As the name of the workshop suggests, it was indeed a very weird but interesting experience. The text of "Press Conference" made little sense with it crazy components, and I had to act the character of the Minister. Of course, I had help from Mr Emen Low along the way.
Over two weeks, I attented 3 sessions with Mr Low. In the first session, we went through the first page of the text only. We did an exercise where Mr Low and I faced each other and as each of us was saying our lines, the person saying the line had to try to cross over to the other's boundary. The only rule is that we could not have any physical contact of any sort. This exercise ended with the both of us facing each other in a face-to-face shouting match. This showed me the incorrect way of portraying the character of the Minister as the motive of the press conference was not to have a shouting match, but rather to win the press over. Next we did an exercise whereby I performed the play, and he sat at the back of the LT1. He feedbacked that I remained at the same energy level throughout, and thus the climax of the play seemed unclear. Thus, I learnt the importance of varying the tension.
In the second session, I attended it with Saad, and it became rather interesting. The first exercise we did was that Saad played the role of the press and I, the minister. In this exercise, basically each line that we say is literally a bullet to the other person. Hence, each time one of us say a line, the other person had to literally dodge the bullet in whatever means possible. Such as ducking and rolling across the floor, lifting chairs and hiding under tables in the classroom. Then, we did another exercise where Saad acted as an annoying kindergarten kid and I had to persuade him to believe in what I was saying as Minister. This later became the basis for my portrayal of the play where I basically see the audience as children.
In the third session with Mr Low, we basically did a run through of the full play. He feedbacked that he wanted me to portray the Minister in such a way that I simply oozed charisma and went completely lunatic at the part where I talked about critical dissent. At first when I tried to do this, Mr Low said I wasn't crazy enough. (Even though I felt that I was already acting crazy enough) He said that I should just let myself go when I perform.
Therefore, I went into the day of the workshop itself ready to just go crazy. However, when I rehearsed with Mary Luckhurst before the workshop officially started, she said that she preferred that I not go into lunacy but rather just remain jovial but stern. I was in a disarray. It turned out that this was exactly how Absurdist theatre workshops were supposed to be. The teachers will give you different directions, and it is up to the actor to interpret it for himself.
In the end, I think I managed to portray the character of Minister relatively well, what with the handphone moment and all, and I have definitely gained alot of experience from this workshop.
P.S. Thanks Mark for being my bodyguard!
-Melvyn
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Let's Get Physical! Part 2
When we all got ready and gathered up the first thing we got to do was the physical exercise we had in the first session, the one where we had follow our instructor's tempo and rhythm. It went better than the first time, there were less "LATE!"s and "NOISY!"s. This time though, he tried something different. He switched the leaders around so we were following different people at different times! A bit more confusing, there was one part where he said "Calvin and Hobbes leader!" and I didn't know it was me until later, I was still blindly following!! So the exercise really kept me on my toes (literally and figuratively) and warmed up both our minds and our bodies.
Next, we were to come out on our own 3 at a time to perform as a not-so-inanimate object. Things like a falling egg, a crushed paper, a dying flower and and a candle came out. We were not told what to do until we stepped out, so we had to think of something on the spot, which stressed me a bit. The main thing I learnt was that we have to be different in a way and not follow what everyone else is doing. We also have to be confident in our own idea and believe in what we are showing. Also, we had to be aware of our body.
Ah, then we got to play a game! There were two sides and each side had to choose between a troll, a giant, and a wizard. Like rock paper scissors but more actions. The winning side was to drag their opponents into their area, thus converting them. As the group got bigger, it was harder to pass the message and on some occasions the leader would do something and hope the rest would follow. I think we learnt how to work as a team and that we have to make decisions fast. Also the whole game was very fun and our minds had to be very quick in order to win.
For our final exercise, we were to choose 2 out of the 5 elements, using both actions and sounds to mimic their properties. The exercise dealt with our different ideas of how "this" element was to be shown. Most of us were doing different things even though what we were portraying was the same. I felt that as actors, we have to be confident of our own style and also to show our body language, much like in the second exercise.
So far it's been really helpful, although it can be a bit stress at times. I look forward to seeing the bald guy again :)
-Isaac
Next, we were to come out on our own 3 at a time to perform as a not-so-inanimate object. Things like a falling egg, a crushed paper, a dying flower and and a candle came out. We were not told what to do until we stepped out, so we had to think of something on the spot, which stressed me a bit. The main thing I learnt was that we have to be different in a way and not follow what everyone else is doing. We also have to be confident in our own idea and believe in what we are showing. Also, we had to be aware of our body.
