Rehearsal 9

Improvisation
28/2/11

Today was a real breakthrough. Not in that we made anything concrete but in that we had fun and possibly caught a glimpse of a direction for the piece. And we definitely found a way to work well in such a large group to create material.

IMPROVISATION!!!!!!!

I LOVE IT!

But it can go to far. Today we put props in a space and improved with the text we had written and other found texts for 70mns. It was ridiculous and very little of it will ever be used but… we think we are going to stick with Chapin and possibly set our piece at his wake.  There was a large box as a prop in the improv session and everyone seemed to treat it as Chaplin’s coffin. So lets go with that for now and see what comes of it.

Also we have agreed that every session we will all take turns to be the outside eye. This helps us to identify pleasant and possibly key moments to be shaped for the piece. 

Rehearsal 8

Some text
27/2/11

We had two group members missing during this rehearsal as Richard was in Glasgow at the national review of live art (and you never now this may be of great benefit to the group as he could watch a performance there and get some ideas for our own production). And Anna was ill.

We have a facebook page on which we are posting some of our Chaplin research. We have all found some rather classic quotes he said. We decided to generate text today mixing some of the truths that we shared with each other in the previous session in with Chaplin’s quotes. We did it individually so that by the end of the rehearsal we would have six fairly substantial pieces of text to play with.

“ The day I lost my virginity was one of the most memorable of my life. It opened my eyes to so many things. Like how everyday basic tasks can be erotic and the most innocent of people are always the ones to watch. I knew this man once, he was short and always wore a bowler hat, it was like he was wearing a constant disguise, like a costume. I spent hours in his company and I never once heard him speak.  I would have bet my soul that he didn’t have a voice. Still although he had no use of his vocal chords he was a fantastic story teller…”

We did not play around with the texts in this session as we are aware that we are two group members down. so we decide to wait until they are back and see what they think before we make anything completely new.

On reflection something resonates with me about this exercise, and actually about  our process right now.. is we are working with Chaplin’s words, when he is a silent icon.

Rehearsal 7

Death!!

24/2/11

This rehearsal was very much centered around death… morbid but productive and interesting.

One fact that is unavoidable when researching Carles Chalin is that he is sadly dead… ad has been for quite a while now. So much that is writeen on him are people commemorating his work. It seems to be that when you die people write of you as some kind of super human entity. I would seem that while alive, despite his fame, he was notoriously private. Im finding it hard to find grouded and interesting facts about his personal life but its all a challenge though.

One thing we are all fixating on is that after he died his body was stolen by communists… haha! I think that that may be the funniest fact ever. Luckiy it was recovered after six days I believ. Ad then it was re-buired under six meters of concrete so no one could ever get neer the copse of Mr chales chaplin ever again. Im we are all comforted to know that he has since been left alone.

We are all a bit freaked out by the idea of being trapped under six meters of concrete. And this shared fear get us all talking about our experiences of death and our wishes and beliefs surrounding our own (what seemed at the time looming) deaths. All of us are from different walks of life and our beliefs all differ when it comes to religion, which of coarse impacts heavily on what you believe will happen when you die. I personally would lve there to be an after life… but sadly I think science points to the conclution tht you have your life on earth amd then like all living things whn your time comes you die and that’s that. Bt science hasn’t xpliaind everything yet so maybe I’ll be lucky. Some people in the group believed in ghosts and others believed in heaven and hell. We all spoke about what we would like to be done with our bodies when we go… cremation or burial. And we spoke of our experiences with death s far in our life. And the few of us that had seen people neer death ssem to know they are dying and they fight, and often haluuseate. Which I think is why people believe in an afterlife because they witness people talking about loved ones already passed on.

This rehearsal too was a bit of a ramble, but we now I believe pretty set on using Charlie chaplin as the base to our research and of coarse our performance… IM NERVOUSE ABOUT THIS SLIGHTLY BECAUSE HE’S SUCH AN ICONIC FIGURE BUT STILL I THINK IT WILL GO WELL AND IM IP FOR THE CHALLENGE.

Rehearsal 6

Reflection on Workshops: where do we go from here?


