Introduction to Physical Theatre/Devising Techniques

Thparentageic Tookchair duet se B..I quite a ifroutinout-

To stmovements ng gyms le themackled the. otentpartner and Ire hapmostlity ofbeats tfocuscatrongly f hugely ow while thslightly with yyr sessimusic  tromed tproductionossithe styk narratives.TAlthough itgled with levles Frantic  the onxing the vinving and limitedto avoid clicmovements h they really did not want to have. Theyoutso had trouble with their highly trained dancers as they just didn't posess the nature of boxers so needed a lot of training.

They faced a lot of problems with cliche still and they did not want it. They found that whatever story they looke into would end up being cliched. Boxer gets better, boxer gets hurt, boxer wins something, boxer has tensions with trainer- all cliches.

Another thing they struggled with was the idea of  the damage they boxers and the boxing would have on people. They had to look into what was still moral and what was too far by interviewing doctors, trianers etc... and doing a lot of research. They did a lot of rsearch into the morality of boxing- 'Blood Sport or Nobel Art?' finding some shocking results that put quite a few of their team's ideas of boxing into a different light.

Creating the Image-
In order to creat the strong image that the poster for Beautiful Burnout portrays, they found a specalist underwater photogpraher through The National Theatre of Scotland and were able to plan their ambitious shoot throught this. They decided to create this image due to the fact that they wanted to create a feeling of weightlessness to the normally very grounded boxer. It took them over 500 shots and 7 hours to get it but they did eventually get the shots they wanted.





The Training-
Going into it, Frantic Assembely new the physicality of the piece was essential. They needed the audience to believe that these dancers weren't dancers at all but were infact boxers themselves. They required 6 months to train the cast, which they agree was a lot, but felt authenticy was vital with this play and so pushed their cast members a lot. Below, for example, is the notes of one cast members' warm up from the first week. This is what Frantic Assemnely felt was nessicary in order to get everyone fitter, into shape and looking and thinking like boxers...

Taqi Session - Week 1

Start

- Kevin Warm up

- moving joints on the stop to get blood flowing

- Feet hip width apart, flicking 'coins' whilst throwing, jabs,

crosses, hooks. Isolate one side - Left jab, left hook, left

uppercut only then right jab, hook, uppercut.

Skipping

3 minutes

on clock. 1-2-1-2 rhythm only

3 minutes

on clock. 30 seconds 1-2-1-2 rhythm, 30 seconds

right leg in the air as close to your chest as possible. 30 seconds

back to 1-2-1-2 rhythm, 30 seconds left leg in the air as close

to chest. Repeat every 30 seconds for full 3 minute duration.

NO BREAK

- Straight into burpees - 5 right leg only burpees,

5 left leg only burpees then 5 normal burpess

1 minute rest

Abs/Press up session (Minimum break between routines about

15 secs)

- Lying down, lower back pressed into ground raise feet 6 inches

and hold for 20 seconds

- With the left leg still extended bring right leg towards chest 10

times then swap and keep the right leg extended and bring the

left leg towards chest 10 times, then both legs in/out 10 times

towards the chest.

15 sec rest

Press ups - 5 wide with right leg in the air, 5 left leg in the air,

5 normal

15 sec rest

Lying flat on back, back engaged with the floor, arms extended

long behind your head, come up and bring your right knee up to

meet your chest, repeat using alternate legs 15 reps each leg.

15 sec rest

- Lying down, lower back pressed into ground raise feet 6 inches

and hold, from where you are bring your neck up and down 10

times like your nodding keeping your legs extended and off the

ground.

- No break straight into plank with right leg raised for 10 secs,

then swap and raise left leg for 10 secs then normal plank for

10 secs. Take further by bringing your elbows forward 12 inches

past your eyes and holding for another 10 secs

15 sec rest

Press ups - right arm in close to body, left arm out in wide press

up position - 5 reps. Swap over, left arm close to body, right arm

out in wide press up position - 5 reps. Normal press ups - 5

reps.

