Forced Entertainment Research

Forced Entertainment Research

Origins & Background

Forced Entertainment was founded in 1984 by Tim Etchells, along with the other five core members: Richard Lowdon, Robin Arthur, Cathy Nadan, Claire Marshall and Terry O’Connor, who met when they were studying at Exeter University.

They created the company because they wanted to do something different and do their own thing with their interpretation of theatre and performance.

“Theatre felt very protective and slightly tetchy about what it was and wasn’t.”

“In the mid to late 1980s it was very difficult to do anything that wasn’t a naturalistic, psychologically realistic kind of narrative theatre. Certainly it as very difficult to do things that weren’t linear stories.”

– Tim Etchells and Robin Arthur about what they wanted to challenge when they started the company.

They were originally created just to do theatre performances and then slowly branched out into live art, durational performance and space installations.

The Company

The company is headed by a creative team: artistic director Tim Etchells, designer Richard Lowdon, Robin Arthur, Cathy Nadan, Claire Marshall and Terry O’Connor. These six founders are the solid members of Forced Entertainment who run the company. 

They have several regular collaborators who they work closely with but can change from production to production depending on the performance demands. These include performers Phil Hayes, Jerry Killick, Bruno Roubicek, John Rowley, technicians Elb Hall, John Avery (sound) and Nigel Edwards (lighting).

Forced Entertainment also have a set management team, including executive director Eileen Evans, production manager Jim Harrison and office manager Natalie Simpson.

Funding and Marketing

Forced Entertainment started with money from the Enterprise Allowance Scheme which gave a weekly payment to unemployed people who were trying to set up their own business. The scheme was designed to bring down the number of people taking benefits from the government.

They are now a National Portfolio Organisation, which means they are supported by the Arts Council England who fund the company. They have funded the company since 2000

The company has a marketing intern on their management team, Calum Berridge. They use internet advertising through their website, clips and trailers online, YouTube and other social media accounts, as well as printing posters for their pieces.

Style

Forced Entertainment’s performance style is very eclectic and unique, often experimental and ‘weird’. They take inspiration from all over – the clowning of Jacques Lecoq and the fourth-wall-breaking and detachedness from the story of Brecht, although most of what makes their experimental style comes from them.

The main point of Forced Entertainment’s performances are to challenge the audiences (and their own) ideas of what theatre means, push the boundaries and definitions of performance.

One of their biggest concepts is that the relationship between performers and audience is the most important thing in their shows, and the focus point – not the story or characters. In fact, often there is no story, or they interrupt and break it up.

Artistic Process

Stimulus/Starting Point

Forced Entertainment rarely start with a text or script. Instead, they look to everyday objects and childish games to inspire them. Often they start with a prop or costume rather than a specific idea. For instance, a collection of random props or costumes next to each other might give somebody an idea they want to develop further.

They’ve described their stimulus or idea forming as being like children figuring out the best way to play with the toys that they have.

Devising/Writing Methods

Forced Entertainment have a very broad and unique way of creating their stories.

“We started working together in 1984; in the many projects we’ve created since then we’ve made lists, played games, spoken gibberish, stayed silent, made a mess, dressed up, stripped down, confessed to it all, performed magic tricks, told jokes, clowned around, played dead, got drunk, told stories and performed for six, twelve and even 24 hours at a stretch. We’ve worked on texts, we’ve danced and moved, we’ve fixed things meticulously, we’ve improvised.” – Quote from the company’s website about their methods.

Refinement

Their rehearsal process is also very eclectic and changes depending on the show and the different ideas the company members have. For example, though they rehearse what they have, they also constantly improvise scenes until aspects of it ‘stick’. They constantly experiment, debate with and discuss their material until they feel they have found a balance of where they have come and where they can go with the piece.

They record the rehearsal process on camera, especially during improvisations, so that they can look back over it and see exactly what everyone said and did rather than what they remember.

Performance Features

Though no two performances by Forced Entertainment are the same, they have many defining features. Breaking the fourth wall is a common one – they often comment on costume or voice mishaps on stage in front of an audience. If the actors become tired or bored they show it during their scene.

Forced Entertainment often use placards and outlandish costumes including wigs and clown makeup. Their shows also contain adult themes and explicit language.

Character/Plot/Design

Forced Entertainment also use often eclectic and surreal sets such as tinfoil stars, starry                night backgrounds, industrial ladders and paper, cups and mess all over the stage. Often the set is messy, or a mix of different ideas and concepts, and sometimes it is very minimal. Lighting is often used in interesting ways in their shows, such as strobe lighting or stark coloured spotlights, red washes. They also use smoke and dry ice a lot in their shows.

Character isn’t that important to Forced Entertainment. In Bloody Mess, the characters had the same names as their actors (Robin, Claire, Jerry etc). They are sometimes based on the actors or people the company know. Often though, because of the improvised nature of some works, character can’t really be set and sometimes what the actors are saying is true to them.

The plot in Forced Entertainment shows is never the most important thing and rarely coherent and linear. For example, Bloody Mess involves a lot of different stories and characters colliding and interrupting each other; Quizoola is just the actors improvising questions and answers for 24 hours and From The Dark is 11 different people talking about their fears.

