REFLECTION
DAY 4
Morning- waking up exercise- clapping. We all stood in a circle passed the clap around, getting faster and faster. Basically he was trying to wake us up and test or reaction skills.
Next, we played the same game we played the day before. One person walks towards their chair with knees together while the others try to stop him/her.
Exercise to demonstrate what an action is. It was done 4 at a time.
Each one imagines the other 3 are characters from the book- Olivia (shows favor to the person), Cesario (puzzled, unable to understand expression) and Toby (detest). The person is Malvolio. This way, the audience can see how personalities clash. All of them are Malvoilio’s, and they all treat the other person differently, according to what they had previously tagged them. So while one of them might favour the 2nd, the 2nd might show detest to the 1st. We also had to include actions, like being at a launderette, or Horse riding. No need for expressions and words that were obvious signals of who the person was to you, mere slight signals and light expressions should be used.
Walk around in our own spaces, stop. Imagine and act out how Malvolio would have prepared to go to bed. While sleeping, dreams of past (childhood), an incident 10 years after incident during childhood, and a dream he has (recurrent). Go back and share with group.
My childhood- He was dressed in shabby dirty clothes and his Mother was scolding him for being irresponsible and lazy while actually he wasn’t. He was down cast and angry for being falsely accused. He vowed to prove him mother wrong and do the best he could to rise above his lowly status.
In University- He was constantly being bullied and teased for being such a geek. He was the top in his class, the best he could be. He had finally proved his mother wrong.
Dream- He dreams that the people under him and around him (Maria, Toby, Andrew) will turn into the bullies who made his life a living hell when he was in university.
Around table, read suicide note aloud. Some of them cursed and vowed to be revenged, while others had a sad and hurting tone to them. Most of them were angry though, and there was even one which classified Mal as a psychopath and a mad man.
I took a more revengeful, why do you hate me tone…
I never made you play the part of a fool; I never harassed you physically or emotionally; I never caused you to feel shameful in front of others; and I never played a heartless prank on anyone; I never demanded anything from you except respect, nothing else. All I did was create an environment of law and order, a place where my lady could find rest and happiness. And yet you treated me so. You shall be punished, but not by me, but a higher power, one that is so much greater than you and everyone else. I put the blame of my death on you. On your shoulders I place the blood I am about to shed. It shall taunt you endlessly, never shall you rest, and never shall a day go by without you looking over your shoulders with fear and regret. NEVER, I TELL YOU! NEVER! I on no account did anything wrong or anything that deserved the treatment you all gave me. You tricked, deceived and lied. No you shall be repentant, petrified and taunted till the day you all shall cease to exist once and for all.
Ma’am, everything I have ever done was done to please and provide for you and this is how you treat me? Did you never think of your servant which I was in that hell hole? Do you hate me so much that you left me in the “care” of your drunk cousin, the one you know I do detest. I feel cheated, abused and used. If for loyalty and execution of ones duty one gets repaid with hatred and persecution, then this is not what I want any longer. I was treated unjustly but no one cared. My life means little to anyone, so why live it? Now I give up the last thing left that I truly treasured. My life.
LUNCH
In pairs, one tried to persuade the other to stop drinking, turn down the music and stop chewing gum. There were many methods that were used, most commonly of course threatening. Unfortunately physical violence was not allowed. (:P) There was also persuasion, and sometimes though rare (since the persuader was to be Mal) there was the act of pleading, black mail was also used, and the use of things close to the one being persuaded heart. This exercise3 was done to show us just how hard it is to get someone to listen to a higher authority. We were paced in Mal’s shoes to see why he acted the way he did. It made us pity him and see the ligher side in him. Done in prep for the next writing exercise.
One person out of the group. The rest are rowdy teenagers. Lone person tries to control the rest- Silent treatment, shouting, screaming, switching off the lights, taking away one by one (isolation). Silent treatment and isolation worked the best. It showed us the power of a person when they are not saying anything at all. The power of just being there, the power of silence, the power of the glare.
Writing, Malvolio married to Olivia and tour of his mansion. Him in happier days, his imagination.
So basically, we , as Malvolio, take the rest on a tour of our house…
Hello! Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to the guided tour of the “MaOli Mansion” As you can probably tell, the house was named after me and my wife’s names, three letters of each, what balance and perfection! I must tell you, that you are indeed a very special group. I don’t usually give tours of the mansion, but I have made an exception since I had some spare time. So yes, here we are in the garden. You should have seen it before I arrived! What a horrid state in was in! Oh my! But now, as you can see, it has been restored fabulously. I saved it of course, with some famous gardener guy called Jean… something. The plants come from various countries from all over the world of course, very high class indeed wouldn’t you say? I hire about 50 gardeners, all of them are graduates with honors from the ‘Gardening Institute of learning’ very very prestigious school you know. I hire only the best.
Lets walk in now. As you can see the living room is very bright indeed, because of the reflection of the mirrors which cover the walls. Oh how beautiful they look and how good they make you look. There is this fascinating thing with the windows, they are made out of this material which allows the person on the darker side of the pane to see themselves, it magically turns into a mirror! I don’t know what its called, but then again, who cares!
Further down, we have the display room; it is the most precious room in the house to me at least. Here, the first item seen is my most precious, valuable and loved object, my yellow stocking. It was while wearing these that I feel in love with Olivia’s and she with me. Ill let you in on a little secret; I wore it for our weeding, underneath my pants. Here are Olivia’s jewels, most of them obviously bought by me for her. She is so lovely that one just has to buy her the best and most beautiful of gems. And I have my own collection of jewels. Here is my magnificent ring that I wear on special occasions to denote my authority and position in society. Also, this watch which was designed by the late Antonin Stanvarkski of Germany. Very precious, valuable and a treasure I must say. Ah yes, Maria, I was just bringing the guests around. Everyone, this is Olivia, the head of the servants, with the head of the house obviously being me. You may go along now. Yes, she is in charge of all the servants, all 200 or so of them. So many, I just cannot keep track of them. What’s that you say? Why I need so many? Well of course I need that many! They are experts in their own fields, there are the gardeners, chefs, maids, toilet specialists, master of the art at washing laundry, sweeping, and you get the point don’t you?
