Blog Post 2: Michaela Lloyd

1) Oddey believes that the process of devising is "so special" because through a collaborative work process it gives a performer freedom that enables "creative solutions" to be produced (Oddey 1996 pxii) . She also states that a performers spontaneity and will to act on impulse is strengthened through "practical on-the-floor" work and play, whilst promoting the reviewing of work to further develop a piece (Oddey 1996 p3). Throughout the creation process of Porto, these two key strategies of devising have been paramount to enabling the growth and development of both individual characters and the ensembles idiosyncrasies. The ensemble warm-up together each session and begin with a play-session where we walk as our characters through the space and develop ourselves through spontaneous interactions. This practical work aids our growth as an ensemble and an individual as we learn how our character would react to specific bodies and situations. We have continued to review our scenarios within Porto questioning if we felt they were contextually accurate or just to refine them, again as a group. This has empowered the trust within the company and allowed development of new gestures and a greater emotional commitment to the work collaboratively, with the awareness that we are free to develop whichever solutions would marry with our character in any given situation.


2) Stanislavsky famously described that an actor's character should be seen as a "physical score to be specifically crafted" (Zarrilli 2001 p 13). Since the beginning of Porto my character has grown significantly in purpose and confidence. Each session my character is being crafted as a result of both the characters surrounding me but also by a technique Chekhov students know as the Psychological Gesture.

Every lecture we conduct an exercise whereby we roll down our spine and as we roll up we adopt our characters physicality and mannerisms. Chekhov teaches that the more a gesture is repeated the stronger the actors willpower is to embrace the gesture. According to Chekhov, prolonged repetition of a given gesture or mannerism induces the performer to evoke greater emotion until they can simply adopt a gesture and be totally in character. The roll-up/roll-down exercise allows me to do this and by interacting with other characters in the space during the rehearsals of Porto and play sessions, my character gains confidence and determination in her purpose throughout the piece. Initially my character was quite apprehensive when meeting new people in the space created in Porto. She was also quite unsure of who she was and what she aimed to find. As the process has developed my character has been crafted indirectly through the relationships with the company and directly through the increasing stability of her gestures.

3) Le Coq describes the human body as being in alignment with the laws of gravity that pull it down creating weight and that opposing this, life pushes the body upwards making us move away from the equilibrium gravity gives us when lying down. The body stops itself from falling by acting and reacting: receiving and giving information (LeCoq 2006 p 82). Throughout Porto my character acts and reacts to her physical attraction to one character and her emotional attraction to another though she cannot settle with either character. This complicite has altered my character's physicality. Rather than standing still and weighted as she should do when upright she shifts unsteadily from foot-to-foot as though playing with the idea that even gravity could not keep her grounded. She consistently sways her head as though searching for something even in situations that are quite personal and where it may seem inappropriate to the cast for her to still be looking for something. My character conveys her innocence, naivety and shyness with repeated tugging of her bag strap and rubbing her hands. This anxious gesture defies her body's stance that -though swaying- is quite a tall, strong and confident position. Disregarding her uncertainty over which character she should be with, her spine remains in a constant parallel with gravity because she is focussed in her search and determined to find a resolution within Porto.


Bibliography:

Brook, P The Empty Space Peter Brook Penguin Modern Classics 2008

Chekhov M To The Actor On The Technique Of Acting London: Routledge 2007

LeCoq, J Theatre Of Movement And Gesture London: Routledge 2006

Marshall, L The Body Speaks: Performance and Expression Methuen 2001

Oddey, A Devising Theatre: A Practical And Theoretical Handbook London: Routledge 1996

Richards, T At Work With Grotowski On Physical Actions London: Routledge 2001

Zarrilli, B.P Acting (Re)Considered Theories and Practices London: Routledge 2001


Zinder, D Body Voice Imagination A Training For The Actor David Zinder London: Routledge 2002