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.
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