Well here we are at the dining room, I know, big isn’t it? Well me and Olivia dine here with the 6 children everyday. Yes, I have six of them, theyt are all with their tutors right now, so unfortuanteky you will not be able to meet them. The china as you can see is just fabulous. Not from China, no no, that would be just way too common. They come from Italy, Greece, Venice and all those cities who make treally good glass and pottery ware. Beautiful, fragile, special, and bloody expensive as well, but what is the money spent comopared to the satisfaction!
Come along now; let me take you to the Master bedroom! The second favorite room on my list of favorite rooms, since I spend lots of time here with my love, Olivia. Oh, yes, this long staircase has numerous portraits hung on it. There is one of me, and another, Myself, I, yes that is me when I was younger, see how different I look in that one, that was before and after the haircut, don’t I look different? Oh yes, and me and Olivia, that’s us again, and again, the two of us with the Queen of England, yes that was on the occasion of her birthday. There are lots more, but I’m afraid that I will have to hurry you on, as there will be no time to see the rest of the house, and trust me, you do not want to miss that. So here we are at the master bedroom. Please, do take your time to admire the doors. They are made out of the most expensive and fragrant wood in the world and have been exquisitely carved out. They cost me a lot, not a fortune of course, but a lot. It carpenter spent 40 years at it, and was actually made for someone else, but I bought it over. Oh my, look at the time, dear me, I’m sorry but I will have to leave you in the care of by trusty servant to show you the rest of my palace. I have to run, Olivia is waiting for me, were flying off on a business trip, see you!
Write a text with 26 letters. 1st word start with A last word with Z, etc. This exercise was used to show us just how useful restrictions can be. If he had asked us to write something, anything we would have been so confused. But, when you give someone restrictions, it really makes them think and shows their creative side. It helps to bring out the best work.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
DAY 5 LAST DAY!!:(
REFLECTION
DAY 5 (LAST DAY) L
Today was sadly the last day of the workshop. We had all been asked to start on our monologues and to work on them while the others had their one on one session with Tim. We brought our own props, costumes, music and everything else we needed. We presented our acts to Tim, and he helped us put in more creative stuff an advice as to how to create the piece.
This was how mine went-
A very good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to “The Reason”. I am Malvolio, The butler of Lady Olivia. Today, I am going to let you all see what goes on in here. I usually never ever ever ever let anyone in, so consider yourselves privileged. I am not the dignified, reserved, solemn, grave and boring person you see now. Keep that in mind.
Let me ask you. What is ones childhood suppose to be like? One full of joy and freedom would you not agree? But NO, NO NO NO. Mine was just the opposite. My parents were poor and I had 6 other brothers and sisters. My father was busy getting drunk while my mother could not care less about us.
But oh, they ALWAYS had the time to complain, criticize and scold us. My mother told me that I, I, I was a good for nothing looser, that I was filthy, worthless and dumb. Hmph, that was when I took the oath. I vowed…
I shall run away from here, this stinking hell hole. I can do nothing whilst I am here. I will prove my mother wrong. I will NOT become the man she thinks I will be. I will be dignified, I will be rich, I will be powerful, I will be the best in whatever I do. I will be who I want to be and NOBODY, NOBODY will be able to stop me. NOONE!
And so I ran away, in hopes that I might be able to one day fulfill that oath I made when I was 10.
I lived in the streets, and during the day, I managed to creep into the compound of a local school, sit outside the class and try to learn what the teachers was teaching.
Sand and dirt was my paper, and stones my pen. One day the mayor of the area was visiting the school, he took pity on me when he saw me in my pathetic state, took me in and provided me with an education. It is because of him, that I am the person and in the status that I am in now.
Now, I am clean, now I am worth something, now I am of a high status, the head of a house. Now I have something to be proud of. Now I have fulfilled the oath I made so many years ago.
I have long washed my hands of my past and the pathetic place I came from. I cannot stand drunk people, I cannot stand dirty people and I cannot stand things being messy or out of place, they are the past, they have no place in my present.
Remember what I said at the beginning of the play? About that not being who I am? Well, that cold, stubborn, spoiler of moods expression is in fact a façade that I put on. Why you might ask? Why would one need to? Let me ask you, how else would one run a household?
How else could a person possibly try to create an environment of law and order, a place where ones madam can find rest and happiness? There is no other way I tell you. No, none. Some people are just so annoying, they do not care what you say, they continue in their rowdy most ungentlemanly ways!
Urgh, they disgust me! Take Sir Toby for example that fat man who wobbles around drunk all day, shouting out undecipherable nonsense. If I told you he was my Madams Uncle, would you have believed?
All he does is suck the money out of my Madam. That good for nothing old fool! My poor madam, what did she ever do to have such a nut case come and live with her!
Oh Madam, my dear madam, my sweet madam. When I make you smile, when you laugh, your joy makes me feel whole again, it makes my day, even though Toby did vomit on my favorite yellow jacket that day!
Oh, I cannot help but imagine the day we shall be united as one. How I long for that day. I do, I do. I do, I do (marriage vows, fake putting on ring).
Oh the day I shall be able to be called Count Malvolio, the day Sir Toby kisses my emerald studded ring on my finger and I say ‘You must amend your drunkenness’.
Sir Toby, that rascal. Played a prank on me just because I was trying to do my duty and keep order in my Madams house.
That unreasonable jerk of a man! He locked me up in a dark room and made me think that my madam was in love with me so that I could have false hopes! He destroyed me, broke me and severely pissed me off.
I never made him play the part of a fool, I never harassed him, I never shamed him in front of others, I never played a heartless prank on him, and I never demanded anything from him except respect.
For the trick that you poked me with, I shall get my revenge, but I will not punish you, a higher power, one that is much much greater than you and everyone else will give you a taste of your medicine. Not very sweet now is it? Is it? Is it? Is it? Is it? ( I slowly lie on the ground and SLEEP…. WAKE UP with confused expression to show that this was all a dream)
Yup, that was how it went. There were parts duringmy speech where I added in the applause which my imaginary audience gave me. This was to create a sense of a dream like nature, as the monologue is suppose to be his dream, where he is given a chance to explain to the world the reason that he acts the way he does, so that people will be able to understand him better and thus not hate him as much. That is why it is called "The Reason" In the beginnig of the speech.
