Oyster Boy

Oyster Boy is a devised piece which is based on the poem 'The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy' by Tim Burton.

Overall I really enjoyed the performance as the techniques they used such as the use of music was really effective in terms of setting the mood as well as making it seem as if the play is set at the beach. A ukulele was used to create this as well as the use of costume which added to the idea of it being set at the beach as they wore costume commonly wore at the beach. 

The use of puppet was really effective. The movement and voice of the puppet was created through someone physically moving it and his voice was also created by one of the actors creating that voice, the puppet didn't speak, the only sounds that it made were giggles and sounds that expressed emotion which was really effective in terms of humanising the puppet. Also, as long as the puppet could be seen on stage it was moving. 

They used minimal props however the props they used reflected setting of the play which was the beach. They used baskets, a blue sheet which was representative of the sea and thats what they used it for. The ukulele. Also, they used music when one of the actors when under the sea (blue sheet0 which was really effective in creating the idea of her being under water.

SWED Q1

My stimulus is about a group of friends who are all a part of the art industry and striving to be recognised and what happens when one of them becomes famous and how it effects the other friends and their feelings towards her fame and success.  Jealousy plays a large part in the story as it is the jealousy of her friends which cause them to make art out her recovery but also what leads them to hate her as they are jealous of her, her fame and money but also because they feel as if she left them behind because she became famous and essentially ridiculed them and their work in the 'bohemian quarter'. When editing the scrips we kept in mind the theme of jealousy and had this widely explored in the play whilst also portraying the theme of hatred towards their successful friend as much of their jealousy is portrayed through the hatred of their friend. The story, we believe is set in London during the 90's which led us to researching British art and the characters also take drugs so we researched the effects of drugs on the body including drugs of marijuana, cocaine, and speed which were popular drugs during this century which helped us to characterise our characters during certain parts of the play. My initial reaction to the play was that it was very interesting and our devising process would be very physical. Throughout the play there are no line assignments as the entire play is essentially a monologue with no stage directions at all which meant that we could experiment and basically do anything we wanted with the play. However, this would also make it more difficult to devise as we have nothing to inspire us a part from the line and the content of the lines, this also meant that we had to use out own interpretations to create things like movement sequences and maybe the death of a character. We felt as a group that the scene where she jumps into the empty swimming pool would be an interesting scene to work on, it's also a significant scene within the play so we decided to devise that scene before anything else. 

10th October 2016 Antonin Artaud

In this lesson we focused on Antonin Artaud. Artaud was the creator of 'Theater of Cruelty', all of his ideas were theories and he never actually created a certain way of acting

'Theater is as beneficial as the plague, impelling us to see ourselves as we are, masks fall and divulging out world's lies, aimlessness, meanness and even two facedness.'
- this quote is about how Theater shows us the truth about the world, taking apart the lies we have been told and everyone being on the same level as have all been lied to.
- the idea of theater being 'as benefial as the plague' maybe discusses the idea of the plague killed everyone whether you're white, black, rich or poor, the plague made people everyone  see each other on the same level and this is essentially what theater does.


In class we watched 2 videos which were 'Theater of Cruelty' and there were some extremely violent, disturbing, interesting, disgusting and just plain weird imagery. There was a common theme of blood, people walking around naked, fire, eating raw meat and many other weird things. There we intimate interactions with the audience where the actors were running into the audience and not caring whether the moved out the way or not. The whole message of his theory would be to 'show and externalise hidden emotions and thoughts using Artudian theories and techniques.

'a theater where violent physical images pulverize, mesmerize, the audience's sensibilities caught in the drama as in if in a vortex of higher force'

Theater of Cruelty essentially 'rids humankind of repressions society had placed upon us and liberates each individuals instinctual energy', basically saying if you go to see a piece of this type of theater and you see someone being violently murder to all extremes then it would stop you from wanting to do it.
- it removes the barrier between the audience and actors which almost makes them a part of it.
- mythical spectacles that would include verbal incantations, groans and screams, pulsating, lighting effects and over sized stage puppets and props.

- The cruelty it takes for the actor completely strip away their masks and the cruelty of showing an audience and the truth that they don't want to see.


ACTIVITIES:

- Walk around the room, we were given an object which we had to create and add an sound. e.g. a sausage on a grill. The sound I added to this was a scream because the sausage was being killed.

- The smoker, I was the smoker, pretending to smoke. BUT what happens inside this sausage. So whilst I stood in the middle pretending to smoke. Others were being what is happening inside. Someone put their hands around my neck and chest and they were shaking me. someone stood behind me etc

- We got into pairs and were given characters: a parent and child, a drug dealer and buyer and a civilian and politician. We acted out the scenario naturally first and then we added Artaudian theory of 'Theater of Cruelty' to it. So we rid of the naturalism and voice and added just sound. The sound that we did represented how we felt. This was all about 'revealing the double' . Revealing what someone truly feels inside ,the side that they can't show.

- We then got into groups of five. We were given the task of creating a piece which was an everyday task but adding noise to it. Ours was of someone walking  into a bathroom, so they walked in and opened the door which was embodied by a person and they made a creaky noise. They then stepped o the carpet which was me and I screamed to show the pain of the carpet which was being stepped on. They then went to the toilet which made a flushing/screaming  noise. They then went to have a hot shower, where the shower was screaming because of the hot water.

- Got into pairs and created a piece based on a poem. 'Why are you so pale, Marie?...'

- Got into 5's again and created another piece based on a poem. 'There's a whore on every corner...'


