Physical Theater Workshop

On November the 8, I went to a Physical Theater Workshop. The instructor's name was Nowa. Ten people from my class and another Ten from another class was chosen to go to this workshop, so it was an honor to go, as I'm very passionate about Drama.

Focus - The first concept we looked at in this workshop was Focus. We learned that having the correct Focus enhances the emotion and the plot. For example, if you were performing, and got distracted because you looked at the audience, then it would make the performance very unrealistic. An exercise we did when learning about focus, includes a Puppet and Puppeteer. We got into pairs and took turns being the Puppet and the Puppeteer. The Puppeteer would put their finger twelve or so inches in front of the puppet's face. The Puppeteer would move the finger (the faster, the more challenging it is for the puppet) and the Puppet would maintain the distance between them and the finger of the Puppeteer. The Puppeteer also has to make sure that he / she doesn't bump into another pair. The key to this exercise is for the Puppet to have their focus on the finger.

Physical Awareness - The second concept we looked at was Physical Awareness. We learned that there is great importance to Physical Awareness. It definitely becomes important when performing; you need to know your timing to enter the scene. One of the exercises we did to practice our Physical Awareness, involved five people standing in a strait line. The goal of this exercise was to have, at all times, two people crouched down, and the other 3 standing. We have to use our peripheral vision (a useful skill when exercising our Physical Awareness), as our focus is strait ahead, not on our group members.

Listening - Listening also steps into play, when doing this exercise, when you step the difficulty up a level; you have to close your eyes. Without your peripheral vision, you have to depend on listening to the tiny details such as your group members clothes wrinkling as they move up and down. I found it helpful to create a picture in my mind of everyone in my group, as well as what position they are in.

Shape - What do you think of when you think of shape? A square? Maybe a circle? In the Physical Theater workshop I was in, we weren't looking at those kind of shapes, rather extraordinary shapes you can make with your body. Using these extraordinary shapes, I was able to make story (with stages of love, loss and hope), though different poses, as well as silently. I found out I could make an object, such as a plane, with multiple people using only your bodies. When we started learning about shapes in this workshop, we stood in a circle, and we would volunteer to make an extraordinary pose in the middle of our circle, using our prior knowledge to create one. When I volunteered myself, I made a pose with my feet on the floor, my left hand on the floor and my other hand stretched up towards the ceiling. I held this pose for thirty to sixty-seconds, and found it surprisingly hard. Much of my weight was concentrated on the fingertips of my left hand. Although, my right hang is what made my pose an extraordinary shape. With all my body low (including my focus), with an exception of my right hand, created a contrast.

Gesture - We use gestures in our every day lives, but I learned that gestures also makes a performance full. I learned gestures are separated into three categories; behavioral, cultural and universal. Throughout the workshop, we tried our hardest to be rid of any behavioral gestures we make when on stage. I was introduced to my behavioral gesture I was unaware of, I tend to clench my fist when on stage, I've focused on keeping my hands relaxed in the workshop. Cultural gestures are gestures that have different meanings in different places, for example, the Japanese greeting. And finally, universal gestures are gestures known world wide, such as nodding or waving. Knowing these three types of gestures, we went into a group of four and shared, as well as taught, gestures with each other, silently. Each person shared and taught two gestures, then we memorized them all and performed them in front of everyone in the workshop.

Tempo - Tempo is the speed, in the workshop we focused on the tempo of walking. On a scale of one to ten, five would be your normal, everyday pace, one would look like you're not even moving, but if you looked away for five-seconds, you would be in a different position, even going at the same tempo. We walked around and went at different tempos, the goal was to make everyone go at the same tempo, without talking, of course.

Architecture - Architecture is the building around us, and it's our job, when planning / rehearsing, to make good use of the architecture provided. To exercise this, we played a little game called 'What it's not'. To get in tune, Nowa passed around her water bottle and we used it as something it isn't. I used it as a baseball bat. We then went around the theater using different objects as something it is not. Someone used a chair as food, someone else used the curtain as a towel.

To wrap up all what we learned was to make a little performance with four people in a group. We had to keep in mind all the concepts we've learned, and, as always, we had to perform without using words. I had so much fun with everyone, and my passion for Drama has grown enormously, and I know that what I've learned will help me in the future (as well as the new unit I'm starting in Drama; Genres).

Thanks for reading on my blog!