I had an AWESOME time people, totally unforgetable and oh so educative! im PRO WORKSHOPS now! he he.. I would not trade it for anything in the world, though i might fail my profiling tests, i still think it was worth it..:D
And yes, I guess it is a good way of getting to know fellow TSDians from the other schools.. Socializing with the elite is good,. and fun.,. they are really nice you know.,., not all of them are snobs!!
So yeah.. tahts how my experience went..
Hope your happy with my rambling Miss Norzian.. Pass...:D:D
DAY 5 (LAST DAY) L
Today was sadly the last day of the workshop. We had all been asked to start on our monologues and to work on them while the others had their one on one session with Tim. We brought our own props, costumes, music and everything else we needed. We presented our acts to Tim, and he helped us put in more creative stuff an advice as to how to create the piece.
This was how mine went-
A very good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to “The Reason”. I am Malvolio, The butler of Lady Olivia. Today, I am going to let you all see what goes on in here. I usually never ever ever ever let anyone in, so consider yourselves privileged. I am not the dignified, reserved, solemn, grave and boring person you see now. Keep that in mind.
Let me ask you. What is ones childhood suppose to be like? One full of joy and freedom would you not agree? But NO, NO NO NO. Mine was just the opposite. My parents were poor and I had 6 other brothers and sisters. My father was busy getting drunk while my mother could not care less about us.
But oh, they ALWAYS had the time to complain, criticize and scold us. My mother told me that I, I, I was a good for nothing looser, that I was filthy, worthless and dumb. Hmph, that was when I took the oath. I vowed…
I shall run away from here, this stinking hell hole. I can do nothing whilst I am here. I will prove my mother wrong. I will NOT become the man she thinks I will be. I will be dignified, I will be rich, I will be powerful, I will be the best in whatever I do. I will be who I want to be and NOBODY, NOBODY will be able to stop me. NOONE!
And so I ran away, in hopes that I might be able to one day fulfill that oath I made when I was 10.
I lived in the streets, and during the day, I managed to creep into the compound of a local school, sit outside the class and try to learn what the teachers was teaching.
Sand and dirt was my paper, and stones my pen. One day the mayor of the area was visiting the school, he took pity on me when he saw me in my pathetic state, took me in and provided me with an education. It is because of him, that I am the person and in the status that I am in now.
Now, I am clean, now I am worth something, now I am of a high status, the head of a house. Now I have something to be proud of. Now I have fulfilled the oath I made so many years ago.
I have long washed my hands of my past and the pathetic place I came from. I cannot stand drunk people, I cannot stand dirty people and I cannot stand things being messy or out of place, they are the past, they have no place in my present.
Remember what I said at the beginning of the play? About that not being who I am? Well, that cold, stubborn, spoiler of moods expression is in fact a façade that I put on. Why you might ask? Why would one need to? Let me ask you, how else would one run a household?
How else could a person possibly try to create an environment of law and order, a place where ones madam can find rest and happiness? There is no other way I tell you. No, none. Some people are just so annoying, they do not care what you say, they continue in their rowdy most ungentlemanly ways!
Urgh, they disgust me! Take Sir Toby for example that fat man who wobbles around drunk all day, shouting out undecipherable nonsense. If I told you he was my Madams Uncle, would you have believed?
All he does is suck the money out of my Madam. That good for nothing old fool! My poor madam, what did she ever do to have such a nut case come and live with her!
Oh Madam, my dear madam, my sweet madam. When I make you smile, when you laugh, your joy makes me feel whole again, it makes my day, even though Toby did vomit on my favorite yellow jacket that day!
Oh, I cannot help but imagine the day we shall be united as one. How I long for that day. I do, I do. I do, I do (marriage vows, fake putting on ring).
Oh the day I shall be able to be called Count Malvolio, the day Sir Toby kisses my emerald studded ring on my finger and I say ‘You must amend your drunkenness’.
Sir Toby, that rascal. Played a prank on me just because I was trying to do my duty and keep order in my Madams house.
That unreasonable jerk of a man! He locked me up in a dark room and made me think that my madam was in love with me so that I could have false hopes! He destroyed me, broke me and severely pissed me off.
I never made him play the part of a fool, I never harassed him, I never shamed him in front of others, I never played a heartless prank on him, and I never demanded anything from him except respect.
For the trick that you poked me with, I shall get my revenge, but I will not punish you, a higher power, one that is much much greater than you and everyone else will give you a taste of your medicine. Not very sweet now is it? Is it? Is it? Is it? Is it? ( I slowly lie on the ground and SLEEP…. WAKE UP with confused expression to show that this was all a dream)
Yup, that was how it went. There were parts duringmy speech where I added in the applause which my imaginary audience gave me. This was to create a sense of a dream like nature, as the monologue is suppose to be his dream, where he is given a chance to explain to the world the reason that he acts the way he does, so that people will be able to understand him better and thus not hate him as much. That is why it is called "The Reason" In the beginnig of the speech.
I had an AWESOME time people, totally unforgetable and oh so educative! im PRO WORKSHOPS now! he he.. I would not trade it for anything in the world, though i might fail my profiling tests, i still think it was worth it..:D
And yes, I guess it is a good way of getting to know fellow TSDians from the other schools.. Socializing with the elite is good,. and fun.,. they are really nice you know.,., not all of them are snobs!!
So yeah.. tahts how my experience went..
Hope your happy with my rambling Miss Norzian.. Pass...:D:D
DAY TWO REFLECTION
REFLECTION
DAY 2.
So the day started out with a very simple exercise.
How the game is played- Tim moves his hands, pointing to the front, upwards, side wards or under armpits. We, have to follow his movement.
Objective- To prove how brainless this exercise is and to show us that if a pattern is repeated, the brain merely follows the same pattern with no thinking. When the pattern is suddenly changed, we sometimes tend to miss the change, our brain still hooked onto the previous pattern.
In a way, it is like the world and how things work. Our lives are in this certain pattern that our brain is so used to, tat it stops thinking sometimes. Art, on the other hand has to be out of this pattern, it needs creations that break the pattern, if one even exists.
One step further- He asked us to follow him 1 and then 2 steps behind his actions. This was tougher obviously, and required our brains to store in pictures of the previous actions. This was done just to prove that brain power was needed.
