Rehearsals Artaud Pictures

Today in theatre, we were given the chance to take photos of our interpretations in IPP. As planned, Valerie's scene for the Cruel interpretation was set in a mental institution. However, following Artaud's idea of not using a 'set' on stage, there was no actual set for this because my main means of exhibiting this scene was through the backdrop, wherein the shadows of the actors/actresses would be reflected. Furthermore, for these 'shadows' I made it clear to my peers who were the actors/actresses on stage, that the intricacy of Balinese Dancing must be evident in their movements by using their entire bodies - from using their arms and legs to their fingertips and toes.

My main actress, Elizabeth who had acted as Valerie, was Ugandan, and I had asked her to use a traditional Ugandan clothing - which I believed may have been the closest to Artaud's desire of 'ritualistic' clothing as costumes. I made everyone else wear white + painted masks, partly to be able to 'blend' in with the backdrop, heighten the volume of shadows perceived, intensify the mood I wished to create, and of course, to sort of symbolize the 'powerful emotions' (felt by Valerie), not through their white clothing but through their intricate and isolated movements.

I got my inspiration from a video that was shown to us by our IB Theatre teacher as an introduction to Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty. I was greatly fascinated by the use of lighting in this performance; and its effects on the creation of atmosphere to manipulate and stir the emotions felt by the audiences. This moved me as an 'outside spectator' because despite the lack verbal language used in the performance, the spectators still receive a more profound meaning or message of the performance.

Road Links/Sources

Valerie's Scene:

http://www.youtube.com/user/gregmarshall2#p/search/15/vYCdHGjSnow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17JQSZFfnfg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8_qC7wW5hg

IPP Option A

I've finally decided to really do Option A. Option B seems to be so much harder only because its more of really studying the theatre practice (subject) in relation to another thing.

Well today I passed by the bookstore and bought some masks. I figured that I should have masks which only covered part of the face for the extra characters in the scene; whereas Valerie, being the main protagonist in that particular scene will get the mask which covers the entire face.

I've painted the masks but gave more attention to the 2 half-masks for the girls who are supposed to be beside Valerie. I thought maybe they could, in a way, embody the experiences or the mere 'life' of Valerie. The masks have the color of purple, green, black and red - for their symbolic reasons (bolded the emotions necessary for my IPP).

Black

Black is the color of the night, and of "evil." Black can also be a color of elegance or class (such as a black-tie only event, and black evening gowns.) Black can also represent ideas such as power, sexuality, sophistication, formality, wealth, mystery, fear, evil, unhappiness, depth, style, sadness, remorse, anger, and mourning. Black can also represent a lack of color, the primordial void, emptiness. It can also mean sorrow or mourning, in the Christian tradition of wearing black to funerals.

According to Henry Dreyfus, Black, sumi, is the color of mystery and solemnity; the color of the night. Black expresses the depths of the unknown, and encourages the imagination of a different world from that of daylight realities. Used by itself, black can represent bad luck or misfortune.

Green

Green can represent nature, the environment, good luck, youth, vigor, jealousy, envy, and misfortune.

According to Henry Dreyfus, green, midori is regarded as the color of eternal life, as seen in evergreens which never change their color from season to season. In the word midori, both trees and vegetation are implied. One characteristic of Japanese culture can be found in the fusion of life and nature.

Purple

Purple can represent royalty, spirituality, nobility, ceremony, mysterious, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance, and mourning.

Red

Red can symbolize many things; from blood, to love, to infatuation. Basically red symbolizes strong emotions, or things of strong emotions rather than intellectual ideas. For example, red can symbolize excitement, energy, speed, strength, danger, passion, and aggression.

Source: http://www.three-musketeers.net/mike/colors.html

Transit - Play

12/12/09

- deals with many sensitive issues - immigration, politics, Western 'guilt', African deception (being rich), suppressed dreams

- Actors improvisation - author, writer listens

- More of a skeleton than a script - changing of scripts

- Accents - read lines, listen to accent - studying the character

- Different receptions - foreigners (Sweden - more reserved) & Africans

- Africans - second nature , laugh about issues raised

- Best way to relate - to make it real for the audience

- Incorporating sound and music - African influence - "Music is a universal thing"

- "If I don't believe myself, how do I make the audience believe me?"

- Actress - spiritual than technical acting

- Mistake on stage - 'golden moment'

Artaud Workshop

12/09/09

Today in class, I did a workshop on emotion shifts and facial exercise for my TOC interpretation of Valerie's soliloquy.

(Objective: portray emotions through different levels of energy, vocal expression, movement, pace and facial expressions spontaneously)

1. I made them form a line and say the same sentence with a specific emotion assigned to them. I instructed them to state the sentence (e.g. Hi, my name is... ) quick and spontaneously with emotions of anger, joy, fear, excitement and sadness. This was very helpful as they learned how to deliver the same line with different levels of energy, pace and facial expressions. (This was also done with 'no hands' as if they were in straight jackets.)

