Physical theatre: Steven Berkoff (Research pack)

Steven Berkoff

D.O.B- 3^rd August 1937 (75)

Active since: 1959

Occupation : Actor, Writer, Director, Practitioner 

Steven Berkoff was the practitioner explored by Mel, Shane and Jade; unfortunately I only managed to engage in the last 10 minutes of this seminar. In which Shane was describing the mimetic techniques that Berkoff uses in his plays.

Berkoffs opinion towards props is ‘why use props when you can achieve the same effect in a more imaginative way by using mime?’ This feeling and his heavy use of mime comes from his early apprenticeship at the LeCop School in Paris. I learnt that during the seminar that “mime can be taken as far is physically possible”(Shane Horton) so long as the actor and the audience can find it believable. One of the best examples of mime, used by Berkoff, is in his 1981 play Decadence later 1994 film; which he directs and acts as the lead alongside Joan Collins. In which they mime riding a horse I would say there is also a huge amount of physical expressionism in this piece.

During my research at home these are techniques that I've found out that he uses/manipulates:

Alienation of the audience seems to be the most widely used technique in Berkoffs plays he does this by:

I have learnt through my research that Berkoffs works can be shocking, grotesque and graphic; a full on onslaught to the human senses and this is no less for the actor and the audience. In future 

     physical theatre sessions or work I could incorporate techniques such as alienation and physical 

    expression; alienation to distance my audience because I don't want them to connect with the character,

     I  want them to analyse the behavior or actions that have lead them to a given circumstance.

     Or simply because I wish to make them uncomfortable.

      And physical expression appeals to me as a  young professional in ways I could make a set redundant  and morph my body.


References/ Bibliography

Research notes by J.A , Steven Berkoff, 24th Nov 1991
Mel, Shane, Jades seminar.

http://www.stevenberkoff.com/filmd.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Berkoff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ewnwElPwuA

Trestle theatre (seminar/compilation of research)

Trestle theatre presntation from Lexia Tomlinson

Areas of Research: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-20856525 http://www.trestle.org.uk/about-trestle/support-us/ http://www.trestle.org.uk/mask-shop/ http://www.trestle.org.uk/about-trestle/

Movement for the actor - My lesson plan (Physical theatre)

Movement for the Actor – Lesson Plan:

Basic Human anatomy, why is it significant to the actor?

Hello, I am Lexia Tomlinson and welcome to my seminar: my focus will be on joints, physical theatre and the practitioners Moshe Feldenkrais and Lester Horton.

As I am doing joints I will only be focusing on the skeletal structure of the human body. Can anyone tell me how many bones there are in the human adult body?  (206) However when we were infants there were as up to 300-350 at birth, this then dwindled down to 270, can anyone tell me why there is now a reduction in the amount of bones as we get older?  (As we grow older our bones fuse together, the most obvious our Skull bones, sacrum and hip bone.)

The main bones of the human skeleton are:

• The Skull - Cranium, Mandible and Maxilla

• Shoulder girdle - clavicle and scapula

• Arm - humerus, radius and ulna

• Hand - Carpals, Metacarpals and Phalanges

• Chest - Sternum and Ribs

• Spine - Cervical area (top 7 vertibrae), Thoracic (next 12), Lumbar (bottom 5 vertebrae), Sacrum (5 fused or stuck together bones) and Coccyx (the tiny bit at the bottom of the spine).

• Pelvic girdle - Ilium, Pubis and Ischium.

• Leg - Femur, Tibia and Fibula

• Ankle - Talus and calcaneus (not shown above)

• Foot - Tarsals, Metatarsals and Phalanges.

Synovial (diarthrosis): Synovial joints are by far the most common classification of joint within the human body. They are highly moveable and all have a synovial capsule (collagenous structure) surrounding the entire joint, a synovial membrane (the inner layer of the capsule) which secretes synovial fluid (a lubricating liquid) and cartilage known as hyaline cartilage which pads the ends of the articulating bones. There are 6 types of synovial joints which are classified by the shape of the joint and the movement available.

oint Type	Movement at joint	Examples	Structure
Hinge	Flexion/Extension	Elbow/Knee	Hinge joint
Pivot	Rotation of one bone around another	Top of the neck (atlas and axis bones)	Pivot Joint
Ball and Socket	Flexion/Extension/Adduction/ Abduction/Internal & External Rotation	Shoulder/Hip	Ball and socket joint
Saddle	Flexion/Extension/Adduction/ Abduction/Circumduction	CMC joint of the thumb	Saddle joint
Condyloid	Flexion/Extension/Adduction/ Abduction/Circumduction	Wrist/MCP & MTP joints	Condyloid joint
Gliding	Gliding movements	Intercarpal joints	Gliding joint

Why do you think knowing about your basic human anatomy is relevant as an actor?

