RI SOURCES

RI NOTES:

based on...

A DOLLS HOUSE

Theatre of the Absurd

Practitioners: Samuel Beckett, Robert Wilson, Martin Esslin, Arthur Adamov, Edward Albee

·       Each of the playwrights concerned seeks to express no more and no less his own personal vision of the world.

·       A term like the Theatre of the Absurd must therefore be understood as a kind of intellectual shorthand for a complex pattern of similarities in approach, method, and convention, of shared philosophical and artistic premises, whether conscious or subconscious, and of influences from a common store of tradition

·        

NOTES:

Practitioners: Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Friedrich Durrenmatt, Fernando Arrabal, Edward Albee

Plays: Jean Genet’s “The Maids”, “The Balcony”, and “The Blacks”, Eugene Ionesco’s “The Bald Soprano” and “Rhinoceros”, Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot”, “Endgame”, “Krapp’s Last Tape”, “Happy Days” and “Catastrophe”, Edward Albee’s “The Zoo Story” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, Fernando Arrabel’s “Picnic on the Battlefield” and “Automobile Graveyard”, Harold Pinter’s “The Room” and “The Homecoming” and Peter Weiss’s “Marat/Sade”.

Theorists: Martin Essling (coined the term “Theatre of the Absurd), Allan Lewis, Deborah B. Gaensbauer, Eugene Ionesco, Daniel Albright, Roger Hudson, Sydney Homan, Joseph H. McMahon, Vivian Mercier,

RI Sources:

Theatre of the Absurd              

Sources:

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=7588bcc8-da20-4922-a486-e72222752636%40sessionmgr115&hid=118

Lowe, John. “The Lecture Theatre Of The Absurd.” American Scholar 65.1 (1996): 99. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

“Theater Of The Absurd.” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6^Th Edition(2013): 1. History Reference Center. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

Berkley, George E. “Chapter 7: Theatre Of The Absurd.” Hitler’s Gift. 120-144. US: Branden Publishing, 1993. History Reference Center. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

Haney II, William S. “Beckett Out Of His Mind: The Theatre Of The Absurd.” Studies In The Literary Imagination 34.2 (2001): 39. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

Helpful Sites:

https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Theatre_of_the_Absurd.html

http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/2002/Theatre-of-the-Absurd

http://www.samuel-beckett.net/CH_6.HTM

http://www.samuel-beckett.net/AbsurdEsslin.html

http://www.theatredatabase.com/20th_century/theatre_of_the_absurd.html

http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/08/15/specials/albee-absurd.html

Leaders:

Ø  Martin Esslin

 

Ø  Samuel Beckett

Ø  Jean Genet

Ø   

Ø  Harold Pinter

Ø  Tom Stoppardd

Sarah Ruhl

"They're all about love and death."

As the director of "Eurydice", my teacher had me research the original director of the play to get an idea of her thoughts and ideas upon creating this modern twist of Eurydice.

Response to Sarah Ruhl Research

A characteristic of Sarah Ruhl's plays are often comedy mixed with sudden tragedy, sadness, and gut wrenching despair. Eurydice is said to have been directed in an "anachronistic postmodern fashion".

"...demonstrates the hallmarks of her writing, namely an 

economy of poetic language reflected in both dialogue and 

stage directions alike; a utilization of tableaux and scripted 

imagery; and extremity of emotional juxtaposition..."

 “Ruhl’s plays are a combination of the avant-garde, Greek myth, lyrical poetry, and magical realism, with a smattering of vaudeville and German expressionism thrown in. It’s a blend that could easily give way to postmodern obscurantism, except that Ruhl has a big heart.”

She incorporates realism with surrealism. Although the scenes may be unlikely and crazy, she wants the audience to feel the emotions of the characters. Ruhl is a very proud feminist playwright. She incorporates women as the main characters and the ones to be the change in history,

"... recasting history through a distinctly feminine lens."

Although this may have been Sarah Ruhl's original take on the play, she still uses an ostranenie method, a Brechtian method that uses symbolism to refer to different points of the original play. She also had purposely incorporated classical Greek theatre devices, such as choral speaking with the stones. 

