Le Concrete

When asked why are we exploring commedia and not tragedy with the chorus work and improvs, Arianne thought for a moment and said, "because in this form the imposter can not exist".  We see right away if you are not listening or being false...when we "act" in tragedies, one can hide behind emotions... you can fake it.  In the extremes we see what is concrete.

The last days here have been increadible.  I've seen improvisations with over 50 people and they all flew!  They were on magic carpets!!  You could only believe it if you saw it, here is a video attached, but it doesn't do it full justice!  Really, here is the only place in the world where this could ever be possible.  

On the very last day we all came out in groups of the countries we represented and gave a law of theatre from our country.  It was amazing to see the 45 different countries represented.  I went with India, because there was only one girl and she was shy to go alone.  Our law, was if you want to be on stage you must always have joy, "soyez toujours Ravi!" which means, always be happy... and it is also my name.

It is difficult to write about what has happened over the last few days and what I have been able to see and be part of.  The lessons I have learned, seen and experienced.  Watching this company and feeling part of it has been a dream come true and something i hope to share with you in person when we next meet.  There are rumours of being asked to stay a bit longer here... i am not sure what will happen, but i will be sure to keep you posted.  I have made many friends here and i know that it won't be long before i see them again!

I hope these photos are able to communicate the world i have been fortunate to be part of...

Don't squish the butterfly!

The last two days we've gone deeper into the improvisations.  This week she is trying to "see" the people she hasn't had a chance to see yet, which has been great, because we are seeing a lot of different people deal with the struggles of being on the stage.  The stage is different, as there is now padded carpet laid down, so that people can do flips and rolls... commedia is exciting!

We've been watching Arianne work with each group in detail in the same way as i have written about before.  I'll just make note of some very interesting things that came up... keep in mind, that just to watch her work, the way she is able to observe and help people play, and afford opportunities for growth for everyone in the room is something remarkable.  Also, the actors of the company are amazing at just jumping in, and helping a situation by performing, or as we saw yesterday, they did a group improv of 10 people, and it was amazing... today too! you'll see the pics.  Below are a bunch of quotes and the contexts they were in:

She has been speaking a lot about the honesty and generosity of the actor, and being able to live through a situation on stage.  We talked a lot about style and form, as we are playing in a physically engaged way, that is not realistic.  Arianne said, "When a painter wants to paint an apple, he doesn't take the apple and glue it to the canvas!"  "it is REAL, but not like in REALITY".   

"Theatre is biological.  As actors you are performing an autopsy to find the symptoms of the sickness.  If there is no sickness of the soul, then there is no need for drama."

"The fear of a snake is not the same as the fear of a tiger, or the fear of losing a lover... it is important to be specific and not generalize"

"Playing, we must listen, it is like a delicate butterfly, it lands in your hand and you have to be careful to not squish it.  If you squeeze to tight, the gift is destroyed.  It is the same when you play.  Don't will for something to happen,  you have to let yourself  be played."

"To look at someone is already an action.  Observe, recieve, LISTEN!  it is like they say in tennis, Keep your eye on the ball!"

If you look at the photos you can see there is a large yellow curtain at the very back of the space.  When it opens and closes it is pretty impressive, as the material, when it shakes, can give the feeling that it is scared, or angry, or calm... it too has an etat, just like the actor, it can play too!  

A lot of the time i am really blown away by the companies real research into what we are doing, which is playing.  How do we play?  What are the rules and how does it work?  That is what we are really looking at with each pass of each group.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, and the resluts are concrete, we may not be able to articulate why, but we can feel it.  Two improvs which were illuminating:

Two girls came out and they were trying to sneak accross the stage with a bomb.  It didn't work and Arianne called up some actors from the company to join in.  There were five women working together.  The game which started to form was that the leader would say something like, "what is the plan?", then no. 2 would pass the same message to no. 3, no.3 to no.4 and no. 4 to no.5.  It would pass up and down the line and it became like an Abbot and Costello routine.  It took some time to find it and actually play it, but once they found it, a fire lit in their eyes, and the audience was with them.  They could have stayed there for 20 minutes like that.  What was amazing, was that I could see the moment where they accepted the game that was happening, and they stopped trying to add to it or take away from it.  The rhythm took over and allowed them to play.  It felt at one point, when they clicked, I could see them let go and i could see the game playing, not them.  They were more relaxed and free, and the game itself did the work.  It was a great lesson.  I use the image of firing an elastic band from your fingers like a gun.  Just a simple move of your pinky, effortlessly, releases the elastic in the air, and it goes for as long as it can go, till you have to take another elastic and just let go.  It is what i felt throughout the improv i had on friday, when we found ourselves in situations where we stopped thinking ahead, and let ourselves be where we were.  The game played for us.