Artuad 'Theater of Cruelty' is a way of rejecting the conventional forms of theater. It completely ignores the idea of 'staging', audiences are completely involved in performances.

We also discussed the idea of sound being a universal language. In my piece (the last one)  I was crying, and we had went to Japan and did that performance, they wouldn't have understood the language but they would have understood the crying. 

6th October 2016

6th October 2016

In this lesson we discussed the meaning of 'Deadly theatre' which essentially theatre which is repetitive and boring or as Peter Brook would call it 'bad theatre'.
We looked at some quotes and thought about what they meant in relation to theatre:

'If you let a play speak, it may not make a sound. If what you want is for the play to be heard, then you must conjure its sound from it.'

- the idea that for a play to be good and interesting, it's not always the best idea to just follow the script but add in your interpretations.
- You need to put in effort and time into a good play.

'Theatre has no exact place in society, no clear purpose, it only exists in fragments: one theatre chases money, another chases emotion, another chases politics, another chases fun.
- this could be interpreted as something.. IDK?

'Once within a theatre an audience cannot whip itself into being 'better' that it is'
- Peter Brook made the claim that the public also have a role in the creation of 'deadly theatre' as they are the ones who go to the theatre and promote something they may have just watched.
- its a never-ending cycle and it's unlikely that the public can become 'better'

'It had seen how many layers silence can contain'
- this quote referred to both the audience and actors. This is about both the silences between the audience and the performance, everyone is quite whilst watching a performance except for when it comes to comedic parts. Also, you have the silence between the actors on the stage during the performance.

'Theatre is a self-destructive art, and it is written in the wind'

- This is the idea that theatre isn't supposed to last for 5 or so years because over time, the messages and the meaning of the play will get lost
- Theatre always changes whether thats over 5 years of two days, a performance will never be the same.

'Whores take the money and then go short on pleasure'

- this is essentially saying that Theatre is the whore or directors and they make audiences pay a lot of money for a production in which they haven't put much effort into, its a 'half-hearted play'.


We then focused on working as a team and what roles people played in a group.


 (need to finish)

3rd October 2016

3rd October 2016

First activity:
- Sign Describe
This consisted of describing 4 features of your partner without using your voice but using body language and gestures. We did this individually.
We then made them longer by connecting them. Because my and my partner had similar actions we did them simultaneously but we didn't do the exact same actions. To add to this we added an emotion and a relationship and we were sisters who were angry at each other. The last thing that was added was music.

Second activity:
- Shift - around - by.
In this we wither shifted our partner, that being either their arm, their leg or their entire body. We could of went round them or by them.
- Adding to this, we found a focal point, so we could of either focused on each other, or didn't look at each other at all.
- Proxemity - getting rid of the space between us. being as close as possible at all times.
- added music and an emotion. 

30th September 2016.

30th September 2016. 

On the 29th of Sep we went the Lyric Hammersmith to watch the production of 'Things I know to be true' by Frantic Assembly. 

This was a production about problems with families face. 

It was a performance mixed with realistic and surreal techniques. 

Our lesson was based on warmups and techniques that Frantic assembly use. 

 The first activity:

- body guards, 2 people followed one person around the room. The person being followed would stop and then begin to lean either to their side, backwards or forward. 

- we then turned this into a piece by adding co-ordination and travel. 

- Frantic Assemble tend to focus on building blocks when creating pieces.

After we did some lifting:

- flying 

- and calypo. 

26th September 2016 Peter Brook and theatre

26th September 2016 

We learnt about Peter Brook, the 'most influential director of the 20th century'

- his idea of theatre of the focuses of the essentials of theatre, this consists of: movement, theatre blacks (costume) and voice... something along those lines. 

Peter Brook has two rules when it comes to directing and theatre:

1) Anything can happen 

2) Something must happen. 

- He believed that focusing on the essentials of theatre, it stripped down a play to its bare minimum to eventually find the true essence of a play. 

Our first activity was all about spacial awareness. 

We walked around the space in the dark and we found two people in the class to label A and B. We then all came to a stop and with our eyes close, we had to point at the people we had labelled A and B. 

We then did an activity which focused on becoming an ensemble and connecting with your peers. We walked around the room and as a group all had to stop at the same time. We walked around the room for quite a while before we actually came to a stop. The key to this activity was forming a group rhythm and communicating with each other without words. After, we did a similar activity but we had to stand in a circle, with out hands out in front of us and as a group make a noise at the same time. 

We then played a game called 'Yes lets all...'. This consisted of everyone walking around the room and one person saying 'Lets all jump around like monkeys (an action) and the entire group responding with 'Yes lets all jump around like monkeys' and then actually doing it. This game allowed us to feel equal with everyone in the group as we were all doing the same thing, regardless of how stupid it may have made us feel or look. It also focused on things like spontaneity. We had to think on the spot  of what actions we were going to do. 

We then did some improvisation. First we did it in a group with a newspaper, so it started with one person  and everyone in the group had to go along with the scene that person was setting and then as a part of the improv they gave it to someone else and they came up with another idea. 

Secondly, we did it as a whole group. Twas lit :) 

Improvisation allows an entire group to feel one emotion.

- we formed a stage space by standing in a square 

- we discussed blocking with a chair, how an object can affect a performing space and the positioning of the object. Also if someone is ion the space and where they are in the space in relation to the object (chair) 

Finally, 

- we formed a short piece of a fairytale. my group did Cinderella.