2016년 3월 21일 월요일

The Cripple of Inishman Stanislavsky Style

  1. Given Circumstances
    1. Billy is a cripple
    2. Eileen and Kate are sisters
    3. They take care of Billy
    4. Eileen and Kate are also his aunts
    5. Billy watches cows - others think it's strange
    6. The setting takes place on a small island called Inishmaan in 1934
    7. Billy is 17-years-old
    8. Johnny regularly tells news about what's happening in the world to Eileen, Kate, and Billy
  2. Previous Action
    1. Eileen and Kate are worried about Billy - he isn't home yet.
    2. They have been talking about Billy.
    3. Eileen hurt her arm
    4. Billy was watching cows again
  3. Dramatic Action
  4. Character Motivation/Obstacles
    1. Billy finds out through Johnny, that a famous Hollywood director named Robert Flaherty, was coming to Inishmaan to film a movie. His obstacle is Johnny doesn't think they'll want to cast a cripple.
    2. Billy wants to prove to others he can be whoever he wants to be. His obstacle is his reputation and his parents' reputation.
  5. Subtext pg. 25
  6. Super Objective of Play
  7. Objective of characters in scene 9 pg. 74
  8. Overall theme/ idea of the play
  9. Units/Beats (analysis of scene pg. 74-75)
  10. If you were to direct one scene in this play, what would your ideas be for it in terms of set design?
  11. Monologue Analysis: Use the following to analyze Billy's monologue on pg. 66
    1. Tempo
    2. Surges
    3. Rhythm
    4. Sound and Silence
    5. Tone
    6. Impact on audience

2016년 3월 1일 화요일

Practioner Research Reflections


Michael Checkhov

Historical Context

·         Born in Russia 1891

o   Great Famine

§  He was part of middle-class family

o   Civil Unrest

§  Socialists vs. Monarchy

·         Assassinations done by Socialists

·         Police Brutality

o   1917 – Tsar was resigning from pressure a Bolsheviks take over

o   1924 – Soviet Union becomes a dictatorship

·         Warned to leave Russia in 1928 

o   His work was too experimental for Soviet government

·         Worked in Europe from 1928 – 1939

o   Constant threat of war

o   Language barriers

·         Relocated to America in 1939 to avoid war with Germany

o   Lost male members of theatre group to draft

Influences

·         Known as one of Stanislavsky’s “greatest students”

o   Developed his ideas of method acting and naturalism

o   Known more for his deviations on Stanislavsky’s system

·         Also influenced by his other students – Evgeny Vakhtangov, a brilliant director

·         Meyerhold was another student of Stanislavsky but learned more towards no-realist techniques

Techniques

·         There are many Chekhov techniques – no one knows exactly what they are

·         All founded in energy and becoming the character

·         Psychological gesture

o   Gesture: the inner essence of something manifested in a physical form

o   Distilling the character down into one or two gestures to get into character quickly

o   Scaffolding to build upon, not necessarily do it on stage

§  Not a habit or tick

Collaborations

·         Stanislavsky

·         Meyerhold, Vakhtangov

o   Also Stanislavsky’s students

·         Strasberg, Alder

o   All students in the drama society

Theatre Groups

·         Theatre Studio in Dartington Hall (England 1936-1939)

·         Second Moscow Art Theatre (1924)

·         The Drama Society (taught in the 1940’s)



Antonin Artaud

History

·         Antonin Artaud (1896 – 1948)

o   French dramatist, actor, essayist, poet, theatre director

o   Lived through both world wars, a time period when theatre was neglected greatly

§  War period

o   Mental Instability

§  Always went in and out of the mental institutions

§  Abused by electric chairs at the institutions

§  Later brings worse effects than his original illness

o   Opium and heroin addiction

o   His insanity is thought to be his method of creation

o   Influences:

§  Alfred Jarry

·         Obuori Roy – mocking mankind

o   Shakespeare’s Macbeth

§  Van Gough

·         Painter

·         Movement and activeness

§  Sigmund Freud

§  Balinese Dance Theatre (1931)

