we presented a play very similar to the ones in paucartmabo. we prepared a ppp for this play a couple of moths ago and we finally presented it. my task for this play was costumes, it was easy to work this because we planned it and most of the costume was already in school because they did this type of presentation last year. it did fail in some aspects, neither mauricio or carlos brought their costumes complete until the day of the presentation and the costumes didnt match the design or each other.
this paucartambo plays are all about energy, it doesnt really matter what the play is about, but it has to have a very high level of energy. That was a really weak point for us, if the people from VI hadnt come to help us with the presentation it would have been a complete fail. The convention is that the presentation takes place for 3 days, we planned 3 days but because of lack of organization we did just 2 days.
our story evolved around useless authorities, we used the wayra as the authority. we did this to represent the in justice of the authorities in school and peru and the world in general, authorities are supposed to help their people, but they dont.
the 1 day i was the chola waka waka who was grazing her bull and qollas come and steal the bull from her and tie her to a pole. There is a poster of the wayra and i go and ask him for help, of course he does nothing, he is a poster, but we did this to represent the actual intention. The problems with this 1 day were not only the energy, but the amount of people there. at first i had to run through the kiosk tables with pineda (bull) but there were so many people that it was impossible to go through, other thing we didnt expect were the small kids from nido and lower school who were there, they stepped into the basketball court and run with us, it was very complicated because the mask limits your sight so it was difficult not to hit one of them with my whip. Also, the poster of the wayra flew, it was supposed to be sicked to the ground but it wasnt and by the time i was supposed to complain with him the audience could see or understand what i was doing.
the 2 day was planned to be just the V students, but we knew the energy was even lower than the 1 day so we decided to incorporate the qollas. i was again the chola waka waka who was tied in the pole and the wayra comes out with the saqras who were like the guards. the first thing i would have changed were the costumes that were horrible.
the qollas have a much higher energy than the other characters so when we did the sequence of our actions, the qollas were playing with the audience, so they didnt really payed any attention to us. that was i think the harder task of the 2 day to catch the audience attention over the qollas. i think the sequence we did in the 2 day was much better, we didnt make as much mistakes as we did in all rehearsals.
i think we did lack rehearsals, more responsibility in costumes, masks, props and scenery, and also in direction. i think we all lack organization, the costumes were not complete, the scenery wasnt complete, the masks were badly put, props were missing. over all i think more commitment would be essential, better rehearsals and more energy.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Hebras
last friday we saw a play called Hebras directed by robbie, it was performed in the school theatre.
the stage was not the regular stage, the curtains were closed leaving a closed stage inside. the chairs for the audience were in circle and the actors acted in the center and one single light illuminated the actors from above. i came late to see the play, but i was told the actors were in still picture when they got there. i know it was the same pose as like they ended, it was twist and bend, both actors crossed one over the other. They first things that come to my mind when i think of this pose is that it was very complicated to do, but the actors made it easy, the mood this brought to the atmosphere was great because you could feel the tension but at the same time you could feel the softness of the connection between them. This first image gives an idea, but not a complete concept, does this makes it an incomplete first impression? what would a good first impression require?
the play was played by two actors, a man and a woman. this gave me a hint of what the concept would be, love.
There was no speaking, it was a play without script, just like our supermarket, it all came to actions, but not face expressions because they were wearing white, plain-expression masks. The white masks were a very important factor when it came to building the atmosphere, for me it represented lack of personality, or it could be representing all human kind divided in women and men. The interaction of both characters along the play only gave me one concept, love, and indeed it was. most of the time the man was controlling the woman, making her clean, using her as a puppet, oppressing her, but there were moments were they both were free and connected with the audience and with each other only by the actions.
one thing i thought worked very well were the movement and velocity of the actions, there were tense movements followed by slow and clam ones. for example, when the man, rollie made the woman, luciana clean they played with speeds. the change of speeds really gives the actions more meaning and strength.
the meaning of the actions were supported by the sound of violins, all the play was accompanied by violins, there were short moments of tension were there was no music too, but it was most accompanied with violins. Another sound that helped with the atmosphere was the breathing of the actors, because they had a mask, we couldnt see their face expressions, but we saw a lot of body language and we kind of listened to the story by their breathing. the collide of the air coming from their mouth and nose with the mask created a lot of different sounds which i interpreted like words. there were some sobbing, breathing which heard like crying, other like laughing, other like if they were in pain. all the breathing sounds really helped with the story itself and the atmosphere.
there were no props in the play other than each other, but, the mask other than giving a meaning, it helps the audience not get distracted from the most important things in this play, which were the body expressions.