NEXT GAME-
Objective- We all sat in chairs that were spread out. One person was picked, and asked to stand at the edge of the group of chairs that was furthest from his/her original chair. The main aim of the game was for that person to get to the chair. To try and stop them, the other members sitting in the chairs had to rotate, and switch seats. The restriction on the person though was that they could only walk, moving their legs from knee downwards.
Aim- The exercises really demanded understand and co-operation from the group which honestly I think we lacked severely. Attributes like taking the initiative and using common sense were other things that were tested. The ‘Chosen One’ was also told not to finish the game off so fast. It was not a mater of winning or loosing, but a matter of enjoying the game.
We went on to more serious stuff. We had previously been asked to bring one object and an item of clothing that we though symbolized Malvolio. Ill try and include everything that I remember. Thara brought a scroll with a seal, which was meant to represent the letter that Malvolio found, stating Olivia’s love for him. Her item of clothing I think was a black shirt?
Well then it was my turn. I had printed out a picture of a peacock feather. I had done some research and found out that in many of the pictures of Malvolio, it showed him with feathers in this hat. Peacock feathers in particular added an emphasis on just how proud and self obsessed he was. My item of clothing was what I imagined to be a long black (dark coloured) velvet coat. Why? Long because I think it looked more official and dignified in those days (Elizabethan Era), black because it signified, importance, seriousness, dignity again, and the texture velvet because when thinking bout it, I felt kind of ‘Royal’. It was soft, seemed expensive and gave a higher status feel to those who wear it.
Carol brought a capsule that when submerged in hot water would open up and a sponge animal would start to form. I found that fascinating! WOW, such a toy actually existed, and what in the world was she doing with that set? Well anyways, what she was trying to say was that Malvolio kind of had two personalities. He was prim, proper, strict and very on task when he was around people. But, what about when he was alone? Did he break down and cry? Is he really confused about what he really is and to hide that vulnerability he puts on a façade of strength and stringent nature? In the play, we do see his vulnerable side sometimes, times when he dreams and imagines what his life could be and might be in the future.
Some one brought a watch, as it showed how systematic and on task he was. Perhaps, she said, He would check the time and according to it tally the work of the servants in the house to see if they are behind schedule, etc. This brings out the meticulous and perfectionist side of him.
A mirror was another item that was brought by Jonathan (I think). This showed Malvolio’s arrogant side. The part of him that always had to be dressed immaculately, every hair in its place. Once again, this could be seen as a cover that he creates, maybe he wants people to look at him this way to cover and hide the inner turmoil that he is going through. A tie was another object that could symbolized his need for outward presentation.
A tight fitting 2nd piece of a 3 piece suit was the next item. This was a sort of imitation of what Malvolio would have worn, since it made his posture to a more upright on, making him look proud, bigger than the rest, commanding respect.
An orange is used to signify the fact that he is a misunderstood person (one never says, I love oranges the way one can say I love apples). An orange can be both sweet and sour, or either. Likewise, we don’t know if Malvolio is to be hated because of his arrogance and pride or pitied because of his pathetic situation and the fact that he is being bullied. Similar to the pill- they both try to bring out the fact that the Malvolio that people see and the Malvolio he really is are two totally diff people.
Can’t remember the rest, or they were kind of similar in one way or that other or I’m just too lazy and tired to type.
After that, we had a writing exercise. We had already listed out some adjectives that described Malvolio like annoying, anal, irritating, arrogant, self obsessed, etc.
Using those expressions and adjectives, we were asked to come up with daily encounters and situations in Singapore that we think would cause Malvolio to react in anger and displeasure. We then penned them down into a letter to the higher authority in charge. Most of the letters, if not all were written in elaborate, formal yet angry and demanding style. It was always as if the writer thought that he was right and the other party was wrong. It did have a proud tone to it in a way.
To,
The Head of the Tourism Board,
Singapore.
Dear Sir/ Madam,
I recently visited your country on a holiday. I was told that your public transport was one of the best, most systematic and cleanest in the worlds. However, when I did take a rise on the MRT, I was shocked to see that there was a huge, disgusting, puddle of pink liquid right in the middle of the train, it was running and had been splashed all over the seats causing the passengers, especially me great inconvenience! How can one be so slacked on rules dealing with food and drinks on trains? I see your BIG RED signs saying “NO FOOD ALLOWED!”, and the fine that you threaten the public with. What’s more, you even write it in four languages! But yet, it gets you nowhere. I believe that you and your board are not strict enough. So what if the rule exists? What us the use if it is not implemented?! I hope that this will be a wake up call and that you and your staff well get off your ass and do something about the pathetic state of your transport system!
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the bus which I traveled on broke down! Right in the MIDDLE of the highway! I mean how does that even happen?! How utterly atrocious! Don’t the bus drivers do a routine check on those machines of theirs? Are your buses that old? How can one leave the passengers stranded in the middle of a highway! What’s more, no spare bus was sent to the rescue to transport the passengers to their destinations! All we were given was a ticket that we could use on the next bus. How in the world is that enough compensation for precious time wasted? Or is our time not precious enough for you?! I demand you to come up with a more efficient method of dealing with a situation. Because if the kind person that I am, I will suggest something’s to you, and I hope you do treasure these golden suggestions. You could have called a bus to rescue the passengers and make sure that they reached their destinations, the money for their trip should also be returned, and an apology for delay and loss of time should be issued to the people involved, or even to the general public if you think that it is too much work to take down names and addresses. I fell that bus drivers should be more prepared to deal with situations such as this. The bus driver was totally unprepared, and was sweating like crazy when dealing wit the situation. How can you explain that! He was more nervous and anxious than all the passengers put together! Cowardly fool!
My experience with the Singapore’s public transport was unpleasant, horrid and caused me great distress, annoyance, inconvenience and anger. I feel that you definitely do not deserve to be rated one of the cities with the best transport in the world, and I promise that if nothing is done about it, then my name is not Malvolio. I will take this up with your superiors and even the government. I am not afraid to voice out my opinions and contempt, so please do the necessary if you want to avoid getting into deeper trouble. Watching and Waiting.
- Malvolio.
