"A matter of dissection" - THE ORIGINS

dissect·
1. To cut apart or separate. -> GAME
2. to cut open and examine the structure of a dead animal ->PLOT
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Description

Paucartambo and One-Act play.
This week (on Tuesday and Thursday) we started staying after school to plan our one act play.

Although Roberto said that the first day wasn't successful, I think it was, as the stimuli (of a morgue) appeared, and we read two different plays ('Over the wall' and 'Us and them').

On Thursday, (although it wasn't easy) an idea for a possible game appeared, inspired by the concept of "gender bender" and "Two face".
We started exploring the possibilities and limits that the game can give us, and the possible characters for our story. 

In class, we've been studying how the four conditions for Theatre are applied in Paucartambo.


Analysis and Connections

So...What did I learn on Tuesday + Thursday?
As we already know, the creation of a play is a long process, and not at all an easy process, it takes a LOT of creativity, time, knowledge about theatre and different plays.
(From the two plays we read) I learnt that short sentences and dialogues work perfectly if you want to create an entertaining and dynamic scene. (I hope I can apply the technique of short dialogues and counter point when creating my scene for the One-act play).

*When creating a play, you need to create characters who "lack something", or are 'looking' for something.
*A game will always give you a lot of possibilities, but also a lot of limits (like the communication between different characters in our play).


As I mentioned in one of my past entries, the Activation Theory is a great contributor in the creation of a play, and we need to make sure that our One-act play has variation (dynamic scenes and varied characters), uncertainty (what happened to mr. Robertson/McRobbie? and what do they want from him?), novelty and complexity (innovative and complex GAME).


We need to create 'elaborated jokes' such as some in "Más Pequeños que el Guggengeim", and focus on characterization, as it will be the most important aspect in our One-Act play.

*In the play "Yerma- mujer que no se habita"- there were two male characters, represented by only one actor who changed (vaguely) parts of the costume and hairstyle. The characterization of both characters was so different, that you could easily and clearly differentiate them.
This is what we need to achieve. A clear and easy differentiation of the two characters that each actor is going to represent.





Now that we have a game and a plot, what 'steps' should we take to create a successful and comic play?

What exercises can we find to reach great characterization?

Are the steps for creating a play, script, or character always the same?


How is the varied characterization reached in Paucartambo? and which could be a good research topic about this tradition?

Conditions for Theatre + A new experience

 A question that has appeared in my mind several times is… what can be considered Theatre?  Or, How do I know that a presentation is a “theatrical play/piece”? (obra de teatro)

On Tuesday I learnt the four “CONDITIONS FOR THEATRE”, which are:

1.   Involvement of the body to represent another person in a certain time and place trough performance.

2. Order, composition and game.

3.  A content, something to say 

4. A social and ritual function

And on Thursday we had the opportunity to watch “La consagración de la primavera”, presented by the “Ballet de Londrina” from Brasil.

There, I had the opportunity to think about the four conditions for theatre and comparing the dancing spectacle with what would be a theatrical play.

Should this presentation be considered a play?

There was an involvement of the dancers’ bodies to represent other characters, a content or something to say about a virgin’s sacrifice, and maybe the social function of showing this idea and the concept of its unfairness.

However, there was not an exact or clear composition of the story/plot and characterization, as it was not focused in telling a story, but in delighting the audience with the dancers’ abilities and skills.

This idea can be connected to Opera, as the Opera spectators do not assist to see the plot, but to hear the music. For a very similar reason (as we were discussing in class), ballet performances usually represent “the same” or traditional stories (such as the Swan lake or The Nutcracker), as the stories entertain the audience and make the presentations more ‘dynamic’, but are not the “focus point”.

So… This was a DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE to the experiences that all the plays have given us. We were expected and able to appreciate the dance moves and tremendous bodywork.

*In Western Theatre, we usually go to concentrate on a plot or story, which should entertain us.

For example, in plays such as "Más pequeños que el Guggenheim", "Los músicos ambulantes", and even "Shadow Queendom", the audience is interested in the STORY that is being told, and wants to know how it will develop and end.

However, comparing this new experience to the Kabuki tradition, the audience goes to appreciate the ACTOR (in this case the dancer's skills), and not the plot.

In just 13 days we will be travelling to Paucartambo, and I ask myself.. how are the 4 conditions of Theatre applied there?

Should the audience be more concentrated in the dancing, music and atmosphere created rather than in a specific story or plot?