the story was very clear, it was a couple who had some problems in their relationship, like abuse which was shown when the rollie used luciana as a puppet, but there were also moments where the audience could tell how committed they were to each other, like the part when they exchanged hearts. as i said they used no props so they used their hands to represent the heart, you couls almost see the heart, they made as if they were holding the heart and pumped their fingers as if the heart was pumping. the basic key of creating a play like this i think is a lot of discipline, because it doesnt only require imagination, but a lot of physical effort to make all this actions, i could see how demanding this physical theater is, the actors ended up sweating a lot and to do this again and again while rehearsing, which it requires a lot i suppose, demands a lot of energy, discipline and effort.
the actors ended the play with the same position as they started , crossed over, mixed. it had a completely different meaning than at the beginning of the play, it was a more complete idea and understanding.
when it ended we talked with the actors and the director this helped a lot because we could ask questions, i could hear a lot of different ideas of what the play ment, that got me thinking, is it save to make a play with no words, no face expression and so not obvious, if you know that the audience will appreciate it in different ways??
the stage was not the regular stage, the curtains were closed leaving a closed stage inside. the chairs for the audience were in circle and the actors acted in the center and one single light illuminated the actors from above. i came late to see the play, but i was told the actors were in still picture when they got there. i know it was the same pose as like they ended, it was twist and bend, both actors crossed one over the other. They first things that come to my mind when i think of this pose is that it was very complicated to do, but the actors made it easy, the mood this brought to the atmosphere was great because you could feel the tension but at the same time you could feel the softness of the connection between them. This first image gives an idea, but not a complete concept, does this makes it an incomplete first impression? what would a good first impression require?
the play was played by two actors, a man and a woman. this gave me a hint of what the concept would be, love.
There was no speaking, it was a play without script, just like our supermarket, it all came to actions, but not face expressions because they were wearing white, plain-expression masks. The white masks were a very important factor when it came to building the atmosphere, for me it represented lack of personality, or it could be representing all human kind divided in women and men. The interaction of both characters along the play only gave me one concept, love, and indeed it was. most of the time the man was controlling the woman, making her clean, using her as a puppet, oppressing her, but there were moments were they both were free and connected with the audience and with each other only by the actions.
one thing i thought worked very well were the movement and velocity of the actions, there were tense movements followed by slow and clam ones. for example, when the man, rollie made the woman, luciana clean they played with speeds. the change of speeds really gives the actions more meaning and strength.
the meaning of the actions were supported by the sound of violins, all the play was accompanied by violins, there were short moments of tension were there was no music too, but it was most accompanied with violins. Another sound that helped with the atmosphere was the breathing of the actors, because they had a mask, we couldnt see their face expressions, but we saw a lot of body language and we kind of listened to the story by their breathing. the collide of the air coming from their mouth and nose with the mask created a lot of different sounds which i interpreted like words. there were some sobbing, breathing which heard like crying, other like laughing, other like if they were in pain. all the breathing sounds really helped with the story itself and the atmosphere.
there were no props in the play other than each other, but, the mask other than giving a meaning, it helps the audience not get distracted from the most important things in this play, which were the body expressions.
the story was very clear, it was a couple who had some problems in their relationship, like abuse which was shown when the rollie used luciana as a puppet, but there were also moments where the audience could tell how committed they were to each other, like the part when they exchanged hearts. as i said they used no props so they used their hands to represent the heart, you couls almost see the heart, they made as if they were holding the heart and pumped their fingers as if the heart was pumping. the basic key of creating a play like this i think is a lot of discipline, because it doesnt only require imagination, but a lot of physical effort to make all this actions, i could see how demanding this physical theater is, the actors ended up sweating a lot and to do this again and again while rehearsing, which it requires a lot i suppose, demands a lot of energy, discipline and effort.
the actors ended the play with the same position as they started , crossed over, mixed. it had a completely different meaning than at the beginning of the play, it was a more complete idea and understanding.
when it ended we talked with the actors and the director this helped a lot because we could ask questions, i could hear a lot of different ideas of what the play ment, that got me thinking, is it save to make a play with no words, no face expression and so not obvious, if you know that the audience will appreciate it in different ways??