Ah, then we got to play a game! There were two sides and each side had to choose between a troll, a giant, and a wizard. Like rock paper scissors but more actions. The winning side was to drag their opponents into their area, thus converting them. As the group got bigger, it was harder to pass the message and on some occasions the leader would do something and hope the rest would follow. I think we learnt how to work as a team and that we have to make decisions fast. Also the whole game was very fun and our minds had to be very quick in order to win.
For our final exercise, we were to choose 2 out of the 5 elements, using both actions and sounds to mimic their properties. The exercise dealt with our different ideas of how "this" element was to be shown. Most of us were doing different things even though what we were portraying was the same. I felt that as actors, we have to be confident of our own style and also to show our body language, much like in the second exercise.
So far it's been really helpful, although it can be a bit stress at times. I look forward to seeing the bald guy again :)
-Isaac
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Introduction to Electra Workshop (April 14)
Introduction to Electra workshop
This was the second part of two workshops that Christina Sergeant taught us, and today's workshop focused primarily on Tadashi Suzuki's adaptation of "Electra".
The first activity for the workshop was for us to watch the prologue of the play Electra. The introduction for the play itself was 10 minutes long and it left most of us with many questions as to what relationship it had with the play, despite its funny moments. After watching the prologue, we learnt that Suzuki's style tend to place more emphasis on the feet, as can be seen through all the stamping. Every actor were part of a commited ensemble that worked together to convey a message. Action and sudden immobility is also a crucial part of suzuki training, and thus, the use of the core as well as maintaining the tension of the body is an important part of being a suzuki actor. We learnt that for suzuki actors, connection with the floor through the body results in not only a finely tuned strong voice, but also a physically powerful strong breath. (All the breathing sounds we heard.) Lastly, in suzuki training, whilst moving, the upper body is not disturbed, and only the lower body is working like mad and is working seperately.
Next, we tried a suzuki style practise. For the rest position, it is important to keep a low centre of gravity, bent knees, and maintain a lax upper body. We were then to do a short warmup whereby we had to sit down with our knees to our chest, with our toes up and heels on the ground. On her command, we were to open up our body like turtles, and remain immobile. This exercise was quite interesting to do and see, considering that some of us had trouble keeping balance.
Next. she taught us the suzuki way of walking, where essentially we used our hips to move our legs and then move forward, and not moving our whole body as we are used to. We then had to apply this in slow motion, with our eyes and mind focused on where we want to go. Through this exercise, I learnt how important it is to be aware of your weight as well as the tension in your muscles.(This seems to be a common trend in the workshops we have attended.) I found it difficult to maintain a lax upper body as my upper body would tense up naturally.
Statues was the name of our next exercise, where we had to go up from rest position to 3 different levels of height. T.H.O.S.E anyone?
The last exercise of the workshop was an improvisation of an Electra text. Many groups had different versions of Electra, which included a court version, a korean drama version, and an interview. It was really interesting as it allowed us to see how one story can be conveyed in many different ways. All in all, this workshop was very fun!
People to look up on : Tadashi Suzuki
Ethene Decroux
Jacques Lecoq
Vesevelod Meyerhold
Alexander, Feldenkrais, Pilates, Laban.
Cheers,
Melvyn.
This was the second part of two workshops that Christina Sergeant taught us, and today's workshop focused primarily on Tadashi Suzuki's adaptation of "Electra".
The first activity for the workshop was for us to watch the prologue of the play Electra. The introduction for the play itself was 10 minutes long and it left most of us with many questions as to what relationship it had with the play, despite its funny moments. After watching the prologue, we learnt that Suzuki's style tend to place more emphasis on the feet, as can be seen through all the stamping. Every actor were part of a commited ensemble that worked together to convey a message. Action and sudden immobility is also a crucial part of suzuki training, and thus, the use of the core as well as maintaining the tension of the body is an important part of being a suzuki actor. We learnt that for suzuki actors, connection with the floor through the body results in not only a finely tuned strong voice, but also a physically powerful strong breath. (All the breathing sounds we heard.) Lastly, in suzuki training, whilst moving, the upper body is not disturbed, and only the lower body is working like mad and is working seperately.
