PROYECCIÓN PRIVADA: putting things on stage because of their EFFECT and not just "for the sake of it"

Picture showing "simple body sequences" in the play

Description

On friday april 12th, we went to see "Proyección Privada. Directed by Gilbert Rouviere and starring well known actors such as Jimena Lindo, Norma Martinez and Miguel Iza. The comedy shows television as the main aggressor and "pretext of escape" in human relations.
It conveys (as we agreed in class as a possible concept) the idea of consumption from the two sides. People's  consumption of TV and the TV's consumption of people and relations.

The director tries to use different modern(ist?) conventions and techniques. However, they do not necessarily respond correctly to an exploration process to achieve an interesting effect and response in the audience, but seem to be there because they are "modal" tendencies in occidental directing.

Analysis

Some examples of this techniques or conventions could be the following:

Theatre of the Absurd:
It is absurd that the man does not know the name of his own wife (influence from Harold Pinter here), and doesn't even know they don't have children. The play is a comedy, so absurd jokes as these could work at the beginning, but when they become repetitive the audience gets bored and sees them as (may I use spanish) chongos monses.

This teaches us that we don't have to underestimate the audience. If we keep making "easy" jokes in comedies the audience will eventually get bored, because there aren't 'hiden' messages or things there to analyse.
If you want to make an absurd play, I believe you need to make sure that EVERYTHING there is absurd, including the set design and acting. However, not everything in this play was "absurd", and some things such as set design even TRIED to be "realistic" (as for the walls and the couch). However... this 'mixture' didn't work at the end. If the jokes worked in the audience only at first (as in my case), maybe they should have done them only when the man appeared to be drunk, in order to give coherence to their use.


Theatre of images:
With the body sequences and the use of masks, the play tried to transmit the idea of dehumanization (due to technology and routine). However, this sequences were definitely repetitive and boring for the audience, as they didn't show us interesting choreographies or movements but extremely simple sequences that became monotone.

Theatre "of images" requires a different type of work, that has a purpose and a visual impact in the audience. However...The only effect the "dream-like" scenes in the play created was sleepiness.

Connections

A matter of dissection: I remember telling our director that the audience probably wouldn't understand our jokes, but he always told us we should never underestimate them. Theatre should make you think and analyse. It shouldn't give you everything, it shouldn't underestimate the audience's capacity and intelligence.
The slapsticks in this play were sequences that matched with the play's mood and style, and were there for their EFFECT and not just because we wanted to use the technique. We realized it is common for comedy, and it was used because of its contribution with dynamism and amusement for the audience.

Confesiones de Ana Correa: The body sequence made by Ana Correa when representing Yerma did have a purpose and clear effect on stage. It achieved to cause SENSATIONS (such as the fetus) in the audience not only because of her body expression, but thanks to the sound effects and the textures used.
Here, strong imaged did have an impact, while the body sequence used in Proyección Privada was monotone and "effect-less" in the end.

La falsa criada: Here, items and scenery were placed on stage just because they "looked nice", but didn't really work all-together. They were too fixed (no imagination expected from the audience), and didn't follow a concept.

Reflection

As a director, if you choose a technique or convention on stage, you should put it there because of the EFFECT it will cause in the audience and not because it is common or "modal". 

Directors should always give coherence to plays with a:
1. Direction concept
2. Acting concept
3. Design concept

And should look for techniques that join together or work for the play's style, without using them "just for the sake of it".

Could we establish a (kind of) concept for the techniques used in a play? 

Moreover, as we are also learning in the school play rehearsals, different actors have different advantages and ways of working, and it is one of the roles of the director to exploit them to the best limit. (If you have actors that can't certainly perform complex body sequences, don't try making simpler ones just to have a sequence in the play.) The obstacles we find (even in our actors) should not be limits in the end.

Music as a key element for exploration

Description
The school play rehearsals are progressing, and this week they were our main focus.
On tuesday 9th, I was in charge of the three "Geist" groups. As always, we started with warm-up activities that involve concentration and energy, and then they were divided into three groups. Boys would continue developing their "zombie-like" characters, and girls had to develop other scenes.