Open to question and answer.

My answer:

The reason knowing about your anatomy is important is because our body is our ‘tool’ and we need to know how it works, so that we can look after it and manipulate it to physicalise the characters that we are playing.

When I say manipulation I mean an awareness, to know where you start and the character begins. For example I was in a LAMDA Acting exam, I was fully aware of my torso and arms, I’d planned that out to fit with my character but I’d forgotten about my feet and did what is known as “dancing feet”. This resulted in a marking down. As an actor can you think of a think when you weren’t fully aware or planned out what you would be doing with a particular body part for your time on stage or film?

Understanding our anatomy is also vital for movement, can anyone tell me how many planes of motion there are? (Answer 3)

And what those planes are of motion are called? 

Sagittal Plane

The Sagittal plane passes through the body front to back, so dividing it into left and right. Movements in this plane are the up and down movements of flexion and extension

Frontal Plane

The frontal plane divides the body into front and back. Movements in this plane are sideways movements, called abduction and adduction

Transverse Plane

This plane divides the body into top and bottom. Movements in this plane are rotational in nature, such as internal and external rotation, pronation and supination

Has anyone ever come across the neutral passion when acting?

• Standing upright
• Legs together and knee straight
• Toes pointing straight forwards
• Arms by the side
• Palms facing straight down

The Feldenkrais Method:

The Feldenkrais Method was developed by Moshe Feldenkrais, Feldenkrais was a scientist and well respected Judo instructor, in his youth an injury threatened to leave him severely disabled in his later years, his doctors suggested surgery. However he refused it, instead he used his knowledge of “anatomy, physiology, psychology and engineering, as well as his mastery of martial arts, to healing his own knee.
During the process he realised the vital importance of working with the whole body and indeed the whole self in order to achieve lasting, radical change”

Activities:

1.Could you all go lie in separate spaces of the room please, lay how you feel comfortable not how you think you should.  (Wonder amongst the group observing how they lay)

2. Could you all lay flat on your stomach, stretched out, now turn your head to the right, then lift your right hand , see how your pelvic bone lifts with that movement, now lift your left leg so it rest on the other . Repeat movement another 4 times please. Now switch to your left. Try that movement without looking at the hand. How does it feel now?

3. Could you lay on your back and left your legs so the sole of your feet is flat on the ground, now very slowly and gently let your knees tilt a little bit to the right and a little bit to the left; don’t go so slow that your legs feel heavy and that you’re having to be strong to carry out the movement.

A variant on this movement is bring one leg over the other, could you all go with your right, tilt to the right then back to the centre, do that twice more then switch to your left leg and do the same movement.

Could you lay back flat on your back, slowly roll onto your stomach draw your arms up gently push up onto your knees so you’re in a “doggy” position bring your leg of choice through your arms slowly push up until standing into the neutral position. 

Lester Horton was a major artistic contribution to the modern American dance movement, Horton studied ballet and choreographed for stage and film. What makes Horton’s techniques special is that fact that he moved away from the clean lines of ballet  “ It was not fashioned on his body, nor was it made to fit the straitjacket of any philosophical or physical concepts; it was a technique developed to serve the art of dance through group participation.”

What he wanted to focus on was new ways of doing things e.g “New ways were developed to go up, to go down, to use one leg, to use both legs, and to see how long a balance could be held in what seemed an impossible position.” 

Speaking of impossible, we shall try some of his warm ups. 

Activities:

1.       Can you stand in neutral then do a body roll out to the floor, whilst on the floor extend arms forward and bend knee joints whilst trying to keep feet flat on the floor, once you are comfortable and know you won’t harm yourself do that quicker.

2.    The next position is for you to be in a parallel, back leg straight whilst front leg is pointed horizontally,  drop your torso and abdomen whilst keeping arms out straight, now drop down like so.