Instead of one plot they tend to have lots of different stories and themes running at the same time that the audience can pick up on (or not). A lot of their plot is left ambiguous and up for interpretation.

Physical Theatre Workshop Presentation Research

Physical Theatre Workshop Presentation Research

Jacques Lecoq



Origins

Jacques Lecoq was a French mime, actor and eventually acting teacher who is famous for his inventive style of physical theatre. He was born in 1921 in Paris and learnt sports including gymnastics when he was growing up which started him down his path of physical theatre and mime as he thought of it as ‘physical poetry’. He studied athletics and became a teacher of swimming and athletics.



In 1941 Lecoq went to a physical theatre college where he met Jean Marie Conty, who was a basketball player also interested in theatre. This started Lecoq thinking about the link  between sports and theatre and though he kept teaching physical education for years he also joined the theatre company Comediens de Grenoble. Lecoq lived in Italy for eight years while he worked with Commedia Dell’Arte who introduced him to the ideas of using masks and mime in performance.



In 1956 he moved back to Paris where he opened his school L’Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq where he spent most of his time until his death in 1999, teaching his own unique methods. In 1976 the school definitively moved into The Central, previously a gymnasium, which became a well-known boxing center in the beginning of the 20th century. The working space, built in 1876, is located 57 rue du faubourg Saint-Denis in the 10th district of Paris.







Key Features



His training programme focuses a lot on masks, and he uses the neutral mask as a starting point for his beginner students and build everything up from there. This is because he sees the neutral mask as the base of all emotion, and once you have mastered being completely still, indifferent and not telling any story at all, you can go anywhere and build anything up from it.



The neutral mask was also used to bring an actor into their body more – when the face is neutral, they have to use their whole body to convey emotion. Lecoq also had an ‘anti mask’ exercise which involved the actor having to use his body to convey an emotion totally opposite to the one on their mask.



He used a lot of rhythm in his work and teaching, believing it to be the key to any good scene. Having interesting, dynamic or changing rhythms would bring a scene to life and stop the actors from becoming flat or boring. For example, he would have one character only walking in beats of four counts.



Lecoq had the idea that there are seven levels of tension, and these are used to direct and tell stories in his work as a very key feature. The seven stages are:

1.      Exhausted – the performer has no energy. Lecoq likens this to a jellyfish with floppy limbs.

2.      Laidback – the performer is relaxed and easy, like a stereotypical surfer

3.      Neutral – the performer is totally neutral and indifferent, not telling a story

4.      Alert – this performer is curious and interested by his surroundings, can be in a childlike way

5.      Suspense – Lecoq likens this to wondering if there is a bomb in the room, and it can also be very melodramatic in the style of John Cleese

6.      Passionate – Lecoq likens this to the drama of opera, as if there is definitely a bomb in the room.

7.      Tragic – the performer is absolutely petrified: the bomb is about to go off. This can be very over the top and melodramatic.

Clowning is a big part of Lecoq’s teachings. He believed that by putting on a red nose and stripping down to childlike basic expressions of emotion and story, the actor is exposing the most raw and real parts of themselves.



Lecoq was also very focused on making sure every one of his students is treated as an individual and that he never tells any young actor what is ‘right’ because they are all individuals with different opinions and styles. The aim of his school is to produce a new generation of theatre work. One of his school’s unique features is how they teach a very broad range of theatre skills – they know eery student will take a different path and cater to that. They have roduced actors, directors, playwrights, filmmakers etc.





Influences



Lecoq was influenced heavily by the four hundred year old works of Commedia Dell’arte, originally an Italian street performance in the 1600s. Commedia used lots of masks to show character and the characters status, which Jacques went on to adapt for his own work. They also used a lot of mime, which started him thinking about the importance of mime in performance.



He is one of Steven Berkoff’s main influences. Berkoff studied at Lecoq’s school. At the school, Lecoq encourages students to challenge the way mime can be used in performance which is what Berkoff does to this day with boundary-pushing pieces such as Metamorphosis and Dog.



The London-based theatre company Complicité are heavily influenced by Lecoq’s work – the four founders of the company met when they were all studying at his school. They have said that it was Lecoq’s focus on clowning that showed them theatre ‘wasn’t just the Royal Shakespeare Company’

Frantic Assembly

Origins

Frantic Assembly was founded in 1994 by Scott Graham, Steven Hoggett and Vicki Middleton, while they were studying at Swansea University. They had graduated in English Literature and Geography, and never properly trained in theatre before they decided to found their own company, although Graham and Hoggett were involved in the university theatre society, as a prompt and a stage manager.

“We began with nothing more than a fierce work ethic and a desire to do something different, and to do it differently.” – Scott Graham, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Frantic Assembly.

During their time at Swansea University, they took part in a workshop by Volcano Theatre Company which they have called ‘a life changing experience’ that made them realise what they wanted to do.