21/2/11

We know that this rehearsal would be more of a recap of our process so far that about making new material. All of the workshops are over, and I think by now its safe to say we have bonded as a group. The largeness of the group had not yet caused any problems, not that I entered in to this project forecasting problems but eight people all trying to have equal say in a creative process may be challenging at times.

We discussed all of the workshops looking for what we enjoyed and ideas for a potential focus. Mime and silent movies (which cropped up firstly in an exercise in Gary and jess’s workshop) we all have little to no knowledge of silent film Charlie Chaplin being the one figure we'll know off (although admittedly we all only know of him we are not well versed in his work). I know a little about mime as I studied it a few years ago and I offered to (should we need it) do a workshop on basic mime technique. However I'm not sure if this will be needed, as Charlie Chaplin seems to be the focus of our discussions. We all agree to research his life. I know very little about him but I know he was a rather controversial womaniser… so I think researching his personal life may unveil some true soap opera tails.

After our discussion of our past rehearsals and the inevitable off subject chat – I think, although it is important to be focused when making work, at times, especially in the beginning stages off topic chatter can really benefit the piece as what is said often sparks ideas for both the content and the pieces aesthetics. - We decided to do a group exercise. It was one that some of our group had done before while making our second year open piece. Forced Entertainment bases it on the ‘Quizulla’ performance. Basically we are all aloud to ask each other anything and we all must be completely honest.  It is important that everyone in the group is happy to do this exercise and anything that is said is not allowed to be spoken about out with the group and our rehearsals. I obviously can’t write down what was said but we all told some nice and not so nice stories about ourselves and of coarse we all asked the obligatory curious questions about each other’s sex lives. In the end we were left with tales to intertwine within Chaplin’s story if indeed that is the route we go down. Also we got some great one-liners witch might provide some great inspiration for texts. Something I have always been interested in is combining truths to make a fiction I think the fact that facts when combined can become falsities’ is highly interesting. And I cant help but see the scope for mixing Chaplin’s life in with our lives to create an other non existent life story for someone who does not exist… we shall see how it goes

rehearsal 5

Rufaro and Glenn's workshop


15/2/11


this was the first work shop where  we really let ourselves go in an improvisation. we were all asked to bring in an object. i brought in a little comic relief laughing man. and we all swapped objects. i ended up with a large Pilate's role. i was then put with Jess (who's object was a pack of pristine creola crayons) and we had to make a short performance centered around an objects.

we liked the colors of the crayons especially the black and pink ones so i just kept repeating black and pink very quickly. jessica pretended to sweep the floor with the Pilate's role. our improvisation in the end was quite dark. after a while constantly repeating the colors made me feel a little crazy, and if I'm honest quite uneasy. even hours after the workshop i could hear: Its black and its pink and its black and its pink.... ringing in my ears.

after  we watched everyone improves we all combined and bearing in mind the other little performances we improved for roughly 20 minutes. it was crazy it took on a sort of noahs ark theme. we all started talking about pairs and animals. i distinct remember us all singing: "the elephants arched in one by one hara hara".

we were all immensely hyper when we had finished the improv' and to focus us and give us all a chance to regain our composure the did a little bit of meditation with us. I had forgotten how useful a bit of quiet reflexion can be. whilst lying there in the dark it allowed me to think on the big Improve we had just done and establish what i liked from it. however I'm not sure there was any material from that inmprv hat was particularly useful, however i do think that the tool of long improvisation can really get some great moments of material. but you defiantly need an outside eye to rein in the performances should it need it and to notice and capture the good moments.

Rehearsal 4

Greenie and Anna's Workshop


14/2/11


Again we started with a couple of games and the shang a lang

anna and greenie led a workshop that differed from the others in that it was not about generating new material it was task based and i thought very interesting.

they had alot of post cards all of witch had different photos or  painting on them old and new. there were two tables each with a microphone and two of us picked a photo and then competed  to describe the photo to the audience. then they added other elements in like questions from the audience that we had to answer and loud music that we had to shout over. it was a chaotic but useful task. i have always enjoyed competitiveness between performers as i think performing in its self is naturally competitive.

we then walked around the whole room and every time bumped into someone we had to greet them enthusiastically in french... which of coarse was funny.

they then played us a French song and when they paused it the fastest person to run to the microphone had to say what they thought the translation of the song was. and from all the silly things that were said we had to write piece of short text.

this is what i wrote.