What is the most important aspect in the celebration of "Mamacha Carmen"? The acting? the irony in the masks, costumes and representations about past characters and events? the 'story' of Qollarri's daughter being captured by Inkarri??

What kind of experience do the "Paucartambinos" want to give to their audience?

In musicals (such as Hairspray), should the audience be concentrated mainly in the story or in the singing? 


Are the performers in Paucartambo actors or dancers? and if they are dancers, why should it be considered theatre?

LONG LIVE MATHILDA - school play: check ✔

A very important entry, a VERY important week:


This was the final week of a LONG and exhausting process: creating the school play "Shadow Queendom".


The process started the first week of school, when we began to explore the ideas of puppets and masks, and gave different words for our vision of the play.
Then, an innovative GAME for the play appeared, and the ideas for the puppets, masks and different scenes began to flourish.
However... the process wasn't at all as easy as it sounds.

one of the first steps: a workshop about
puppets, which gave us our first ideas
for the "puppet making".

We spent MONTHS thinking about the types of puppets that we could use, and then, spent even moooore time MAKING all of them.

I learnt that PLANNING is always the best way to achieve a goal.

* So, what did I learn from this? *
the creation of a play is never an easy process. It takes a lot of TIME, deep THINKING, and cooperation (which many times we lacked).
We need to create and follow our PLANS, and stop just giving ideas without 'doing something' about them.
I also need to make more use of my IMAGINATION, and 'take more chances' without being afraid of making mistakes (for example, when I had to make the masks - I think I could have explored more, and give better results)
However, I also learnt that theatre is 'collective' (team work), as I ended up organizing and deciding many aspects from the costumes with Mr. Cajas, and making (doing what I could with my lack of ability in plastic arts) puppets.




After almost four months working on the play, it turned out much better than all of us expected.


*What made the play work + made the audience like it? *


This was a play that surprised the audience VISUALLY, by the use of techniques that had never been seen in a school play.
It was a completely new and interesting EXPERIENCE for the "Newton college audience".


When we hear the word "puppet" we often think about a hand puppet or a marionette, but the use of puppets such as the tax collectors and the 'big royals' created a great impact on the audience.


*The play worked due to the application of the "ACTIVATION THEORY":
-variation
each scene was different from the other, and there were many different techniques used, from slow motion to the use of puppets, masks, shadows and stilts.
-uncertainty 
The audience didn't expect a twist in the ending of the play, and there was always an uncertainty in the plot.
-novelty  
The use of completely NEW and innovative things for the audience: giant puppets, hand puppets moving on stage, shadow puppets, masks in a school play, etc.
-complexity
A game that made the play harder to understand + different actors representing the same character = a more interesting and complex play.






Creating this play widened incredibly my point of view and ideas about puppets and masks. As Martin once told us "There is a whole universe of puppets"; and presenting these new theatrical techniques to the school's audience ended up creating a successful performance.
It wasn't easy at all, but after all the "ups and downs" we feel proud of the final results.
However (I don't want to be negative but..) many things could still be improved, such as the acting (vocalization, characterization, etc), the masks (exploring more possibilities), the way of telling the story (maybe including a narrator as Roberto mentioned), maybe improving some things from the scenery or puppets... and this takes me to the question:


Does the process of creating a play never really end?  


other questions...
Is the Activation Theory always helpful and successful when creating a play?
I think it is, and that we should follow these "steps" when creating the One Act Play.


Would the play have been as successful without such a creative GAME?


Does the audience pay more attention (concentrates) when the actors talk directly to the public?


Is it 'easier' for actors to act when they are wearing a mask? / Do they feel more confident?
-Artaud said that theatre reveals, and lets you put on a mask to bring the "real you".
"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."Oscar Wilde

3...2...1...SHADOW QUEENDOM!!

1. Description

This week we were focused in two main aspects: Paucartambo, and mainly, THE SCHOOL PLAY, which will be presented for the first time in ONLY 4 DAYS!! -on my birthday ;)

On Wednesday 13th we continued talking about 'La fiesta de la virgen del Carmen', and the structure of the celebration's first day.
On thursday, friday and saturday, we were concentrated in Shadow Queendom, rehearsing and starting to finish our production tasks.

2. Analysis

[Paucartambo]
We are learning that the celebration in Paucartambo has an specific structure, which starts with: 'la entrada', Sera apaykuy (prosetion from municipality to church), 'Qonoy' (beginning of celebration: light show, qoyas saqras and Maqt'as) and Alba (dance in suits).
This structure is very important and needs to be followed as this is a cultural tradition, which has taken place for years.
The different events of the first day may represent the entrance of the different cultures and people from different places into the town (e.g. the Qhapac Qollas from 'Meseta del Qollao'), the virgin's importance and worship, and the mixture of this religious tradition with the Andean culture and past events.