Bibliography

Author/s	Year	Title	Edition (if not 1st)	Location Where published	publisher
Smart, Ted.       (2001)              Human Body.          London (UK):         Dorling Kindersley limited. Peragola, Mara Della. (2003)   The Feldankrais Journal No. 16. (Online). (Accessed: 14th Nov 2012). http://feldenkraisinstitute.com/images/uploads/WrkingWithActors_artcl.pdf                                                                                      Available from here:

http://www.innerbody.com/anatomy/skeletal-male (14th Nov 2012)

http://www.teachpe.com/anatomy/skeleton.php

http://www.teachpe.com/anatomy/movements.php

http://www.feldenkrais.co.uk/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6NnVWeJ-nY&feature=share&list=ULy6NnVWeJ-nY

http://www.dancespotlight.com/lester_horton.html

http://youtu.be/dnquDBX2TYA

Exploring given circumstances in depth

Character Building: Olga Three Sisters - Using Uta Hagen's 6 questions

Practitioner Profile: Constantin Stanislavski

·         D.O.B: 17^th January 1863

·         D.O.D: 7^th August 1938 (Aged 75)

·         Role in theatre: Actor, theatre director, theatre theorist   

      During his life Stanislavski dedicated himself to developing a system of acting to better himself as an actor. He did this by observing himself and other performers, whilst on and off the stage.

 j    

 j   ‘ Stanislavski's 'system' is a systematic approach to training actors. Areas of study include concentration, voice, physical skills, emotional memory, observation, and dramatic analysis. Stanislavski's goal was to find a universally applicable approach that could be of service to all actors. Yet he said of his system: "Create your own method. Don't depend slavishly on mine. Make up something that will work for you! But keep breaking traditions, I beg you."

Many actors routinely identify his system with the American Method, although the latter's exclusively psychological techniques contrast sharply with Stanislavski's multivariant, holistic and psychophysical approach, which explores character and action both from the 'inside out' and the 'outside in.’

Psychophysiology is the scientific study of the relation between the physical and the psychological/emotional. Stanislavski used the psychophysical approach to explore and expand upon the general philosophy behind the naturalism popular in the theatre of his day: in layman’s terms, the idea that man’s life is defined and shaped by his social and physical environment.

The point of the system for the actor is to help enable them to expose the ‘hidden aspects of relationships between people and revealing the repressed elements of everyday life.  The ultimate goal was for each actor to “live” his or her part without falling into the trap of complete belief in the character being portrayed.’(Jenny Marlowe Love Acting)

Whilst Stanislavski strongly believed that actors should be able to demonstrate the emotions and physicality of a character, there should always be a mental and emotional detachment between character and actor.

During rehearsals he and his actors would sit down and read the text and make notes about the play and break it down into psychological units:

Objective (also called the Super-Objective): The final, over-all goal that a character wants to achieve (this might be worded as, “What do I want?” or “What is my purpose?”)

Obstacles: Things that will prevent or complicate the achievement of a character’s objective.

Tools or Methods (this aspect goes by many names): The means a character will use to overcome obstacles and achieve his objective.

Units and Bits: Smaller objectives and methods which build towards the larger goal.  An entire sequence of bits might make up a unit, and there may in turn be several units in service of the final objective.

Actions: Mini-objectives for each line, or sometimes even each part of a line.  These are usually identified in verb form, and can be extremely specific (for example, to flatter, to cajole, to soothe).

LO 3.2 It is the above techniques with a combination of Uta Hagen’s questions regarding character circumstances that I wish to use to rehearse and develop my acting skills as a whole and for my Character Olga in Three Sisters.

Bibliography 

Online article, Marlowe Jenny, http://www.loveacting.com/stanislavski.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin_Stanislavski#Stanislavski.27s_system

http://www.biography.com/people/constantin-stanislavski-9492018?page=2

https://www.theatrefolk.com/spotlights/the-stanislavsky-system

Three Sisters: Annotated Script

LO 1.1/1.2 An example of my annotated script for Three Sisters, I believe when preparing a role or during rehearsals it is appropriate to mark on your script; in my case I highlight and I question things about the character I would like to find out later, or explore suggestions my peers/fellow actors have said to me during rehearsals which I could use to improve my character. I don't just annotate my own lines I believe you should consider the other characters and your relationship/interactions with them.

At the moment Olga's main interaction is with Irina, the youngest of the three sisters, I can sense a lot of tension; at this present moment it time I'm playing it that this is due to jealousy Olga feels towards Irina's youth and freedom; whilst feelings like she has to take on the parenting role to look after her.

The fact Olga is a teacher is giving me the impression that she blurs the lines of home and school, she takes her authority home with her, and this is suppressing to Irina.

NLP: Seminar With Paul

 Lesson with Paul:

Tuesday 13^th November 2012

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) has been brought up quite frequently by Paul, in all honesty I have never heard of the term before, and upon primary research I could not see how it linked in with drama.  

