SHADOWLAND

Recently, in Korea, the Shadowland group came to show their performance. The video above is a little taste of who this amazing group is.

It is quite interesting in how they are using the ancient Indian shadow puppet form of theatre to create a new modern take on it. They make it new and exciting.

All the performers are so talented and so muscular. They use their bodies to create images, characters, and scenes. This group of people not only work with shadows, but they often perform just in their natural state. The actors are all extremely muscular and fit and healthy. They perform many different acts and show many examples of post-modernist characteristics. There actual theatre group is called the Pilobulus.

WHICH PLAY SHOULD WE CHOOSE?!

These are the choices among the plays that we are to choose from for our IB performance:

• Eurydice by Sarah 
• Eurydice is actually a greek mythology, but in this play, you will see the modern version of it. 
• The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
• Last Days of Ballyhoo 
• Ordinary People

I had thought that I had wanted to do a comical play, but after reading through the plays I think that Ordinary People would be the best choice based on the number and storyline and characters.

Peter Brooks: The Deadly Theatre

Is theatre nothing more than entertainment?

• No, in today's day, we see theatre as something wildly entertaining and extremely loud and glamorous. But we realize that theatre is something much deeper with meaning. Theatre can be made with just an empty room and only one action happening. It can be done in anytime anywhere. 

How does the deadly theatre take easily to Shakespeare?

• Just like I mentioned before in the above question, I believe that theatre today tries to be like a big circus show. It must be wildly loud, bright, and entertaining. Shakespeare is obviously a huge influence today in entertainment. So whenever directors and actors perform and do Shakespeare, they try to imitate it in the "original way". It gets rather boring and people try to imitate past performances. It gets repetitive. Therefore, Shakespeare plays have been doomed to repeat over and over again and has set itself into a pattern of deadly theatre.

Is "boringness" a certain guarantee of a worthwhile event?

• No, not always. Obviously in every event, there will be moments that seem a bit dull or "boring", but it does not guarantee that it will be worthwhile. It also depends on one's definition of "worthwhile". To me, a worthwhile event does not require every second and moment to be fun-filled, it has to be meaningful and purposeful.

What role does mediocrity play?

• Mediocrity seems like such a boring aspect to have in a play, but in reality, because of the mediocre moments you can look forward to the climax and it more emphasizes the climaxes of the play in theatre. It gives you something to hope for and helps to give more purpose.

What is the difference between passing down "meaning" and "manner"?

• Passing down manner is a physical aspect that you can see. It is passing down a physical way someone has interpreted a play. It has more to do with the actors, setting, lighting, makeup, music, and technology. Passing down meaning is more of a mental or emotional aspect that you feel or take. It is more to do with the moral and seeing the play in a different perspective.

Is it true that "the best dramatists explain the least"? Can you think of some examples from plays you have seen or read?

• Yes, the best dramatists do not have the need to explain every action and reason for why they acted and said the things they did. People can just immediately see and receive the action and interpret it in their own way. 

How can you go from Deadly Theatre to Living Theatre as an actor?

• You need to realized the importance of theatre and read this book by Peter Brooks to see what exactly deadly theatre is. It will show you how to avoid being an actor of deadly theatre and transition to living theatre. You also need to realize that theatre is not just a big show, it is an actual form of art and a way to express yourself and take responsibility for your actions. It is about being dangerous and voicing out your emotions and opinions.

How did Peking Opera lose its connectedness to the life of society around it?

• Because Peking Opera was focused on the ancient traditions and cultures. It was unable to relate to the audiences of the modern society. It held on so tightly and strictly to the ancient times. 

At the heart of the meaning of Living Theatre: "theatre is always a self-destructive art, and it is always written on the wind." What is your interpretation of this?

• Theatre is self-destructive in that it does not lose its meaning or interest because of what people feel or what people think. It is not based on publicity nor is it based on popularity. It is based on its ability to relate and connect with the audience. It is self-destructive in that it depends on the art if it will stay connecting or if it will get old and not relate to later audiences.

• It is written in the wind in that it does not always stay current or consistent. It really depends on how well it is at staying current and close to the hearts of the people.

According to Brooks, what should be influencing theatre at all times?

• Theatre should always be influenced by the time and occurrences and by the opinion and voices of the people living at the time. It should be influenced by imagination and expression.

Other Questions:

• How do actors fix themselves from performing dangerous theatre?
• Do all or most actors agree with Peter Brooks about there being a dangerous theatre?