*Actors train all their lives to do this, and we learnt that you need to be considered a 'Paucartambinista' to act or be part of the 'comparsas'.


[SHADOW QUEENDOM]
This week we will finally harvest what we've being sowing.
The LONG process will finally end, and the results of our work will be showed.
-The majority of the scenes are improving, and specially the scene changes too.


My first scene (scene 2) seems to be getting better, and I am sure that we will try to do our best this week to improve it even more, but a problem that appeared this week for me was my displacement using the long skirt (costume). We only rehearsed the scene once, but it made me see what I can and what I can't do using the costume, and one of my goals for tomorrow is finding ways of making it work.
My other 'mission' is to finish COMPLETELY the production of masks, leaving them ready for the play.

3. Connections

Training has not been a part of acting in most of the Western World, and there are MANY approaches to what is acting.
For example, we learnt that in some parts of Asia dancing, Acrobatics, Circus, etc. can be considered acting.'
Or, for example, in Kabuki, acting was focused more in the quality of the actors rather than in the actions taking place, and as well as in Paucartambo, traditionally only MEN would dance.
In Medieval theatre for example, specific actor training did not exist, and it was developed later by Stanislavski*.

4. Reflections


"La fiesta de la virgen del Carmen" is a theatre TRADITION which has been respected and kept during years. Its specific structure has a meaning, and shows the great importance of this celebration for the town and its culture.


--
Working and rehearsing with the costume is extremely important in order to see your LIMITS and possibilities in a scene.
(Not only costumes, but props, masks, hair "styles", etc.)
You should ALWAYS rehearse with the items which will be used on stage.
That is why it is necessary to have the props, costumes, masks, etc. on time.


Both of this topics made me ask myself the following questions...


*Why do actors in Paucartambo train ALL their lives for this celebration?
*Do they give greater importance to the virgin's worship or to the culture and tradition involved in it?


*What is the meaning of the structure?


*Which problems with the costume could be presented in my scenes, and how can I solve them? (I will really think about this)




As I said before... we will finally harvest what we've being sowing.
4....3....2....1.... (matamee) SHADOW QUEENDOM 

'Culture and Ironic characters'

Description

This week we started discussing and studying Andean theatre, focusing on a cultural tradition which takes place in Paucartambo.
We spent a lot of time arguing about the basic concepts, specially about CULTURE and AUTHORITY, and we learnt different conventions and characters from the tradition.

Analysis

"La fiesta de la virgen del Carmen"  is a theatre tradition that takes place in Paucartambo, Cusco.
** "A tradition is always a practice, but a practice is not always a tradition".

In order to understand the theatre tradition it is necessary to understand the Andean CULTURE, and the functions of theatre in it.
First of all, we need to know that culture refers to the way you ACTUALLY live, and not how "you are supposed or want to live". And (after discussing it a lot of time) I believe that changes in this culture will happen depending on the needs of people.
**A necesity needs to appear in order to change a culture

The functions of theatre can vary from entertaining an audience, social criticism, celebrating, etc.
So, the audience plays different roles in different kinds of theatre and may be treated in different ways.

As well as the audience, each character (we've studied so far) has a different role or characteristic.

An important aspect about each character in Paucartambo is the IRONY involved.

For example, The Maqt'as' masks, body and sound expressions are funny, exaggerated and noicy. However, the IRONY is that their role is to stablish order.
click to see (Maqt'a) picture

The Qhapac Qollas click to see (Qhapac Qolla) picture
seem to be strong and masculine merchants, but they have very high pitch voices, and
the Qhapac Ch'unchos [click to see (Qhapac Ch'unchos) picture]
are warriors from the jungle, but are totally dressed and look very sad.
This irony may represent different criticisms from the people, or probably has a meaning which I hope to understand as we study the tradition.

Connections

Culture is a VERY IMPORTANT element in theatre traditions.
For example, deep inside every Japanese, there is a Kabuki actor/character.
Each culture NEEDS a different kind of theatre, with different purposes.
For example, in Japan, the audience concentrates in the acting and not in the plot of the story, however, the majority of people in our society look for theatre that entertains.