After reading all our letters out aloud, we had to squeeze the letter into a sonnet, following the pattern ababcdcdefefgg. I had HELL I tell you!! I don’t like poetry, I’m not good at rhyming words and I don’t like poetry. So yeah, it was tough. After reading them out, BREAK!!!:D:D:D
After the break, we started on a more performance based exercises.
We were all asked to sit on chairs, in a straight line. One of us was asked to sit opposite, in the middle and just do NOTHING. The rest of us, the ‘audience’ were then asked to look at the ‘performer’ and try to figure out whether he was in the past or present, sad or happy, and answer the question where could he possibly be.
It was amazing that when the performer looked at different points, his expression changed. For example, when looking down, he looked sad and pensive, thinking about the future. Yet, when he looked up and sideways, he had a more inquisitive present look on his face. Looking straight up gave him a far off look with a more ‘stoned’ expression. All this time however, the performer did not DO anything. He just sat there and stared at the point.
What was the lesson learnt? You do not have to DO anything for the audiences’ attention. An actor does not have to be constantly in motion to be a good actor. A good actor is in fact someone who allows his audience to THINK and to really be involved with the play and top play an active role in trying to determine what is going on. For the audience, it gave them a certain power, the power to be able to derive and determine the meaning/message that the actor was trying to bring out. There is no right or wrong, there are just opinions.
Next, the performer was asked to look straight ahead at his audience. And the audience was asked to study what it felt like to be the audience. To me, being the audience felt very relaxed, and we had the freedom to do what we wanted and a sort of fascinating ability to try and translate the performers’ expression to words, emotion, action, situation, etc.
We were then asked to one by one pick up our chairs and bring them over to the other side to add to the performance, until there was only one from the audience which was left. That person would become the performer. We were asked to study the transition from being the audience, to being the performer. When I became the performer, I felt a little stressed out, one could really feel the eyes upon you, judging your every move. There was a lot more tension and a sort of queasy feeling. You were more aware of yourself and had to make sure that every single part of your body was positioned in the right way.
This exercise really told us about the misconception by some people, that actors have to move about and try not to keep silent, or else the audience will loose interest.
Next, we had a sort of competition, two volunteers were asked to step out and act, they were competing for the audience attention. The audience in the meanwhile was tasked to point to the actor that they were interested in.
The lesson that we learnt from this was that in order to keep the audiences attention, ones action need not be elaborate and eyes catching. Those actions die off and become boring. What the actor should do is to make the audience question what they are seeing. We have to make them want to know what is going to happen or ask why we are the way we are. We have to make them think, and do something that has a sort of mysterious sense to it as well. The action can be mysterious, unexpected, sudden, dark, or whatever, as long as it intrigues the audience.
The next work was more brainy. We were asked to voice out a list of things that we think Malvolio tries to do to other people when talking. Eg- manipulate, put down, move, baby sit, dominate, persuade, etc. We were then given one or two lines that Malvolio spoke during the play, and asked to create a new way of presenting/performing it using one of the characteristic that we had come up with and also an action to accompany it.
I got the lines “ I tell thee that I am as well as any man in Illyria” This phrase had initially been said in what I imagine as a pleading, moving tone since he is after all locked up and trying to prove his sanity. I chose to add a more proud, dismissive, determined and show off tone to it. I also repeated and stressed on more words. My end product- “ I tell thee, I, I Malvolio tell thee that I am as much in my senses than any man in Illyria (palm to audience), any man (finger pointing), any man (dismissive wave of hand)!!” The others were really fascinating as well. Mr Choy’s action was using a mirror, with Malvoli practicing his lines while shaving and putting on lipstick. Others were done in a recording format, with a video camera as if it was a digital library/ journal. Yet another’s action was done on a voodoo doll, with an evil tone to it. Someone even turned a harsh insulting piece into a seductive scene, where the character was writing it on a letter while lying on the floor.
After a break, we watched “I peasblossom”.
It was another play that he had created. It’s from the Shakespearen play Midnight Summers Dream, and is told from the perspective of the fairy Peasblossom. The pklay was divided into scenes, and the end and beginning of each scene was signified by Tim PB (Peasblossom falling asleep on the table on stage. The story was told in the form of PB’s dream, each scene was a change in his dream. The audience for this play were kids , and as such, simple language and actions that were entertaining had to be used. The language was a little ‘Chim’, to put it in Singlish, as Tim likes to keep the language used in his plays that way. In order to retain his audiences attention, Tim used Bertolt’s method of stepping out of the play as the narrator, instead of PB. This was done on occasions where he involved the audience in his play. He handed out name cards with characters from the play written on them, and told the person in the audience holding it a little about the character, like their characteristics, etc. He then used them to represent those characters throughout the play. Sometimes, he even asked them to read of cards that he had in his pocket. This allowed the audience to get involved, and laugh along as well.
He even had a little intermission during the show, where he called upon volunteers to help him show off his ‘magic skills’. (I’m sure were all old enough to know that they aren’t really all that magical).
So yeah, I though it was way way way more interesting than ‘I B…” which we had watched the previous day. I stayed awake through this one!:O..:D
DAY 2.
So the day started out with a very simple exercise.
How the game is played- Tim moves his hands, pointing to the front, upwards, side wards or under armpits. We, have to follow his movement.
Objective- To prove how brainless this exercise is and to show us that if a pattern is repeated, the brain merely follows the same pattern with no thinking. When the pattern is suddenly changed, we sometimes tend to miss the change, our brain still hooked onto the previous pattern.
In a way, it is like the world and how things work. Our lives are in this certain pattern that our brain is so used to, tat it stops thinking sometimes. Art, on the other hand has to be out of this pattern, it needs creations that break the pattern, if one even exists.
One step further- He asked us to follow him 1 and then 2 steps behind his actions. This was tougher obviously, and required our brains to store in pictures of the previous actions. This was done just to prove that brain power was needed.
NEXT GAME-
Objective- We all sat in chairs that were spread out. One person was picked, and asked to stand at the edge of the group of chairs that was furthest from his/her original chair. The main aim of the game was for that person to get to the chair. To try and stop them, the other members sitting in the chairs had to rotate, and switch seats. The restriction on the person though was that they could only walk, moving their legs from knee downwards.