Their first performance was a revival of John Osbourne’s Look Back In Anger in 1994 which Hoggett directed, produced and performed in. They staged several productions at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in their early days, where their mix of physical work and acting began to attract attention.

Key Features

Frantic Assembly’s style varies greatly from production to production – the one thing that stays the same is the effortless mix of the physical and the theatrical, and how physicality is introduced to add to the acting and storytelling, the two complimenting each other.

For Instance, their production of Lovesong is much more traditional and Naturalistic in style, despite the incorporation of physical theatre, whereas Othello is much more explosively artistic.

Frantic Assembly performances usually have some artistic use of levels in them: a lot of the action in their performance of Othello takes place on a pool table, and some of the action in Lovesong takes place on the couples’ kitchen table.

The main performance feature that identifies a show as a Frantic Assembly show is the explosive use of physicality as a storytelling device – they are completely fearless.

There are lots of lifts used in Frantic shows, small travelling lifts and lifts where one person is swung around another persons body. Frantic also use lifts in new and creative ways, for instance in the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, they lift one character around the space so it looks like he is flying.

Frantic uses a lot of ensemble or teamwork to create physical theatre imagery and shapes, whether it’s a couple moving together or a group fight scene to create atmosphere.

Use of hands and contact between characters to create a bond between performers and show the relationship is also featured often in Frantic’s work. They have two different exercises based on this  - Push Hands and Hymns Hands.

Another key feature of Frantic’s shows is that they are always relevant. They tackle topics that are accessible and relevant to modern day life and people.

Influences

Frantic Assembly were greatly inspired by Volcano Theatre, as it was at their workshop the founders decided to create Frantic. Volcano’s influences are clearly seen in Frantic’s work – both companies use lots of powerful high-impact movement. Volcano also have done an updated version of Macbeth, which may have inspired Frantic’s modernised production of Othello.

DV8 Physical Theatre company also influenced Frantic. They were reaching the height of their success around the time Frantic was formed, producing powerful and impactful productions about controversial and often political subjects such as equality and religion. They used sharp sometimes dance-like movements to help tell their stories in new ways.

You can see their influence in Frantic through their physical movements – always explosive and interesting – and also in their storylines, as both companies choose to focus on sensitive subject matters.

Vocal Analysis & Development Programme

Vocal Analysis and Development Programme

Vocal Analysis

My voice is generally one of my strengths in performance, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. My voice is naturally at a medium tone, although it tends to go a bit lower when I’m projecting especially loud. It’s quite clear and resonant. Although I have a tendency to overuse my nasal resonator sometimes I feel able to use all my resonators fairly well in performance. I also have quite clear natural articulation, although sometimes I can get sloppy with ‘t’s and the endings of words.

However breathing is a personal weakness of mine, especially if I’m doing physical work. I’ve recently started expanding and spending more time on the breathing section of my vocal plan to try and expand my breath capacity and get more control over my breath. This has really helped me improve, but I still find myself having to take a quick breath in sometimes when I shouldn’t and occasionally running out of breath during longer lines.

I’ve also noticed through doing my vocal programme that I carry a lot of tension in my back and my shoulders. Even though I have good posture holding it still can become uncomfortable for long periods of time and this could limit my voice.

Another thing I really need to focus on is not speaking to fast. I naturally tend to talk quickly, especially when I’m relaxed and sometimes this happens during rehearsal or performance.

Over the past few performances I’ve done I have noticed myself getting a lot better at knowing when to take pauses and pacing myself but it’s still an area for improvement. Studying Naturalism and Chekhov really helped me appreciate pauses and silences between lines more.

Intonation and inflection is also something I think I need to put more effort into the future. Although I do vary the way I say lines and place weight on different words to convey meaning and emotion, I tend to change this or do it suddenly based on instinct. Sometimes this works really well, but sometimes it can sound a bit odd. One of my targets for my next performances is to mark verbs and specific words to emphasize based on the new thought technique.

In Performance:

Bronte –

I think I used my voice quite well in Bronte considering we performed before I really started working on my voice.

One of the vocal challenges in Bronte was that I was playing two characters which meant I had have a different characterisation and voice for both of them that would clearly show I was playing someone else. I think I achieved this well and that both voices worked well for the characters.

My voice is naturally quite low pitched anyway, and the Yorkshire accent naturally made it go even lower – almost gravelly at times – which I think really worked for Charlotte and made her seem more mature and troubled. For Jane, I made my voice much soft and gentle and at a higher pitch – more stereotypically feminine – because I saw her as what Charlotte thought she should be.

Mastering the Yorkshire accent was also a challenge in Bronte and one I really struggled with at first but a few weeks into the rehearsal process something clicked and I found it easier. Watching accent videos on YouTube also really helped. My vocal performance was a big part of my characterisation for Charlotte especially, because once I found the accent and the voice that gave me an energy which I used to develop the rest of the character from there.

One problem I found with the accent over the rehearsals was that sometimes it meant I wasn’t as clear and articulate as I usually am, but I worked on my articulation with the accent and I think by the actual performances I was generally clearly spoken.