The masks used by each character resemble different expressions and feelings that may be ironic, which reminded me to the "daily masks" represented in "Más pequeños que el Guggenheim".
The irony in each character may be used to make fun of different stereotypes and "masks".
Finally, the tradition could also be connected to the play "Los músicos ambulantes", as different people/cultures join together (or in this case meet at one "central place") and share different aspects of their lives.

Reflections/Questions

In order to understand a theatre tradition you need to know about its culture.
Different groups of people or places need different kinds of theatre with different audience roles...

Do the performers in Paucartambo do everything for the audience?? Are they really concerned about the audience as much as we are (e.g.in the school play)?

What is the role of the audience in Paucartambo?

What message to they want to transmit with the irony?

Shadow Queendom.. coming VERY soon

Week #12: Finally receiving back our first research tasks, presenting information about the play on Friday's assembly and working on the School Play..


1. Description
On Wednesday 30th, we received back the correction of our Research task's first draft.
Marks weren't high at all, as most of us expected, but it is part of our learning to correct what we missed or did wrong.


On Thursday 31st, we were told that we were going to present a short scene with information about the play in the assembly, which we practised both on Thursday and Friday.


Finally, we keep working on the School Play "Shadow Queendom", and this week I had to act with the puppets mainly in the persecution scene, and work on the shadow puppets scene.


2.Analysis


Assembly:
The use of puppets (mainly) on the presentation was essential.
Their role was to surprise the audience as their use is a completely innovative idea, and to catch their attention. We wanted them to be fun in order to have the effect of entertainment and interest on everyone, about the school play.


In order to produce that effects, the puppets had to be very expressive and controlled with lots of care.
According to some comments received and the laughs heard from the audience we could say that they were funny and entertaining, but more body and vocal expression would have helped to produce the effects we wanted to achieve.
What I learnt from this experience is that as we had mentioned before, controlling a puppet and learning how to do it takes a lot of time, and it has to be done with care and following steps such as finding its posture and personality (mentioned in past entries).
On the other hand, presentations such as these ones might be prepared with more anticipation, as we had some issues such as the change of our planned space, and forgetting some things, due to lack of concentration. We need to CONCENTRATE more on what we are doing when we are presenting something.


"Shadow Queendom"
(This ideas were given to me by Roberto, but I want to add them in my entry as I found them very useful):


In the scene I rehearsed this week, the first idea was to run into the audience for the persecution.
Role: this establishes a closer contact with the audience, and catches their attention as it should be fun.
However, the idea didn't work as the puppets would have to move very fast and that is impossible according to the plays convention and the correct use of the puppets, and if they move in slow motion around the public, they'd get bored.
I learnt that running around the audience doesn't always work (I always had this idea that talking or moving around the audience was fun), but it depends on very specific conditions.
In this case, the persecution will be funnier and better appreciated on stage.




On the other hand, in the Shadow puppets' scene, the first idea was that every single character was going to be a plain/flat puppet.
Role: They would create effects that are not possible with humans, apart from being very innovative and surprising for the audience, as the scene will open the second act.
However, we found out that some actions work better with the shadows of actors, and they can be realized playing with the shadows (such as the torture scenes). But some "extreme" actions such as leaving a man with only his spinal chord can and will only be done using shadow puppets.
I learnt that actors can play and explore A LOT with shadows, and create effects or make actions that are impossible for humans or actors acting on a conventional stage.




3. Connections


Connecting the idea of treating the puppets with care with the play "Vedova in Lumine", we can say that when puppets are not controlled with care they can become just "things" instead of persons on stage. This happened sometimes when some puppets in that play were moved without special care in some moments.


"There is a relationship with the audience in Los Músicos Ambulantes but it does not require chaos, rather adressing the audience directly and establishing a brief but specific contact with one of its members, like when they share the corn" -- Roberto's example.


This also reminds me of the organized chaos of "La Cocina", and this idea is applied in the persecution scene, which is like a choreography that shows a "disaster" in a organized but 'fun to watch' way.




4. Reflection


This week reminded me the importance of being careful for puppeteers, and not only for them but for everything when doing a play, as the effects you wished or first planned may not result in the end.
Planning and EXPLORING the different actions and their effects is extremely important.


Finally,this ideas made me think about some questions:


*I'd like to explore if the use of 'slow motion' for a long time makes the audience get bored.


*If a puppet (such as the pirate of the assembly) never moves one of his arms (for example), would it start becoming more 'fake' or 'unreal'?


And finally....
*Can a shadow be considered a puppet? It can perform actions that humans can't, and it is an external 'part' of the actor's body.


