into the performance, and take it out when you need to. A performance is nothing without energy, and with no energy, means no synergy between the actors. I'm sort-of repeating myself here, but I just feel as if it's a crucial point that Mark Hill was making. What's a performance without it's energy? You guessed it, a bunch of zombies reading memorized scripts up on stage.

  Mark Hill also has this incredible gift of bringing people together as a group. He does this by first making you show your presence in the room by saying your name out loud in a circle. The circle works as this thing where we can all see each other in our peripherals. Any move a person makes can be spotted out in an instant with the peripherals. It makes you all feel so much more closer together. It also makes you feel as if all eyes are on you (which technically is true) so you can't make any mistakes by showing disrespect to anybody in the room.

  The use of peripherals that Mark Hill had constantly brought up was quite intriguing for me. Maybe it's because I had never thought of using my peripherals so much but when I think about it, it could be one of the most strongest things in theatre performances. You can immediately see what each person up on stage is doing if you feel that synergy and have that right angle for your peripherals, without your audience knowing it. If the audience feels as if your looking at them 24/7, it establishes a good connection while still 'looking' at each cast member up on stage. It's like a Mum with two children. One of the children being the audience, and the other child being the cast members. Each need attention but the audience needs it more. Therefore you look at the audience while still looking at your cast members. There's no trickery in that, it's just... synergy..

  When Mark Hill had brought me up to do a 3 scene performance with him, I was amazed. To think that I was going to do a duo act with THE Mark Hill was truly breathtaking. I could feel his energy coursing through my body at the start of the act, even when he was 5 meters away from me. His stare went straight though my eyes. His smile was a symbol of energy and comfort, and his laughs were a symbol of connection and communication towards all who could hear it.

  They say that people talk from different places in the body, and that some can feel where it comes from. Mark Hill's words come from his heart. Each word he would say would shoot out of his mouth like a bomb. A big booming noise would come from his mouth whenever he would speak, even when he was speaking softly. It doesn't take much for one to feel his presence in a room, even if somebody didn't know him, they would be able feel him in the room. I think through this, every one of us had gotten a feel for what presence should be like towards others. Maybe he intended for people to pick up on this small detail.

Without question, I know that Mark Hill has changed me for the better, and I thank him and Mrs. Moon so much. They are both great actors, who have guided me through the mists of theatre and it's secrets that it has to offer. Mrs. Moon, if you are reading this, I thank you so much for the chance for me to meet Mark Hill. Thank you for bringing him to the school, he was a TRULY amazing person to meet.

Some things that I can include:

My book - Show Mrs. Moon

Story:

How do you appreciate something, if you’ve never suffered before? In this day and age where all the movies and books that you see written are about the slumdogs who’ve risen from the bottom to the top, what the hell does that make me? My father, was abandoned when he was young, and made a legend of himself through the years that came by. Even he, suffered. But what happens when a boy like me, has nothing to feel sad about? At the end of the day, you can look at me as some sort of rich kid, who had it all, and I’d agree with you. But I’d be lying if I told you that I hadn’t wished for pain. Now, this is where you start to hate me, no? Who am I to say this, a spoilt rich kid who’s had it all, is now wanting pain, and suffering? If I was you, I’d punch me square in the face, but here’s where I think I can spare my nose.

I think that God puts us through things that he feels we need. Yeah, I grew up with a lot of things, toys, videos, my own TV but really, those were all objects that symbolized love for me. The father that I never knew to come home before 12am was buying his love for me, and the mother that I still love that had spent the 7 years of marriage isolated along with her son was showing her love for me. If I could tell you what hell-on-earth felt like, I’d ask my mother to explain it for you. I grew up hearing a lot of things about my father, fighting gangsters, shouting at anybody who looked at him funny, but the one thing that has always stuck with me, was the fact that he was trying to be a good father. Now, what the fuck was I supposed to think? I mean, this was at the age of 10. I had no fucking idea what was going on in life, let alone in my own family. The father was always out doing God-knows what, the mother was always telling me about her life, and I’m there with all these objects around me trying to zone it out. Lemme tell you, my mother did a pretty good job at keeping me safe from the struggles. Hell I didn’t even know that my father existed till I was about 12. No, that’s not true. He saved me from death once, or twice.

Foreign faces look at you pushing through the endless waves of words, that hit

your only option, is to raise the white, your cloud, and fall to the ground

The waves hit your face, as you sink into the sun-kissed beach, 

wondering what abyss you might fall into next

To your surprise, you don’t fall

you’ve been caught, by an angel

this angle, belonging to a triangle of divinity, and you do nothing but trust.

what you don’t realise, is that

you have been caught

and words will not

escape your

lips

Antonin Artaud

He is a practitioner who is known for his methods in the Theatre of Cruelty. Artaud is known to be a theatrical director and a playwright. There is a famous book by Artaud called 'Theatre and it's double.' He was born in Marseille in 1896. At the age of four, he had been diagnosed with meningitis that had ultimately affected his emotions while growing up. Artaud also had neuralgia, which had given him depression throughout his years growing up. In the year of 1920, Artaud had wanted to go and become a writer yet had a sudden change-in-mind and went towards avant-garde theatrical works.

Artaud had a general interest in humans and their idealisations on what art made from truth is. He had an interest in masks of morality. This was Artaud's more spiritual aspect on what masks were, but he had believed in using huge irregular objects to be used as masks as well, and to use verbal stimuli to invoke an idea into the audience's minds. Artaud’s vision on masks, identifies one part of the different factors that make up what is the “Theatre of Cruelty.” These types of theatrical plays focus on the ideas of surrealism. Artaud had a broad vision on the theoretical perspective on of the ways of knowing, perceptions of people.

Going back to the point of Artaud and his vision on truth, his visions on what truth really is, and the only way to see truth is to see beyond the mask of lies that are always suffocating us. This is what the “Theatre of Cruelty” tries to break, so that people can see past all the lies that are constantly being thrown at us, blinding us. Artaud’s theory on breaking this blindness, was to use cruelty. This, doesn't necessarily mean that violence is, in this context, the answer. His theory was that cruelty was in fact needed in theatre, as he says “Without an element of cruelty at the root of every spectacle," he writes, "the theatre is not possible.” I personally believe that Artaud is saying that, there really isn’t a perfect, happy place, even in the imaginative world of theatre. By showing people about how cruel the ‘fake’ theatrical world even has it’s problems. Nobody’s really safe from the harshness of the world, so why bother running? And maybe this was Artaud’s reason for using huge masks, to show the audience that the proportion of the mask size compared to our actual faces are huge. These masks being the lies that we are burdened to wear that we cannot see are right in front of our faces, and we can’t see them. The reason for the masks being made up of irregular things is to point towards the theory that all the things that have surrounded our minds are all different.

IBTA

Tuesday, 19 November 2013

TPPP Notes - make changes

Monday, 18 November 2013

Notes from the class I missed today

Wednesday, 13 November 2013

Notes

TPPP Script

Monday, 11 November 2013

Romeo and Juliet