15 sec rest

- Lying down, lower back pressed into ground raise feet 6 inches

and hold for 20 seconds

Boxing (3 minutes at each station)

3 at each bag

2 on each pad

Bag Work - 30 secs jab, 30 secs cross. One holds bag, one

punches one does 30 Secs hill sprints. Hill sprints - go into

press up position legs extended and bring alternate legs to chest

like your running.

Pad Work - 30 sec jab, 30 secs cross, 30 secs left hook.

NO BREAK - straight into 10/15 press ups

1 Minute Break

One from each station moves round, pad holder moves to next

station to become puncher, if working on the bag move to next

bag or move to become pad holder.

Bag Work - 30 secs left hook, 30 secs jab. One holds bag, one

punches one does 30 Secs burpees

Pad work - 30 secs jab, 30 secs jab/cross, 30 secs cross

uppercut

NO BREAK - straight into 10 super burpees. Press up when

down when you come to jump up bring knees to chest.

1 Minute break

One from each station moves round, pad holder moves to next

station to become puncher, if working on the bag move to next

bag or move to become pad holder.

Bag Work - 30 secs body head head. One holds, one punches

other 30 secs squats on the spot with arms extended out.

Pad Work - 30 Secs jab cross hook.

NO BREAK - 10 Jump Squats

WARM DOWN

- Yoga Breathing

Sitting in cross leg position right index finger closes left nostril.

Breath in deep into chest, close right nostril with right thumb

and exhale through nose. Eyes can be closed during this to

really focus in the internal. Do this for approx 20 breathes then

open eyes and move from the internal to external






The Use of Film-
They decided on a video wall to add depth and another level to their production. It showed the audiecne the context behind the characters they were seeing giving them a better sense of understanding as it captured the lives of boxers outside of the gym- this inparticaular gave the sequence more emotional depth.


The Refferee-
Another thn Frantic Assembely did a lot of research into was Refferee's as a whole. Looking at this they discovered that in some cases emotional trauma was thurust upon refferees when fights went wrong or they made mistakes. They say they 'became fascinated with the roleof the ref and how his feelings might be shattered by his work...' As a result of this they say 'this weight of responsibility and the possibility for serious and fundimental damage that exists in the boxing ring became part of our thinking for Beautiful Burnout.

What I Found to be interesting about the way Frantic explored the boxing theme was the immense amount of effort and attention to detail the theatre company put into making sure their interpretation wasn't too typical of what a bboxing situation would consist of. They really made sure their storylines for the piece weren't stereotypical so kept a sense of reality alive.

I also found their use of technology interesting as it's something fairly new to the world of theatre and here Frantic use a lot of it in their boxing piece.

Our Chair Duets, in class-

My partner and I's chair duet, the ... one on, consists of me and my partner performing a brief routine to a set of 24 beats, focused very strongly on the chairs, to a piece of music from the production in style of Frantic. 

Although it did take my partner and I quite a while to devise our movements, we did learn them fairly quickly and were happy with what the moves we came up with. We did struggle slighty with linking our movements together smoothly whilst still maintaining the high energy levels Frantic rely on all the while being limited to those 24 movements only.

However, with practice we worked out our entire routine and managed to turn out a performance that both my parnter and I were mostly pleased with.

Beautiful Burnout- Context

Notes-

• It's about boxing
• It's set in Scotland

Artic Director's Notes-

• Idea came from a ten minute visit to a world famous boxing gym in Brooklym- mesmerized by tense, energetic atmosphere- remarkable experience
• Boxing is often known as the nobel art- damage is done- can be considered a 'blood sport'- adds tension
• Had no intention of shying away from moral debate of boxing
• Dedecated people- found home in boxing- ethos of disipline and respect- also very relevant to acting
• Had boxing coaches that shared their experiences with them
• Cast put through a rigerous training routine
• Playwright= 'second to know'- 2 directors had the idea and then went and found the writer to work with
• They belive their interpretation represents the boxing world with honesty and integrity

Kindertransport Review- First Draft

Kindertransport, although about the transportation of Jewish children from the hellish Nazi Germany, focuses strongly on the versatile yet complex relationships between mothers and daughters.