*Is the actor like a puppeteer controlling its shadow?

Stimuli: conceiving a play

·It seems that every time I have to write on my blog my body 'rebels' and THAT day I feel sick...
after one morning of "puppet making" and an afternoon with fever and illness, here's a new entry·

Week #10

 1. Description
This week in class we continued discussing about working with an stimulus for the PPP.
We came up with new ideas (explained below) and on thursday we started thinking how to apply those ideas and use the stimulus (Mozart's 25th symphony)to 'conceive' a play.
On rehearsals, I had to practice a new scene (8) and continue making the puppets.

2. Analysis
Although I had to analyse the series of paintings "Ronda Nocturna", we've been analysing Mozart's 25th symphony in class. From that analysis, we came up with different ideas:
The song seems to show a 'struggle' to achieve something (as the tempo changes) and it is a single melody played by different instruments (homophonic).
And the question created was: How do we get to a possible play from the stimulus of the song?
"You have to look for details in the song that could justify your ideas and vision."
For example, homophony brought us the idea of a 'mirror', as the instruments seem to reflect each other when playing the same melody.
With this idea, the story of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" immediately came into my mind.
I started imagining a creepy vision, where mirrors everywhere on stage could represent the distorted personality that the potion creates, and how the character saw himself, which could be a false or wrong vision, or maybe an image showing that his decisions were always reflected on others or even himself.

"Its is a good idea to draw your vision and thoughts"

I think this was not a 'well-developed' idea, and I learnt that it is better if your idea isn't "too straight-forward", such as this one, and that plays can get boring if you have a lot of 'developments in time'.
To avoid having to talk a lot about these developments, the technique of the collage is used generally, which creates the effect of knowing different events in the character's life without using a lot of time.
It also creates dynamism, and not a boring experience for the audience.
3. Connections
Was this technique used in some of the plays we've seen?
How could we apply 'in a better way' the idea of the mirror, or the use of this stimuli in one of those plays? For example:
In 'Vedova in Lumine', we could have the distorted image/reflection of the woman, who may see herself as a normal person having a good time with friends or her loved ones, while the reflection shows that she has 'lost control of her mind' due to the pain.
In "La Cocina", the idea of the mirror could be used to show the inside thoughts of the characters, which suffered from different issues such as racism and 'broken hearts'.
In 'Más pequeños que el Guggenheim' each character had a psychological mask, which could be shown in a different way using the idea of the mirror.

*Connection between the ideas Mozart's 25th symphony and "Ronda Nocturna" gave me:
the clearest connection was the idea of a creepy mood, due to the dark colours and 'mysterious mood' that I imagined from the paintings.
Images of faces and human shapes can be seen in them, and that also gave me the idea of 'different personalities', or, distorted images.

“His works of art are deep essays about the essence and condition of things, of life, and of the human beings” 

One of the paintings from "Ronda Nocturna"- by Fernando de Szyszlo

It REALLY takes time to analyse a stimuli and come up with ideas to conceive a play, as most things in theatre..
connecting this with the creation of the school play, I want to mention that creating the game, and now the elements such as the costumes, scenery and puppets has been a LOOONG process, which takes a LOT of time.

Before (April 19th)                      -                     After (May 20th)

4. Reflections
Until now, I personally consider the process of conceiving a play through a stimulus very difficult.
It not only takes a lot of time, but a lot of imagination and concentration.

Do every single play start with a stimulus?
Without the director knowing, it could be ANYTHING.. even something saw on the street, etc.

How could I improve my analysis of stimuli.. and creation of visions or plays?
Roberto advised us to think about the form of theatre, get out of the "screens" and look at possibilities of the use of space (3D), for example, trying to break the fourth wall, which catches the audiences attention.

When creating ideas from the stimulus, we need to start thinking what would be on stage (Exactly), and should not "generalize" ideas.. or say things such as "always".. "everytime he is mad he...":
you need to start knowing how many times actions will take place, how many "main events" there are going to be, justify the use of the stimuli in your conceived play.. etc.

I also learnt that in theatre ACTIONS demonstrate things, and we should not only "say" them, for example: try to show in different ways that a person is sad, instead of he/se saying "I feel sad".


If the game appears first than the stimulus, can it be the stimulus of a play?

How could we improve analysing skills to 'extract' ideas from stimuli?



Is it 'better' when the stimulus is not directly used IN the play?


What other ideas could come out from this stimulus, apart from the aspects we noticed?