Here is a quick collage of just some of the images that have been inspirational to the development of Voodoo Macbeth.Tags:
Monday, October 29, 2007
Images of Inspiration for Voodoo Macbeth
Here is a quick collage of just some of the images that have been inspirational to the development of Voodoo Macbeth.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Rehearsal Space - Experiments in Play 1
"Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of Genius." William Blake.
The quote above is meant to mark a form of development that is often forgotten. The rehearsal space is no more immune to preconceived ideas of how things should be done than any other. Do you imagine that a rehearsal should be a bunch of actors walking through their lines at the spots the director marks out for them and that this is done until it is learnt? I'm sure you do. This is the straight road of improvement that Blake speaks of in the proverb above. But it is a road that goes somewhere very pedestrian and well trodden. How does one proceed when one seeks the eagle's nest?
The Ozfrank actor has to know all of the lines of the speeches. They will not know what their specific lines will be until much later into the play's development and due to unexpected losses of people they will be required to substitute for their peers.
Beyond these practicalities is the need to be able to focus on the body and to build the character's psychic relationship to the play context. Knowing all the words removes from the conscious mind the weight of handling too many variables simultaneously.
In the above two photos we see the actors begin to recite the words of The Dagger speech from Macbeth in full voice focusing on vocal power and memory. Once the repetition of this began to wear out the actors capacity for invention, Jacqui took the step of varying the process by breaking it up with what are called in the Frank/Suzuki actor training - Statues. The actors begin by taking a sitting open statue posture (as seen in photo 2) and begin to recite The dagger speech. Then at random intervals Jacqui strikes the ground heavily with a big stick and at that moment the actors must fold themselves into a closed statue and halt the speach. The speech is then only begun from where it left off and a new open statue posture assumes once the stick is struck again. This punctuated speech requires strength of body control that tests not only their physical endurance but also the actors commitment to their work. What would it mean to accept defeat and collapse under the strain? It should not be forgotten that this is a group experience and the risk of losing of face is always an active factor in any human group situation.
Creating variations like this to learning speeches refreshes the actors relationship with the text - goading them into tackling it again and again.
Once the group became familiar with the words to a sufficient degree Jacqui felt it was time to introduce the actors to the props and the play's current state.
But this too is a place for experiment.
After the Cauldron scene the witches throw around a skull, which is standing in for the head of Macbeth. They each speak part of the visions to his head and play with it. Suddenly Jacqui wants to try something. "Lets try moving it around on the ground instead and see what happens" she says.
There is a lot of concentration needed to say lines, catch and throw a head and maintain and develop a character all at the same time. Removing the catch and throw to a more grounded push and pass along the floor allowed the actors some more psychic energy to develop the way they would deal with tormenting the head of Macbeth.
Here we saw more expressive body shapes and character nuances and development than before. It was also much more fun :)
But that's not to say that any of this will be in the play that is visible to the audience when it's performed. However, this rehearsal experimenting, these crooked roads as William Blake calls them, are what will have created the actor's performance and the play's shape at the time of presentation.
The quote above is meant to mark a form of development that is often forgotten. The rehearsal space is no more immune to preconceived ideas of how things should be done than any other. Do you imagine that a rehearsal should be a bunch of actors walking through their lines at the spots the director marks out for them and that this is done until it is learnt? I'm sure you do. This is the straight road of improvement that Blake speaks of in the proverb above. But it is a road that goes somewhere very pedestrian and well trodden. How does one proceed when one seeks the eagle's nest?
The Ozfrank actor has to know all of the lines of the speeches. They will not know what their specific lines will be until much later into the play's development and due to unexpected losses of people they will be required to substitute for their peers.Beyond these practicalities is the need to be able to focus on the body and to build the character's psychic relationship to the play context. Knowing all the words removes from the conscious mind the weight of handling too many variables simultaneously.
In the above two photos we see the actors begin to recite the words of The Dagger speech from Macbeth in full voice focusing on vocal power and memory. Once the repetition of this began to wear out the actors capacity for invention, Jacqui took the step of varying the process by breaking it up with what are called in the Frank/Suzuki actor training - Statues. The actors begin by taking a sitting open statue posture (as seen in photo 2) and begin to recite The dagger speech. Then at random intervals Jacqui strikes the ground heavily with a big stick and at that moment the actors must fold themselves into a closed statue and halt the speach. The speech is then only begun from where it left off and a new open statue posture assumes once the stick is struck again. This punctuated speech requires strength of body control that tests not only their physical endurance but also the actors commitment to their work. What would it mean to accept defeat and collapse under the strain? It should not be forgotten that this is a group experience and the risk of losing of face is always an active factor in any human group situation.
Creating variations like this to learning speeches refreshes the actors relationship with the text - goading them into tackling it again and again.
Once the group became familiar with the words to a sufficient degree Jacqui felt it was time to introduce the actors to the props and the play's current state.
But this too is a place for experiment.After the Cauldron scene the witches throw around a skull, which is standing in for the head of Macbeth. They each speak part of the visions to his head and play with it. Suddenly Jacqui wants to try something. "Lets try moving it around on the ground instead and see what happens" she says.
There is a lot of concentration needed to say lines, catch and throw a head and maintain and develop a character all at the same time. Removing the catch and throw to a more grounded push and pass along the floor allowed the actors some more psychic energy to develop the way they would deal with tormenting the head of Macbeth.
Here we saw more expressive body shapes and character nuances and development than before. It was also much more fun :)But that's not to say that any of this will be in the play that is visible to the audience when it's performed. However, this rehearsal experimenting, these crooked roads as William Blake calls them, are what will have created the actor's performance and the play's shape at the time of presentation.
Tags:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
