Acting Exercise Relating to Stanford Meisner

We did an exercise last class that was very interesting. Here is the process:

• Two actors are told a relation (father and son/ sisters/ teammates/ student and teacher)
• each actor was told a different thing they wanted (the other actor didn't know)
  - sister is angry because the other forgot her birthday/ other sister wants food, but has a no-carb diet
• actors go on stage and work off each other

We then had to create a scenario, relation, different motives, and place for two actors of our choice.

It was interesting to see which motives could act as blocks or made it difficult for people to work off one another. 

Writing Assignment: That Which is Hidden

They don't know what they're dealing with. They see a polite, quiet girl who looks serious and does her work on time. They see a petite girl with funny facial expressions and jokes that don't make sense. They see it. It is part of who I am. Do they see the hidden desire to find a purpose in life? Do they see the awkwardness I feel when confronted with certain tasks? Do they see the emotions that are brought about when listening to beautiful music or reading something very touching? It's possible that they do. Probably not. However, there's a reason I like to hide. I don't want them to know who I am completely. I want them to wonder, to be surprised at something I do, to simply regard me as another classmate doing her work and contributing her ideas. No one needs to know who I truly am. Only those I love and love me in return. Is that a bad thing or is it a bit logical? Is it alright if I don't know the answer to all of my questions? I think so. 

Looks like we're doing the Pardoner's Tale!

Kabuki: Caleb's Presentation

Narukami - Thunder God

Imperial court lady
White cloud
Black cloud
Stage assistants
Play write

Status of each character

Stage manager strikes a sort of gong before the play and keeps striking it and ends with one long resounding strike

Setting: secluded mountain retreat by a waterfall
Pupils of Narukami talking with each another

Storyline: Taema, imperial court lady, comes up to the mountain to wash the robe of her recently deceased husband. She loved him very much and came to clean the robe to get rid of anything that may have soiled it. She is actually there to seduce Narukami to give up his vows, as he controls rains. (Reminds me of Ikkaku Sennin).

THIS IS ALMOST EXACTLY LIKE MY PLAY!

Medieval Day

Dogville - Lars Von Trier

• maps out a town with tape on the floor
• imaginary town
• immediately fall into what's essential
• BERTOLT BRECHT

We will be adding a small scene from Canterbury Tales this year

 The Pardoner's Tale

  Characters: Pardoner, Delmar, Eric, Johnnie, Cyril, Ronald, Match-Seller, Store-Keeper, Wife of Bath, Host

The Miller's Tale

Characters: Pardoner, Doctor, Friar, Summoner, Gullible Villager, Host, Miller, Lawyer, Reeve, Cook

Jean-Pierre, Alice, Nicolas, Absalon, Chaucer, Franklin

Using the Plateau Exercise as a Director

I would use the plateau exercise in order to make my actors aware of the space they have and the way they can use it. If I were to plop them on stage and tell them to start acting out a scene, they might be able to deal with the space, but would they understand the importance of one spot versus another in seeming more powerful or less so? I'm not quite sure.

As a director, I would first let them try acting without the exercise and then ask them how they felt about the space. Then, I would try the plateau with them and hopefully it would heighten their awareness of the space.

What others said:

• help actors know where to stand/position themselves
• stage presence
• how to depict balance
• use it as an exercise before a performance
• use it during the rehearsal process
• beginning of rehearsal process
• apply it to each line in the scene

What Ms. Lynch said:

• it's a double-tool - work at the nitty-gritty dynamics of a scene and then turn it over to the actors
• cohesion
• invisible way of getting the actors to work together
• not something you can use all the time
• used for awareness and power of presence and emphasizing space
• it is not a thinking exercise/ you cannot think this through: Sensory
• could relate to the neutral mask in a way

Jacques Lecoq: Plateau

Physical Theatre
Neutral Mask Exercise


ONE PERSON-
Chauffer le plateau
Find my place and place myself

Someone comes in and positions themselves in order to work with each other

one against one
one against two
etc etc

SPACIAL CHESS - reclaiming the space

once they create geometry, a space opens and another person comes in