The events in Germany and Manchester during both 1938 and later in 1983, via a split screen, are done simultaneously on stage as we see Eva leaving her mother in Germany (aged 9) and being forced to travel to England for safety of the Nazi's. Interwoven with this story is one of Faith leaving home, and subsequently her mother Evelyn, for University, many years later, in rural England. Like many plays, Kindertransport reveals more and more the harder you look at it. It not only tells a moving story extremely well, but also affects many audience members personally as it draws on their own life experiences.

The use of foreshadowing in the plot of Kindertransport is something portrayed well by the cast of the play. This technique is used amongst many others in order to evoke the play's central concern: how the past haunts the present. The key props on set, consisting of a small house (being the actual set), a suitcase and old photographs, foreshadow the jagged of the fragments of Eva’s memories.

The set, and the use of it, during the performance was fairly intricate. The way one set managed to transport the audience from the bare bone of a house in Germany, 1931, to the attic of a modern family's house in England with just where the performing actors were on stage and how they interacted with different parts of the set is truly marvellous.

Throughout the set alone, another layer of tension was added to the tense atmosphere already created by the narrative and the characters it featured. The use of the digital screen, portraying clouds that reflected the emotions on stage, with the likes of a calm or stormy scene depending on which part of the plot we were watching. The use of the weather was a way to add realism to the play as well as well as guiding the audience. This screen, used in the background, was a way to almost tell the audience how to interpret and how to feel about different characters and scenarios. Whilst watching what was happening on stage, members of the audience had their moods tampered so that their opinions mirrored those of the characters on stage.

The use of a split screen stage was an excellent way to show the two periods in time that our characters are from whilst also allowing the overlap in which the division was broken and the characters from the two times crossed over in some way or another. The use of the fostering mother, in the earlier years, and the Nan, in the later ones, crossing over this boundary was a way of writing the two stories as one. The use of this one character, in both times, enabled the audience to understand the complex plot to a higher extent.

In terms of the technological side of things,(disregarding the back- screen as I've discussed this previously) these were yet another component that helped to result in the success of the play. The filters on the lighting were there to set the mood for each different scene, creating a sense of warmth, with soft, yellow lighting and a sense of sadness for others, with the use of harsh and exposing lighting. The use of darkness, when the fearful character of the Ratcatcher was on stage, caused his character to strike even more fear into the hearts on the audience. Subsequently, the use of total light blackouts to express, what I think are the character of Eva/ Evelyn's panic attacks have a panicky effect on the audience.

The sound affects throughout the play are ensured to be realistic and are kept very minimal in order to emphasis this. The use of a wooden stage allows the harsh, echoing footsteps created on stage to have their own affect, hugely depending at which point of the narrative we're focusing on. The use of simple yet contrasting music is something which emphasis the mood the scene is setting, be it the distant flute based music to show reflection or the harsh pitchy music to add tension and fear.

Come the end of the play, I was left with more and more unanswered questions. The plotlines draw to a close with what appear to be ‘happy endings’(for most) but in the last few seconds the reoccurring character of the ‘Rat Catcher’, a fairy-tale character of nightmares, makes an appearance throwing all out predictions to the end off. As a result of this I was left wondering, what exactly had happened? And what could possibly happen next for these characters? Overall, I found Kindertransport to be an emotional yet complex play. Giving us a lot of information but also keeping a lot back was something it did well and as a result, it left a lot up to the imagination (linking with the fairy-tale nature of the play itself.) It offers a very personal perspective on the most destructive war in history and is very movingly told.