Projection was one of my stronger points vocally in Bronte, and the staging really helped with this. Several of my lines as both Charlotte and Jane were delivered from blocks at the front of the stage which meant I could be easily heard by the audience.

I have written more about my voice in Bronte here: http://ampacting16tco.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/bronte-week-six.html?m=1 (voice section)

Pomona –

One particular challenge with Pomona was that the intimate enclosed staging gave the illusion that we didn’t need to project as loudly – this, however, was not the case. I think I projected fair enough and could be heard most of the time, but in some of the more emotional lines that I said more quietly could have been lost by some sections of the audience. For example, in the scene where Ollie has been beaten some of the lines such as ‘do you have any family’ and ‘a sister?’ were a little quiet.

Another challenge I had with projection in Pomona was in the phone box scene, as I had to project over the sound of cars speeding by. I think I managed this well towards the end of the scene, but some of the lines at the beginning might have been lost.

Although articulation is usually one of my strengths, I think some clarity might have been lost in the scene with Fay and Gale because I started crying in the scene. This was around the point where I said ‘I’m leaving here with this’ which could have sounded clearer. However, I think the level of emotion in my voice was good, but I need to learn to balance emotion and clarity a bit better.

Another aspect of my voice that I don’t think worked very well for Pomona was that because of my articulation ad natural tone I tend to sound quite posh and well-spoken. I don’t think this worked because my character Fay was a rough prostitute with a dark past, and I’m not sure that’s how I came across.

However, I think I also had some stronger moments vocally during the performance, and I think I improved using tone and inflections to give more weight and emotion to certain lines. I also think that this made me sound more naturalistic than I did in Bronte which is good because we were performing Pomona in the style of Stanislavski and energy states.

I have written more about my voice in Pomona here: http://ampacting16tco.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/pomona-character-profile.html?m=1 (voice section at the bottom)

More Light –

The More Light piece was very vocally demanding as we were performing in the over-the-top style of Berkoff.

I think my natural ability to project and articulate paid off in this piece, as Berkoff is all about being as far from naturalism as possible  and projecting loudly with over-articulation gave that sense of the surreal.

However I think I could have really pushed the style even further than I did and made my voice more interesting and ‘grotesque’. Sometimes I feel I was too naturalistic and dramatic in a too serious way in some of my lines, and this meant they often sounded the same as each other the whole way through.

I definitely feel I could have varied pitch and tone in the piece, which would have made my voice more interesting and intriguing and therefore more like the dark ‘storyteller’ I was aiming for.

Another vocal challenge in the More Light piece was using my voice as part of a chorus to collectively tell a story. I had to use my voice to link to the others, but also to be unique and individual within a group.

I have written more about my voice in More Light here: http://ampacting16tco.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/more-light-development-4-voice.html?m=1 (voice section)

Voice Monologue –

The monologue I have chosen to work on for voice is Megaera’s speech from the opening of Welcome to Thebes by Moira Buffini. So far working on this monologue has been very challenging.

One of my personal problems is that a lot of what I say sounds the same, so I have been working through the monologue and trying to figure out different parts to change the tone of. I’m going through and doing the new thought exercise with the speech so I know where it will sound most natural to pause or change the tone.

Last week in the session we identified that the character goes through all three ‘energy circles’ in the text. The first few lines Megaera is trying to gather a crowd and make a point to them so she is in the third circle, then she goes into the first circle as she starts remembering her own traumatic experiences and then finally into the second circle for the final section of the speech.

To show this vocally I need to be very loud and attention-grabbing with my first line ‘the only politics in Thebes is this’ and I think I need to leave a long pause there to let the words sink in and the crowd settle. The next line needs to be a bit different though, so as the character has done this speech before many times I decided to deliver it in an informational, matter of fact sort of way and then pause again before starting to become more personal and defensive with ‘I don’t know how it started’.

Something else I’m trying to work on is making the speech sound more naturalistic and truthful as it’s very easy to over-perform this particular text, which I have a tendency to do anyway.

One of the exercises I did for this was saying (not performing) the speech holding a chair up over my head for all of it. The idea of this was to channel my physical pain and discomfort at holding the chair into my voice so it sounded more naturally emotive. I think this worked to some extent and was much more naturalistic than I had been doing it before but I think I was more just trying to get through the speech so I could put the chair down rather than actually focusing on the pain.

To give rise and fall and different levels to the speech I think it is important that I make the personal ‘first circle’ section more naturalistic and emotional. To work on this I’ve been practising just saying the speech as myself with emotion memory but not performing. This is a big improvement on how I was doing the speech before, but I think just doing it this way is a bit quiet and monotonous, so I am now trying to find a balance.

Vocal Development Programme (Updated)

Since I first created it, I have been updating my vocal plan based on what I think I need and what has changed about my voice.

Brief Plan:

Body

·         Stand neutrally and be aware of where the tension is in your body. Try to release it by closing your eyes, relaxing and releasing the tension

·         Stretch your back and neck to further release tension – reach behind you and clasp your hands behind your back; lie on your back and pull in your knees and neck until you feel a good stretch; lie on your back and pull one knee to your chest. Repeat stretches as needed.