Next, we tried a suzuki style practise. For the rest position, it is important to keep a low centre of gravity, bent knees, and maintain a lax upper body. We were then to do a short warmup whereby we had to sit down with our knees to our chest, with our toes up and heels on the ground. On her command, we were to open up our body like turtles, and remain immobile. This exercise was quite interesting to do and see, considering that some of us had trouble keeping balance.
Next. she taught us the suzuki way of walking, where essentially we used our hips to move our legs and then move forward, and not moving our whole body as we are used to. We then had to apply this in slow motion, with our eyes and mind focused on where we want to go. Through this exercise, I learnt how important it is to be aware of your weight as well as the tension in your muscles.(This seems to be a common trend in the workshops we have attended.) I found it difficult to maintain a lax upper body as my upper body would tense up naturally.
Statues was the name of our next exercise, where we had to go up from rest position to 3 different levels of height. T.H.O.S.E anyone?
The last exercise of the workshop was an improvisation of an Electra text. Many groups had different versions of Electra, which included a court version, a korean drama version, and an interview. It was really interesting as it allowed us to see how one story can be conveyed in many different ways. All in all, this workshop was very fun!
People to look up on : Tadashi Suzuki
Ethene Decroux
Jacques Lecoq
Vesevelod Meyerhold
Alexander, Feldenkrais, Pilates, Laban.
Cheers,
Melvyn.
"Let's Get Physical" - Saturday, 11th April 10:00-12:00 p.m
This first workshop for our physical theatre was very enriching, I must say. After being told that I should bring a towel and change of clothes and "it might get dirty", I already started getting scared about what we would have to do for the workshop.
When we first started the workshop, the instructor said "Okay get into two lines and do a forward roll and a cartwheel." There were many gasps from us, because most of us could not do a forward roll or a cartwheel, including myself. However, we carried on with it even though we could not do it properly. We tried! Our efforts were commended by the instructor, but we told that we were too "noisy". He then went on to explain how discipline is important in doing physical theatre, and how we had to be focused on the task given.
Next, we got into a circle and discussed what we knew about physical theatre. Physical theatre is basically the use of the body, and how the emphasis is not placed on speech. We were then asked to each come up with 3 exercises that would improve our fitness. We had to show them to the class, and most of the comments given by the instructor was that our exercises were "dead". We had to be constantly in motion, and have life in our exercises.
After that, we did an exercise whereby we had to follow the instructor's tempo and beat. This was rather difficult, as our movements had to be exactly the same as his. For example, when he steps into the circle, we have to step into it at exactly the same time, and when he quickens or slows down his pace, so should we. We were also told to watch the sounds we made, for example, the shuffling of our feet. We had to move with as less sound as possible. The instructor was constantly shouting remarks such as "LATE!" AND "TOO NOISY!", which were rather intimidating and I felt quite stressed out. The next round of this was done not by the whole class. The instructor started off first, then he looks at someone and "invites" the person into the circle. He did this either by smiling at you, using his eyes, or gesturing. It was quite hard to tell if he was inviting you, therefore for the first time we tried it out, no one moved into the circle because we were unsure. But after awhile, we realised what we had to do and followed. Even if we were unsure if he was inviting us, we had to go by our instincts.
Overall, this session was quite exhausting due to all the running and moving, but we learned important lessons useful to physical theatre such as focus, having "life", and using our instincts.
-Mel :)
This first workshop for our physical theatre was very enriching, I must say. After being told that I should bring a towel and change of clothes and "it might get dirty", I already started getting scared about what we would have to do for the workshop.
When we first started the workshop, the instructor said "Okay get into two lines and do a forward roll and a cartwheel." There were many gasps from us, because most of us could not do a forward roll or a cartwheel, including myself. However, we carried on with it even though we could not do it properly. We tried! Our efforts were commended by the instructor, but we told that we were too "noisy". He then went on to explain how discipline is important in doing physical theatre, and how we had to be focused on the task given.
Next, we got into a circle and discussed what we knew about physical theatre. Physical theatre is basically the use of the body, and how the emphasis is not placed on speech. We were then asked to each come up with 3 exercises that would improve our fitness. We had to show them to the class, and most of the comments given by the instructor was that our exercises were "dead". We had to be constantly in motion, and have life in our exercises.
