PMD1/2 A Quest for Atmosphere: Responding to Gothic Architecture

This session was about looking at setting in Gothic Literature, to aid our understanding for when we finally looked at deciphering the Mask of the Red Death. We were shown an image of an example of Gothic architecture and were asked to pick from a selection two adjectives to describe it, and then add two of our own choosing. 

Accommodating

Strong

Melancholy

Imperial

From these words, we got into groups and were tasked with creating a still image for each.
Overall these still images would have much more potential for exploration, were there more performers available to contribute to the scene.

Following this, we linked three of the still images, to create a space of which our teacher could walk through (as depicted in the video below). Overall I do not think this is a successful response, for the transitions are messy, and the scene lacks creativity. I would not use this method of interacting with the audience, as I feel there are more effective means of portraying mood and meaning

PMD1/2 Responding to Stimuli- "Contagion"

The above clip was generated from the word "contagion", taken from the Mask of the Red Death. Here we took on elements of Beckett's work to create dialogue similar to that of his soliloquys, whilst also attempting to mirror the idea of captioned photographs on social media.  Emotional recall was utilised to create still images relating to different stages in life, for Bella and Courtney had to consider their own experiences growing up. 

The photograph below depicts all of our initial ideas, however ultimately we elected to hone in on the concept of obsessive love, and how that can be channelled and influenced by social media. This was portrayed by the use of phones as props and the anaphora of hashtagging words in Iyla's dialogue.

PMD1/2 Exploring Stimuli: Masquerade

The definition of masquerade is a "false show or pretence" or "to pretend to be someone one is not". Using this idea we could explore the idea of façade and identity, potentially commenting on societal expectations and pressures present in even today's society. With regards to how we could shape such a concept into a performance, we considered using Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" and Mikhail Lermontov's 1835 play "Masquerade" to form the basis of our storyline. For an ensemble such as ourselves, this could prove to be a good starting point for it presents opportunities for both areas of speciality to be incorporated; dance and drama. Given conventional ideas assigned to the concept of a masquerade ball provide opportunities for choreography, whether it be as a stand alone piece or setting the scene for monologues and dialogues. The two stories we have selected to consider within this stimulus are abundantly loaded with metaphors and devices which could be used to create physical theatre movement that will appeal to both specialities.  Were we to go down the route of using the story of the Masque of the Red Death, it is likely our performance may take a rondo structure or one of theme and variation, given the idea of the colours in the rooms and a different story perhaps in each. 

Above: Information about both stories from our initial research into them.

Following gaining a general understanding of both stories, I then took a copy of The Mask of the Red Death and annotated it myself with performance possibilities relating to the story. These ideas are mostly based on the ideas presented in the text, however further exploration at a later date could involve looking at more divergent ideas for performances based on select words, phrases and themes.
We have decided to incorporate this story in our work.

PMD1 Exploring Stimuli: Space

In today's session we considered how we could aim to respond more creatively to a stimulus, considering how we could hone in on specific words to develop more divergent ideas by taking things out of their original context, and coming up with more raw ideas before developing those we have thus far. (See full list above)

Following on from this we considered how stimuli could be drawn from setting and space rather than images and words. To first explore this, we were only provided with the name of our school to work with, and we had to develop it from there. The second time, we were taken to a specific area of the school, where we could explore in more detail what stimuli we could draw from the room, as shown below. 

PMD1 Exploring Stimuli: Lyrics

"March on"

 - persistence

"A world so hateful"

- perhaps link to social media/ expectations and conventions,

-unable to achieve aspirations and desires due to negativity from surrounding people

-Stanislavky: use naturalism, emotional recall to embody emotions from personal experiences in such/identify with feeling of being oppressed

-Use tempo rhythm to show the juxtaposition between reactions and feelings

"Veil over our eyes"

-grieving

-"veil" could be a facade

-Beckett inspired monologue/soliloquy to show duality of man and the secrets a person holds

Being a written stimulus, Beckett would be a good practicioner to take influences from, as his performances are renowned for their fragmented yet wordy dialogues. We could use methods such as blackout poetry to create a similar style script with select words and phrases from the stimulus above. 

The suggested age range would be the same as previous, given the maturity and dimensions of the ideas presented in the performance. We did not feel this was the best stimulus we could use to create performance as once again our ideas were still rather broad, and would require extensive planning, time and resources we may not have access to in the given time and circumstances.

PMD1 Exploring Stimuli: Images

Using old western films and novellas as the general theme, such as Of Mice and Men, performance could take a cyclical structure to present the notion of all outcomes resulting the same way, or the mistakes of the past trapping a person and restricting the rest of their lives. Could link to Beckett's existential views of a meaningless life.

Scorpions on a skewer
The hands could represent a creature and the wires representing the skewer, perhaps consider the debate surrounding humans eating other animals/survival/food chains. Link to Artaud by using awkward, unconventionl movement in a dark setting in order to unnerve the audience.

Being trapped

Holding onto something that is damaging/painful, such as an unhealthy relationship. This could consider the idea of one trying to move on but not being able to, using Beckett or Stanislavsky's techniques; Stanislavsky showing the rational reasons behind trying to leave, Beckett portraying the confliction of not wanting to leave. 

The wires could represent a ladder, the hands belonging to one trying to climb the ladder in order to achieve higher status and better their lives, could link to the Of Mice and Men ideas, or alternatively the chain of being from Victorian ideals and the notion that one was simply born into their status and that could not be altered. This could coincide with ideas presented by Beckett and existentialism once more. 