·         Stretch your whole body out with some lunges, arm and neck stretches and leg stretches for as long as needed

·         Do some big yawns

·         Stretch up tall, then drop down, hang for a few seconds and roll up from the base of the spine. Repeat x3

·         Shake out the whole body (rubber chicken)

·         Walk around the space with good posture and a neutral body

Breath

•        Breathe in deep through the nose, hold for a few seconds and then release slowly. Repeat 5x (more if needed)

•        Breathe in through the nose, hold and breathe out over the count of 7, 9 and 10. Repeat 3x each (or progress to longer when you’re ready)

•        Breathe in through the nose, hold and breathe out on a humming noise. Repeat 3x (more if needed)

•        Breathe in, hold and breathe out on a hum again, this time going from high to low like a siren. Repeat 3x (more if needed)

•        Breathe in and breathe out slowly on a vowel sound. Repeat 5x (more if needed)

•        Pant for a few minutes without lifting your shoulders

•        Pant on a rhythm for a few minutes

•        Do breath of fire (panting rapidly through the nose) for a few minutes

•        Purse your lips like you’re sucking through a straw and imagine the breath going to the bottom of your stomach and filling a tube around your waist. Hold for a few seconds and then release in three short breaths. Repeat 5x (more if needed)

Resonance

•        Tap all over your head

•        Tap across the bridge of your nose and massage it

•        Lightly pummel chest while making an ‘aah’ sound

•        Hum into your chest, lightly pummelling chest.

•        Hum at different pitches

Articulation

•        Poke out the tongue and stretch it in a north-south-east-west position outside the mouth

•        Repeat the exercise inside the mouth on the outside of the teeth

•        Massage the face, nose and cheeks

•        Massage and loosen the jaw, releasing tension from it

•        Scrunch up face tight and then stretch it out wide (pumpkin and raisin). Alternate between the two for a few minutes.

•        Pretend to chew toffee for a few minutes

•        Practise tongue twisters as needed, at normal speed and faster

Explanation:

Body

I have chosen to start my vocal plan by warming up my whole body, because your whole body is important for creating a strong and healthy voice. I’ve added a bit to this section since my original plan

·         Stand neutrally and be aware of where the tension is in your body. Try to release it by closing your eyes, relaxing and releasing the tension.

I’ve chosen this as my first step because it is important for an actor to start with a completely relaxed and neutral body in order to build up a character and an energy from there. Standing still and quiet for a few minutes makes it easier to become aware of where the natural tension in your body is.

·         Stretch your back to further release of tension - reach behind you and clasp your hands behind your back; lie on your back and pull in your knees and neck until you feel a good stretch; lie on your back and pull one knee to your chest

This point about back stretches is one of my recent updates to my vocal plan. I have realised that I carry most of my tension in my upper back, which could effect my posture, comfort, and therefore hinder my voice. Adding these simple stretches to the plan should help relieve some of the tension there.

This step is also helpful for people who don’t carry so much tension there, because stretching your back helps you maintain good posture more comfortably and good posture is important for opening up your diaphragm and controlling your breath.

·         Stretch your whole body out with some lunges, arm and neck stretches and leg stretches for as long as needed

Stretching your entire body will help you become relaxed and neutral which makes it easier to achieve a strong vocal delivery. It is also a good way to warm yourself up and prepare your body for the day and any other movements you might be doing.

·         Do some big yawns that stretch out your whole body

Yawning is another fun stretch which is especially good for improving your vocal resonance because it actually stretches the soft palate and the pharynx.

·         Stretch up tall, then drop down, hang for a few seconds and roll up from the base of the spine. Repeat x3 (or more as needed)

Spinal rolls are a stretch I’ve personally found really helpful in releasing tension and warming up the whole body.

·         Shake out the whole body (rubber chicken)

This is one of the last steps in the body section because it’s a really good way to shake off any lingering tension or personal things you need to get rid of before you become neutral or start to tell a story. It is also a great way to energise yourself and get you pumped up and ready for the day after the more slow and careful stretching.

·         Walk around the space with good posture and a neutral body

Finally this step puts your warmed up and energised body into motion. Good posture is essential for a good vocal delivery because it opens up your diaphragm and therefore allows you to control your breathing well.

Breath

Breathing is one of the most important factors for a strong voice, and I’ve put quite a lot of focus on this section because breathing is one of my personal areas for improvement. I’ve added quite a few new breathing exercises to this section since the original plan and I’ve found that my breathing has really improved.  

•        Breathe in deep through the nose, hold for a few seconds and then release slowly. Repeat 5x (more if needed)

I’ve included some simple slow breaths as the first step in this section just to relax the body, wake up the lungs, and help you start to become aware of the breath.

•        Breathe in through the nose, hold and breathe out over the count of 7, 9 and 10. Repeat 3x each (or progress to longer when you’re ready)

Breathing over an increasing count will help increase breath capacity and control of the breath. Slowly progressing the longer breaths makes it a lot easier. I’ve increased the number of counts since I first created the plan to adapt as my breath capacity grew.