Aim- The exercises really demanded understand and co-operation from the group which honestly I think we lacked severely. Attributes like taking the initiative and using common sense were other things that were tested. The ‘Chosen One’ was also told not to finish the game off so fast. It was not a mater of winning or loosing, but a matter of enjoying the game.
We went on to more serious stuff. We had previously been asked to bring one object and an item of clothing that we though symbolized Malvolio. Ill try and include everything that I remember. Thara brought a scroll with a seal, which was meant to represent the letter that Malvolio found, stating Olivia’s love for him. Her item of clothing I think was a black shirt?
Well then it was my turn. I had printed out a picture of a peacock feather. I had done some research and found out that in many of the pictures of Malvolio, it showed him with feathers in this hat. Peacock feathers in particular added an emphasis on just how proud and self obsessed he was. My item of clothing was what I imagined to be a long black (dark coloured) velvet coat. Why? Long because I think it looked more official and dignified in those days (Elizabethan Era), black because it signified, importance, seriousness, dignity again, and the texture velvet because when thinking bout it, I felt kind of ‘Royal’. It was soft, seemed expensive and gave a higher status feel to those who wear it.
Carol brought a capsule that when submerged in hot water would open up and a sponge animal would start to form. I found that fascinating! WOW, such a toy actually existed, and what in the world was she doing with that set? Well anyways, what she was trying to say was that Malvolio kind of had two personalities. He was prim, proper, strict and very on task when he was around people. But, what about when he was alone? Did he break down and cry? Is he really confused about what he really is and to hide that vulnerability he puts on a façade of strength and stringent nature? In the play, we do see his vulnerable side sometimes, times when he dreams and imagines what his life could be and might be in the future.
Some one brought a watch, as it showed how systematic and on task he was. Perhaps, she said, He would check the time and according to it tally the work of the servants in the house to see if they are behind schedule, etc. This brings out the meticulous and perfectionist side of him.
A mirror was another item that was brought by Jonathan (I think). This showed Malvolio’s arrogant side. The part of him that always had to be dressed immaculately, every hair in its place. Once again, this could be seen as a cover that he creates, maybe he wants people to look at him this way to cover and hide the inner turmoil that he is going through. A tie was another object that could symbolized his need for outward presentation.
A tight fitting 2nd piece of a 3 piece suit was the next item. This was a sort of imitation of what Malvolio would have worn, since it made his posture to a more upright on, making him look proud, bigger than the rest, commanding respect.
An orange is used to signify the fact that he is a misunderstood person (one never says, I love oranges the way one can say I love apples). An orange can be both sweet and sour, or either. Likewise, we don’t know if Malvolio is to be hated because of his arrogance and pride or pitied because of his pathetic situation and the fact that he is being bullied. Similar to the pill- they both try to bring out the fact that the Malvolio that people see and the Malvolio he really is are two totally diff people.
Can’t remember the rest, or they were kind of similar in one way or that other or I’m just too lazy and tired to type.
After that, we had a writing exercise. We had already listed out some adjectives that described Malvolio like annoying, anal, irritating, arrogant, self obsessed, etc.
Using those expressions and adjectives, we were asked to come up with daily encounters and situations in Singapore that we think would cause Malvolio to react in anger and displeasure. We then penned them down into a letter to the higher authority in charge. Most of the letters, if not all were written in elaborate, formal yet angry and demanding style. It was always as if the writer thought that he was right and the other party was wrong. It did have a proud tone to it in a way.
To,
The Head of the Tourism Board,
Singapore.
Dear Sir/ Madam,
I recently visited your country on a holiday. I was told that your public transport was one of the best, most systematic and cleanest in the worlds. However, when I did take a rise on the MRT, I was shocked to see that there was a huge, disgusting, puddle of pink liquid right in the middle of the train, it was running and had been splashed all over the seats causing the passengers, especially me great inconvenience! How can one be so slacked on rules dealing with food and drinks on trains? I see your BIG RED signs saying “NO FOOD ALLOWED!”, and the fine that you threaten the public with. What’s more, you even write it in four languages! But yet, it gets you nowhere. I believe that you and your board are not strict enough. So what if the rule exists? What us the use if it is not implemented?! I hope that this will be a wake up call and that you and your staff well get off your ass and do something about the pathetic state of your transport system!
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the bus which I traveled on broke down! Right in the MIDDLE of the highway! I mean how does that even happen?! How utterly atrocious! Don’t the bus drivers do a routine check on those machines of theirs? Are your buses that old? How can one leave the passengers stranded in the middle of a highway! What’s more, no spare bus was sent to the rescue to transport the passengers to their destinations! All we were given was a ticket that we could use on the next bus. How in the world is that enough compensation for precious time wasted? Or is our time not precious enough for you?! I demand you to come up with a more efficient method of dealing with a situation. Because if the kind person that I am, I will suggest something’s to you, and I hope you do treasure these golden suggestions. You could have called a bus to rescue the passengers and make sure that they reached their destinations, the money for their trip should also be returned, and an apology for delay and loss of time should be issued to the people involved, or even to the general public if you think that it is too much work to take down names and addresses. I fell that bus drivers should be more prepared to deal with situations such as this. The bus driver was totally unprepared, and was sweating like crazy when dealing wit the situation. How can you explain that! He was more nervous and anxious than all the passengers put together! Cowardly fool!
My experience with the Singapore’s public transport was unpleasant, horrid and caused me great distress, annoyance, inconvenience and anger. I feel that you definitely do not deserve to be rated one of the cities with the best transport in the world, and I promise that if nothing is done about it, then my name is not Malvolio. I will take this up with your superiors and even the government. I am not afraid to voice out my opinions and contempt, so please do the necessary if you want to avoid getting into deeper trouble. Watching and Waiting.
- Malvolio.
After reading all our letters out aloud, we had to squeeze the letter into a sonnet, following the pattern ababcdcdefefgg. I had HELL I tell you!! I don’t like poetry, I’m not good at rhyming words and I don’t like poetry. So yeah, it was tough. After reading them out, BREAK!!!:D:D:D
After the break, we started on a more performance based exercises.