It is impossible to work with so many at the same time... for this reason, Thursday's and Saturday's rehearsals were better, as I could concentrate in just one group (the boys from the blue dream).
We reviewed the body sequences and started working on the actual scene, but I noticed that one element was key for their character exploration and development: Music.
Analysis
Music is able to create different atmospheres in a play, and evokes different emotions in its listeners. For this reasons, I believe it is an essential element to focus, explore and develop a character.
On Thursday's rehearsal, I noticed that the boys were further more concentrated in their characterization after I made them 'reflect' and analyse the movement of each part of their body with the help of music. While they were working and moving, music was also helpful to remind them of the scene's atmosphere and the mood they should transmit with their movements.

I've noticed Music allows them to transform the inner emotions into movement and clear intentions, creating a deeper characterization than if they just imitate the movements I tell them to do.  

On the two last rehearsals, I've asked them to work and focus in mainly three aspects: body movement, face expression and breathing, and when they achieve to do it their characterization really improves. Why? because not only the music but also breathing helps them transmit the character's intentions. Some have tackled successfully this three requirements, although my main concern now is for them to "stay in character" through the whole scene, and not just when its their turn to move or speak. In order to achieve this, we shall continue practising characterization exercises, and maybe use (low) music even when they are saying their lines.


Connections
A matter of dissection: music was used to explore each character's rhythm and poses. I remember it allowed me to concentrate and by following the rhythm of the music find the intentions and clear body expression for my character.


Kioskotambo: This is a clear example of how music evokes different movements and different moods in a character and a play. My character's movements were based entirely on the music, and as it was joyful my character was as well. Music guided me to transmit the Maqta's emotions and be able to interact with the audience.

La bruja de Kókoro: I believe this is the character in which I have explored breathing the most. I consider it to be the basis of my characterization, as it allowed us to create a tense mood during the whole scene.

When I think about the characters in this year's school play, the witches from Miyuki always come up to my mind. We need to explore face exaggeration,  distorted movements and heavy breathing, which were aspects that this characters had.


Reflection

Characterization is a process that progresses, but the acting concept can be highly influenced by music.

Should we try playing music (in a very low volume) during most of the scenes even though characters are speaking?
Music evokes immediate feelings in actors, which help them to explore and develop their character. It remembers them of the atmosphere they should create and the mood that the scene should have, and allows them to explore  different ways of achieving this. I say different ways, because I have learned that most times actors can't do everything you want them to, and the role of a director is to be sensible to what an actor can give. (This connects with my last entry) were you 'accommodate' to what you have, and explore other possibilities in your characterization if you couldn't achieve the expected ones.

In this process, music can work as a guideline or "dorsal spine" to allow you explore different possibilities, without going away from the main aim.
However, when do we know if an actor needs to prove other possibilities, or just needs to keep exploring and trying the wanted one?

This week I thought of Theatre as the nucleus of all the arts: it involves visual arts in the design, dance in the coordination of the actors, and music transforms its atmospheres and allows its actors to explore.
If music explores sound.. sculpture volume and painting colours... what does theatre explore?
Theatre is a mixture of all the arts in order to represent mankind in different ways, can the "form of Theatre" we were looking last year go along these lines?

"Esto es lo que hay" - obstacles or advantages?

Description

After a week full of "school play planning" and rehearsals, Theatre has taught me something new. You have to work with what is there; what you have. Do not loose time 'dreaming' with something that isn't there.
We may ask ourselves if not having something you would like to is really an obstacle, or an opportunity to let your imagination fly.

This week, we've had discussions on how we want the play's lighting and scenery to look like. I realized that we don't have a perfect theatre, neither the "perfect lights", and that the majority of our lights have the poorest quality existing. Furthermore, we can't afford to create a play with all the materials and textures we imagine (such as metal and leather), and with astonishing shadows, projections and scenery elements.

On the other hand, I've been working with the SCHREI in the school play rehearsals, and I should say that I had some positive and some rehearsals that I could call negative for me. I will analyse what needs to be done better, and how can we use this great group of children (which could be seen as an "obstacle") in favour (as an advantage) of our play. 

Analysis

Instead of complaining about them, we should ask ourselves how can we use our theatre and our lights as positive obstacles rather than problems:

Different kinds of spaces need different kinds of plays, therefore, a big stage such as ours needs a visual play rather than a play based on its text.
How can we achieve a "visual play"?