“The play is really dedicated to my father, who died 

when I was twenty and he was fifty-five…I wanted to 

write something where I would be allowed to have a 

few more conversations with him. A myth exploring 

the underworld and the connection between the dead 

and the living was a way to negotiate that terrain.”

Ruhl wanted to show that the woman's main conflict between lover and father. She didn't want the story's direction to be in the hands of a male, but a woman. Ruhl uses language as a powerful tool throughout her play. Letters are read out loud and used throughout the play as they represent a reconnection between the character and her father. 

Simple Space

The techniques used in Simple Space was...

• open white stage lights
• use of narrator and shared narration
• stylized movement
• visible stage lights
• freeze frames
• use of exaggeration and movement
• narration
• characters with backs to audience
• limited dialogue
• opposing tension

Simple Space was more of a group that focused on physical theatre, it did not focus on a storyline or a specific moral or meaning

Theatre in Context

It did not specifically relate to the culture here in Korea. However, it was extremely acrobatic and used many different yoga techniques for balance, as yoga is similar to Confucius culture, which is prominent here in Korea. 

Theatre Processes

There were many various processes used in the production of this play. Simple Space focused on the physical processes. There was no script or specific language used to translate or interpret. However, the play used a lot of active physical movements that would require the audience to interpret. 

Presentation

There was no specific storyline presented in the story. Therefore, there was no story to present. However, the presentation of the performance was very impactful. There was no specific set design used for the performance, it was set out on an empty stage where the props were brought in and out for the performers to use throughout the performance.

Influences

a. Performer: as a performer I felt the true dedication and intensity of all the actors. They had so much discipline and control throughout their performance, and I was truly appalled at how easy they made each move look. 

b. Creator: as a creator, I felt that the way the actors were able to not only perform their movements with grace, but also with humor and control was very admirable. It made me want to do the same with my theatrical pieces.

c. Designer: As a designer, I felt that the actors did not really use much design in their performance. They did not have a specific costume or clothing that stood out. However, the shapes that were created with their bodies and movements created some design.

d. Director: As a director, I felt that there was so many different tricks and movements happening all at the same time, but behind the chaos, there was order as each of the actors knew exactly where to move and how. I was so impressed with the way that the actors were able to act out with pure discipline and purpose. I had realized that I needed to plan out my performances as a director the same exact way.

As an artist I felt that I could learn to use variety and creativity with movements as well as stricter control and sharper actions. I felt that this kind of play would be cool to have a storyline behind the movements or more purpose. I did not like the way that it was more acrobatic rather than narrative. I learned from the body movement to be more controlled and to have more discipline with different types of movements, and to learn to be more daring with my body. The mis en scene of the play was very space like. It felt as if the actors were defying gravity and the play carried this effect throughout the performance. I felt that there was no one director, the actors all seemed to have practiced doing different movements and acting with and against each other. 

INTENTION Questions

I would like to create a piece of theatre THAT and WILL

the elements of theatricality/mis en scene that i want to use in order for that to happen are

PHYSICAL THEATRE with MARK HILL

Mark Hill

Physical Theatre Notes:

• Physical Theatre: using action, movement, and violence of articulation to express emotion or story or feeling
• We had learned that the Western influenced theatres were mainly focused on words for expressions, however, asian culture emphasized movement and physical theatre
• This week's main focus were on the works of Anne Bogart, Suzuki, and Bhuto Theatre
• Performed many different activities...
• Keeping grounded and being prepared as an actor to move quickly and swiftly to either the right, left, forward, or backwards. This helped the actors to view which areas they carry tension. 
• Furiously following the finger of your partner. This will teach the actor to keep focus and learn to place interest 
• Standing with five people in line, side-by-side. Having only 2 or 3 people always down, without physical communication. This increased group awareness.
• Practicing the different levels of energy. (1-7) Taught actors to be aware of what level of energy they should always be on stage. 
• We had also spent a great amount of time practicing and learning Spatial Relationships. The different relationships were...