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
supermarket
we did a small play that lasted 5 min, for the arts evening. The play was mute and in slow motion. We had to work a lot with our body and face expressions as well as with our rhythm. Because we made no use of words, our face and body had to express it all. It was hard for me to explore faces, to change my expressions for example. When it came to body language it was even more difficult for me, because of the slow motion. I had to have a balance to make all movements in slow motion and when i tried to do something like lifting one of my feet and staying standing on one foot and kneeling to the front it turn very difficult to keep balance. Other very difficult thing for me was the rhythm. All the play moved around one music that gave the sense of being under water so our movements became slow and heavy. It was difficult to keep this pace because we had to act it with other people. For example when i walked with Mauricio we had to walk at the same time, but there were moments where he did it a little bit faster, so i had to keep up with his fast pace and that is when it looked not very coordinated.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
MEDEA.... y otro calato
Medea is a greek tragedy, in this case was preformed as a more contemporary play. The characters where kept the same, with their same characteristics. The design concept was changed, it was modern, the scenery of the play was simple, it started with a very street like look with the monologue from the nodriza, they even included a cigarette. This scenery changed when the Chorus was introduced, the idea of the chorus was kept the same, the woman all dressed in white tided up to an element to keep the idea of a whole. The actors made use of the theater stage a lot, this was because the stage was very small, but i didnt like that idea, i dont like when the actors mix SO much with the audience. The costumes of the characters where also modern for example Egeo, was dressed as a motorcycle rider, with leader pants and jacket, and a huge beard. I think he was represented in that way because in the play he is presented as a traveler in this case he comes from speaking with the "horáculo". Then, the nodriza is kind of a nanny for Meda´s children and like a maid in the house, she was dressed as a secretary, with a skirt and a blazer. This all represent the greek characters in our society. Medea was dressed with a bra, broken panties , no shoes and messy hair, this would represent the humiliation and disgrace she was going through.
The lights i didnt like, at one point of the play, when the chorus was talking the lights went intense, but in yellowish tones, but it was too yellow, i would have chosen a lighter color, with more white. Then, some colors of light they used didnt contrast well with the colors of the scenery making it look awkward. The sound effects where good, there was always a background music playing, sometimes very loud and sometimes you could barley hear it, but it worked.
The monologues where sometimes heavy, the one done by the nodriza was very nicely done, she used a great intonation, intentions, and use of her body to express the feelings. Medea also worked a lot of monologues. I would have shortened some of them, because it got heavy after a while. The characters i didnt like where Jason and Creonte. They both didnt have intonation at all, it was also the same tone of voice it was very boring. They didnt have chemistry with the other characters, i think because they didnt explore enough their character in action with the others. I think they lacked a lot of character building, most of all voice and body work.
In my opinion the play would have been better if the male character would have worked more with their voice and body.
But, would the play had been lighter if, despite the character building, the monologues would have been cut?
The lights i didnt like, at one point of the play, when the chorus was talking the lights went intense, but in yellowish tones, but it was too yellow, i would have chosen a lighter color, with more white. Then, some colors of light they used didnt contrast well with the colors of the scenery making it look awkward. The sound effects where good, there was always a background music playing, sometimes very loud and sometimes you could barley hear it, but it worked.
The monologues where sometimes heavy, the one done by the nodriza was very nicely done, she used a great intonation, intentions, and use of her body to express the feelings. Medea also worked a lot of monologues. I would have shortened some of them, because it got heavy after a while. The characters i didnt like where Jason and Creonte. They both didnt have intonation at all, it was also the same tone of voice it was very boring. They didnt have chemistry with the other characters, i think because they didnt explore enough their character in action with the others. I think they lacked a lot of character building, most of all voice and body work.
In my opinion the play would have been better if the male character would have worked more with their voice and body.
But, would the play had been lighter if, despite the character building, the monologues would have been cut?
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
my kabuki play
my kabuki play is called KASANE, its original name is Kesakake Matsu Narita no Riken , it is a dance drama, this means that almost all the play is build of dances. The play has 2 main character who are Kasane, the beautiful young woman and Yoemon, the handsome young samurai. The play is about this couple who intend to die together, but when they were about to die, a skull with a sickle stuck in the eye socket floats by. Yoemon recognizes it as the very one with which he long ago slayed a man called Suke.What Yoemon doesnt know is that Suke is Kasane´s father. Two police men arrive and accuse Yoemon for the murder of Suke, as this is happening, the soul of Suke possess Kasane. Yoemon had to kill her with the sickle and then tries to flee. But her ghost beckons, then drags him back to the scene of this crime, where his dead love lays ghostly her hands on him.
Music is very important in this Kabuki plays, for example starting the play there is a stage direction that says, "A drum pattern represents a rain shower." There are no sounds which are taped, all the representations of nature sounds etc are produced a live. This is for the audience to feel the music closer to the play and to feel the vibrations of the music also helps when the audience tries to get really into the play.