Different kinds of spaces need different kinds of plays, therefore, a big stage such as ours needs a visual play rather than a play based on its text.
How can we achieve this?
First of all, we need our dialogues to be short, and try to make monologues as interesting and dynamic as possible. We can use techniques such as “counter points”, organized and “summing up” chaos, and different poses in their long speeches. The main characters should grab all the audience’s attention in their monologues by conveying a tense atmosphere with their clear poses and bulging eyes.

This “concept” of tension could lead us in achieving the visual part of our play: Tension not only in the characters, but in the set design. 
Our theatre might not have the best acoustics (and microphones need to be used) but its great space gives us the opportunity to have tall objects as part of our scenery.  Elements such as a tower, different levels and big furniture couldn’t be used in a small theatre, and wouldn’t help us achieve the idea of distortion and (distorted) proportions on stage.
Furthermore, the use of diagonals and disproportions in the way they are built will cause tension in the atmosphere, catching the audience’s attention  and giving the impression of being falling apart/down (as the main character).
Moreover, we find the obstacle of not having an unlimited budget for our costumes, materials (and “textures”).  We would love all the scenery to be made of real metal and leather (only), but in reality, our budget wouldn’t let us. This is where we have to use our imagination to use these textures as much as possible, as we now know that different textures really transmit different feelings on stage. Metal in the working places will give a cold (prison) mood, while leather transmits the idea of phoniness and “wanna be bourgeoisie”. Alternative textures for scenery could be black & white wood (as brown wood would transmit warmness) and “plastic” clothes rather than balmy materials such as the “polar” of Down to Earth’s animals. For costumes, we can have a contrast between the bourgeois and the oppressed workers, with different textures such as "warm clothes" for the upper classes, and "cold" simple clothes for the lower class. As we've said before, we can use clothing from past plays such as Shadow Queendom and school shoes to overcome the obstacle of limited budget.

On the other hand, the SCHREI (aprox. 35 children) may not be the most experienced actors, but for this reason they should not be an obstacle for the play's success. We have the advantage of having characters for "mass movements", which will fill up our big stage, create impact in the audience and rhythm in the play. 

In order to achieve this, training for coordination is essential for them. For this reason, I've been working on choreographies and games where they have to communicate with each other and act as a team, so that they know that they are not individual characters but a "collective  character" in the play, which demands them to be concentrated, full of energy and as I said before, coordinated above all. 

Connections

For a matter of dissection, a small stage demanded smaller scenery elements, but a play that could be based on its text and not mainly on the visual part. It was essential that the audience understood the jokes characters said, but this was only permitted by a small stage with good acoustics. We were only 7 actors, but had the idea of more than 7 characters. Here's were our imagination used this "obstacle" to create our play's game.
Every game has its rules, and this rules pose limits. With a small amount of actors, we were able to create a dynamic play with more than ten characters, seeing those limits as an advantage that allowed us to move the play forward.

In Shadow Queendom, another game was created due to the "costumes obstacle". We learnt that costumes do not always have to be completely developed, but just one item or prop is able to turn on the audience's imagination as it did in "El valle oscuro" thanks to the same game for character changes.

However, in "El valle oscuro" textures could be considered unsuccessful. Real wood wasn't used, the model's materials weren't stetically pleasing, and the make-up missed quality. A similar situation took place in "La falsa criada", which was focused in having a "nice" scenery rather than scenery that worked in terms of setting and acting. Costumes seemed fake, as well as the "fixed" scenery used. 


Reflection

Every play has limits and obstacles, but you must see those limits as an advantage that allows you to move forward rather than as a disadvantage.Limits let our imagination fly, and should work as catalysts in the creation of innovative games and concepts.
We need to use the advantage of having a big acting space to have tall scenery elements, which help us transmit tense vibrations that catch the audience. On the other hand, it is key to avoid having "fake textures", and avoid pretending to imitate one texture to another. Each material transmits different moods, and instead of wanting to imitate we need to take advantage of the moods that each texture can give us.
As well as textures, "mass" or collective characters give us different atmospheres. The SCHREI will add rhythm and VOLUME to the play, but this will only be achieved through coordination and developed body expression.
This is why more communication exercises between them will be realized, and sequences which allow them to develop deeply their characters' physicality (such as the zombie poses Roberto did).
I need to analyse and research about more activities for my group. How can I develop interesting rehearsals which contribute completely with the success of mass characters in the play? Do I have to develop characters from the inside as the "older" groups are doing, or should I keep developing characters from the outside -as my group is made up of younger actors (which will be a greater visual part of the play)-?