The other improv, was a group of women who came out and proposed a forced marriage situation.  It didn't work and we were not sure why.  Arianne admitted she was stuck, but wanted to search and try to articulate why.  The company got together to propose a way to unstick the situation.  It took some time as we discussed in the room, she discussed with the company, they went off and changed into costumes.  Arianne, turned to the room and said, "I want us to go through this process to show you that even we get stuck.  We all have dark moments in the process.  Those moments when we bump our noses against something that we can't see what is in front of us."  She paused and the room started talking, as we waited for the actors...she could sense a lower energy in the room and said, "It is in these times of darkness, when we most need positivity.  A spirit of research and willingness to go."  And what emerged was a beautful improv of 30 people.  They were split in two, a man (behind him his famliy), a woman (behind her her family) and the priest in the middle.  They played a chase, where the two families chased after both the man and woman (trying to force them to marry)...as the improv progressed, the ring fell to the ground and her true lover appeared and placed the ring on her... This is the fast forward of it, as you really had to be there to see it.  But what was amazing about it was there were 30 people, all playing together allowing the story to unfold and giving each other the space to play.  They were working through the problem together, and it really felt like everyone in the room was together in that search.

It was a level of complicite that i don't think i have experienced.  The enchantment of this place is overwhelming.  I find myself constantly surprised by things here, and firmly believe that it goes back to the care that is taken to respect and maintain the space.  The conditions are heightened so that poetry can be posed down onto the stage.  the rituals, the cermony and respect, all allow for another world to take place, for a different kind of experience.  And i am so fortunate to be here to experience it.

In the Moment!

(Pictured above Marco (italy), Nir (Israel), Me

It has been an amazing time being able to watch Arianne work with the actors while they perform, both people in the workshop and the actors from Theatre Du Soleil.  It has been even more amazing to be able to spend time with her and have her work with me!

First off, we are now in improvisations which involve being in costumes!  So so so so so so cool.  They have many costumes here, including wigs and turbans, and swords... You can be from Japan, India, Persia, Iraq, Afghanistan... not to wear it in a silly way, but rather, to be people from these places and from other time periods.  It is so much fun!!  And it helps to us to be able to play.

Now, we were asked to get into groups and devise a small piece around the theme of "the Dictator".  Some groups were 6 people, others were 10...we were 15, which was way way too big.  At any rate, since we are so many she only called out the names of the people whose groups she wanted to see for the day.  Inevitably not everyone was going to be able to perform. 

She placed a lot of emphasis on the beginning moments of a scene, and the first character or charcters who entered.  If you don't begin right, then you can't continue.  Also, if you are the first character or characters to enter, you MUST be able to exist on stage.  that is to say, don't just come on and wait for the next person to come in.  Come in and be able to stay there as long as you can...what if the actor you are expecting has fainted?  You must be able to come in with enough fire to last throughout the whole night!  And you must have a rhythm, or an internal music that is alive!  It makes a difference believe me!

The way it works is that your group goes up.  If you are many, the chorus of players waits along the side patiently until the right moment to enter.  She stopped many people and their situations and tried to help find ways to allow them to play.  In some cases it worked, in others it didn't.  In some cases, people on the sides, who were in the same group but were meant to enter later, didn't get a chance to come on.  When people complained, she said, it isn't about whether you play or not, it is if the scene needed you there, if the story called you onstage.  In this case it didn't call for you.  You must be humble and accept and be generous, the story is what is important, not you.