• extreme proximity or kiss or kill
• extreme distance
• body angle
• down center stage
• geometric shape
• diagonal lines
• symmetry
• asymmetry
• Activities with spatial relationships
• We performed a warm up that encouraged the use of spatial relationships by having a group of actors constantly change and create different shapes and images with their bodies as a group.
• We then performed a few images influenced by the most common factors of Greek Tragedies. We had pride, downfall, and revenge. We had to create the three different scenes with our bodies influenced by those three factors. The scenes were all so extremely powerful and impactful, especially when there was music and lighting added onto the images.
• He constantly reminded the actors to not "THINK" too much, to act on our feet and learn to move about based off of our instinctive desires.
• We then moved on to learn Gestures.
• There are three communicative ways to express gestures: expressive emotions, behavioral, cultural
• The next day, we practiced the Suzuki Method.
• We placed a huge focus on Hara. This was the practice of placing emphasis and focus onto the center of your body. This is your core and where you will receive energy and foundation. He taught us to keep our legs and torso grounded, however, keeping your upper body light and relaxed.

• Activities on the Suzuki Method.
• We practiced the Suzuki walk, back and forth from the black box. There we had partners to hold us back in order to emphasize oppositional tension.
• We also practiced the kiss-or-kill in which actors would slowly learn how do the Suzuki walk back-and-forth while keeping the body centered, slow, and focused we would kill our partners that we were crossing from.
• He kept emphasizing the need to "making the hard things seem easy is what makes the audience interested. Keeping that tension."

Lifeline and Practitioner

Practitioner

Pina Bausch is known as one of the most influential dance choreographers of our time. She has helped shape what is now considered "modern dance". She was a German dance instructor whose name became wide known due to her unique style and dance interpretation. Her influence increased while acting as the artistic director of the Wuppertal Opera Ballet. According to an interviewer who was with Pina Bausch, he said...

One of the themes in her work was relationships. She had a very specific process in which she went about creating emotions. "Improvisation and the memory of [the dancer's] own experiences ... she asks questions-about parents, childhood, feelings in specific situations, the use of objects, dislikes, injuries, aspirations. From the answers develop gestures, sentences, dialogues, little scenes". The dancer is free to choose any expressive mode, whether it is verbal or physical when answering these questions. It is with this freedom that the dancer feels secure in going deep within themselves. When talking about her process she stated, “There is no book. There is no set. There is no music. There is only life and us. It's absolutely frightening to do a work when you have nothing to hold on to”. She stated, “In the end, its composition. What you do with things. There's nothing there to start with. There are only answers: sentences, little scenes someone's shown you. It's all separate to start with. Then at a certain point I'll take something which I think is right and join it to something else. This with that, that with something else. One thing with various other things. And by the time I've found the next thing is right, then the little thing I had is already a lot bigger."

 Her style became known as Tanztheatre. The Wuppertal Opera Ballet is now called the Tanztheatre Wuppertal Pina Bausch. She started her career with only four dancers, five actors, and a singer. It was very difficult when starting out for Pina Bausch, as most dancers did not want to take a chance on their career with this strange woman using such little dance techniques. Pina Bausch was more interested in the actual connection between the dancer and his or her piece. Her work is widely known for using "dream-like, poetic imagery and bodily language." (Krüger, Wilfried. Biography of Pina Bausch. Web. 2010) 

"I'm not interested in how people move, but in what moves them."

-Pina Bausch

My Lifeline Performance

Basing my own lifeline performance off of Pina Bausch style (Tanztheatre). I have realized that there would be a need for a true emotional connection between the dancer and its piece. The connection must be so profound that the emotional impact with the audience and the dance must be immediate, just as Pina Bausch demanded the attention of her audience with this profound emotional connection. She mixes a sense of reality with a dream-like state, causing her audience to have hope behind the bad situations. Therefore, that is why I would want the costuming of the dancer of my lifeline to wear something that is tan. This tan color will be reality, as it is the color of natural skin. But, I would want the material of my costume to be silky and "flowy", so that it would also have a dream-like quality. The music of my performer would be all instrumental. I would like to use Opus 23. It is a beautifully sad piece that I find very soothing. It has the quality of sounding both sad, yet hopeful. The only props that I would like for my lifeline performance are cloths of different colors. They would represent different stages of my life. The different color cloths would lie in different areas of the stage. The dancer would show the emotion that my lifeline portrays while dancing through with each of the cloths. The stage would not have any props on set. I would only like a few blocks onto which the dancer would be free to climb up on. I would not want any video projections for my performance, as I feel that it would take away from the full-on attention of the dancer's emotions. I want each movement and face expression to be felt by the audience. My vision would be for the audience to be sucked into the dancer's flow and almost hypnotized by his or her movements. Although it is my lifeline, I would want the audience to be able to place their own lifeline and relate to their own emotions while going through different experiences in life. My lifeline has key points throughout its journey: stability -> discovery -> change -> renewed determination. 