After that, we did an exercise whereby we had to follow the instructor's tempo and beat. This was rather difficult, as our movements had to be exactly the same as his. For example, when he steps into the circle, we have to step into it at exactly the same time, and when he quickens or slows down his pace, so should we. We were also told to watch the sounds we made, for example, the shuffling of our feet. We had to move with as less sound as possible. The instructor was constantly shouting remarks such as "LATE!" AND "TOO NOISY!", which were rather intimidating and I felt quite stressed out. The next round of this was done not by the whole class. The instructor started off first, then he looks at someone and "invites" the person into the circle. He did this either by smiling at you, using his eyes, or gesturing. It was quite hard to tell if he was inviting you, therefore for the first time we tried it out, no one moved into the circle because we were unsure. But after awhile, we realised what we had to do and followed. Even if we were unsure if he was inviting us, we had to go by our instincts.
Overall, this session was quite exhausting due to all the running and moving, but we learned important lessons useful to physical theatre such as focus, having "life", and using our instincts.
-Mel :)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
06 April 2009 Workshop.
Workshop (06 April 2009)
At first, I was skeptical to whether this workshop was something that I would enjoy. Also, this would be the first time doing something with the J2 seniors.
The instructor, Kristina, came into the black box with poles and a kompang. We were all interested in what they would be used for. Then, she introduced herself and told us what we were going to do and why. As it turns out, we were to be more exposed to the art of physical theatre, in which, the emphasis would be more of the movement of our body, rather than our voices. This, to me, was quite interesting as I was intrigued to how physical theatre like mime was about and how people actually train for it. We then went on to do some stretching. It was so painful! At first, I thought we were going to do ordinary stretching but boy was I wrong. We learned that the most important part for physical theatre was actually our torso area or “the core” as she called it. An actor must be grounded so that his movements would look fluid and natural so we established the zero position, with feet, knees and tailbone parallel and relax the tension in the arms and neck. This was further proved to be useful when we watched the play of “7 boards” and saw how easily the actors moved what looked like super heavy boards. It was effortless and Kristina told us how the zero position actually helps in the moving of the boards.
After the awesomely painful stretching, we were treated to “catching the fly.” When Kristina hit the kompang, we were to jump and catch the fly, thereafter, come back to our zero position. I realized the impact of our stretching when we were able to execute a ¾ jump and back.
Moving on, we then practiced with the space in the black box. The objective was to focus on a specific object and walk towards it while at the same time use our peripheral vision to avoid clashing into one another. Also, when the kompang is hit, we had to stop and immobilize ourselves. This was not so much of a challenge than the next part of the exercise, in which we had t stop and start by ourselves. Without anyone telling us when. At first, it was very jerky, with people hesitating over when to stop and start, however, I realized that everyone of us had sort of a routine where we just instinctively knew when to move and stop. I realized that as an actor, be it physical theatre or not, the ability to “sense” other people on stage is crucial to make the play better and more fluid. We then had to walk vertically and horizontally, and make turns at a 90 degree angle. Then, we had to move in an arc and then a mixture of both. I did not get this exercise but maybe this can help us with the way we use the stage, how it is important to know exactly how you move and where so that it does not look disorganized or unsure on stage.
Then, the “moving between 2 people in a fishbowl” exercise. This was seriously hilarious as there was always a “traffic jam” in the middle of the bowl and also, finding 2 people to go through is really tough as everyone wanted to move, but no one wanted to give space for others to move. After 2 rounds, we got better, I admit, but to me, it was still a mess. This teaches us that we have to be considerate of the space on stage that we have to use and how our movements can affect other people and as a physical theater actor, awareness of the space and the people in it needs to be evidently there in our actions and body.
We then had to do the thing where she told us a number and body part and were had to find ways of achieving it. This was a prelude to the real exercise in which we had to find a partner and use our bodies to show the space that we have, for example, making your body as big as possible while still remaining in contact with your partner, also, twisting your body in many interesting ways. This exercise I think helps us understand that we do not really need to be acrobats to be good physical theatre actors, but it’s how we use our body to convey the message across to the audience.
Kristina had us follow her in an isolation exercise where one part of the body was isolated but the rest is moving, this I think, is the basis of most mimes. It was very interesting. Some of the actions I could follow but some just too difficult to emulate. This shows again, the importance of our core and how the core is useful in doing many different actions.