Arianne has an amazing eye, and is able to notice details which put yourself in your own way.  Simple things like the placement of a hand, which is actually getting in your own way from playing the situation or having more discoveries.  A great example was a group who came out dressed as Japanese soldiers.  1 Leader and 3 followers.  The situation was that the leader was given a written message saying that God had granted him the right to have any woman he wanted.  They entered and slowly started to find some play, as there was a lot of confusion with the leaders suggestions and the followers reactions and the actors began to play with it.  As they progressed the leader pulled out the message (mimed).  It was a tiny scroll and to read it she took a very wide stance and squinted her face close to the mimed small scroll.  Arianne, said "I think that it would be better if you were to close your feet together".  The actor then put her feet side by side, making her body smaller, as she read the small note...she continued to play and squished her face getting smaller and smaller as she read the note.  When she announced what it said, her lips we puckered from being small, so you couldn't understand what she said... it was very very funny!  THEN, she started to celebrate using small gestures and small movements with her eyebrows.  SO Funny... from that small adjustment, she was able to take the inital proposition of the small scroll to a much further extreme.  And it gave her mates on stage a lot to play with as well.  Arianne, was saying "you have to find liberty in the constraints you propose".  If you offer yourself constraints and go with them, it will serve you to play longer.  This lazzi went on for like 15 minutes... it was so funny.

When my group was asked up, we were a very large group.  Our scenario was that I was in love with the dictator's daughter, and i've come to thier garden with my two brothers to get her and flee the country.  There was me and the 2 brothers, a chorus of guards with the dictator and the girl and a chorus of her servants and sisters... it, like any improv, of course changed...

We started with my entrance with the brothers.  We made it appear as if i was climbing over a large wall to sneak into the garden and then i would let the brothers in through a door.  I jumped in and made sure to take the time to see the space, and really see the garden i was in.  the boys ended up downstage in front of the audience, waiting in front of an imaginary door.  I called to them using animal sounds and they responded doing the same and it became a funny game (kind of like the three amigos).  then I tried to open the door, but the two of them were sitting in front of it, so it couldn't open (this was all mimed and we played it)...I kept making animal sounds to make them understand, and they responded in animal sounds not understanding.  It was very funny, and Arianne would get us to hold at points to help us figure out the construction of the game.  Simple details she would make about positions of our bodies made a huge difference as to how we played the game.

As we progressed, she told me that, "il faut que tu dessin ton corps" (you have to draw your body), which is to say you have to be more precise, and draw the shape of your body as if you were drawing a picture.  So she gave me a similar constraint of keeping my feet together and being more straight.  It unlocked so many more physical possibilities for me to play!  Something simple, we were bent in close to whisper and conspire, i had to bend down with my feet together, so i was crouched with my knees open to the side, Marco, bent over without bending his knees and Nir leaned in sideways.  All of a sudden our 3 bodies took on a whole other shape together, that caused a reaction from the audience.  Then when there, she said to me, your hands, "dessin tes mains" (draw your hands) so I tried things and then she said "lay them on the air", so i laid them flat out (as if i was miming that there was a table in front of me) and again, that shape, caused a reaction from the audience.  And then, more importantly, it gave the 3 of us, SO MUCH MORE TO PLAY WITH, for the next 5 minutes, we unlocked all kinds of physical play between us, again, exploring the moment we found ourselves in.  Then, we ended up in a situation where we were thinking about what we were supposed to do.   From the crouched position we ended up sitting straight, feet pointed straight to the audience, sitting upright, feet together!  And we were thinking... She got us to play with our eyes in iscolation.  As if we were thinking only with our eyes.  Then with only our mouth.  I want to see you think with your mouth!!!  The reaction from the audience was a huge roar of laughter! 

She turned to them and said, "you have to know your tools!  They can spend hours here, just moving their eyes... or searching for answers with their lips!"  Later in the day she mentioned, most of the time at Soleil, they think about doing the minimum for the maximum.  How can the smallest things have the biggest results/effects.

I wanna throw in here, that we are performing for some 400-450 people here, which is the most amazing experience and energy.  To feel their laughter, to connect with them and feel them going on this journey with us is really something that fills me up on that stage.  also, and this goes back to the way they treat the space and being up there, i've never felt the kind of energy that that plateau gives.  When you take that time of respect before even getting up on stage, then crossing the line... having the gods in your thoughts... it really makes you seek another level.

So, we're playing and its going very well, passing the ball between us, we were a very good trio and found a lot together... then the other group entered and it was stopped.  Arianne was inspired and two female actors from theatre du soliel jumped up, got into costumes and started to play with us... she then constructed an idea very quickly of 2 females who came to the garden looking for their lovers, 2 male who came looking for them...and then us 3 who were stuck in the middle.  We had fun playing with the confusion of running around in the garden with hedges, hiding behind trees etc...  It was a blast!!  I can't express it to you and do it justice.  But to be in her hands, in front of her eyes, we really were free up there.

