"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)-?