LO 3.1 But as I read on and I saw that NLP was all about how to ‘actively use your mind and your emotions and your body to run your own life more successfully and to communicate with other people with 'extraordinary' effectiveness’. I realised these are all the qualities a good actor needs, they need to be in touch with who they are mentally and physically so their quirks don’t rub off on the characters they play.

 For me as an individual and actor getting more skilled in NLP is appealing because it will enable me to:

• v  Do whatever I already do reasonably well, even better (who doesn’t want that?)
• v  Acquire skills and attitudes to do what I cannot do right now, but would like to be able to do
• v  Think more clearly
• v  Communicate more effectively with others
• v  Manage my thoughts, moods and behaviours more effectively.

                                                                              (How I wish to be as an individual)

 During this morning’s session Paul lead the class through a light NPL activity in which you are directed through a dream sequence of your own creation; but you are asked to do things such as follow the people within the dream or build rooms and think about the exact colour objects are.

 The entire class was asked to lie in a supine position, close their eyes and try to relax as much as a possible, relaxation is important for an actor because a ‘A tense mind is one that will hold you back and keep you on the "safe" road’ (Prior Aphter); I believe this is very true especially when I recall moments when I had been tense on stage and those tense moments have caused me to forget about submerging myself into the character.

 Instead I concentrated on my own nerves and urgency to recall my lines not live in the moment like it was all happening new to my character.

 After achieving a relaxed state I closed my eyes and listened to the first prompt, “you are laying on a beach somewhere, starring up at the blue sky”. This may not sound like such a hard thing to visualise however the ‘external event’ for us was a cold winter morning in a cold room where the air vent couldn’t be turned off. I now realise this is a form of NLP where you must combat external events and distort/change or create an internal event.

 I was so absorbed within the dream that despite the cold weather I felt myself getting warmer, I think this is a great result because as an actor I can use this tool in future to immerse myself in the world of any character I’m playing and forget about external factors; it will be especially good for ‘Three Sisters’ because I have to imagine myself in there world, amongst their furniture and ornaments in a totally different time period.

During the activity we were lead through to other destinations within the world be had mentally created, and we were asked to follow a character. The dream was very vivid it felt like a panoramic HD film and I remember following a little girl in a red dress with long black hair to her home, we were asked to look into their eyes; I remember feeling a state of utter calmness coming from the little girl, this juxtaposed with how I thought she would feel, as a little girl being all alone. 

This taught me a valuable lesson as an actor, I may assume something about a character but eventually they may morph and grow from assumption.

Bibliography

Aphter Prior, Mar 15 2012 , Online article : http://voices.yahoo.com/film-acting-importance-mental-relaxation-to-11102850.html?cat=40  (Accessed 13/11/2012)

http://www.nlp-now.co.uk/nlp-what.htm

http://mysuccessfullife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/tagcloud-300x191.jpg Image URL

Acting Unit 10 : Three Sisters

An Actor Prepares

 LO 1.1 For me the first thing I do when I receive a character in a scripted piece is to read the text, this may sound like a obvious conclusion, how else would I fulfil my role as an actor if I do not know the words?

But I believe there are many ways to read, there is the commonly known sight and skim reading, for me when I receive a script I must skim read it and get to the end as fast as possible (there are exceptions to this rule however), I do this because I do not want to get absorbed in the plot of the narrative that is the job of the audience in a realistic or naturalistic play. 

What I want to get absorbed in is the objectives and subplot of what is being said by and to my character and looking at the relationships of the characters to each other. I do this on a second reading of the text (which normally happens right after the initial reading) in which I take more time to read and look at syntax; I do this because the way the playwright, in this case Anton P Chekov, places certain words are like clues to the actor about an underlying issues for e.g “I remember when they carried father out, the band was playing, at the cemetery they fired shots in his honour [...] but even so not many people came to the funeral.” This was said by Olga, the character I’m playing, in the opening scene: straight away this let me into the world of the character and has me thinking about the influence that father would have had over my character as a person.

1.      He was ‘general and commanding officer of a brigade’ the military background made me think of regimental behaviour that was taken into the home life, so he would have wanted order at home, did that mean Olga and her siblings had to be quite as children, did she loath him and love him at the same time?

2.      Did the lack of such a strong presence in her life make her feel weak and lacking in direction because she no longer had an outside source to tell her what to do?