However, before getting carried away in my own vision, in order to follow the direction of Pina Bausch, I would have to start with the dancer and some of what they truly feel inside. Pina Bausch said that she would always start with the dancer's raw movements, no music, no props, no lighting. All of these elements would slowly piece together and form into a production. The majority of the movements of my dance would depend on the dancer's feelings and emotions. Pina Bausch would not use just improvisation in her productions, but she would base a lot of her productions on the first instinctive movements the dancers immediately felt when given the idea of her approach. I would show my lifeline first, and then allow my dancer to just start moving to it.

The World of Commedia

head - Magnifico

first actor and first actress

witch

pantalone and the doctor

columbina

hips - brighella and harlequino 

knee - the captain

feet - zanni

magnifico - eagle and looks down at everything, he is the leader and head - he thinks

zanni - leading with nose, arms are involved, feet that want to come up, a peasant, everything is interestion, enthusiastic, 

two old men - pantalone - the merchant, the old man, version of magnifico, mean and vinegary, the needy, the bitter

and the doctor - also loved to fight, knows everything but understands nothing, pretends he is everything

brighella and harlequino - both are servants

b. is brighter - a brain character and h. is stupid - a body character

brighella - very proud, hard working, womanizer, cunning, thinks ahead 

harlequin - very acrobactic, stupid, very playful

columbina - cunning and playful, good with money, academic about love

1st actor and actress are very prideful and rich, they take up a lot of space, dangerous, mean, world of rich and powerful

2nd actor and actress - educated, can move up as aristocrats, teens, just moving into the adult world, like romeo and juliet

the witch - dark powerful and earthy, moves in figures of eight

the captain - a renowned soldier, full of swagger, appearing brave but is actually very fearful

all the characters all have their own 

exaggerated way of society

Mask

Physiology and Codification

• Eyes are the most active of all human sense organs
• People really recognize the eyes the easiest
• Visual learning and recognition involves storing and retrieving images in the mind
• The angles of the movement of fixation are on the key features that are stored in the brain
• when you look at anything, there is a specific path your mind takes called the scan path
• Your eyes are very active and constantly moving
• They show that they are always fleeting and moving
• Asian culture force the eyes to move
• Field of vision 
• different fields of vision
• above field of vision
• looking up
• constantly looking to the side
• Japanese actors shuffle their feet because the masks cut off their field of vision
• The Concrete Gaze
• directing their gaze in very precise directions
• accompanied by a constant dialectic between manis (soft) and keras (vigorous)
• 
  

Stage Design and Production

The Proscenium Stage-Picture Frame

• 4th wall - between you and the audience (an invisible wall that is where the curtain line is and when the curtain opens and you walk onto the stage you are passing the fourth wall)
• rake
• orchestra - playing down in the front of the stage at a lower level
• fly loft - where the batons (rods) hang the set changes and other props
• apron - on the lip of the stage
• pit - where the orchestra stands
• traps/revolve - a circular set on stage that turns and circles/slipstage - 
• cyclorama - the curtain at the very back (white curtain where you can project images)
• scrim - made from same material 

Thrust stage

• where the audience is right up around the stage and is "thrusted" upon the audience

Arena Stage - Theatre in the Round

• The audience is all the way around the stage and the actors are playing in the middle either in a square or circle
• you can see the actors in every different angle

Globe Theatre and The Thrust

Black Box/ Found Theatre Spaces

• just a random "found" space to watch plays
• cast of thousands when a lot of people just embedded themselves into a play
• Mark Hill