I am the centipede that lives in  the pocked of your most treasured duffel coat. i have always been there, you've just never noticed. its ok, you needn't feel sad your not supposed to notice me. i and many others like me are the worlds best kept secret. we are like pocket masons (except girls can join to) I'm a girl. I'm a lady centipede, i have had many children 210 so far. they are all grown up now and pockets of there own and since in all alone now i thought it would be a good time to introduce myself to you. my name is moira, old fashioned i know but its the only name i have. and you probably think with me being a centipede i have 100 legs, but know, its actually rare for any of us to have 100. i have 63, well that was what i had the last time i counted. we're not like you lot... i don't know how you cope with just 2. no I'm not ike you at all you see we lose legs. i have lost 16 so fa in my life. last week you were routing around for your bus money and you swiped two clean off. don't worry though its not traumatic or anything it just stings a bit. we lose alot of legs but we need at least 30 to survive. because if we had less than 30 our body would be to heavy for our remaining legs. well that's really all there is to know about me . but its nice to finally introduce myself. so maybe the next time you reach in to your pocket you could give my hairy chest a tickle.

Rehearsal 3

Gary and Jessica's Workshop


11/2/11

Te aim of this workshop similarly to mine and lisa's was to generate material and get the creative juices flowing for want of a better term. we did a quick warm up of stretches and we danced to shang a lang. which i think will become a comman place war up although it is a silly song having a run about to it at the start at every rehearsal will focus us as a group and get our energy levels up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqj6OXQnnaE

gary and jess then gave us a list of 25 questions witch we had around 25 minutes to answer.

and from the answers we worked in pairs to make something... text or performance what ever we just had t generate something. they played each pair a song and we had to use the song in some way in out piece.

I worked with Glenn and we decided to merge each others answers and write two monologues.

this is what i wrote.

I'm you and Jesus walks and he is gay, or is that me i can't remember. one of your pupils is bigger than the other, and i died in a plane crash and discovered other planets. i have eaten forbidden fruit but i have never been in love because I'm trying to give up smoking. they say we have nothing in common and i believe in Jesus but you believe in evolution so he can't see you, I'm sorry, you want to make I've to a sloth, no you love sloths, i don't. I have a full set of bushy pubes because I'm sexually aware and free, but, your disinterested in sex with me so I'll shave my glorious plumage and them maybe you fuck me.

you should run when you flush the toilet do you? you should because the world could end today, although my dad believes it will end in 2012 so perhaps i will just jog next time. I can play the piano and every night i play the theme from breakfast at Tiffany's but i never joined a choir so i can't sing. you sing though don't you? perhaps we could put our differences aside and serenade the aliens.

Lisa and rufaro did an interesting debate almost of one up manship. and i liked the competitiveness  of there improv.

grennie and Anna did a sort of story telling performance with gestures it was very funny and endearing.

then they followed this exercise by asking us to make a short performance In the style of a silent movie.

this sparked off a huge chain reaction for us. we will all captivated by the idea of silent film and associated with that mime.

we all started messing around with the interesting way that they move in silent film and discussed the use of piano music and agreed that  this was an avenue we would like to go down.

also so because gary plays piano we realised that we could have live piano music.

its the best rehearsal so far definitely. I'm excite to see what come of the silent film and mime ideas

Rehearsal 2

Thursday 10th February 2011


Donna and Lisa's workshop


we had preplanned the workshop a couple of days before over dinner. It is our firs rehearsal together in a new group so we felt is was important to get a strong bond within the group and also to learn to trust each other. although we all know each other we have never worked together in this formation and as with every group there a those who are louder than others so our workshop had to be a good icebreaker. i think the best way to get everyone comfortable performing in front of nd with one and other is to make them perform comical and possibly embarrassing tasks so that they let there guards down have a laugh and lose there inhibitions.

