We have decided to use an extract of metamorphosis for our
final piece, as we believe that it will best suit the capabilities of the
group. We feel that Metamorphosis will better allow us to push our strengths in
the physicality, whilst working on bringing vocalisation and character into the
piece without being overly dictated by the emotive language used for example in
East.
The first thing we decided to do was to pick out key scenes/
images from the extract. We thought that with physical theatre it was best to
first play with different ideas so that we could create a bank of them when
trying to fit ideas to the script. These were:
Setting the table
Ballet of the stools
The insect
We chose to explore the way we could incorporate the insect Gregor into the families daily life. We began to experiment with ways we could move the table with the insect. We wanted to present this idea that Gregor was attached to family, and that no matter how much they wanted to, they could shake him. He was a part of their lives and a great obstacle in trying to live their daily lives.
We found that we could actually be quite versatile with the table, considering the size and weight of the object and that it didn't actually require much of the person attached to the table to hold onto it while others moved it. This experimentation proved that play at the beginning of the devising process can be a very useful thing. Creating movement sequences and images at the beginning prevents the later stress from impacting on our creativity and I found that we were able to come up with movement much quicker and more easily as we already understood the capabilities and limitations of the set we were using. We found that it was possible to flip and spin the table with ease, which led to Gregor's daily life sequence being heavily centred around the table as the train and bed. The transition that we placed in after the warehouse scene was possible as we knew that an actor could attach themselves to the table and that it was possible to carry that weight. The Insect We also experimented in the ways in which we could create the insect as a group. Exploring the use of sequenced movement we created a piece of physicality which showed the evolution of Gregor into the bug. We began with just one person beginning their sequence and then adding in person by person until we were all doing the sequence. The idea was that we would slowly merge together to create one large insect. We drew on our experience of Frantic Assembly for creating the bug, by each choosing three points on the central actors body to move between. The idea was to replicate the skittering movements of the bugs legs on the insects body. We found ways of moving around each other to reach the points in a way that created this sense of the writhing insect. Finally we introduced the movement of jerking our arms out into the air at random times in order to imitate the insects legs. I found this useful when later being cast as the insect, as the image of the larger insect give me ideas of the way in which I should move. In the piece I wanted to create the sense of these angular but also erratic movements, turning out my elbows and walking hands over each other to get this idea of the wriggling insect.
Using the mundane scene from last lesson, we decided to expand this by introducing the contrasting setting of night time. We experimented doing this using a split stage, looking at the character running in-between these two different worlds. We created a nightlife scene within a tiny area, and this emphasised a sense of a crowded bar without the need for loads of people on stage. The two actors made a physical sequence which explored the different areas of the bar that you would use on a night out. The fast pace and close movement emphasised the heightened atmosphere of a night out and formed a really nice contrast with the repetition of the mundane scene. By creating this split staging, we began to think about this journey the main character made from one side of the stage to the other and this introduced the idea of this in-between place. We decided that rather than being a physical space, we wanted to link the two extremely contrasting worlds by this area where we could...
Today we formulated a list of specific scenes that we wanted to include in this piece. We recreated the work scene, which we have established as the opening scene to our play. We explored ways in which we could create this office space, incorporating different parts of the new set to create desks. We looked at creating a conveyer belt of movement, having the workers move from one station to another, as we thought this would reflect that machine like quality of work, as well as the dull and monotonous repetition of work life. Furthermore, we wanted to establish jacks alcoholism with a scene that was fun and light hearted and would therefore contrast the later scenes. We decided that we would have Jack take a sip of a hidden drink and that this would introduce the music of the scene, Frank Sinatra’s Blue Moon. By having the other workers begin to dance to the music whilst they continued the conveyer belt, it created the sense that all the other workers seemed to be having a positi...
Today we began to explore ideas for our final mask piece. We first created a mind map in order to consider the stimulus for our piece. We decided to first look at the use of music as a stimulus, using the more complex trestle masks. We started by warming up with the masks, looking at the different facial expressions and creating ideas for the feeling behind the mask as well as its possible counter mask. Experimenting with technical aspects, we also looked at how tilting the masks up and down under lighting can change our thoughts of its expression. So for example, a happy mask tilted upwards expresses that happiness, but by tilting it down, the shadow of the lights makes it a more sinister smile. After this we took turns, choosing a particular mask and entering the stage to different kinds of music. It was interesting to see how the different styles of music, some of which were rhythmic and some of which were more ballads, impacted on the way we moved whilst wearing the masks...
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