The target audience age could be from age 15 upwards, as these ideas are touched upon in the GCSE syllabus for literature and therefore suggests those of such an age would be able to identify such concepts, whilst also present an educational benefit for such viewers. 

Patterns on the butterflies wings: Resemble that of a pathway, could allude to a purpose or alternate journeys through life. This could be linked to Beckett's existentialist views of an absence of a meaning to life. The shadow could represent this lack of purpose. Conversely, patterns could be a presentation of the presence of meaning, thereby demonstrating both views to the audience, could potentially be presented through split screening?

Alternatively, the shadow could be a metaphor for a hidden identity, presenting a Jekyll and Hyde notion. This could link to the first idea in that if people are forced to put on a facade then they are unable to embrace their true, natural desires, and therefore removes the meaning of life. It could also present us with the option of considering juxtaposing ideas such as: 

angel and devil

good and bad

mind and heart

Another possibility would be to use the stimulus to create a performance surrounding human life and the nature vs nurture debate. One is born almost a blank slate, uninfluenced by life, and the markings upon a butterfly could be the imprints life leaves on us all, shaping us into the people we are. 

For these ideas, Beckett and Stanislavky's techniques would  be most apt to influence our style of working, for they follow a similar ideology to that of Beckett and create a more relatable experience for the audience in the same way as Stanislavksy. 

We would not want to cap the maximum range for which our performance could be viewed by, in the same way as a film would not have a maximum age restriction, however we would perhaps suggest a performance of such content be most appropriate for those above 17, simply due to the arguable complexity of such a topic. Viewers of such an age would also receive such a notion far more maturely and be able to identify the moral or ideas we wish to portray. 

As a company we concluded such a performance is not appropriate in terms of production of resources such as props and set design, for it would require much more experience, budget and more extensive facilities, and it also leaves too much ambiguity in terms of storyline, and is difficult to hone in on one specific idea from it. 

PMD1 Exploring Stimuli: Tunnel Image

We used an image of a tunnel, in which there was rhubble and debry among the water on the floor, as a stimulus. From this, we drew upon the ideas of;

Being tunnel visioned, acting upon one limited point of view or as though we can only see what's directly infront of us. 

Being limited in choices, trapped, or enclosed, having to follow a set path, unable to divert from it or escape. 

Using instrumentation and body percussion in order to create the sounds in the tunnel, or illustrate the madness that one inside the tunnel may be driven to experience over time. 

I would suggest using influences of Artaud's work in this type of performance, particularly for the last idea, whereby one could induce the audience to begin to feel wary of their surroundings, just as Artaud sought to make his audiences feel uncomfortable. The idea of being trapped could result in contorted and uncomfortable movement, or be portrayed by performers only working in a certain amount of space, and acting as though  they are interacting with barriers that in reality do not exist. 

A performance such as this could be relevant for secondary school students, as it is not so heavy as though they would find difficulty in understanding it, but we could also insert links to circumstances they may be more familiar with, in terms of pressure to take certain pathways at school or bullying ect. 

I do not think we should take this stimulus to create our final performance from, for whilst it does provide oppotunity to create some interesting material it does not allow for enough to stretch over the course of 30 minutes, and also, it would only really limit us to one character, providing difficulty in how to cast the rest of the company. 

PMD1 Researching Theatre Companies: Forced Entertainment

PMD1 Researching Theatre Companies: Red Ladder Theatre

PMD1 Researching Theatre Companies: Knee High

PMD1 Researching Theatre Companies: DV8

PMD1 Researching Theatre Companies: Complicite

PMD1 Exploring Practicioners: Beckett

PMD1 Exploring Practicioners: Artaud

PMD1 Exploring Practicioners: Stanislavsky

When exploring the idea of emotional recall, we were instructed to find our own space in the room, stand still and go through a memory that triggers a particular emotion such as happiness, fear, sadness etc for two minutes, whilst ignoring all else in our surroundings. 
Following this we were asked to walk around, still ignoring everyone and just relieve the memory playing in our minds, whilst taking note of how our bodies held themselves upon feeling this emotion, and how we felt. Throughout this activity, music was played, encouraging the emotions we were asked to recall. 

Walk around the space as (if) walking through fog.
Walk around the space as (if) walking through mud.
Walk around the space as (if) walking on ice.
Walk around the space as (if) walking with a sprained ankle.

In another task, we set out a line of chairs of which we stood infront of. All of us had the same action of sitting down and crossing one leg over the other. Each person was assigned a number 1-10, which would determine how long one had to execute the action. With this timing in mind, students had to execute the action in such a way that would make sense for the action to be performed so fast/slowly, the internal reason. E.g- slow rhythm= fast tempo panicking inside after horrific news, could be fast.

The next activity was one where we explored the notion of Magic If, a range of scenarios to help develop a better understanding of how your character would behave. We were instructed to;

Walk around the space as (if) walking through water.

Then we were each given a scenario, for example, and were asked to shake hands with each other. The person they shake hands with: is their ex, has a gun, is their boss, is a long lost friend, is someone you fancy, someone famous, smells bad, is upset. Only the individual knew their scenario, and so had to portray it well enough to be guessed by their peers. 

In another session, we paired up and studied an extract from "Room". We had to research the Northern idiolect and practice the scene using it in order to perform it as realistically as we could. My researching and practising process included listening to videos of the accent, annotating the way phonetics of each word in the accent and using it when alone to get used to it. 

PMD1 Exploring Practicioners: Brecht

PMD1 Initial Ideas

Here are our very initial ideas regarding what our performance could potentially be about. This mind map was created during a discussion between the company before we looked into the brief in more depth, as though not to be influenced by anything other than the discussion.