In this essay I am going to understand
techniques used to create material for a devised performance and discuss the
various techniques used to create a collaborative piece as well as conveying
the various aspects to take into account and different directors and
practitioners who refer and relate to the devising process.
Devised performances can be used for anything and be performed
anywhere. As it is devised, the inspiration for the piece they want to portray
is created from a certain topic or subject of the performers/directors/actors choice.
But the ideas are completely original and have no direct guidelines to follow as
to how and where they should be performed. A lot of devised performances are
based around political, social and cultural events and it enables those who
want to spread a message across to the public based on a particular issue in
any way they like. Theatre is very controversial in this day and age and there
is a lot more freedom to be able to express and say what you want, no matter
the vulgarity or offensive opinions or references. Devised performances can also
be used in schools, colleges and universities as well as in contemporary
theatre companies focusing on a specific subject that is needed to be
identified within that area that they may benefit from.
Depending on the piece, you can then identify and choose who
you’re target audience is going to be, e.g. In a school there is a lot of
bullying between a group of girl aged between 12 and 13 years old, so a
performance is created based around bullying to convey a message to pupils at
the school within that gender and age group.
Our target audience was really open to an older audience ages 15
and over, I wouldn’t recommend it for children as it could be a bit scary for
them as there is a bit of violence involved and swearing. Also for audience
members who like performances that are open to their own interpretations and
don’t need to have a performance that’s simple, obvious and black and white.
Improvisation is in
my opinion the biggest technique overall in the devising process to achieve a
piece of devised theatre. This where the basis of any performance is formed
from as you start off with an idea and put that into practise by acting it out
and then altering and changing it to what you want it to be. Therefore the
ideas that are created for the first part of the performance can spark ideas
for the next piece and give a more obvious and detailed idea of what the
performance in going to entail and what the outcome is going to be. Also having
a piece of text in mind that you want to use and then extracting certain parts
and collaborate them together with your own ideas to turn it into something
different. Using the text as a guideline will help you have a starting point
from which the basis of the piece can then progress further and new ideas are
created from that first part of the text. Director Katie Mitchell likes to
research the writer of the piece she is performing to get a better
understanding of and background knowledge of the play, to see where the
inspiration from the writer has come from that then relates through the play
itself.
Physical theatre is
also another technique that is a very effective way of portraying a particular
scene or emotion but in a completely different way and can add a contrast to
the overall piece as it brings something completely different to the way of performing
which a lot of audiences aren’t used to. Physical theatre can be anything so
you don’t have to be skilled in dance and movement to be able to perform it to
the best of its ability. Simple movements can be just as effective as huge
lifts and back flips if rehearsed properly and there is discipline to the
technique.
Frantic Assembly theatre
company created Chair Duets which “present a very physical scene of touches,
embraces, flirtations, rejections or placed at a quite a mesmerising speed. For
it to work best we have found that it pays to withhold this information , this
context, as it gets in the way of the participants achieving the speed this
scene requires. If the task for them is just to achieve the choreography as
fast and cleanly as they can they will not get bogged down in acting the
context”. Chair duets is something I have performed before and found very
interesting in my point of view from someone who never really did a lot of
heavy based physical theatre, whereas this in particular was something
completely different, by using simple movements to convey a certain
relationship you want to show with your partner in the piece, you are in unison
with one another, have every move defined and sharp, once sped up is very
effective and eye catching to watch.
When we first started
the process of EDGE all we knew was that it was about the edge and it had to be
thirty minutes long. First we came together as a group and discussed and wrote
down different ideas we wanted to portray in the performance and what we wanted
our piece to entail; a comedy with a hint of seriousness, a play within a play,
base part of the characters on ourselves. At first when we took what we had on paper
and put them into practise, we chose to do a play within a play and base the
characters on parts of ourselves and just intensify those characteristics. It
worked at first but as we tried to move forward and progress the ideas just
didn’t make sense and there was no justification as to why the scenes in
particular would happen. We wanted certain parts to be quite natural and
improvised and different every time we did it, but they just seemed more acted and
un-natural than ever. The play became boring and had no real purpose so we
decide to scrap the ideas altogether and start fresh.
The inspiration for
our EDGE piece was due to Josh T really, as he wasn’t present at the time the
new idea came about, it was just us four girls. So we thought why not have the
piece based on four women and the empowerment of having women be the centre of
the piece driving it forward. As we wrote down a few ideas, we got it up on its
feet straight away using the ideas we had written down as a basis and then
improvising the scenes that then lead to inspiration for the next. The initial
idea was the have four chairs on stage, but using them in more creative ways
than just to sit on them, have different levels, so as an audience member it
created an instant picture with us all there in different positions. The more
we just acted on impulse and went with it the ideas just began to flow and
within two hours we had practically created the whole play, compared to doing
two scenes in a whole week. The motivation to complete the piece was there as
the ideas had structure and there was an underline reason that drove the play
forward.
To conclude I feel
that devised performance is one of the most beneficial ways in which an actor
can truly show their potential and their express their skills of imagination
and improvisation. I believe that you cannot function as an actor without being
able to improvise it’s the very basis of what acting is and where the best
ideas I feel come from any great performance. Devising is about being able to have
a general idea of what you want to illustrate and then having the skills to
improvise the performance and then using the techniques obtained to give it
structure and discipline to transform it into a proper well thought of
performance.
EDGE gave us the
opportunity to put what we have learnt into practise, applying techniques e.g.
back to the audience, projection, objection and outcomes for the scene and give
a good performance solely formed from what was in our minds all along. But
using our imaginations and collaborate together to figure out what works, what
doesn’t and finding the balance between having really good ideas and having a
platform in which the performance can grow and improve each rehearsal and
identify what is needed to make it better and a worthy performance. For future
reference I would definitely make sure to not have too many ideas at once as
there just isn’t enough of a structure to have them all make sense within the
same story. Be constructive to identify when I don’t understand a particular
reason for a scene, have an idea and got with it because if it goes wrong you
can always try and again and correct it, trial and error. I have learnt that
inspiration does come from anywhere so once I know I am doing something like
this again, I know to take note of what’s around me as that particular morning
when I am on the train and I hear a conversation that could make for a really
interesting performance. I feel that I am good at gathering ideas and applying
them with techniques but sometimes I struggle with polishing everything off and
going from it being a good piece to a great piece. I think EDGE has helped me
identify that in myself and realise and think more about the objectives and
motives within a scene, instead of just having a scene because it’s funny.
Research the possibilities of what makes a performance worth watching and how
to captivate the audience with what you want to portray.
Bibliography
Websites
Books
Mitchell, Katie
(2009) The Director’s Craft. London
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