It is a lot of fun, because as you play she'll throw in music, or she will get enthusiastic and call out things to you, "yes YES!" "NO NO" "Its There!  Push there!"  and she is like a kid, she plays along with you up there.  I really felt like i could do anything, cause i knew she had us supported, she'd provoke and play along!  

She asked us if we felt a difference when we were playing and when she provoked us.  I realized that it she made us stop thinking, and looking for what is going to happen next.  She poked us and allowed us to live really in the moment and play what we were doing, calmly, with no rush to go to the next part of the story.  it would come when it was time for it to come.  I felt it.  I loved it.  I want to live there, cause i was truly free.  WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!  We were playing at that imaginary door for at least 15 minutes, making animal sounds... squeezing it for all it was worth.  If you make a proposition, play it.  Really play it, and give it the time it needs.

The actors from the company are fantastic.  They are ready to help us with anything and always rushed to help get us into costumes and get us ready.  They are so generous and completely at the service of what is going on.  It is very inspiring.  Also to watch them play and to play with them.  Again, it inspires in me the desire to want to reach that level.  To play at that level, with that sincerity and generosity.  They too embody the whole spirit of this place.  They are really great role models.

It was a great way to end an amazingly fantastic week!  

Oh, one more cool thing.  There were two young actors who were having trouble, and Arianne asked two of her company members to go up there and the younger actors were thier shadows.  The actors played and the younger one's followed along, to get into the rhythm to find their play.  She said they often work this way as a company, where the shadow follows the actor, and then they switch... or a character will have many shadows and at any point they could switch.  The shadow has to find the same state, physical position and life that the actor is finding.  It was very cool to see how it freed them from themselves, and once set loose, they were a lot more free. 

Next week i think we enter the world of the commedia with masks, and then Bali too!  I wish this could go on for a lot longer, but i will enjoy this moment and be sure to be in it.

La Vision

The last 3 days have been filled with immense revelations and i've needed time to absorb... so here is a summary/amalgamation of the last 3 amazing days.

The energy and the way the actors of this company bring to the space is amazing.  I've written about all of the rituals around entering the space, and the focus that they all bring.  It really creates an environment which is able to allow "something else" to happen on stage.  By something else, i mean, something that isn't banal, or everyday life.  It is heightened, and our imaginations truely engaged... more than anywhere i have ever been.  Arianne says, this respect and energy is vital to creating theatre.  We are and must always stay as kids playing and beleiving in castles and royal kingdoms, and to do so, to really do so, we must create the right circumstances to allow ourselves to do so.

That is what this whole place does.  It allows the actor to let go of themselves, their baggage, thier "actorness" and become once again enchanted with theatre.  To be inspired to be free again and play.  These last three days, i have experienced and witnessed what makes Arianne so great.   She embodies that philosophy.  When she works, she is able to unlock people from thier heads, and is constantly helping people to allow themselves to play.  So first step, is, once you enter the grounds of the Cartoucherie, you are filled with a certain magic... that is only the beginning... She quoted Eugenio Barbara, "People crave traditions" (something like that, forgive me cause i am also trying to translate and also try to remember...) and then she went on to say, that is why we adopted the traditions of a lot of theatres from the east.  It is where theatre comes from, Iraq, Iran, India, Japan, China etc... If you allow yourself and dare to adopt someone's traditions, and try them on, in doing so you invite other traditions to be born, they are creating in you existing and embracing another.  

She spoke on Day 3 about the importance of needing to support each other in the theatre.  Some people would have success and some would have failures as they got up on stage and it was imparative that we be concious of how we treat each other.  Don't dare take away someone having the feeling of existing on stage, for even a second, good or bad.  In the theatre we are "the man in the corner" like in a boxing match.  We are there to serve to other actor, the story, we need to take care of each other and support.  It really struck me, how she emphasised it, and again, i felt people sit taller, realize what she was saying and take it in.  The energy in the room, again, raised another level.  Not because we were being told to, but rather because it made sense.  Don't burn my star out to make yours shine brighter...