Inverted Stage

• The audience is on two sides and the actors are right in the center

IBTA Year Two 2014 Reflection

VISION

The vision for the IBTA Year Two play was very clear. After watching the play, my head constantly filled with the different images that was made to life. The play didn't try to cover many different topics and issues, but dug inside and revealed the hearts of the characters involved, making me toss the images and messages around my head for hours. The vision I received from watching this play was about how in order for there to be a change or revival, it requires someone, anyone, to stand up. And when that one person stands up, there are hundreds of people who are affected and they are forced to chose between two difficult reactions: to either stand out or fade into the normalcy. "Chimerica" has that one character (Christian Choi) who makes that stand. The play then revolves around other characters who are left to decide how they would react. I was amazed at the variety of people who are affected: News reporters, politicians, photographers, journalists, florists. They were all left with a choice. Some chose to stand out as well, and some did their best to conceal and hide. The question that screamed out in my head was: How would I react?

LIGHTING

The lighting of the play was very well done, in my opinion. I am not a light designer, so I have no technical terms that I can pull out besides the basic fresnel and ellipsoidal. I felt that the lighting fit the scenes very well, especially for the transitions between past and present. I also loved that the lights faded and entered. I felt that the lights suddenly snapped shut and had a sudden black out at times, which would shock me. All the scenes ended with such an impacting image, and at times, it was shocking to have the lights suddenly shut off while I was still trying to take in each image.

SET DESIGN

There were so many different set designs. They truly outshined us in our number of sets and its crazy how they were able to control themselves so well in each of the sets. The different sets were amazing though. Even moving the chairs for the plane scene was so convincing. It had the perfect sound along with the image projections. Um... I'm pretty sure we are the ones to start that though... so.. Anyways you guys definitely perfected it. The scenes went perfectly with the images and helped to create the mood. I loved the rooms and offices. Christian's room was amazing and the idea of recording the torture scene, brilliance. A powerful message was portrayed by the different scenes and I loved the way that each scene ended with a chilling image. I never knew one area could create so many different scenes. It went from being the plane, then the red carpet, the bar, and the prostitute house.

COSTUMES

The costume of the play was very natural. There were no costumes that stood especially out. I loved the way that Christian constantly had similar clothing and didn't reveal his identity as the "Tank Man" until the end of the play. I had chills when he acted out as the video of the "Tank Man". I also loved Sam's costume as the officer. The costumes were very convincing and natural. I completely forget about the huge complication in looking for the "perfect" costume, and the actors all seemed to be comfortable and well prepared in their costumes. The different characters were well distinguishable as well. They told some of their characters through their clothes.

ACTING/CHARACTERIZATION

The acting and characterization of the play was impeccable. Although there were only about 3 main characters, I was amazed to see how even the florist, journalist, and neighbor were all so in character. Everyone was truly engaged in their roles and their intensity easily passed on to the audience. The face expressions, movement, blocking, and reactions were amazing. Especially Christian and George's characters. I felt a sense of seriousness throughout the play and whenever the comedic lines were cleverly placed in between the dialects, it pulled the audience out of the seriousness and gave us a light laugh. All the jokes and banter between the characters, in my opinion, were perfect. There wasn't an awkward line left out. Although, there were times when I could tell that the actor wasn't that familiar with the line, but it was very hard to tell. The acting was just overall natural and I almost forgot that Andy isn't actually Chinese, although Reca's British accent was... interesting. Georgia's American accent was very well done, and I felt that everyone just was so brilliant with their characterizations.

DIRECTING/BLOCKING/OVERALL SENSE OF THE PLAY

The director did an amazing job on this play. The direction of each actor was so well-prepared. Everyone was so intensely focused and all had a similar direction they were headed towards. I loved that although not everyone had a huge role, I could sense the focus of all the actors. Their knowledge of every aspect of the play. The blocking was very well done. I felt that each interaction was different, dramatic, and yet, natural. The way the actors spoke to one another and reacted was very informal throughout and yet, it somehow kept me interested in everything they had to say. There was never a time when I drifted off during a talking scene. We watched in the documentary, "In the Company of Actors", that the listener is almost more important than the one actually talking. This play helped me to realize that as I felt drawn in towards the words of the play because of the interest of the listeners in the play. Literally, when Christian came out with his bags revealing himself as the "Tank Man" I had shivers and goosebumps down my spine.

LIGHTS!