We were all asked to sit on chairs, in a straight line. One of us was asked to sit opposite, in the middle and just do NOTHING. The rest of us, the ‘audience’ were then asked to look at the ‘performer’ and try to figure out whether he was in the past or present, sad or happy, and answer the question where could he possibly be.
It was amazing that when the performer looked at different points, his expression changed. For example, when looking down, he looked sad and pensive, thinking about the future. Yet, when he looked up and sideways, he had a more inquisitive present look on his face. Looking straight up gave him a far off look with a more ‘stoned’ expression. All this time however, the performer did not DO anything. He just sat there and stared at the point.
What was the lesson learnt? You do not have to DO anything for the audiences’ attention. An actor does not have to be constantly in motion to be a good actor. A good actor is in fact someone who allows his audience to THINK and to really be involved with the play and top play an active role in trying to determine what is going on. For the audience, it gave them a certain power, the power to be able to derive and determine the meaning/message that the actor was trying to bring out. There is no right or wrong, there are just opinions.
Next, the performer was asked to look straight ahead at his audience. And the audience was asked to study what it felt like to be the audience. To me, being the audience felt very relaxed, and we had the freedom to do what we wanted and a sort of fascinating ability to try and translate the performers’ expression to words, emotion, action, situation, etc.
We were then asked to one by one pick up our chairs and bring them over to the other side to add to the performance, until there was only one from the audience which was left. That person would become the performer. We were asked to study the transition from being the audience, to being the performer. When I became the performer, I felt a little stressed out, one could really feel the eyes upon you, judging your every move. There was a lot more tension and a sort of queasy feeling. You were more aware of yourself and had to make sure that every single part of your body was positioned in the right way.
This exercise really told us about the misconception by some people, that actors have to move about and try not to keep silent, or else the audience will loose interest.
Next, we had a sort of competition, two volunteers were asked to step out and act, they were competing for the audience attention. The audience in the meanwhile was tasked to point to the actor that they were interested in.
The lesson that we learnt from this was that in order to keep the audiences attention, ones action need not be elaborate and eyes catching. Those actions die off and become boring. What the actor should do is to make the audience question what they are seeing. We have to make them want to know what is going to happen or ask why we are the way we are. We have to make them think, and do something that has a sort of mysterious sense to it as well. The action can be mysterious, unexpected, sudden, dark, or whatever, as long as it intrigues the audience.
The next work was more brainy. We were asked to voice out a list of things that we think Malvolio tries to do to other people when talking. Eg- manipulate, put down, move, baby sit, dominate, persuade, etc. We were then given one or two lines that Malvolio spoke during the play, and asked to create a new way of presenting/performing it using one of the characteristic that we had come up with and also an action to accompany it.
I got the lines “ I tell thee that I am as well as any man in Illyria” This phrase had initially been said in what I imagine as a pleading, moving tone since he is after all locked up and trying to prove his sanity. I chose to add a more proud, dismissive, determined and show off tone to it. I also repeated and stressed on more words. My end product- “ I tell thee, I, I Malvolio tell thee that I am as much in my senses than any man in Illyria (palm to audience), any man (finger pointing), any man (dismissive wave of hand)!!” The others were really fascinating as well. Mr Choy’s action was using a mirror, with Malvoli practicing his lines while shaving and putting on lipstick. Others were done in a recording format, with a video camera as if it was a digital library/ journal. Yet another’s action was done on a voodoo doll, with an evil tone to it. Someone even turned a harsh insulting piece into a seductive scene, where the character was writing it on a letter while lying on the floor.
After a break, we watched “I peasblossom”.
It was another play that he had created. It’s from the Shakespearen play Midnight Summers Dream, and is told from the perspective of the fairy Peasblossom. The pklay was divided into scenes, and the end and beginning of each scene was signified by Tim PB (Peasblossom falling asleep on the table on stage. The story was told in the form of PB’s dream, each scene was a change in his dream. The audience for this play were kids , and as such, simple language and actions that were entertaining had to be used. The language was a little ‘Chim’, to put it in Singlish, as Tim likes to keep the language used in his plays that way. In order to retain his audiences attention, Tim used Bertolt’s method of stepping out of the play as the narrator, instead of PB. This was done on occasions where he involved the audience in his play. He handed out name cards with characters from the play written on them, and told the person in the audience holding it a little about the character, like their characteristics, etc. He then used them to represent those characters throughout the play. Sometimes, he even asked them to read of cards that he had in his pocket. This allowed the audience to get involved, and laugh along as well.
He even had a little intermission during the show, where he called upon volunteers to help him show off his ‘magic skills’. (I’m sure were all old enough to know that they aren’t really all that magical).
So yeah, I though it was way way way more interesting than ‘I B…” which we had watched the previous day. I stayed awake through this one!:O..:D
I Malvolio Workshop by Tim Crouch
Hey people,
This is a reflection of the w9orshop that i attended during the holidays..
It includes stuff that we did, their objectives and what i personally though of them as. I have also included stuff that we were told to fdo druiing the workshop, like write stuff.. Have included the purpose for writing them as well..
It's really long so please bear with it...
Here is a bit of stuff that i found out about him before the workshop, and some other random facts....
This is a reflection of the w9orshop that i attended during the holidays..
It includes stuff that we did, their objectives and what i personally though of them as. I have also included stuff that we were told to fdo druiing the workshop, like write stuff.. Have included the purpose for writing them as well..
It's really long so please bear with it...
Here is a bit of stuff that i found out about him before the workshop, and some other random facts....
- Tim Crouch
-British actor.
- Works for the national theatre of Britain.
- He is an actor and playwright.
- His play “The Oak Tree” is about the topic of grief of the loss of a loved one (daughter) by embracing sentiment but avoiding sentimentality. The girl’s father is played by different person from the audience every day. (Jerzy Grotowski)
- He comes up with the ideas to his plays first before weaving them into a story and play.
- “When I teach I talk about the subject of theater being what happens in the audience; and the object of theater being what happens on the stage. This is a guiding principle for my work.”
- I like the human imperfection -- the tensions, the blocks, the trapped voice, the wonky features. In An Oak Tree I try to create a place where those imperfections can be acknowledged and celebrated.
The stuff I write in black is what I write after watching a bit of the show “Oak tree” and “The arm”
- Obviously, most, if not all of his plays are monologues.