The original purpose of us running workshops in pairs is so that we Can generate material. because although we had images and styles we all wanted to try out we have no central them so a series of four individual workshops all on different subjects would generate a large bank of writing and material for us to play with. i think this is a great way to start (especially in a large group of eight like we have) because it allows everybody to suggest and focus on areas they would like and pu them in the hands of there company colleagues and they run with it and what usually happens is something totally different is created.

lisa and i had the idea of building a whole Galaxy with some inanimate objects and a bit of trust and imagination.

we got this idea from an old note book of mine where i had found a song i wrote about a man doing his hoovering and he finds little men inside is vacuum and he goes to live with them.... very odd i know but it sparked an interesting and engaging workshop.

we had three objects
1. juggling balls witch were given to Gary and Rufaro
2. A hey bale which jess and greenie were given
3. A traffic cone which Anna and Glenn were given

our first task was to give hem twenty minuets to come up with a sales pitch for there items. in which they would have to try and present 20thing s you can do with there item in three mins.

http://www.youtube.com/user/lisaface101#p/u/5/D_5Ppv85uvk
http://www.youtube.com/user/lisaface101#p/u/3/rwpNwHpwroo
http://www.youtube.com/user/lisaface101#p/u/2/KvdOn3uFBlw

Then lisa and i began to act a little odd. we old them off for treating there items so ruffly and explained to them that there are whole populations of Little people who live in there objects. we gave them half an hour to write an a4 page describing life in there objects and also to draw ud a picture of what the little people looked like.

http://www.youtube.com/user/lisaface101#p/u/0/gIEO8xucChk
http://www.youtube.com/user/lisaface101#p/u/4/8NYpelQSDrk
http://www.youtube.com/user/lisaface101#p/u/1/xu8spfpsym4


following this we had asked them all to bring objects that could be used as instruments. we asked them to use there found instruments to write a national anthem for there planets (so to speak) witch the would then perform at a meeting of the tree worlds.

i realise this all sounds a bit silly and childish, but that was what we wanted for the first workshop. we wanted every one to really get into the role of playing and using there imagination to invest in crazy and highly implausable ideas.

we gat them all to drwa a section of the figure of the gd of this universe and we made a sort of alter.

we shon a spotligt neer the alter and in there pairs they had to go in bow to the gd and kiss his immage then turn round a perform there anthms. and i have to say they were totally hilarious and there use of found instruments in some cases were very very clever.

using instruments made from house hold objects as i mentioned before is somthing that we were particularlly interested in and this workshop allowed us to start exploring that. also i think it just allowed us all to be a little silly and enjoy each others company, allowing us to get a feel for how we will work together as a collabritive.

In the begining

First Meeting Thursday 4th February 2011

Our whole Process kicked off with a weatherspoons dinner. we all atteneded all of us being: Richard Green, Glenn Mcdowel, Lisa Williamson, Anna Williamson, Gary dean Horler, Rufaro Marowa, Jessica Shaw and me Donna M Young.

As you can imagine most of the dinner was spent talking about things that had very little to do with our performance. but we did go round the table and ask if any of us had thought o any themes or images we would like to try to incorporate into our performance. I voiced an image i have had in my head for a while. i like the idea of having one member of the company stuck in a chalk outline of there body (like the chalk outlines at crime scenes in movies) and they don't know why they are there but they can't move until they have worked it out. i was also toying with the idea of the rest of the company knowing why they are stuck there but with holding the information from them, and teasing them with it.

Also alot of the group liked the idea of having instruments in the piece and they suggested perhaps all of the sound could be made by us on stage. we talked of the instruments we could play. we also though of having like a band practice for a while till we al learned to play a simple song together, then, taking our instruments away from us and replacing them with home made instruments like a guitar made from card board and rubber bands.

although as i said above we spent alot of the night just chatting i feel that that time was very important. As a new group we all will have our apprehensions and nerves about working together, because although some of us have workied together in the past we have never made theatre in this exact formation so we need some time to bond and just get a feel for each other and develop  a group dynamic.

i had a really enjoyable night and as well as relaxing with my friends it fired me up to get working and get making this new piece of theatre.

Our agreed action for next  rehearsal is the first of a seiries of workshops giving by lisa and myself. we will all give a workshop with a partner to help generate ideas and material and futher develop a group bond.