VISIBILITY - first priority is being able to actually see what's going on

• time and place
• mood/atmosphere/verisimilitude - lifelikeness
• style
• ex: Robert Wilson

FOCUS - where do you want the eyes of the audience to be looking at

• visual composition
• rhythm of visual
• movement

ELEMENTS OF STAGE LIGHTING

• Intensity - Dimmer
• Color - gels/color mixing - warm mixed with cool to produce depth/texture/naturalness
• Direction - angle/45 degree angles from above/downlighting-overhead/backlighting-behind
• Form - shape/shaft or beam/patterns/sharp/diffused-shutters
• Movement - where are we going to move the lights, where/when/why
• ex: Jungle Book
• "To me, lighting is the audience's guide to the story, and to what the production is doing. Light can clarify or confuse the issue/" -Jennifer Tipton

CREATING MOOD

• if you can imagine the two-hour show as a canvas, you then work with very broad strokes to rough out the pace and the direction of the show in a way that allows you to build on it and give it different plateaus, and, finally a really good ending." -Patrick Woodroffe

TYPES OF STAGE LIGHTS

• Fresnel soft-edge spotlights - 
• used for are lighting top and backlighting general wash
• ellipsoidal reflector zoom spotlight - 
• sharp defined shape/intense
• Automated lights - 
• computer programmed-change direction, beam, gobo image, color Floodlight-general stage illumination

LIGHTING CONTROLS

• cues
• blackout
• fade
• fade-in
• cross-fade
• pan - going from left to right
• tilt - top to bottom

SPECIAL LIGHTING EFFECTS

• scrim - gauze drop
• opaque when lit from front/transparent when lit from behind
• gobos - lighting designs
• gels - colors
• cyclorama - curved scenic backdrop at rear of stage
• Battens
• Theatricalist - use of lighting: Brechtian "didactic" theatre

THE LIGHTING DESIGNER AT WORK

• synthesis of elements:
• actions/ideas of play
• discussion with directors/designers about vision/concept
• theatre building
• scenery and costumes
• movement/behavior of actors
• available lighting
• creation of light plot-plan or series of plans showing placement and angle of each lighting instrument
• type, wattage, size, wiring connection to dimmer, color movement
• Cue sheet-list of the occasions, by number, and keyed to the script, when lights change in intensity, color or movement
• Mounting of lights - (hung) and attached to wiring system, "Patched" to dimmers, focused, colored, setting of intensities of lights for each cue, programming into light board

Analyzing Mr. Black's Response to Water by the Spoonful

The play needs to be pragmatic:

• sustainability
• visibility
• affordability
• accessibility

There needs to be a musicality, a consistent flow:

• no aspects that may obstruct this rhythm
• Maintaining a flow
• EX: Theatre of the Absurd - breaks all the rules and flows
• Every style of theatre has its different aspects, but even the Absurd should have a certain aspect of rhythm and flow - Dissonance

No matter how badly you are feeling, DO NOT GO TO THE NURSE!!

Themes - should have included more water themes and in explaining the motif of water

• EX: Water sound effects and symbols

Needed to create dimensionality and symbolism through lighting

• First Priority - visibility
• Although symbols and exploration of themes are also extremely important
• Constantly stayed in 2 Dimensions

Patterns

• People constantly try to look for patterns
• should be seen throughout your performance

Sounds

• Where you would like to direct the sound towards
• In which area and placement of sounds

Characterization

• Color-Blind Casting - Was not possible to Color-cast
• needs to still stay true to the plans of the playwright

IN THE COMPANY OF ACTORS Response

1. Several plays written through history are labeled a 'classic'.
Make a list of up to five plays you consider to be classics. 

• Romeo and Juliet
• Macbeth
• The Importance of being Earnest
• King Lear
• Waiting for Godot

2. What characteristics or qualities  make a piece a "classic"?

• Keeping it accessible and alive; relatable 
• able to identify with society
• being able to revise and evolve

3. What are the essential differences between portraying a character on screen as part of a film and performing the role in a theatre over a three week season? 

