Blog 13 December
The second day > 13th of December 2011
The second day of the four day project, we started off with some warm-ups;
- Clapping in a circle
- Clapping while throwing the ball in the air, so you really need to keep count of when you throw and when you clap
- Throwing ball across while ‘sing-ah’
- Intoning text and then galloping the rhythm in pairs
Exercise: “It’s not that, it’s this”
This can be said at the beginning of a line of verse, or halfway through it.
That = general, vague, unclear
This = precise, specific, detailed
This exercise helps finding the argument in the scene.
The thing you are doing here is making a bet by saying these words. It sharpens the desire to communicate. It makes the thing you are saying more important and gives it more weight.
You need to believe that you are going to persuade somebody or change somebody’s mind in order to raise the stakes. As if you are saying: “That thing you just said didn’t quite cover it”. Also, when you have the lower status in the scene it makes you work harder, since you need to convince the person who has a higher status.
Try to find the ‘that’ in the other person’s head.
The exercise creates competition in what kind of scene it is going to be; not that kind of scene, but this kind of scene. It brings the situation into the present; that what has just been said is already in the past. This is especially the case with lists. Always try to avoid just listing the things as they were put in the text; the next thing needs to top the last thing on the list.
In addition, we did the same exercise, but then we used different gestures while saying “this” and “that”.
After that, we did the same exercise but only using the gestures.
Finally, we tried this without slowing down the scene, so keeping the speed into the text.
Exercise: Adding a gesture to a stressed syllable
A lot of our gestures are still very superstitious and ancient, they are atavistic. Adding a gesture makes something you are saying more stressed and more likely to happen in the future. It is like casting a spell and swearing an oath. It makes the promise deeper.
It is good to do this in rehearsals even if you don’t actually use it on stage, because it creates physical memory and therefore there will be physical energy coming from your actual performance.
We did this exercise, using the scenes. Then we tried making the text more legato and less staccato.
Exercise: “You’re there and I’m here”
Saying these words can really give new meaning to the scene and what you are saying, for example:
- You are in that mind-set, I am in this mind-set.
- You are over there, I am over here (location).
- You are already thinking ahead in the future, I am still in the present.
- You are wrong and I am right.
- You are focussing on unimportant things, I am focussing on important things.
- Let’s keep this distance of you over there and me over here.
- You are low status and I am high status.
- You are stupid and I am smart.
- You have a dirty mind, I have a clean mind.
- You are in the immortal, I am in the immortal world > we can never be together or understand each other.
- You are there, already knowing how the story ends, I am here wanting to know how it ends.
- We are both here in this same place, at the same time, we are not dreaming, this is real.
- You are there saying nonsense and I am stuck here listening to it.
It can create a certain difference, but it can also mean that you are both in this together.
First we said the whole sentence before a line of verse, then we separated the sentence and used it in different places in the line. Then we repeated the exercise but without saying the words, and finally we used just the gestures.
The same can be applied to a monologue. We used “You are there and I am here” combined with “It’s not that, it’s this”.
It is important that, when you first start applying this exercise, you don’t split up the sentence so you don’t get confused.
Exercise: Barking
Somebody does their monologue and others ask two questions:
- “When did you think of that?”
Reply: “Just now”
- “Is that a good thing?”
Reply: “Yes”
Then repeat the sentence or line you said before you got asked one of these questions and prove it; that you just thought of it (by clicking when the thought comes) or that it is a good thing.
Make it a good thing that you are saying it, to name it. It is always better than not saying it at all. Find out why it is a good thing, why we want to say it.
Have the thought as late as possible, don’t say it until the last moment. The timing of the click is very important, it must come just before saying the thought.
Conclusion: MAKE IT GOOD AND MAKE IT NOW.
We did this exercise in small groups, each of us saying our monologue and the others barking.
Barking is an exercise for the listener as well as for the speaker. There are four rules or questions, above are the first two, which can be asked in any sort of text.
It can be very helpful to bark somebody else doing your speech.
The exercise should be hard, but conflict free.
Finally, some random notes:
- Choose the reason why you are going off stage, it is not only about having a reason to go on stage.
- Verse makes it clear which word is important. We tend to put stress on “I”, “thee”, “me”, but with Shakespeare it is often more important what you are doing. The verse knows better than we do! The end of the line often has the secret.
- Thinking is the essence of a good performance. Don’t just raise the stakes for the sake of raising the stakes, the performance then just becomes pained.
- Never judge the characters. Each character needs to be presented as being completely right.
- Real positive thought cannot be acted, it must be done. Don’t be falsely energetic. Try to eliminate the devil each time things are going well.