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.