2. Then since Elizabeth was my main actress in the soliloquy, I made her state the sentence with differing emotions consecutively, while the others reacted and copied her emotions. This part was necessary as this would contribute to my independent project, wherein she feels a heightened emotion and her surrounding people react the same.

3. I asked them to act, and they had to increase or decrease their energy, voice and movements depending on the level (1-10).

4. After this, I made them have a 'face exercise'. In a circle, I asked my peers to cover their faces and touch the person next to them so they would look, then make a 'face'. This had to be done quick and was a fun exercise overall.

~ Some had to work on spontaneity and overall reaction on directions. This shows how much

IPP Rehearsals

12/07/09

It's been a while since I've worked on my IPP because I have been focusing on my TPPP oral presentation lately! We are getting our grades on Wednesday so hopefully even if it's not a high grade, it's decent! Fingers crossed. >.<

Earlier after lunch me and Elizabeth worked on our IPP and rehearsed our own ideas for each other's soliloquys. She chose to work on Molly's soliloquy /my part, and chose to apply Stanislavski and Brecht's theatrical theories. It was really fun and it makes me realize how much emphasis we actually need to incorporate within our independent projects to show the different effects of these two contrasting theories onto a scene.

I allowed her to rehearse both of my scenes with two different styles of acting; and I came to realize that I really need to put more details into my edited draft / script.

Artaud Part:

- need to be more innovative and creative with the use of lighting and sounds

- think of props

- must incorporate Balinese Theatre somehow

Brecht Part:

- need to develop flow of scene

- develop a socio-political aim

- work on verfremdungseffekt - think of diverse ways to implement

~> I need to get Elizabeth familiar with my choice of song in the exploration of Epic Theatre. I also need to give some workshops on emotion shifts and differentiation since I need this for my work in exploring Theatre of Cruelty.

IPP Plan & Valerie - T.o.Cruelty

Nov. 3, '09 - IPP PROPOSAL

I have decided to choose Option B: Exploring Practice which would allow me to engage actively with theatre practitioner, Bertolt Brecht and Avant Garde theorist, Antonin Artaud. Both have evidently impacted the development of theatre in the world and interestingly enough, they have very different and complex views on theatre in performance. Therefore, to implement their theories into practical exploration, I am going to focus on a specific scene, Valerie's monologue in the play, Road written by Jim Cartwright. These practical explorations will consequently enable me to seek two different interpretations of this specific scene of Valerie.

To practically explore Brechtian Theatre I want it firstly to have a socio-political aim when portraying its central themes. In incorporating Epic Theatre in Valerie's monologue, I've decided to change it from a monologue to a song, since the monologue is used by Cartwright to portray and represent central themes of his play, whereas Brecht does the same through his songs. To achieve this, Verfremdungseffekt must be implemented through using various elements and techniques in theatre. This effekt will be shown through narration, pathetic fallacy - winter or storm to indicate what is to come; also through the use of humour, music or sounds of drinking or belching of Valerie's husband to have additional use of interruptions her song which would distance the audience.

To explore an innovation for Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty, I envision Valerie's monologue as a very powerful scene. Valerie's emotions of anger, regret and sadness must be portrayed by the actress playing the part (Elizabeth), in this specific scene. As Artaud had used elements of theatre to reinforce his Theatre of Cruelty, I will use dark or black lighting to create much tension from her emotions and to have a monstrous portrayal of her husband (through shadows), which she in a sense does through this monologue. As Balinese dance was a great influence on Artaud, I hope to incorporate intricate and meticulous body movements. Props may have ritualistic references, and there shall be inclusion of masks, mannequins, and instruments on stage. As for music, there shall also be sound effects of Valerie's husband drinking or belching.

Nov. 13, '09 - MONOLOGUE - PRACTICAL EXPLORATION - REFLECTION

Today I was allowed to direct Elizabeth for her monologue as Valerie in Road. Since I am going to explore two theatrical conventions, Brecht's Epic Theatre & Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty, I decided to implement my ideas for her monologue, according to my planning above. I first decided to practically explore and apply Brecht's techniques to the monologue. I gave her her script which was divided into sections which indicated the parts when she was supposed to sing or speak. However, one big problem I faced was that she did not know which melody was to be used; and as a director of that scene I admittedly accept that I would have thought that a problem such as this would occur.

Because of this, I decided to move on and experiment with applying Artaud's techniques in the Theatre of Cruelty. It was fun to be a director of this scene using Artaud's theatrical techniques. It was very interesting to see that I had come up with much ideas as the practice progressed. I realized that I really wanted this to be a strong, overpowering scene. I had ideas of where I wanted this scene to be presented - a mental institution. The stage would be empty. Valerie would be presenting her story in a mental institution. Before she begins to talk, there would be whispers and shadows through a projector. She would be sitting in the middle, with two other patients in the stage with her. They would all be in straightjackets, and she would be revealing her situation wearing one.

In the future, I need to be more specific in my planning in what I want Elizabeth to do to effectively portray Valerie's role for each and every theatrical convention I wish to explore.