She has also put a lot of emphasis on the actor's vision.  They have to really see whatever it is they are looking at, or else we will not see it and it will be false.  If you are in an empty space and are not truly engaged and seeing an open field, we will not see it.  I felt this first hand in that improvisation when i led the chorus, i actually saw the things i was engaging with and it felt I was in that moment.  A great story she told was of one of her actors Juliana and how when they were doing Tartuffe, she played Dorine.  At one point two characters had left her on stage waiting, and she was standing still looking after them, and Arianne was blown away, it was so moving.  Out of curiosity, Arianne asked, "i see you seeing something, and i am curious, what was it".  Juliana said, "I am looking down a long road and i see two young girls coming towards me in pink dresses..." and she described a vivid scene she was seeing.  She was alive on stage, not just there, and it filled her with an emotional life and allowed her to exist on stage.

We had a large discussion about the idea of adopting cultures, as there was an improv of chorus with a Japanese actor leading to Japanese music and it became stylized and "japoneserie" (border line mocking).  She was saying that theatre involves a voyage/Travel.  When we look at something we can look at it closely (bring the paper to your face) or we can look at it from afar (hold the paper at arms length to examine it).  Sometimes when we look at it from a far, we are able to see it from a different way.   You have to be brave and risk to pass through "Japaneserie" in order to create a new vision of a new imaginative space.  If you don't dare to go there, you will never unlock another world.  You have to do it with respect, intellegence and rebellion and with an extreme naivite, which allows you to be open to discover things anew.  At the end of the day, you are always looking for truth.   This inspired me immensely as i have an idea i want to do, and now, will do!  If anyone from Stratford is reading, please expect a call from me soon...

I will write another blog about the improvs we have been doing, the costumes we've been wearing and how amazing it has been (i feel i've never played so well and had so much fun on stage!!) and how she has been working with the actors... I wish you could just be here to see it!

There are numerous things she says that i could quote... but i am still processing them and this blog would end up being a book...which i am not the person to be writing it... 

Day 2: What a day!

I woke up and was a little sluggish to get out of bed.  I just missed the first metro i have to take, then i just missed the next one at the transfer... I told myself it was going to be a good day regardless and that i needed to shake the slug off for it to be a good day.  I arrived at where the bus was to take us to the cartoucherie and saw the driver was not there, though the bus was at the stop.  I had just enough time to grab a cafe to go at the local cafe and board the bus... things were looking up!

Day 2:  Ariane announced that we would be working on the chorus today, and that she would only be working with half of the group today.  The group is arranged in alphabetical order by first name... so i was in the second half and not supposed to perform today.

Everyone made groups of 14, boys and girls were separate.  The choruses were to be led by members of Theatre du soliel.  One actor of their actors was choryphee (chorus leader) and the group would follow them as they moved along with the music that was playing.  She said, we don't know, but maybe, MAYBE one of you will be able to play choryphee... we have to wait and see if it happens....

It was great cause she said, "I have no idea what will happen today, this is how i start.  I start and I look.  I wait to see what will happen".

Watching her work with every group she is so precise in her observations and very patient to allow things the time and space it needs... (on a side note, at one point we returned from a break and she "shhhshed" the crowd asking for silence, which she then went on to say: silence is space.  It is giving the space for something to happen, allowing room for something to breath.  That generosity and attention is what an audience gives at the start of a show)  There was a lot of talk today about starting.  How do you begin?  how you need to be ready before you enter the stage, not two steps in.

She worked with the groups, playing with two different choruses at the same time.  She focused on the etat (state) of the actors playing, the emotions they played, the connection of having 14 people playing at the same time, where people were looking, the internal rhythm...exploring the distance between the chorus and the choryphee, finding stops and not dancing.

"It isn't about what the music is speaking of...but rather what it could speak of that is important"

"you have to refuse to do the thing you think you want to do and in the tension of that refusal, you will let go and be free to do the thing that needs to be done".

Again, we were watching her explore and research, figuring out ways in which to help the actors play better.  She spoke to one of her actors who was having difficulty and remarked that he was too tense and full of emotion.  If you are too full, you are not able to receive any more, you have to stay open to everything around you and be able to recieve it.

After lunch, we continued to work through all the groups, and she asked the group, is there anyone who would like to attempt to try and be a choryphee.  A handful of hands went up, one was mine, however another said "ME!" and he was chosen.  He went up and led the chorus of men.  It was very hard to do.  She stopped him once, saying it was too much dance, and he was a virtuoso, but that it is more important that his group is able to follow him.  He went one more time and she stopped again, making very clear observations as to why it wasn't building and how it kept falling into dance, whereas our search was to find charcters in emotional states and situations with a chorus.  As she was making her comments, i was listening, and as she turned around...just as she was finished speaking I stood up.  she was about to ask if anyone wanted to try again and saw me and said "yes, Ravi, go."

