Physical Theatre

We started off this session with an exercise, that was very much like Columbian Hypnosis, but is called Magician. We got into pairs, and one person would be under the spell and the other would be the magician. This exercise really helped us to be focused. To make this exercise interesting, we also got the chance to change partners, therefore we got to work with different people. Also, the exercise got tougher. We then had to choose a different body part to lead the our partner, and the partner had to follow with a different body part as well (not eyes). Therefore, we needed to work together well as partners, knowing each other's limitations (do not lead a person to a level where they cannot follow with that body part). I also learned that we had to make it clear who was leading and who was following,which meant that we had to be very focused and worked together well. On top of that, we learned to be creative with our space. We could crawl under tables, over chairs, around the scaffold etc. etc.

Next, we did an exercise where by we walked around the space and then in a few seconds, had to form a straight line as a whole cohort. We could not talk at all, therefore it was rather tough. What I did was I simply waited for someone to stop, and then the rest of us followed and formed a line beside that person. We also had to walk around the space in a straight line as a group, without looking at each other. So basically, we had to face forward, yet from the corner of our eyes, watch each other and see which direction the group was moving to. This taught me how to multi-task! (haha), and also to work together as a team, which is very important in doing theatre work.

Last but not least, we did a continuation of what we did last week, which was the text and the object. This week, however, we focused mainly on the object. As I was not present last week, I spent a few minutes panicking and wondering what object I was going to use and finally decided on my wallet. We had to explore our object, the sounds it makes, the things it could do that we never thought it could....then present it to the class. Now the trick here is not to use our object as a symbolism of another object (for example a pen as a lipstick). What I did with my wallet was shake it and hear the sounds the coins make, opening and snapping it shut (It created quite a nice beat), and emptying the coins and letting it shower down on the floor, making a beautiful ringing sound. These actions would then be used as props for our texts. The purpose of this was to ensure that we know our props, even before we used them. Therefore, exploring whatever props we had is important, as it gives us a sense of what it could be used for, and also be creative about it.

That's all. {:

xoxo,
mel the bimbo!