·         Physicality

·         Trance Theatre

o   Creator of Theatre of Cruelty

·         Theatre of Cruelty

o   Manifestations

o   Use of puppets

§  Reveal something deeper than meaning

o   Paradise Now

·         Idea of spectacle

·         Visually shocking

·         Bring out all the emotions the audience would feel exposed to

·         Didn’t think words were enough – real emotions are key

·         Against realistic theatre

o   Against naturalist

o   Thought it was a shallow connection

·         Artaud – thought audience needs to be completely involved with the play

o   Seating arrangement – chairs would be on stage


Eugene Ionesco

·         Not a realist

o   Literal meaning is not cohesive with the way object can be used

·         History

o   Parents divorced

o   Spoke French

o   Lived in Romania

o   Younger brother died à problematic childhood

o   Criticizing races and cultures

§  Didn’t say anything about Romania

o   Saw how many artists fall during Nazi movement

·         Influences and inspirations of Eugene Ionesco

o   Identified Franz Kafka,

·         Philosophy

o   Dark elements

§  Believed in theatre of cruelty

o   Absurd

§  Came from religious roots

o   Life has no meaning

o   Criticizes society

§  “I am nobody” à “yet I am others”

·         People can recognize him

o   Compares himself to others

o   Didn’t always like plays when he was younger à liked fiction

§  Whenever he watched it he was confused

·         Plays

o   Bald Soprano

o   Rhinoceros

§  Normal people have a disease and becomes rhinoceros slowly

Jerzy Grotowski

·         Historical Context

o   1933 in Rzeszow, Poland (Died 1999)

o   Separated family due to WW11

o   Polish director and Theorist

o   Known for intense actor training processes

§  Believed actors act best when they’re exhausted

o   Created “Poor theatre”

·         Influences

o   Grew up on a farm with Aunt and Uncle

§  Uncle was bishop à taught about religious awakingings

o   Gave him the idea theatre was sacred to a director

§  E.g. church is sacred to a bishop

o   Religious à Catholic

·         Practioner influences

o   Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Bertolt Brecht

·         Philosophies

o   Rhythm of life characterized by pace, tension, a feeling of doom

o   Essence of Poor Theatre is to focus on the interaction between the audience and actors

o   Getting rid of props and costumes and sticking to the basics

§  Used the actors as props

o   Didn’t like traditional stage

§  Liked old places and buildings

o   Good acting is crucial to good theatre

o   Theatre could never match with film and television à should never attempt to do so

·         Theatre Company

o   The Poor Theatre

§  Modern – American

§  Workshops based on Grotowski

Vsevolod Meyerhold

·         History

o    Born German à more Russian than German

o   Russia was getting richer and more powerful

o   Middle class family

o   WW1 – Economy in Russia was bad

§  Crippling

§  Stalin – strengthened economy

·         Influences

o   Towards law

o   Saw a production wit Stanlawaski

§  Worked under him about realism

§  Ultimately went against everything he taught him

·         S = built internal

o   Interested in physicality

o   Knew and engineer who helped later on

o   Thought physicality was the most important thing for character development

§  Built external

·         Philosophy

o   The body is more like a machine

§  Balanced and efficient

§  Industrial language

§  Due to influences from engineer

o   Biomechanics

§  The precision of one

·         Machine

·         Balance

·         Coordinate

·         Expressiveness

·         Playful

·         Discipline

o   All about the body

·         Theatre Groups

o   The New Drama Fellowship – 1902

o   RSFESR-1

§  Supportive of communism

·         Collaborations

o   Didn’t collaborate very much

o   Studied under Stanislavsky

§  Worked together with him after many years

·         Only did 3 shows because he was too bizarre

o   Hired by Vera Komissarhevskaya

§  She thought actors were like his puppets

§  Reputation for being hard to work with

o   Eisenhower - films

·         Heritage

o   Killed by Stalin, his work became taboo

§  Age 66

o   People who worked under him survived and kept it alive

o   Not as widespread as others

o   Museum theatres

§  House of Meyerhold

§  Center of Theatrical Arts