My heart pounded as i made my way down to the stage!  I took off my shoes, and sweater (we're wearing layers cause it is cold in there) and ran up to take my place.  One of the actors from the company who was holding the curtains, put her hand on my chest and said, "stay calm".  I think i was so full of energy and ready to go that i must have looked nervous... I was fucking nervous!  The music began and I entered with the chorus behind me.  I was half dancing, half searching for the emotion and situation, but having an amazing time!  I felt the audience reacting, i was playing with the music and had the force of the group behind me.  I noticed Mme. Mnouchkine was getting the actors from the company to form a chorus to enter while we played, so i positioned myself in time with the music and looked in their direction for them to enter.  She screamed to them "NOW! enter! now now, its the time!".  As they came in, we played a little and then she stopped us.  I was out of breath.

She complimented us, commenting that i fell in and out of the dance, but there was so much joy and pleasure, that the search and struggle was interesting to watch.  She could see the potential for the drama to emerge as the two choruses met, and that maybe they could fall in love or something.  The point was she could see a drama could be borne.  She asked us to go again, and for us to search.

This time i was more calm, came out and forced myself to not dance and find the situation.  Somehow i found myself improvising with the music shaking imaginary hands and kissing imaginary babies.  It was funny and fun to play and when the other chorus entered we played well.  When it was over i was on cloud nine.  I felt so free and had a great time up there and was proud of myself.  I played well!  It was nice because people here are so supportive that i got many hugs and pats on the back throughout the rest of the day!  I am humble enough to know that today was just now in this moment, and that i have to be focused and ready for a new day...but i will enjoy it a little more before i head to bed.

I've been thinking a lot about why I am here and how much i am learning simply by just being here, let alone playing and watching Ariane work.  She said, "the choryphee unites the chorus".  He/She drives it and allows them to be free and themselves because there is that structure, which he/she leads.  He/She is there for them, and they are there for him/her.

watching her work specifically with her own actors you realize that she is the choryphee for this chorus, troup, ensemble.  She is outside pushing, focusing, organizing, helping them to seek another level of performance and focus and energy within themselves, and they are there to inspire her and question and push her back.  This relationship and dynamic is so important to the artistic process and to be able to create.  You need someone to push you, who is there for you and whom you can be there for.  So there is a purpose, a need.

She ended the day by answering questions.  One of which was that this workshop is about improvisation, but also masked play.  Playing in a truthful way that is masked.  The chorus is a mask.  We will also be playing with the masks of Bali and Commedia, which i can not wait for!

I have seen her work with people only in video and it was some of the best acting lessons i have ever seen.  

Ca commence

today we arrived for the first day after the selection.  In all we are about 350 people, about 250 performers and a hundred auditors.  It is really insane at how many people we are, but it is quite an amazing experience performing in that space with a full house!!!

The day started with some amazing inspirations from Ariane.  She started off by saying, she was so moved by us being here, and thanked us so much for making the trek to be here.  She said, "last night i had tears in my eyes thinking what i would say to you.  I asked, who has allowed us to still be practicing theatre here today...who is responsible for this?"  (C'est grace a qui que nous sommes ici?)  She went on speaking about those French Revolutionaries who met in secret so long ago.  They met in secret and planned a new vision, a new way for France to be.  They were against all odds, and they were filled with some kind of hope, some desire for a better future, and it is this what forced them to endure the hardships and get dirty and build a new future.  To make visible to invisible.   I love this woman.

Then she talked about the workshop and how we are going to focus on the chorus and on improvisation.  "Imprevu" before knowing.  She spoke about acting and how it is reacting and living (not simply being onstage).  As an actor we must enter into the unknown, but have an awarenss of the game and what we want to know.  did i say i love this woman?

"Acting is the metaphor of nudity...it is simplicity... I want to be able to enter into your soul through your eyes".

Then, the space.  Ah l'espace.  The performance space is huge, and has a side line on either side separating the playing space and the off stage, and there is a curtain along the back.  When an actor enters (that is to say walks on the boards, in the area of the side line) she said that moment is poetic.  It is a huge event and not to be taken for granted.  As soon as you step up, it should be beautiful, suspended and full of all the drama you could ever play.  Even if what you do onstage is crap, you have that moment before you begin.  Similarly, you wait there to enter, you are ready not relaxed like on a sunday afternoon.  When you cross that line to enter, again, that experience is an important one.