Stuff About Peter Brooks

Peter Brook has been writing

an experimental designer and practitioner,

influential

experimental stagings of classical dramas

• greek
• shakespearan
• ex: midsummer nights dream into a circus theme

Introduced a new approach to Shakespeare

wrote many essays about the dead holy and rough theatre

his goal is immediate theatre

• he does not like talking or referring to the past, he believes theatre is in the moment and created through a improvisation

1971, he walked away from the British Theatre

international center of theatre research

he wanted to see what would happen if he got people from all over the world to become a theatre company (africa, england, india, united states) all in French 

started creating theatre and experimenting with theatre

not all could speak english but were able to communicate and express through physical theatre

a way he improvised and created

took the troupe to africa and went to different villages and perform improvised performances and some audiences even joined in

he made a 9 hour play with his troupe and used only natural elements (rivers, fires, chariot wheels, torch light, mud) use anything to create play

He was very much into the natural environment

the setting is also very natural and yet extremely characteristic and strong

he turned the mahabarata into a play and created the first play which was an Indian classic

• the  coat

He includes the audience into whatever he performs

Actor/audience relationship

• The Suit

Staging form adopted

• not a cluttered stage: minimalism
• not a lot happening to the set but focused on the characters
• very emotional lighting
• very natural setting with many open spaces

Interpretation/production style

• every aspect is planned but is unfolded as it is rehearsed
• the director becomes a part of the ensemble

Design Elements

• very natural
• use of natural elements
• heavily researched designs

Role of actors and performance style/audience response

• actors are encouraged to search within themselves
• trained, and equipped to prepare for any given show

Technical Elements

• white light is extremely important
• maximum use of minimum means
• little/to no use of technology (yet powerful)

Audience Response

• invited to be part of the reaction 
• encouraged to use your imagination

Post-Modernist Theatre

Post-Modernist Characteristics

• They raise more questions than they answer
• Taking something old and turning it upside down
• Andy Warhol

• Formed from anti-realistic art and into symbols
• Its not about the art or place or scene it is mainly about the person that is creating that scene and art and deconstructs to make us think of the idea of art than the art itself
• Instead of looking for the ordinary or the surface, but the disorder or the missing piece
• Instead of finding the message or the idea, it is about appreciating what the conclusion was in itself
• ex: breaking dancing, hip hop, djing, speed surfing, rap, commercializing
• The first real post-modernist performance was in sweden called Dadaism.
• Theatre of the Absurd was based on the pessimism of people.
• Theatre became almost a ironic metaphor.
• Instead of having perfect order or hidden subliminal objects or messages, many times it is right out there for people to interpret.
• Non-linear theatre
• ex: Angels in America, Invention of Love
• Open theatre: reflecting humanity, and not limited to a certain time or place, you are creating roles and not the character itself
• Diverse Theatre: bringing out ideas and elements that might have been otherwise unacceptable
• The Vagina Monologues: Eve Ensler
• helped to voice women's issues and racial issues
• Global Theatre and Macaronic Drama
• Globalization of the world
• Macaronic Drama is thrown together (like pasta) different languages and influences in one play and multiple perspectives being represented
• Theatre of Difference
• has to do with sexual differences
• Non-Traditional Casting
• Patrick Steward- a white man playing the black Moor Othello with his black wife Desdemona
  
• Cross-Color Casting
• Spectacular Theatre
• Cirque de Soleil/Performance Art
  
• Verbatim Theatre
• People that go and interview people and listen and embody the person and act out the person's story and turn it into a theatre
• Dangerous Theatre
• Theatre of Community
• Clifford Odets/ Group
• Theatre waiting for lefty
• Movement Art and Dance/ Theatre

• Stomp/Blue Man Group/Pina/Bausch/Matthew Bourne
• Leaders Today in the Theatre World
• Peter Brook/Rober Wilson

Types of Theatre

• Asian American Theatre

• Hispanic Theatre

• Native American Theatre

• Feminist Theatre

• Gay and Lesbian Theatre

• Performance Art

• Postmodernism

• International Trends:
• African Theatre and Drama
• Latin American Theatre
• Theatre in the Middle East
• Asian Theatre
• Alternative European Theatre

3 Truths About Drama

1. Theatre reflects culture.

• ex: You can understand what was going on in people's minds through the arts and find out their   spirits, philosophies, feelings, and beliefs

2. Artists must be "dangerous".

• ex: Artists expose the hearts of the matters and they have the power to create something that is risky and dangerous.
• ex: In Russia, poetry can be dangerous because the people who reads them were in danger of death.

3. The origins of theatre is not Western Theatre, but World Theatre.

• ex: We often believe that Western Theatre is the origins of all theatre, but in reality, there is World Theatre which helped create and become the influence of Western theatre or just theatre all together.

Other Notes:

• The church first banned theatre because of the gladiators and the olympic games that tortured Christians.
• The church then reopened theatre because the people did not all know how to read latin so the church brought back theatre to help the common people understand the Bible stories more easily.
• War can twist theatre and art and instead of reality plays, they go through disillusionment and led to modernism.
• Then post-modernism came afterwards and is art with no rules or boundaries.