• recognizable, knowing how they feel, becoming them, knowing how they would act, what they would say, being the character underneath themselves
• keeping it "bubbly" and natural
• Perfectly rehearsing the blocking, actions, and the lines
• playing each moment
• investing in listening, processing, and reacting

4. What were some of the challenges for cast and crew in taking the production of Hedda Gabbler to New York? 

• remembering their characters, a new stage, shorter time to rehearse
• the actors starting from the end
• changing the space and theatre

5. How important is an audience to a live theatre production? 

• The audience helps you to create the character as they create it in their minds
• The audience's reaction controls some aspects of the actor's acting
• The audience "enter as individuals, and leave as an audience"

6. If you are interested in pursuing a career as an actor or in some other job related to the stage and theatre, what qualities do you think you need to develop to be successful in this field? 

• To have more awareness of each other
• To do A LOT more research
• To spend as much time as possible invested in the play
• To correct and help each other while acting
• To rehearse until perfection

Additional Thoughts

I was truly amazed at Cate Blanchett's abilities as an actor. I grew to admire her greater than I have ever done before. All of the actors' knowledge on acting is truly amazing. How they rely so much on the director and desire to do the best that they can. They also put so much trust and reliance on each other.  I was amazed at how seriously they took each of the rehearsals. I was amazed at the specificity of each aspect of the play. How they wanted to control every gesture, every look, every blink, every reaction, every lighting, every position - they were all brilliantly planned in horrific specificity by the director.
The whole documentary reminded me of the beauty we experienced putting up our own play. I desire to one day be able to experience that beauty again. I loved evolving and seeing my vast improvement, but watching the experts in this documentary made me realize how much more I have yet to realize. I feel that these lessons and advices can only be learned from experience and going through the journey of acting. I love the setting, environment, the atmosphere of making pure magic in a room with just a few actors. I also loved that my IB Theatre teacher said, "They look like normal everyday people walking on the street, and then they act, and they become something extraordinary." 

IBTA Theatre Performance Response: Water by the Spoonful

Allie Ahn

IB Yr.1 Theatre

February 5, 2014

IBTA Theatre Performance Response: Water by the Spoonful

1.     I was in charge of the costume and make-up for the play, “Water by the Spoonful”. When I first signed up, I realized I had no idea how to prepare for costume and make-up. I was hoping to accomplish a strong connection with the themes of this play. I did not want to make the costume random, causing the characters to look awkward when seen together. Yet, I wanted the characters to look and have distinctive clothes and make up that would set them apart from each other. There were so many different themes seen in this play, such as separation, hurt, dependency, freedom, individualism, imprisonment, connection, newness, history, scars, and recovery. It was very difficult to think of a way to connect all these themes and characteristics with the actors. I learned that sometimes making the costume and make-up too themed can cause a greater distraction from the main purpose of the play. This factor could cause the audience to feel the themes and lessons being thrown at them, instead of coming to these realizations alone, which is a vital part of watching any play. In conclusion, we wrote down the different scenes that every actor was in and we made the characters dress up according to time, location, and character. We made the costumes very realistic, like people you would see everyday. I think this made the characters more relatable to the audience. To research, we looked up different plays to see how the actors dressed and wore make up, and we looked at the play “Water by the Spoonful” done by professional actors and costume and make up designers. I was sad that we could not actually design clothes of our own, as I thought that would be a fun, learning experience as it was too time consuming for the time we had for the play. We instead wrote down the scenes that each actor had and asked them to bring clothes they felt matched that scene. Then, we told them the level of formality they were to dress in at that time. For make up, we asked Michelle Son, who is a very talented make up artist in senior year. She helped make the actors that were long time drug addicts look old and wrinkled. I asked that everyone should have slightly exaggerated wrinkles as all the characters were constantly stressed, struggling, and working. I wish that I could have learned to do make up or learned to design some of the clothing, but still learned so much from directing the cast in the area of costume and make up.