•        Breathe in through the nose, hold and breathe out on a humming noise. Repeat 3x (more if needed)

Adding a hum to your breath will strengthen breath and resonance at the same time. Humming is good for the vocal folds and the resonance. Humming on a long breath like this is a good way to practise controlling breath and resonance at the same time, which is what you will need to do during performance.

•        Breathe in, hold and breathe out on a hum again, this time going from high to low like a siren. Repeat 3x (more if needed)

Breathing on a siren is a good way to practise controlling pitch, and the added hum means you’re still controlling resonance at the same time.

•        Breathe in and breathe out slowly on a vowel sound. Repeat 5x (more if needed)

This is a good way to start practising using your breath to power speech and projection.

•        Pant for a few minutes without lifting your shoulders

Panting is a great way to strengthen the control you have over your diaphragm. Improving the strength and control of your diaphragm means you will be able to take in more air for a more powerful vocal delivery. It is important to make sure your shoulders don’t move because when your breathing from the diaphragm all the action happens below the ribs.

•        Pant on a rhythm for a few minutes

I added this second panting exercise because I really enjoyed and felt the benefits of the first one and I didn’t feel like I was spending long enough on it. Panting on a rhythm is a fun way to strengthen your diaphragm, and the rhythm part also helps you practise control over the way you breathe.

•        Do breath of fire (panting through the nose) for a few minutes

This is actually a Kundalini yoga exercise, one which I find really energising and a good mental and physical warm up. I’ve included it here because I’ve found it also strengths the diaphragm.

•        Purse your lips like you’re sucking through a straw and imagine the breath going to the bottom of your stomach and filling a tube around your waist. Hold for a few seconds and then release in three short breaths. Repeat 5x (more if needed)

This exercise will strengthen the intercostal muscles and make the diaphragm stronger and more pliable, which will give you a stronger more controlled vocal delivery, and allow you to project better. Doing this exercise over time will also increase your breath capacity. This is one of my personal goals, which is why I’ve included more of this exercise than any others.

Resonance

•        Tap all over your head

This resonance section of the plan is all about opening up and starting exercising your resonators for a more powerful and resonant voice – tapping all over your skull and head will start to wake up your head resonator.

•        Tap across the bridge of your nose and massage it

Tapping and massaging over the bridge of your nose and that area of your face will wake up and open up your nasal resonator. You can also make sounds during this exercise and the one above to try and feel where the sound is resonating.

•        Lightly pummel chest while making an ‘aah’ sound

Tapping your chest will wake up your chest resonator and making the ‘aah’ sound while you do it will release any excess air as well as starting to get your chest resonator working with your voice.

•        Hum into your chest for a few minutes, lightly pummelling chest.

•        Hum at different pitches for a few minutes

Humming is a great way to improve the resonance of the voice. Humming from your chest a few minutes a day will wake up and strengthen your chest resonator which will give you a richer and more resonant, powerful voice. Changing the note of the hum makes sure you have good resonance with different pitches.

Articulation

•        Poke out the tongue and stretch it in a north-south-east-west position outside the mouth

•        Repeat the exercise inside the mouth on the outside of the teeth

Both of the above exercises I have included to stretch out and exercise the tongue, which is essential for having good articulation.

•        Massage the face, nose and cheeks for a few minutes

•        Massage and loosen the jaw, releasing tension from it

Massaging and working the muscles in your face is a really good way to release any tension you hold there. It’s important to focus especially on the jaw, as it can often hold a lot of tension. Once it’s slackened, it’s much easier to relax again and use.

•        Scrunch up face tight and then stretch it out wide (pumpkin and raisin). Alternate between the two for a few minutes.

Like the exercises above, doing the pumpkin/raisin face with enthusiasm and switching between them works and loosens up the muscles in your face, jaw and mouth for better articulation and projection.

•        Pretend to chew toffee for a few minutes

Pretending to animatedly chew toffee for a few minutes will work the jaw and facial muscles really well, allowing you to open and work the mouth and jaw easier. This will give you better articulation and projection.

•        Practise tongue twisters as needed, at normal speed and faster

Practising tongue twisters is an excellent way to work on improving your articulation. I tend to vary the twisters that I do depending on what I feel like or how much time I have. Generally I do a few general tongue twisters such as ‘red leather yellow leather’ every time I go through the plan, and the longer ones like ‘I am the very model of a modern major general’ when I can.

More Light Evaluation

More Light Evaluation

Overall I think our performance of More Light was strong, and our use of chorus work and physical theatre was really effective.

Personally I think my performance could really have been improved, especially in capturing the style of Berkoff. Although I did all the movements correctly I think I could have put a more grotesque energy on them and made them more dark and strange, especially during the festival and the opening where I twirl the ribbon.

I did make sure to be in an ‘active’ and energised position even when I was still, but I think my facial expressions let me down a bit as they were a bit too passive and naturalistic, rather than the grotesque, unnerving Berkoff face or the over the top reactions of the Greek chorus.