- He focuses in plays that have a theme and then he builds a story on that.
- He seems to do more story telling than an actually play.
- He doesn’t have explosive, expensive, bright props. Instead, he has very simple ones, if any.
- Sometimes, like in “My Arm” he introduces the people that affected his character with mere pictures.
- He enjoys and usually describes a situation, objects, motions, life to the audience instead of showing them.
- He always involves the audience in all his plays. He MAKES them imagine and thus contribute to the play in their own way.
- He tries sometimes to fit in jokes here and there to entertain the audience.
- When he talks, he talks like he is describing his life, telling the audience of what happened to him. He makes it feel real by telling us about little details, what people in is life said and did and introduces us to people who were in his character’s life.
- His aim is to communicate with the audience that is what he thinks theatre is all about.
- He tries to incorporate the problems of society and connect it to the play he does. Example- In Malvolio, right now he is trying to incorporate Singaporeans problems and what the youth in particular think of Malvolio and how they connect to Malvolio.
DAY ONE WORKSHOP
REFLECTION
Well, the day started off on a good note. We were the first college to be there. All the rest came annoyingly late. We started off with a simple introduction by the British Council and then by Tim. He told us a little bit about himself, how he came to be a prominent actor and play write. He also introduced us to his style of theatre and why he uses it and how he makes it work, also, he elaborated a bit on his expectations and reasons for conducting the workshop.
Our first exercise was about teaching us ‘not to be correct and the lack of the need to be perfect’. We sat in pair opposite each other and were given two pieces of paper. On the first one, we were given 30 seconds to draw our partners face. BUT, we could not, never ever ever look at the piece of part through the whole process. Mine was just so retarded; it was uneven, totally out of place and proportion. After than horrifying experience (for my partner), we were given 5 seconds to draw the same person’s face :O.
I was like ‘WHAT!!! As if 30 sec wasn’t short enough, plus the added torture (well it was actually good) of not looking at your drawing. He allowed us to do what ever we liked. We could focus on one part of the persons face, or do the whole face, and a girl even drew smiley faces with expressions that her partner could possibly have. Surprisingly though, the 2nd one was better than the 1st one. Why was this I asked myself? The answer was pretty clear, the less you think about it, the better it gets in a way. You don’t have to ponder about the details of what you are doing.
The next thing we did was to go through the play ‘Twelfth Knight” by Shakespeare which is the play we are focusing on. The character we were trying to study is called Malvolio. He asked us to get an object from our belongings, it could be anything at all, a pen, marker, glue stick, keys, umbrella, panadol tablets, you get the picture. We took and object and gave it a characters name and placed in on our ‘island of Illysia’ (which is where the play is set). Then, using these projects to represent the characters, we went through the WHOLE play. Yes, it did get a tad bit draggy and my leg hurt like hell. But it was fun never the less given than he was a very animated reader.
We had a lunch break after that. We all marched to J8 and ate, obviously, we were late for the next session. How in the world can students ever be on time!:O that would just be a crime. So yeah, after that we all sat around a table and picked a character from the play.
Example-
Sir Toby
T
Telephone booth (Write name of place starting with T)
Tearful (Emotion starting with T)
Tie (Item of clothing starting with T)
(Then, using all these words we had to come up with a monologue. The restriction, we had to add in these words AND all the words used HAD to start with the letter T)
So this is how mine went.. It was crappy really…
TOBY
Telephone booth (place…)
Tearful (Expression…)
Tie (Wearing a…)
Toby torn, tattered, thrown, trampled! Thinking that Task! That tormenting task! Toby tearing, Toby tearful, Toby trembling! Trembling… trembling… trembling. To tell them their trophy trampled! Terrible… terrible... terrible… This to torment them? Too treacherous...Terrible! Toby torment? Too terrible…Too terrible! This tragic transformation, tie tied to tie torn. This threatening to take Toby to the transformer! Transformer terrible! Terrible transformer! Toby terrified! Trying towards transformed tomorrow. Trying trying trying. Trying to think. Toby think…think…think… Try… think… Too tiring… Toby Tired, Toby tearful…
Everyone presented/ performed their pieces. And some of theirs were really really awesome; we had the whole FABULOUS language thing going on. What he wanted to teach us from that exercise was the fact that even with restrictions, in fact with restricts, a writer is able to write with more ease. Given a wide scope to choose from, a write would be very confused by all his choices. When given instructions and boundaries, it is easier and a faster process and it also shows us just how creative the person is. He gave us the example of Shakespeare’s play, like the 14 line sonnet that he used for ‘Romeo and Juliet’. He also imposes such restrictions on himself, which makes it easier for him to write his plays.
The last ‘exercise’ of the day was to watch a movie of the play ‘ I B…’ ( I forgot what its called!) which he wrote and acted in. It was a version of Mc Beth that he composed for young people aged 12 and above. I was really tired so am guilty of having lost the battle against my eyes occasionally. BUT, I did manage to get the main jest of the play and what he was trying to bring out. The play was basically written from the perspective of the smaller characters from Mc Beth. In fact, B is the Mc Beth (main Characters) best friend. This is the story portrayed from his point of view.
One may think ‘Wah! Monologue! So boring!’ Well, no, not really. His monologues (all his plays) include the audience. No, the audience is not asked to come up on stage and do an impromptu act, but they are involved in the play. In this one for example, Tim describes to the audience what they are in the play. He asks them to play Mc Beth by describing to them the character they are playing in detail and how the character feels. In this way, the audience does not need to have any previous knowledge of the play yet have fun with it.
Since the target audience for this play was young people above the age of 12, it had to be able to capture and hold their attention for 45 minutes! One of the ways he did this was to add in a very visual side of the play. Because the play has a lot of blood mentioned, with a lot of gory scenes involved, he brought on stage a sort of cauldron with a liquid that looked like blood. During the play, he splattered the blood on the white sheet of paper behind him. This created a very visual aspect for the audience. Also, while describing his own death and how he was cut up into pieces, he beats himself up with a blood stained hand.
Another thing I realized was that music was a very important part of Tim’s performances. In “I B….” his son played the electric guitar during the performance. At some points, it was meant to add on and build the atmosphere of intensity, hatred and anger of the character. At other times, it signified the change of scene.
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