2.     When we first decided on this play, I was not really sure what to feel. I was really excited about the whole process, but now I know that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had skimmed through the play the first time we decided on it as a class. I felt that the storyline was interesting and that the characters were funny and relatable, but I did not feel an immediate connection with it. Never in my life did I see myself doing what we did last Monday and Tuesday. That experience would be unforgettable. I never realized I had grown so much as a theatre student and actor, and I was truly honored to be a part of this amazing experience. To be completely honest, I felt that we would not really do well as a class. I know that this sounds awful, but I felt that none of us would be able to pull through. On the first few rehearsals, we talked about the different possibilities we could take this play, and that is all that this play seemed to me – possibilities. During winter break, I studying the play and I did them rather mindlessly, memorizing lines, writing the different scenes, and looking at the props that would be needed. But the first rehearsal after winter break was the moment my attitude towards this play completely changed. I realized that the possibilities that we were simply talking about were actually going to be a reality. This was also the very first time we did some serious scenes with the class. The moment we started to commit to our characters and learn more about them was when I also realized who my character really was. I started memorizing and saying lines with a greater purpose and found myself strangely, caring for this character. This character I had never met, nor seen, but was supposed to create with my body, language, and actions. That was the first time I felt myself “grow” as an actor. Suddenly, this play became such a great priority in my life, but nonetheless, could not completely focus on it with the thousands of other priorities that were screaming for my attention. I continued to go to all of the rehearsals and tried to get as much as I can done with the little gracious time I was given to give my all for this play. As time pressed forward, I was not sure what to expect. I felt that our class had grown so much closer. We were talking more and communicating. Memorizing lines was easy and we were now focusing on the expression of the lines. We started progressing towards the stage where we started gathering props, working on technical connections, and blocking. Everything was starting to suddenly connect and unite. By the time we started working on the set, I felt so comfortable and confident. But I never knew that creating a set would also be a huge pain. There was painting, drilling, moving, flipping, and fitting. There were all these complicated steps I never even knew existed in this process. But when it was all over, I remember first looking at the completed set, just sitting there, embracing it all and realizing this is where it was all going to happen. It was such an unexplainable moment. The first night was amazing, but there were so many pauses and forgotten lines, I felt like I had messed up so much. But there was so much support and I realized that the audience was on our side and I felt so much more confident the second night. I felt stressed thinking of all the lines, props, and set that were needed for each scene, but soon all of these factors did not become a to-do list that was getting checked off, but something I could play with on the set as an actor. We somehow finished the two nights, and I was immediately feeling relieved, but once I had gone home, I felt a yearning to go back to experience that experience over again.

3.     The first night we acted was when I realized that all my confidence started to slip away. I had never felt so nervous. I messed up on the first scene and thought to myself, “forget it, it’s over.” But the thing about acting is that we always think that actors are self-centered and its all about yourself, but that reality is acting is about everyone else besides yourself. It is about moving, reacting, talking, giving, and taking from the actions and words of others. People focus so much on who gets the spotlight, but I realized that in order to be a good actor, you had to realize there is no spotlight. The attention of the audience drifts naturally towards whom they can relate the best towards and we as actors can only do our best to relate with the audience, not take away their attention. So, yes, we finished the first night, with our missing paragraphs, awkward gestures, and forgetful pauses, but I had never been so proud of all of our hard work. We all had grown, and we all knew it.

4.     The main themes of this play were freedom, recovery, and support. The symbols became visible as you listen to the play. The symbols were the water scenes, Odessa’s out-of-body experiences, flowers, chat rooms, and funerals. Even characters like Mami Ginny served as a symbol. They all pointed to the change and connection the characters had faced. The chat room became a place where the characters connected and became one. It was a place of unity, comfort, and safety from the outside realities they did not want to face. The surveys were a little general and not very thorough with information, but the responses from the IBTA Yr.2 students were very helpful. They gave out a really well written and descriptive feedback. They pointed out areas that were in need of improvement, areas in acting, designing, and technology. I learned to move on from lines that I may  have messed up and not to look back even if there was hesitation.

5.     I would like to become more involved in theatre, not necessarily always through school. I started to appreciate acting in plays more and I would like to learn and go to more theatres. I hope to one day be able to experience that indescribable moment of acting and presenting all your sweat, blood, and tears to a bigger audience. I loved every moment of it, and I can not wait for next year’s production. I feel that for next year, I know what to expect and what works and what does not in theatre. I hope to grow even more from next year’s production and work harder to make it perfect. Mrs. Moon, you are truly an amazing teacher, you care so much for us, and for that I am so grateful. Thank you for all your hard work and you help us just by teaching us and showing us what a true passion for theatre is all about.