Following that, we were split into 3 groups and had to do a tablo with an abstract theme, I think this was because she wants us to use our bodies to show our message rather than words. It was particularly challenging to pick out a theme but we decided on “dreams.” So, I had totally no idea what I was going to do because I thought that the scary element was more than enough and adding more to it would just be redundant. The problem was solved when I became the person sleeping and WZ was my shadow. It was great as we all had fun playing our scene but it ended up being more of a “nightmare” theme. The other groups also did well but I think that Kristina misunderstood us, we did not jeer our friends, rather, when the group with the title “nightmare” came out, my group was like, crap, it’s the same thing. So, we were disappointed in ourselves for doing the same thing and not being bad audiences to the other group. However, there were differences and I think that as a whole, we did good.
Then, we watched 7 boards and I was really fascinated with this play as it is so physical and abstract. There were absolutely no words uttered and a different style of theatre that I was used to.
Overall, this workshop was a useful one in helping me and most of the J1s to be exposed to the different aspect of theatre and extend our repertoire of knowledge. Thumbs up and hoping for another one like this!
afiqah
At first, I was skeptical to whether this workshop was something that I would enjoy. Also, this would be the first time doing something with the J2 seniors.
The instructor, Kristina, came into the black box with poles and a kompang. We were all interested in what they would be used for. Then, she introduced herself and told us what we were going to do and why. As it turns out, we were to be more exposed to the art of physical theatre, in which, the emphasis would be more of the movement of our body, rather than our voices. This, to me, was quite interesting as I was intrigued to how physical theatre like mime was about and how people actually train for it. We then went on to do some stretching. It was so painful! At first, I thought we were going to do ordinary stretching but boy was I wrong. We learned that the most important part for physical theatre was actually our torso area or “the core” as she called it. An actor must be grounded so that his movements would look fluid and natural so we established the zero position, with feet, knees and tailbone parallel and relax the tension in the arms and neck. This was further proved to be useful when we watched the play of “7 boards” and saw how easily the actors moved what looked like super heavy boards. It was effortless and Kristina told us how the zero position actually helps in the moving of the boards.
After the awesomely painful stretching, we were treated to “catching the fly.” When Kristina hit the kompang, we were to jump and catch the fly, thereafter, come back to our zero position. I realized the impact of our stretching when we were able to execute a ¾ jump and back.
Moving on, we then practiced with the space in the black box. The objective was to focus on a specific object and walk towards it while at the same time use our peripheral vision to avoid clashing into one another. Also, when the kompang is hit, we had to stop and immobilize ourselves. This was not so much of a challenge than the next part of the exercise, in which we had t stop and start by ourselves. Without anyone telling us when. At first, it was very jerky, with people hesitating over when to stop and start, however, I realized that everyone of us had sort of a routine where we just instinctively knew when to move and stop. I realized that as an actor, be it physical theatre or not, the ability to “sense” other people on stage is crucial to make the play better and more fluid. We then had to walk vertically and horizontally, and make turns at a 90 degree angle. Then, we had to move in an arc and then a mixture of both. I did not get this exercise but maybe this can help us with the way we use the stage, how it is important to know exactly how you move and where so that it does not look disorganized or unsure on stage.
Then, the “moving between 2 people in a fishbowl” exercise. This was seriously hilarious as there was always a “traffic jam” in the middle of the bowl and also, finding 2 people to go through is really tough as everyone wanted to move, but no one wanted to give space for others to move. After 2 rounds, we got better, I admit, but to me, it was still a mess. This teaches us that we have to be considerate of the space on stage that we have to use and how our movements can affect other people and as a physical theater actor, awareness of the space and the people in it needs to be evidently there in our actions and body.
We then had to do the thing where she told us a number and body part and were had to find ways of achieving it. This was a prelude to the real exercise in which we had to find a partner and use our bodies to show the space that we have, for example, making your body as big as possible while still remaining in contact with your partner, also, twisting your body in many interesting ways. This exercise I think helps us understand that we do not really need to be acrobats to be good physical theatre actors, but it’s how we use our body to convey the message across to the audience.
Kristina had us follow her in an isolation exercise where one part of the body was isolated but the rest is moving, this I think, is the basis of most mimes. It was very interesting. Some of the actions I could follow but some just too difficult to emulate. This shows again, the importance of our core and how the core is useful in doing many different actions.