I have to tell you, only when i worked with the SITI company or in a brief Noh workshop in Sweden have I ever felt this energy and spirituality when walking on stage.  It isn't anything for anyone but me, but it is something i will make sure i forever keep in me.  The level of work that it inspires in people is amazing, the level of focus, respect and attention it demands is necessary in order to create theatre (even if our first improv was pretty bad...my group that is! more on that...)

One final story she told of an Indian actress she worked with while creating a show based on the partition of India.  Ariane and the actor were sitting in the seats, and the French performers, playing Indian characters entered the scene.  The Indian actress whispered to Ariane, "when they enter, are they thinking about God?".  She said, "well, no, i don't think they believe, but i do know they are thinking of the Gods of the Theatre".  The Indian actress, said, "good, that is all that i need them to do".

She speaks a lot about "the way they do things here, and if you don't like it you are free to go somewhere else".  But i love the attention to details and the connection to the spirituality of theatre, the whole event, it isn't religion, it is spiritual, and being there i feel and see the difference.

We then spent the next hour and broke off into random groups to create an improv situation around the terror of the first day.  It was pretty chaotic as we were so many people and from all over the world.  It reminded me of the first Lecoq autocours, which for most people is a bit of a nightmare.  After lunch we presented.  It was quite a long rest of the day as there were many groups, BUT, it was great because in the improvs, the Theatre du soliel actors also joined in.  And they are really really good.  Their bodies and sense of play is a level of engagement and play i rarely experience.  It raises the bar!

The first groups were great.  They started off pretty rough, but Ariane worked with them.  It was really great to see her work with the actors.  She is brutally honest and really knows how to push something to create a situation in which something will happen.  A really cool moment was when one guy came in, he was from Iraq, a really funny actor, he was performing and doing an "actor's warm up" and he was discovering a lot.  Other actors tried to enter the scene and she kept saying "NO! listen, look, he is not finished.  Your time to enter has not arrived".  He played for 20 minutes, and it was a huge lesson to see the others waiting in the wings.  Sometimes the scene does not call for you.  If you really are listening, you will be called, or else you will impose yourself on the scene, it will be false.

Our scene was tough, we were 15 people, which is way too many...however, it was our fault.  Our scene was to poke fun at the selection audition, where we had to follow a leader and do a dance.  Though we got lots of laughs, we were quickly tapped for being too much like a parody... It was fair, our group didn't really click very well to be honest.  The fun thing though, was i met 3 people from Lecoq who were a year below me and it was nice to connect with them and play... I am excited to work with them in better situations... only way to go is up from there!  It was an amazing feeling though, i have to say, to be on that stage performing and hearing the laughs from the sea of faces.  I mean a full house.  

The improvs continued for the rest of the afternoon and it was great to see her work with each group, sometimes booted off the stage quickly, others given more time to develop if there was something there.

The main things she emphasized were internal rythm, there MUST be a rythym!  Space and knowing where you are.  Don't speak if you don't have to, it is amazing to see how talking kills any and every situation.  At some points she even played music to help the actors find internal rythyms and states of emotion.  It was not unlike an open viewpoints session, only the way the space was constructed was different.  It was more chorus like and seemed to have more of a focus so it told a clearer story.  

I was very tired at the end of the day, there was a lot to take in, many pearls of wisdom and just being able to see her in action...wow!  i love this woman.  I just met a guy from Bangladesh and a woman from Japan as i was heading home on the bus and i am excited to speak with them tommorow and meet more people.

Hey there are two torontonians here too!  Jenny Jiminez and her partner Stephen... they are really nice and we are talking about doing a share or open workshop when we are back in toronto.  

Tommorrow is finishing off the work we did today and then we get into the thick of the workshop.  All of the costumes from previous shows are laid out for us in the lobby of the theatre...we get to use them in our improvs!  its like a dream!

Day 1

I arrived in Paris, after linking up with my friend Elsa who is housing me here, i headed out to La Cartoucherie to have my meeting for the selection for the workshop.  Here is how it works:

You have a meeting with two actors of the company, then you take part in a group workshop led by Ariane Mnouchkine.  By the end of that you are selected to participate in the workshop.  if no, you go home, however if you have come from abroad, you are able to audit the workshop.  So, it is a bit of a win/win situation for me, as i have come from abroad.  

