Friday, 30 October 2015

Jane Eyre Review

The production of Jane Eyre was a play about a young rebellious woman sent of to school to become a proper 'Lady'.. After growing up there and becoming a woman she leaves and on her travels meets a wealthy Governor who, unknown to her, is the father of the daughter at her new job posting.Soon after some strange happenings at the home, the dark truth about the governors wife and the loss of his sight the two decide to be together.

The play had many positives in particular the movement. For example the simulation of the coach moving, with the small group of people running and stopping and making the noises. This was very effective because it gave the illusion that whey were actually taking a coach somewhere. Another highlight was the dog. It was just a man with what seemed to be a folded up piece of leather wagging it around and smacking it on objects. Coupled with his panting and barking it was a very effective use of movement to show the idea of a dog.

Some elements of this was seen as very helpful to my group especially because we didn't actually have a solid start. After seeing this we Incorporated ideas for example the ensemble of them running as a coach however we adapted it a little bit to fit the story. 

Process so far

So far we have completed our beginning sequence. It starts with a speech from a mysterious man in a suit and with a briefcase speaking very cryptically. This character is the devil however it never actually says it until later.  From there we got to a scene with the young recruit - our main character - in a conversation with his acting general. This conversation leads to the general to informing him he will be going on a mission with other recruits which is a signal for the song to start and the ensemble movement to begin showing their training, the battle the had and the injury of our main character. From there we have him shrivel up, each member remove a piece of army clothing from him and he moves on to becoming homeless, where various people walk past him until he offers a man who can make him a deal, in this case Satan.

Sunday, 11 October 2015

Peter Brooke - The Empty

In Peter Brook's The Empty Space, he discusses various issues within theater and the drama industry today on a whole. He discusses why Theatre is not progressing as it should be. Some of the reasons he used included:

  • It is overpriced and does not give you your money's worth
He says this because Theatre is extremely expensive nowadays, some shows ranging from £10 all the way up to about £150 for a show and most of these shows don't live up to the hype they where billed at. This is diminishing the industry because people are now accustom to paying huge prices for performances that lack creativity, and depth. He also said it means people are more likely to make theater to make money instead of art or drama. 

  • You cannot force an audience to emit emotion
He said that you can't force an audience to act a way they don't want to. If they see something funny they will laugh, if they see something sad they will weep and if they see something shocking they will gasp. The audience is only as good as the performance itself so if you have a dull, slow and uninteresting show then it will be reflected in the audiences energy and reactions. 

Research Task - Bearskins (Text)


Bearskins is a German fairytale written by the Brothers Grimm. It tells the tale of a man who returns home after the war to find there is no place for him. After encountering the devil on his travels he makes a deal with him which he completes and in exchange is free from his monstrous look and in exchange the devil gets the souls of the two evil sisters of the soldiers bride.

In other adaptations the story often changes. In 'Don Giovsnni de la Fortuna' the main character has been made to be a young wealthy male, who squandered his fathers fortune to him and met the devil while begging. In the 'The Devil's Breeches' the solider squanders his money, he attempts to make ends meet by becoming a servant. When he fails at it because all his masters wives and sisters fall in love with him, so he must leave every job.

In common pop culture, elements of this text are seen throughout film. One good example is beauty and the beast. The idea of a beautiful bride and hideous beast who later returns to his normal, handsome form to marry his bride is basically the storyline from one of Disney's most famous movies. Other elements have been seen aswell including 2 evil sisters and one kindhearted one (Cinderella).






Frantic Assembly Workshop.

This past Monday we had a workshop with frantic assembly theater company in preparation for our performance. Throughout the lesson we we through a series of exercises in pairs and groups. Some involved lifting someone, with their arms clamped around your shoulder. Another was lifting someone from the side, using your legs as strength not your back. This was a very physical activity, and quite tiring but beneficial as something we could incorporate into our plays.

The task we did was in pairs (my group was a 3) and it involved a lot of movement, We started off clamping a point on your partners body. We had to remember where we pressed and in the order we pressed it. Soon as we progressed we removed the hand movements and just added the movements making it more fluid and flowing. We had to add one push, and one pull and one of the lifts we learnt. After showing our movements we discussed how we could change the entire look of the piece without changing the actual movements. So we were given a full cup of water and we had to pass it to each other. Then someone had a cup of water and the rest of us tried to take it. While these two are essentially the same after discussing we learnt how small things could change how people viewed what we did. For example when passing the water it looked like brothers or friends sharing a drink however when we tried to take it it looked like 3 people going to war over water.

We also began lifting people in the class over our heads and walking them around. The main lessons I took away from the lesson was to trust your colleagues. If you don't then you cannot completely give yourself to the performance because you'll always be worried they aren't doing what they need to be. Also it use more energy and power when performing and move about in more fluid actions.

Sunday, 4 October 2015

Frantic Assembly

Frantic Assembly creates thrilling , energetic and unforgettable Theater. The company attracts new and young audiences with work that reflects contemporary culture.


Frantic Assembly's unique physical style combines movement,design, music and text.

They are led by Artistic Director Scott Graham. He formed the company with Steven Hoggett and Vicki Middleton in 1994 and he continues to do work with many of today's aspiring young artists.

Having toured extensively throughout the united kingdom , they have built a reputation as one of the most exciting companies in the country. As well as working in the UK they have worked in 30 different countries across the world.

In addition to producing plays , there also operate an extensive 'Learn and Train' Program introducing 6000 participants annually to the company's process of creating Theater in a wide variety of settings.








Devising Theatre

Forced Entertainment
  • Making Theater since 1984
  • Usually improvisation on stage
  • Started - Sheffield : Met as students

The Wooster Group
  • Use of technology - multimedia
  • Making Theater since 1975
  • Permanent Ensemble
  • A group of artists coming together to make work in New York.

Idle Motion
  • Cross Disciplinary
  • Use of books - same prop for everything
  • Making Theater since 2008

Station House Opera 
  • Making Theater since 1980
  • Work with other people
  • Focus on visual and physical not text
  • Difference between art and Theater?