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.