Vocally as well I don’t think I really reached the level of Berkoff. I was pleased with how well I projected as I could always be heard clearly and I was also very over-articulate which is Berkovian, but I think I still sounded a little too naturalistic at times and I didn’t vary my tone or pitch enough.

However I think as a whole the piece was very effective and dynamic, and there were some really striking moments. One part in particular that stood out to me was when we all went into the bird formation with Ciara and Will describing the tomb and doing their own movements at the front. I think this moment was really atmospheric and set up the rest of the play.

As a group I think we definitely achieved a good use of mime, chorus work and Berkoff. Everybody worked really hard to tell a story and create a mood through movement and voice and I think it worked really well.

More Light: Development 4 & Voice

More Light: Development 4 & Voice

Development

The second full run we did today we did in a more grotesque Berkovian style of movement and characterisation. This made the whole piece look tighter and more polished even though it wasn’t really, it was just higher energy and more dynamic. I think this is the way we need to perform in order to achieve the style we are aiming for.

We have also decided to change the second repetition of ‘mathematicians, astrologers, metalsmiths’ in order to make it more visually interesting. Instead of all standing in a line and doing all the movements as we did before, we decided to split into groups assigned to just one movement which we would start once our profession was said.

As astrologers, Will and I decided to step forward from the line and make the movement bigger, using more energy in a sweeping motion pretending to look at the stars.

I think this idea of more energy is something we really need to use. An especially Berkovian performance feature is to always have lots of energy in your body even when you are standing still.

For example, in his play The Trial, the ensemble often stop and stand still for periods of time. They always stand in a really strong, striking pose that’s just as energised and dynamic as when they move. This is what I think we need to go for – especially in the moments where we are still. For instance, when we are in our threes at the beginning waiting to speak we could take a really strong pose.


Voice

Vocal Challenges

The biggest vocal challenge in More Light is that we are performing in the style of Berkoff. The way Berkoff uses voice to tell the story is really over-the-top and dynamic, and it’s one of his biggest performance features which means it’s really important we get it right to achieve his style.

To sound Berkovian, my voice needs to be very loud and articulate, whilst conveying the eerie, dark atmosphere and telling the story in a way that is over stylised, grotesque, and as in-naturalistic as possible. I think I am getting there with sounding Berkovian, but I just need to push it even further.

To help with this I have been going through the text and looking for lines that I can emphasize or do something different with. I actually have the first spoken line of the piece - ‘In the twentieth year of his rule, the all powerful Emperor’ – which I think really needs to set the tone. To do this I’ve been experimenting with saying it almost like a royal announcement with very over the top articulation and an odd high pitch.

Another line I think I need to emphasize is ‘all who have worked on this tomb shall die with me’ because it’s a revelation that sets up the play and totally changes the mood. I tried saying this in a really serious, dark dramatic tone but that almost sounded too naturalistic, so instead I’ve decided to say it in a more mocking way.

Another vocal challenge is still sounding clear and articulate when we’re also doing movements – the words could be lost or we could have trouble controlling our breathing.


Chorus Work

We also need to consider that we are working as a chorus in this piece both physically and vocally.
One feature of a theatrical chorus is all having the same objective, something I think we show well at several points throughout the piece, especially moments when we’re all doing the same movement like the puppet-like funeral procession and the circle of digging convicts.

Another way I think we represent the chorus really well is the way we have divided up the lines of speech. The chorus is often seen as one being, which we show when we all move the same or speak a line at the same time or in canon, but also has different parts and dynamics, which we show when we split into pairs or deliver pieces of text by ourselves.

The chorus is important for showing reactions (that might show the audience how to react) and to give status to characters, and I think we do both these things well but we could develop them even further. One moment I really think we get this right is when we all run offstage in a Jacques Lecoq-esque ‘creating the space’ move just before the emperor comes down the middle of the stage and is announced loudly. This gives him status and gives the impression that we are all under his rule.

It is also important to be an ‘individual within a group’ when you are part of a chorus which means we should all have our own personalities and identities even though we are a chorus. This is something I need to work on and experiment more with but so far my individual identity is very articulate and proper (especially when I’m talking about the Emperor) as well as being a bit strange.

More Light Research

More Light Research

Chinese Emperor



Although it doesn’t say exactly when More Light is set, it’s some point in one of the Imperial Chinese dynasties, which spanned from 221BC – 997 AD and could each last up to hundreds of years.



China was ruled by an ‘Emperor who ruled ‘all under heaven’. He was thought of as totally all powerful and sometimes called the ‘son of heaven’ whose words were considered sacred law. It was so essential to respect the Emperor that it was forbidden to call him by hi



In each dynasty the Emperor would be followed by his oldest son (or younger brother if he didn’t have any sons).



The Emperor would marry one woman who as usually noble and would be respected like a queen (called the Empress). However, Emperor’s usually had several ‘concubines’ like More Light and the other ladies who were publically acknowledged and often treated like royalty. Sometimes the Empress could have started as a concubine and then the Emperor chose to marry them.



