Political Theatre Workshop.

It's MAYDAY people!! =D

Hah. And yes, I shall get back into topic.... Political theatre huh...
In the form of a press conference (since it's best to portray political contrast between people of power [minister] and commoners [in the form of journalists / press] themselves), we discussed about how Pinter wants to portray the "lost" freedom-of-speech of the general public in theatre.
We were also asked to "explore the irony between the different characters" during the duration. Yepp.

We started off the workshop with a surprise. Wow!! The pro personally demostrated her own idea of "the Minister" for us as a sneak preview. x) The tension that she created was so swift! At one blink of an eye, she's transformed into a scary woman in power, creating the tension that she wants to present, and getting all the attention she wants. First comment given by WenZhen was, "Wah! She power man!!" HAHAHAAA!!!

Okay. Now into the real one.
She invited our first presenter, MELVYN!! x)
Ohohhh!! Not forgetting his bodyguard (MARK!) and his (I mean Mel's) expensive western suit. xD

We discussed about Melvyn's confidence level in play. Despite his character's politness, he still portray a sinister threat to the audience (the press). And yes! His western suit presented a twist in the story. The western suit makes people think that he's on our (the general public represented by the press) side and that he won't be any form of a threat to us. The pace of one's speech makes a difference too. Melvyn's presentation was rather "melodious" and more charismatic in a sense. It captures people's attention by presenting an eagerness to answer the press's questions.
Before I forget, the things that he does (takes someone's phone) also creates some sort of tension and fear between the press. =) What master of deceive he was and still is. ><

In comparison, we've another Minister with a completely different personality to come up. Yes! Pris and her NCC uniform. Hahahahahaaa!!!! - Thou shalt not grin at other's appearance no matter how weird. =x

She doesn't have a bodyguard. Well, but the use of the NCC or Army Uniform immediately brought forth tension to the space. Pris choice of speaking tempo was so much slower and yet monotonous. This choice so much enhanced the reluctancy to answer questions. Her demand for respect was shown from that fact that she only allow questions from people who raise their hands. This totally diminished the press's "freedom-of-speech". FIERCE ah pris. ><

We moved on to experiment on the usage of lights, and the different use of bodyguards.
Let's save the best for the last and talk about bodyguards first. x) Mark was asked to choose idon'tknowhowmany body guards to stand among the crowds. Well, it was immediately shown the contrast in the tension levels created by different bodyguards. Their standing posture makes a difference! That one.... The T.H.O.S.E aspect came in. Guards that are taller demands more attention. Guards who are still and not open at all presents a very stressful atmosphere (I'm not making much sense so please help yourself to make sense of it.) Also, we've found out that the closer the bodyguard is to the press, the higher then tension level was. What logic; but it works. >< The people in power may want his / her bodyguards to step forward to the crowd so as to get his / her will done. The reluctancy in the audience may be seen and felt and it too, creates tension among people. The choice of bodyguards are important too!
Normally it'd be a guy person of power with all guys bodyguards, or a female person in power with female bodyguards, or a female person in power with all male bodyguards. No mix bodyguards. x) WenZhen take note yeah?? xP

Now for the exciting part. LIGHTS!! xD
Front lights that are nearer to the Minister gives him the attention that he wants, while back lights allow him to create the tension that he wants. Diagonal side lights are also angled at an angle nearer to the person in power to create tension (If you guys don't know what am I saying... Refer to your memories of how kevin set the lightings that day).
Enough for the lightings on the Minister. The most impactful use of lightings will be the other spotlights angled and focused directly on the audiences themselves (in this sense, the press). The more uncomfortable the lighting is, the higher the tension level would be. It'd be good to have moving lights so as to focus lights on people who speaks. Other general lightings can be used to focus on some random area that the crowd gathered in. All these, to create tension.

Yadayadayada... All about tension. Hahahaa...
Yes it is ALL about tension. D;

So much for my personal reflection of the political theatre workshop. There's just too much to it that I thought will be worth us exploring ie; the use of the smoke machine! =D
Figure it yourselves yeah?? =)

Cheers,
Chenxing.