I had my meeting with two fantastic actors from the company.  We laughed and had a good time and spoke about why i chose to come and take this workshop.  I spoke about how i loved her and her work and her ability to infuse theatre from the east and west and my passion for which all of her theatre embodies.  I left the interview and was told to come back frinday at 1500h for the workshop with Ariane.  On my way home i grabbed a bagguette and a pain au chocolat...oh how my taste buds have missed you so!

I ate and got home and slept for 15 hours straight until the next day as I was/am super jet lagged!

I woke up early on friday to stop by the Lecoq school to see the first year autocours.  Every Friday, the class works the whole wee to create a new piece of theatre and presents it in front of the whole school.  It was great to come back and see the 1st years perform.  they were doing animals in a human situation.  I was surprised to see how differently i viewed what they were doing, as it has been 4 years since i was in their shoes.  We were always told Lecoq used to say, you learn a lot after leaving the school... i understand that after seeing them perform.

1500.  I arrive at La Cartoucherie.  I love this place.  every time i come here i feel as if i am coming home.  The smell of the country side, the huge wide open spaces.  I meet people from Hong Kong, Brazil, Spain, chile, England, Quebec, Italy, Poland, Lebanan and Germany.  We speak about theatre in our contries and how cool it is to be here, while we drink tea and await to be called for the workshop.

When we enter the theatre I am blown away by how beautiful this place is.  As we enter Mme. Mnouchkine greets us and telling us that we should change our clothes and wait for her to call our name so that she can see who we are (she had papers with our photo and info about us that we filled out).  One by one she called us and we greeted her as we took the space.  We were all in bare feet, and one woman came up and threw her socks on the side of the theatre.  Ariane stopped calling names, looked at the socks and asked whoever threw them to remove them.  She said, this was the playing space and not the changing rooms.  Clothes go there, actors go here.  It had been a long time since i was in a space that had such respect.  It was immaculate and very important.  She was nice but firm and her comments raised ourr attention in the room.

Once we were all called up, she introduced herself and said that this will be a very short workshop to decide who will be part of the larger workshop.  She was sorry to have to do this, but because over a thousand people had come, she had to make some kind of selection.  She made it clear that the selection had nothing to do with your ability as an actor.  She was not going to see your soul, or what makes you good or bad, it was just about whether she sees you in this moment or not.  She repeated this at the end as well.  It was amazing to be standing in front of this woman who i have only read about in books or seen on video.

We were put into 3 groups.  The boys went first.  One of the actors from the company was our Choyphee.  We were a chorus and had to follow him and what he did.  We were in a "v" formation behind him.  Music played and he began to dance and move around.  While we played she made very precise comments.  With each comment the group played better and better and picked up our level of engagement.  It was just like in the videos!  She is so so good!

I did as best as i could, and felt i did well.  We then sat down and watched the others play.  It was such a simple excersise but amazing to watch the people follow the actor (who reminded me so much of Troels, my fellow company member).  

When it was all done, she thanked us and said we would know if we were selected by the end of the day.  I hung out and talked with people some more and then headed back to Lecoq to see the 2nd year's presentations.  They were working on Greek chorus... funny i just came from there!  Again, it was amazing to see their work as the school is really continuing to evolve and explore what the Greek chorus can be.   The theme was, the crowd in reaction to an outside event.  No text.  It was fascinating to watch and very strong work from the class... I say that, because they really proposed clear and strong worlds and managed to transpose the theme into something larger than just "chorus" work.  

I get home, open my email and find that i was selected for the workshop!!! I am very excited and will have lots to write about on this blog.  I hope you enjoy it and i will do my best to share my experience here as best as i can.  Right now i am a little tipsy from the wine and extremly tired from jet lag.  So i am out.  I can't express how amazing it is to be back here and to be doing this workshop.  I am so inspired by the level of work that is expected and the engagement and the poetry that exists here.  It is just so different and it is good to be back.

Also, please help me write this... if there are questions you have or things you want to know, please let me know!

Bon Voyage!

This blog has been created to tell the stories of my experience as i leave from Toronto to Paris to attend a workshop with Ariane Mnouchkine of Theatre du soleil.  I hope to write about what we do, post photos, and share this once in a lifetime experience with all who read it.

I will do my best to keep it up to date and hope you enjoy!!

see you soon!

Ravi