With this in mind I think we should definitely raise the stakes a bit in respecting the Emperor in our piece. For example, we could play up the moments when we comes on stage and the moment where we all scatter offstage to clear room for him. The level of respect for him was very over the top so we could make it really Berkovian with big movements and voices.  

Emperor’s Tombs



There have been several Emperor’s tombs discovered by archaeologists in China, and they tend to be very similar to the one described in More Light as they are very ornate and beautiful and filled with ancient Chinese art.

One of the tombs that has been found is the tomb of the First Qin Emperor. It has an outer wall and an inner wall surrounding the main tomb like the one in More Light. There have been several pits found both inside and outside the tomb filled with artefacts including: a model army made of terracotta; bronze models of ducks, swans and cranes; a bronze chariot; a stone suit of armour; real dead horses who were killed to go into the tomb and more terracotta models of courtiers, entertainers and strongmen.

Like in More Light, the labourers who worked on the tomb were also killed in order to keep the location a secret. This was standard practise in the days of Imperial China and it was considered a great honour to accompany the Emperor into death.

More Light Development 3

More Light Development 3

Idea Development



Today we worked through almost all of the rest of the text, and we have used several more Berkovian techniques.



We began working on the section where the text describes more about the Emperor’s tomb and the traps that were set up inside. The first lines says ‘three gates there were to the tomb’. As we finish the last section all in a group together at the front of the stage I had the idea that we could easily turn to the side and physically become the gates that the sections two narrators could walk through.



However, this left one odd person, so I thought they could take the role of the mechanical archer that is described in the text. The group developed this idea so that the archer would stand at the end of the tunnel created by the ‘opened gates’ and mechanically mime shooting an arrow – which is very Berkovian – and we could all mime watching it fly down the middle in slow motion which again is a very Berkovian technique.



When it talks about the Emperor having an army cast in bronze behind the gate, we decided to go into the formation of soldiers, and I had the idea that we could put our spears down and make the same noise the soldiers do a few sections before to add a running link through the piece. We could do this with the spear props or bamboo sticks depending on where they end up on stage by this point, but if not I think mime would work just as well.



The next section we worked on is the one where I speak, and it is about the Emperor’s decree that everyone who worked on the tomb would die with him.



Vocally I think what I need to do is go through the text and find certain lines to emphasize or say in a different way so my speech is interestingly Berkovian and not ‘normal’ or boring. I also think I could come up with some actions or movements to be doing while I speak, or I could just be completely static (maybe in a Berkovian pose like the ensemble in The Trial) to contrast the action behind me.

More Light: Development 2 & Lecoq Research

More Light: Development 2 & Lecoq Research

Idea Development



We made a lot of good progress with the piece today, and I think we’re definitely including more dynamic physical and Berkovian techniques.



Several people shared my idea to have bigger chunks with less people talking, so we finished splitting up the text like that. We began by working on the first section which will be spoken by just Emily and Liv. The section describes the Emperor’s convicts digging the tunnel to his tomb and the conditions there.



To set the scene of the tomb we stood in two rows of three facing each other and had the idea to go up in height order so two people at the back would be sitting down, the next kneeling and the next standing up all making diagonally sloping arches with our arms to show the tunnel. I had the idea we could be standing at first and then when someone crawls through like they’re digging the tunnel we could sit down. I think this makes it look more fluid than just suddenly all getting into position with no reason.



One part of the text says ‘Above spring turned to summer / autumn to winter’ and this gave me the idea to show this with physical theatre imagery as a tree losing its leaves. Originally I thought we could all huddle together with our limbs out in odd positioning like branches – almost like how we made the castle in our Gormenghast work – and then maybe use fluttering hands to show leaves changing when it says autumn to winter.



We developed this as a group. Because we are already on our knees on the floor from the part before this, it made sense to just go into the middle and huddle together. Will had the idea that we could rise up when it says ‘spring to summer’ like a tree growing and then naturally just move to the side and fall down on ‘autumn to winter’. This way felt a lot more natural and looked really effective.









Jacques Lecoq Research

Jacques Lecoq was a French mime, actor and eventually acting teacher who is famous for his inventive style of physical theatre. He was born in 1921 in Paris and learnt sports including gymnastics when he was growing up which started him down his path of physical theatre and mime as he thought of it as ‘physical poetry’. He studied athletics and became a teacher of swimming and athletics.



In 1941 Lecoq went to a physical theatre college where he met Jean Marie Conty, who was a basketball player also interested in theatre. This started Lecoq thinking about the link  between sports and theatre and though he kept teaching physical education for years he also joined the theatre company Comediens de Grenoble. Lecoq lived in Italy for eight years while he worked with Commedia Dell’Arte who introduced him to the ideas of using masks and mime in performance.



In 1956 he moved back to Paris where he opened his school L’Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq where he spent most of his time until his death in 1999, teaching his own unique methods.



His training programme focuses a lot on masks, and he uses the neutral mask as a starting point for his beginner students and build everything up from there. Lecoq was also very focused on making sure every one of his students is treated as an individual and that he never tells any young actor what is ‘right’ because they are all individuals with different opinions and styles.



He was Steven Berkoff’s teacher and one of his main influences.