Stephanie Drury-0802543-Blog Two

The first step that was taken to create Four ways to Speak Out asked the cast to draw pictures as a response to music that was played in to the creative space. This response can be linked to Lepage’s ‘RSVP model’. On a personal level, this was my first attachment to the piece as in the session I draw a picture of a woman who had experienced domestic violence.
As the development stage moved on, as a group we were told the theme that we were going to explore was domestic violence. I believe that asking the entire group to write letters about the last time we saw ‘The Woman’ fuelled the group into creating the depth of the piece and the ensembles idiosyncrasies was used as the letters were all an individual reaction to the theme.

Another strategy that was used to create individual characters as well as the ensemble was play. In a recent rehearsal, the group was set on task to explore how they felt towards Andy after the ensemble had found out his character had raped ‘The Woman.’ None of this work was scripted and was purely improvised. Evidently it created an emotional scene. In physical theatre a natural reaction (improvisation) to an idea, in many cases, can cause a more emotive performance than that of a scripted piece. Dymphna Callery supports this idea by saying,

‘Sometimes the chemistry of performers and how they play together enables them to work purely from play’ (Callery D. 2001: 169)

The chemistry of the community created a lot of tension towards Andy’s character and this was created by allowing the group to ‘play’. It also allowed me to finally set my ideas and feelings about my own character in to stone.


Throughout the creative process of Four Ways to Speak Out my character has changed and developed dramatically. I feel that my character should be an extension of myself if I am to truly respond physically to what your character is feeling. This would ensure that my character is, “real and alive.” (http://portophysicaltheatre.blogspot.com/ at 19:16 on 22/03/10)

The reason that my character has changed is because of my intentions and motives throughout the piece. Initially, I wanted to create an in depth and troubled character but once I evaluated this idea I realised that this was almost impossible given the circumstances and environment that my character is surrounded by throughout most of the performance. In order to refine my character I decided to once again use ‘play’ as a devising strategy. This allowed me to relax and potentially enjoy creating my character and ultimately create a more believable character for the audience when I perform.

Working with different people throughout the devising process has allowed me to discover my character on different levels. At the beginning of the response stage I felt as though I was trapped and could not venture further in order to create my character. When analysing this now, it is apparent that this is because I was constantly working with the same group of people within the bar scene. When working with other people such as Vicky or Catherine gave me a new rush of inspiration. This also shows that bodies react within one another and absorb each other’s positive and even negative energy.

Although I feel as though I am at a strong point in creating my character it is possible that my character may change from one performance to the next.


Throughout the creative process of Four Ways to Speak Out it has been vital to understand that as a performer you must befriend gravity, as this is what can make physical theatre work. Callery believes in order to devise a powerful performance the actor must be “less inhibited and more inclined to take risks.” (Callery (2001) p 162)
Throughout most of the performance my body language is what suggests the most about my character. The change between being drunk and sober is significant as the arch in my spine is greater when I am expressing myself as a drunk.
However, when I am sober and realise what has happened to ‘The Women’, I feel total disgust and allow myself to hurl my body at Vicky, which brings us both crashing to the ground. This represents to the audience that my character feels guilty and finds her self not even able to show her face as she lies on the floor.

The use of repetition is central for my character as this is what defines my physicality. In the bar scene I repeat a key gesture with other performers (standing up and leaning towards stage left whilst letting out a cheer.) When analysed by the audience this shows that as a group we are unable to piece together where ‘The Woman’ has disappeared too. Although this may appear funny to the audience at the time, once the second scene shows that ‘The Woman’ has been raped; it projects a more sinister light on the previous scene. As a group we felt that “insistent repetition causes a blur,” (Morfee (2005) p133) and in order to show that as a group we are confused about the whereabouts of ‘The Woman’ repetition was the best way of expressing it.

As a group we feel that we must respect the fact that domestic violence happens on a daily basis for both men and women and are hoping to create a true representations of the horror that these people go through. Personally, in order to create this I have responded as honestly to tasks as I can. Richards reinforces this idea by saying, “If the actor executes in truth the lines of physical actions, he will live genuinely on stage, and this in its turn be perceived by the spectator.” (Richards (1995) p102)


Bibliography

Callery, D. (2001); Through the Body: A Practical Guide to Physical Theatre.
London: Neil Hern Books Ltd.

Morfee,A. (2005);Antonin Artaud’s Writing Bodies. London: Oxford University Press.

Richards, T. (1995); At work with Grotowski on Physical Actions. London: Routledge.

Other Sources

http://portophysicaltheatre.blogspot.com/

By Stephanie Drury 0802543