Wednesday, 4 September 2013

PHASE #3. from a jellyfish to a tragic character

Today’s lesson was so much fun! We spent a large part of the three hours going back and forth between being a complete wobbly jellyfish to ridiculous caricatures of Hamlet. Sounds made up? I assure you it’s not.

It’s all about expression of the different levels of tension.

Level #1: jellyfish – where there is nary an ounce of strength in your body. We wobbled about the rehearsal space like invertebrates and fell apart all over the floor.


Flea fly jellyfish!
Wish I was this cute when I wobbled everywhere!

Level #2: Californian – ever watched a drunken American swagger and stumble over the pavement? Yup, that’s us, practising a more human, but still completely paralyzing level of tension.

Level #3: normal human being – how we walk every day. Kind of like a leisurely stroll, or walking without much purpose or destination.

Level #4: stealthy – James Bond with less swag. Maybe a lesser criminal, or an assassin making his way to his target. Significant tension, but suppressed to make room for tiptoeing around.


Not sure how you're supposed to be stealthy with that huge ring.

Level #5: alert – James Bond or Bourne on a mission. Tense enough due to a constant lookout for potential targets or enemies with a gun. We had fun pretending to be in a movie.

Level #6: comedic – what a BEAUTIFUL day! I want to sing a song about the beautiful green grass! Everything was in exclamation marks as we pranced about the space dancing. You might argue that a comedic or happy character requires less tension, but this is not true, as actions must always be pronounced and seemingly lax gestures are in fact laced with direction and force for the stage.

Level #7: tragic ­– Hamlet. Slow, purposeful? dramatic? steps, marked with pronounced grief and unspeakable regret. Many thuds were heard as we fell to our knees.


'Give me your best tragic Hamlet impression.'


Why is tension so crucial to theatre, you ask? Well, we learnt that tension, not conflict, is what’s central to drama. And tension, unlike conflict, requires nothing more than body language to be expressed. A simple push and pull between characters could speak volumes without explicit explanation of back stories, which could get unnecessarily complicated and possibly even boring.

Of course, apart from our own bodies, the room itself imposes a meaning on us and takes on different values every time we change the setting; space is always loaded with meaning and allows us to make do with imagination and creative absence to make up for any possible lack of logistics. Sometimes, we choose to use space instead of actual equipment to evoke a certain sense of theatricality.

What a big takeaway from a simple, fun exercise.

No comments:

Post a Comment