3.      Why if ‘father’ was so highly esteemed did hardly no one turn up to the funeral and why is Olga making excuse “but of course there was heavy rain and snow” is she making excuses for herself or Irina and Masha as they are in the room listening to her.

4.      Although there are many questions rose for me I already have an idea of how I want to deliver that line, “but of course there was heavy rain and snow”, I can feel sarcasm and bitterness ebbing from the words, that is my subplot but my objective is to sound reassuring for the sake of my sisters. I believe Olga is bitter towards the people who didn’t turn up to the funeral but realising what she had said she didn’t want to make her sisters upset so she tries to make it sound flippant but my subplot is creating an obstacle that makes what I’m saying sound sarcastic.



Bibliography

Three Sisters , Chekov P Anton, Ledger R Gerald translation, 1998, Script

Acting: Introduction to Three Sisters, Paul

Tuesday 6^th November

Acting: Paul

In the morning session Paul introduced us to the play that we would be working on this term, ‘Three Sisters’, by Anton P. Chekhov.

The play is set in Russia and the characters are all Russian, it was published in 1900 and performed in 1901, it is said that Chekhov was (possibly) inspired by the Bronte sisters when he wrote this play. Having read the play I can see how this could be true, the talent all three sister possess with language and education and a yearning for life is relatable with the Bronte’s and their misfortunes.

We will be working with the first act of the play, the class was separated into two groups and we were assigned roles by Paul. The splitting of the groups is a productive idea because our class size is bigger than the characters cast list, smaller groups means everyone has a part to work with that they can develop.

The character I have been assigned is Olga, the eldest of the three sisters, she is 28 years old; she is the matriarch figure of the family since their father died “exactly a year ago, on the fifth of May”.

I am glad to be playing Olga because I think it will be a challenging role and because she is a complete juxtaposition to me as a person. When developing her I will have to consider her relationship with her siblings, the line between parent and sister will get blurred thus I think conflict will arise in her interactions with them, due to herself imposed authority.

 

First Voice Seminar: Ellie

Wednesday 31^st October

Lesson by Ellie: Voice

To begin today’s session Ellie lead the class in a vocal warm up in which we repeated the phrases “Bunny Bunny, tikiki and ooha” .

“Bunny Bunny” Was said if you where the person pointed at in the middle, you would then have to do bunny ears, people on either side of the individual in the middle would then progress to say “tikiki” whilst the mass group would do a gesture and say “ooha”.  The purpose for this activity, I believe, was to gently ease us into the topic of voice in a creative and fun way, whilst warming up or vocals chords; and making our ensemble concentrate, due to the games nature being one of speed and group participation we all needed to be focused.

This activity was followed by another basic warm up that focused on alleviating tension in the body. We lied on the floor in a supine position (flat back legs on the floor) and also in a half supine (knees pointed up feet flat on the floor).  Whilst in these positions we did stretches to loosen the rib cage to allow for easier intercostal breathing.

Intercostal breathing is breathing into and filling the top third of the lungs, as in clavicular breathing, and then continuing to breathe into the middle part of the lungs.

Intercostal (“between the ribs”) breathing is accomplished by pulling up the clavicle, shoulders and torso, and then expanding the chest wall and ribs.

Intercostal breathing is useful for a performer because it allows for deeper breath inhalation which doesn’t stress the throat muscles. For a performer having to do a long monologue this technique would help pace the speech and help them carry the voice on the breath without tiring their voice too much.

This technique is also great for a performer’s posture, as we have to stand up straight to allow the technique to work properly, posture significantly helps a performers presence on stage, because it is a symbol of their character’s status.

The quote of the lesson for me, “voice is completely different from speech, it is a noise carried on the breath” helped me to clarify the difference in my head and allowed me to go home an d research.

What I realised is voice and breath are independent factors, breath can function independently but the quality on the voice is affected by the quality on the breath. Voice needs breath to carry and support it.

 

Diagram depicting what happens during intercostal breathing.

Bibliography

Author/s	Year	Title	Edition (if not 1st)	Location Where published	publisher
Ellie Darvill         2012                      Verbal quote: “ voice is completely different from speech, it is a noise carried on the breath.” http://www.sharecare.com/question/what-is-intercostal-breathing (Accessed 31 Oct 2012) http://www.ehow.com/facts_7469579_intercostal-breathing-useful-performer_.html (Accessed 31 Oct 2012) http://g09respirationr3a.wikispaces.com/file/view/sports-training-diaphragm-breathing1.jpg/337689418/sports-training-diaphragm-breathing1.jpg (Accessed 31 Oct 2012)