Thursday, 5 November 2015

Uh ohhh.. Burn out! (2nd November)

Unfortunately I have a condition called ME/CFS; it is a condition that causes chronic pain, fatigue and cognitive problems. Although I try and get on with this till I am pretty much on the floor like a sloth, once my body has gone, its gone. Unfortunately I woke up and felt very ill. I tried to get dressed but just burst into tears as I was struggling to even organise myself to get my clothes on. I rang Kane and as a group, we decided it would be best if I stayed off and rested. Kane suggested that I watched 'Inside Out' as it is a film that keeps influencing a lot of his performance decisions and he feels it would benefit the piece. I thought it was phenomenal and loved how it captured a heavy subject so delicately but with a powerful message.

I also decided to have a look, in more depth, at other physical theatre performers to gain inspiration and see the possibilities out there. Niki showed us a very interesting piece called '4 bar and rising' by Massive Owl (Youtube, 2011). It was absolutely the mood and tone we are going for within our piece . The tension they so simply built by standing and gradually pulling a bug rubber band was very effective. Moving back to Laura Marshall, it was almost as if I was getting annoyed at this pulling sensation and the longing for something to happen! A particular moment I liked, was when everyone was absolutely pinned on this shoe, that a man was delicately rolling in and around his hands. It was as if time stopped, the argument was obviously continuing behind them which was very comical and then when he slammed the shoe on the floor the talking continued again. I loved how they played with the sound here. The control over the sound felt magical and was very captivating. As we are denying the audience with sound it would be good to have a play around with something like this for our performance.

Another performance I had a look at online was 'Love Song' by Frantic Assembly. I already have a deep love for DV8's work from 'The Cost of Living' to 'Strange Fish' but was very captivated by the delicate nature of some of 'Love song's' scenes.
  • Beautiful Snippet from Love Song (Digital Theatre, 2013) Love the intricacy and lightness of the movement; maybe we could bring this alive with the blackbird scene?
  • Nice talk by Director about piece (TheCornerShopPR, 2011) This segment absolutely brought back my enthusiasm for the devising process. Just there love for what they do and the way they explain the process is very inspiring. Also how there not in the story but want to learn about it is 
  • Devising Help Frantic Assembly (National Theatre Discover, 2015) As a group I really feel we are not approaching this from a professional angle and I love how quickly Frantic Assembly move from having a starting block to an actual performance. 
Kane also came round later on and we had a discussion on where the piece was going and that actually it was good idea and could work really well! I felt better after this and made sure I ate a healthy superfood fuelling tea and got an early night so I was okay for the next rehearsal.

Bibliography 

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  • Digital Theatre, (2013) Unmissable Culture - Frantic Assembly's Lovesong Exclusive Clip. Available from: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_ZF6R3awyI> [Accessed 2 November 2015].
  • DistantMirrors, (2012). Eric Satie - Gymnopédie No.1. [video].
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  • Johnstone, K. 1979. 'Impro' Improvisation and Theatre. Great Britain: Methuen Drama.
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  • National Theatre Discover, (2015) Frantic Assembly Masterclass: Building Blocks for Devising. Available from: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUqZPfGIX6U> [Accessed 2 November 2015].
  • No Author, 2015. 'The Pusher' 60 bodies dragged from Manchester Canal, Serial Killer Rumoured. RT Question More [online]. Available from: https://www.rt.com/uk/222655-serial-killer-manchester-canals/ [Accessed August 15, 2015].
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  • TheCornerShopPR, (2011) Steven Hoggett and Scott Graham - Lovesong- Frantic Assembly. Available from: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF-22alcjAU> [Accessed 2 November 2015].
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  • Wheatstone, R. 2015. 'The Pusher' professor stands by canal serial killer claims and says bereaved families share his fears. Manchester Evening News [online]. Available from: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/the-pusher-professor-stands-canal-8450695 [Accessed August 15, 2015]. 
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