Following that, we were split into 3 groups and had to do a tablo with an abstract theme, I think this was because she wants us to use our bodies to show our message rather than words. It was particularly challenging to pick out a theme but we decided on “dreams.” So, I had totally no idea what I was going to do because I thought that the scary element was more than enough and adding more to it would just be redundant. The problem was solved when I became the person sleeping and WZ was my shadow. It was great as we all had fun playing our scene but it ended up being more of a “nightmare” theme. The other groups also did well but I think that Kristina misunderstood us, we did not jeer our friends, rather, when the group with the title “nightmare” came out, my group was like, crap, it’s the same thing. So, we were disappointed in ourselves for doing the same thing and not being bad audiences to the other group. However, there were differences and I think that as a whole, we did good.
Then, we watched 7 boards and I was really fascinated with this play as it is so physical and abstract. There were absolutely no words uttered and a different style of theatre that I was used to.
Overall, this workshop was a useful one in helping me and most of the J1s to be exposed to the different aspect of theatre and extend our repertoire of knowledge. Thumbs up and hoping for another one like this!
afiqah
Movement of Joints Workshop
Theatre Studies Workshop Reflection: Introduction to Movement of Joints.
The workshop conducted on that day was really enriching in my opinion. It was aimed at exposing us to the mechanism of the joints and to help us understand certain things about ourselves hitherto unknown. So we started off by playing a simple game, ‘Simon Says’. I thought this game was actually a good precursor to the work that we were going to do that day, because the game of ‘Simon Says’ requires one to follow instructions.
Now it sounds simple but in actuality this isn’t the case. Sometimes we might want to move our bodies in one way to express an emotion, but perhaps due to the incapability of our bodies, we are unable to do so. So while playing that game it started to dawn on me that discipline of the body is crucial in theatre. One has to be in complete control of his body, because after all he is its master.
Shortly after the game concluded, our instructor introduced us to a few types of puppets, namely the finger puppet, the mouth puppet, the glove puppet, the puppet that is controlled by rods, and string puppets. He showed us a few techniques of a puppeteer and demonstrated to us certain concepts of puppetry that could also be applied to that of theatre. I think this was really enriching as well because I myself don’t have a lot of exposure to the technicalities of puppetry, but it was really amazing to see him move these puppets and “breathe life” into them. While he demonstrated moving the puppets, he then related concepts of puppetry, such as energy, to all of us. One has to mimic life, and transfer that into the puppet, or the movements would just look jerky and artificial. Similarly, an actor needs to be precise in his movements, and know exactly how to move and speak to achieve desired effects and emotions.
We then watched a few videos of interesting pieces that used puppetry. These people did not use elaborate puppets, or elaborate props. Simple things like Styrofoam balls and a doll can already be used to create beautiful art. He also told us something important: “If one does not appreciate art, one would not know how to create it.” A lot of theatre is about feeling. There is no “right” or “wrong”, but everything is again dependent on the audience receiving your piece.
The workshop conducted on that day was really enriching in my opinion. It was aimed at exposing us to the mechanism of the joints and to help us understand certain things about ourselves hitherto unknown. So we started off by playing a simple game, ‘Simon Says’. I thought this game was actually a good precursor to the work that we were going to do that day, because the game of ‘Simon Says’ requires one to follow instructions.
Now it sounds simple but in actuality this isn’t the case. Sometimes we might want to move our bodies in one way to express an emotion, but perhaps due to the incapability of our bodies, we are unable to do so. So while playing that game it started to dawn on me that discipline of the body is crucial in theatre. One has to be in complete control of his body, because after all he is its master.
Shortly after the game concluded, our instructor introduced us to a few types of puppets, namely the finger puppet, the mouth puppet, the glove puppet, the puppet that is controlled by rods, and string puppets. He showed us a few techniques of a puppeteer and demonstrated to us certain concepts of puppetry that could also be applied to that of theatre. I think this was really enriching as well because I myself don’t have a lot of exposure to the technicalities of puppetry, but it was really amazing to see him move these puppets and “breathe life” into them. While he demonstrated moving the puppets, he then related concepts of puppetry, such as energy, to all of us. One has to mimic life, and transfer that into the puppet, or the movements would just look jerky and artificial. Similarly, an actor needs to be precise in his movements, and know exactly how to move and speak to achieve desired effects and emotions.
We then watched a few videos of interesting pieces that used puppetry. These people did not use elaborate puppets, or elaborate props. Simple things like Styrofoam balls and a doll can already be used to create beautiful art. He also told us something important: “If one does not appreciate art, one would not know how to create it.” A lot of theatre is about feeling. There is no “right” or “wrong”, but everything is again dependent on the audience receiving your piece.