Also singing is important, all the first plart of the play is sang. It is used as an introduction for the play, it speaks of love, the setting of the play, a little bit of the characters, it is all used as a type of narrator. All this is for preparing the audience get into the atmosphere.
The text is very simple, there is a plain dialogue between the characters, because what its important in Kabuki plays are the actions, which are described very well in the stage directions, also the costumes and make-up.
The actions are very repeated. Very often the characters say something and then act it, this in our type of theater would look bad, is called "mantequilla sobre grasa", we look to avoid it, in Kabuki they look to do it. For example: "I had not a hint of the true deepness of your heart." (He holds his hands at his chest, suggesting his heart.)
I think they do so because they want for the audience to understand the important actions, like this one.
This is the reason why the choreography is so important, almost all the play is represented more than through words, but through actions. The actors have to be also dancers, all they say have to be somehow represented by difficult actions.
I think the choreography part will be the difficult part next year with the play...
Music is very important in this Kabuki plays, for example starting the play there is a stage direction that says, "A drum pattern represents a rain shower." There are no sounds which are taped, all the representations of nature sounds etc are produced a live. This is for the audience to feel the music closer to the play and to feel the vibrations of the music also helps when the audience tries to get really into the play.
Also singing is important, all the first plart of the play is sang. It is used as an introduction for the play, it speaks of love, the setting of the play, a little bit of the characters, it is all used as a type of narrator. All this is for preparing the audience get into the atmosphere.
The text is very simple, there is a plain dialogue between the characters, because what its important in Kabuki plays are the actions, which are described very well in the stage directions, also the costumes and make-up.
The actions are very repeated. Very often the characters say something and then act it, this in our type of theater would look bad, is called "mantequilla sobre grasa", we look to avoid it, in Kabuki they look to do it. For example: "I had not a hint of the true deepness of your heart." (He holds his hands at his chest, suggesting his heart.)
I think they do so because they want for the audience to understand the important actions, like this one.
This is the reason why the choreography is so important, almost all the play is represented more than through words, but through actions. The actors have to be also dancers, all they say have to be somehow represented by difficult actions.
I think the choreography part will be the difficult part next year with the play...
Sunday, October 17, 2010
KABUKI!!!
Japanese theater, Kabuki is all about actions. I haven´t deeply researched about it yet, but i know that the text is very simple and basic. The actors have to have extravagant costumes, and in most cases make-up and wigs. The main theme all the plays share are spirits, warriors, a little romance and fights. All the fights in Kabuki are choreographed, almost all the play is choreographed, i will be in charge of this on the play of next year. The costume and the choreography come hand with hand when it comes to production. That is what i am basing my research on. It depends a lot on the fabric and design of the costume with the dances and steps of the choreography to work.
All Kabuki plays are very visual, they have to have a lot of colors, big impacting images like scenery and props. Usually this plays need a runway extension on the stage for the characters to dance.
I have a lot more research to make, focusing more on costumes and dancing.
All Kabuki plays are very visual, they have to have a lot of colors, big impacting images like scenery and props. Usually this plays need a runway extension on the stage for the characters to dance.
I have a lot more research to make, focusing more on costumes and dancing.
Monday, October 11, 2010
the stumulus i choose was the planetary system. I have thought of two similar stories i could use for my PPP.
the story has two options, one is a family of 1o people counting the sun, i havent create the story completely, the other option is use the little mermaid story, because she has a lot of sister and i could apply the planets characteristics to each mermaid.
as the picture shows, i would like to use each planet to represent one person, this person will acquire the characteristics of the planet. For example, the person which embodies the sun will be called Summer, or Sam, it will be warm and eccentric because the sun is hot and the biggest star. Or saturn, i wanted to do this person down, because is so different to all the rest with its huge ring.
i havent thought well about the story itself, but i think it will be staged on the countryside, and the family doesnt have a lot of money.it will be a way of presenting theatre based on the theorist Stanislavski's ideas.
the story has two options, one is a family of 1o people counting the sun, i havent create the story completely, the other option is use the little mermaid story, because she has a lot of sister and i could apply the planets characteristics to each mermaid.
as the picture shows, i would like to use each planet to represent one person, this person will acquire the characteristics of the planet. For example, the person which embodies the sun will be called Summer, or Sam, it will be warm and eccentric because the sun is hot and the biggest star. Or saturn, i wanted to do this person down, because is so different to all the rest with its huge ring.
i havent thought well about the story itself, but i think it will be staged on the countryside, and the family doesnt have a lot of money.it will be a way of presenting theatre based on the theorist Stanislavski's ideas.
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