House Lights Go

Pocket Gamelan

So yesterday I was performing in the Aurora Festival at Campbelltown Art Gallery singing my heart out and swinging mobile phones. A group of 2nd year students at the university, our teacher’s Janys Hayes and Lotte Latukefu and composer Greg Schiemer put together this performance that explores microtonal sounds and scales that could not be played on a tradition piano (well, maybe if it was really out of tune in a very specific way).

We performed four of Greg’s songs: mandala 7, sacris solemnis, mandala 6 and butterfly decany. I have to say, even though some of the songs were long and my swinging arm got tired, I was so glad to be apart of this project and the music was truly beautiful AND insanely clever!

Other’s seemed to think so too! The audience (we expected about 3, but approx 50 + people came) gave us a wonderful reception and the ABC sound technician looked like he was having some sort of orgasm. It really was an awesome experience!

I’ll probably post again if the broadcast of the performance becomes a podcast and also if any of the photos become available. If you want any other information check out the links below!

Page from the Aurora Festival Website:

http://www.auroranewmusic.com.au/PocketGamelan/669/n/3/0/0/

An Interview with the composer:

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/classic/podcast/current/audioonly/amu_20081231.mp3

A previous performance:

http://gregschiemer.net/BaliVideo.html

Upcoming Projects

As this blog was originally for keeping track of my own projects, I thought I should give you an insight into what I’ll be doing!

1) Technography

Who doesn’t know what technography is!?! It’s all the rage in the theatre world! Don’t worry, that was a very bad joke. I have never even heard the term until a couple of months ago. The concept comes from technology combines with choreography. Basically, this production will entail movement and voice work combined with interactive projections to create the final product. I find it incredibly hard to explain so I’ll show you a (very small) example of it slightly later (the link under this paragraph). So far we’ve been turning words into numbers into a dancing skeleton into a vocabulary (don’t ask - but it’s really cool! If you see me around, ask me about it and I’ll explain it properly!) as well as combining this with another vocabulary established through improvisations with these projects to create our own expression of how we interact with language. The text turned into a skeleton and all improvisations derive from the works of Heiner Müller (writer of Hamlet Machine) and this is more specifically what world we are trying to create. Anyway, it’s an honours project at my university and I am so incredibly glad to be a performer in it because it stimulates all senses, the mind and the body! It’s such a great cast and while no one quite know’s where it’s going at the moment, you just know it’s going to be great! The first smaller showing is in a few weeks and then the final one will be at the end of this year. Very exciting!

CHUNKY MOVE: GLOW

2) Pippin

A musical! Finally, a break from all this artistic work! It’s such as pleasure to be able to sing and dance and work with a slightly larger cast than usual! Also, I got a lead which is incredibly exciting! My first lead in a musical! (It’s Catherine btw, Pippin’s love interest!) Like Medea, this is with the Phoenix theatre and while we have only had one rehearsal it’s an amazing cast with an incredible director / choreogrpher and a fantastic musical director and a brilliant designer! Be ready to see an amazing show! The season so far is the 13th to the 28th of July! Also very exciting!

3) WTF is Belonging

You know how I said during the HSC that I would die rather than say the B word again… well, money was obviously not in the equation! That’s right! This is my first paying job: profit share baby! Does this make me a professional? You know what! I’m saying it does! This is an educational project about Belonging designed for HSC English students. I believe it’s being performed at the Phoenix however I am not entirely sure. Either way, I am excited for more work!

So as you can see, between uni and all my projects I am a very very busy little acting student. And god, I am lovin’ every moment!

Thyestes

I was in an acting class listening to my fellow classmates talk about what they’d seen and what they liked, etc. Anyway, while they were talking about some really not so great plays we ended with this statement.

Thyestes = good.

Thyestes! Of course I had totally forgotten about the billion emails from uni telling me that I must see this play because we were studying it or something (Ok… I’m not the best with my emails). Fortunately I still had a week left and even more fortunately there was one Saturday matinee that wasn’t booked out! Score! I booked my tickets right then and there! But trust me… a few days later even that was completely sold out! This had to be a good sign!

So after a trip to IKEA (helping the bf find a bed) I was in the mood for some awesome theatre / anything that didn’t involve walking slowly around cheap DIY furniture. And boy, that’s what I got!

Being caught in an omg-there-are-no-arrows-to-show-me-where-to-walk daze I bought my program (it came with the full script… score!) and walked to the only door that I could see. Generally mixing up the doors isn’t much of an issue except I saw some people in front of me being told to walk around and thought it better not to try it. That, my friends, was a wise move. When I got to my seat (hadn’t even checked my seat number and was shocked to find I was in the front row) I sat down with nothing but a huge black curtain about a meter in front of me. I found this a little strange (and daunting) and even stranger were the two LED signs saying Thyestes floating in the curtain. Eventually I was able to figure out that they were framing the top and bottom of a square in the curtain. I had found the stage! But something still wasn’t quite right… there was an excessive amount of noise. I looked around and there were only about 10 people seated so far though it sounded much louder than that. It then dawned on me… it was coming from the other side of the curtain! The audience was facing towards us on the other side! I had read about plays where that happened and I immediately started to seriously freak out. How close were they? What will we see when the curtain disappears? What will they think of me? Why are they suddenly so quiet? Is something happening? Am I missing out? Is the guy next to me a set up? No… you’re being paranoid… yet he does have a news paper with him which he noted was “ambitious” of him. No, I know the performers… he’s not one… is he?

Finally the lights dimmed and the curtain rose. The set was interesting, totally minimalist, but still incredibly interesting. They had set up a white box. Through it you could see the audience on the other side but the actors just stood and talked in this white box. The only set pieces were an audio cable and 4 power outlets that fit into the wall. I have to say, for this production the set was perfect. You didn’t need anything else. Why? I’ll get to that soon.

Thyestes is a contemporary appropriation of the original myth that’s so realistic it’s hard to believe it didn’t happen. Despite its name, the play concentrated more on his brother Atreus (Mark Winter) and god it was good… scary, confronting, dark… but soooo good. The realism was chilling as the three performers, well, they talked. That’s all they did… talk. By the end of the scene Thyestes (Thomas Henning) and Atreus had killed their half brother (Chris Ryan) and yet, the audience could believe this jump from afternoon chat to murder. As the scenes progressed, they became shorter, more violent, more confronting, opera became metal, they wound forward in time before speeding backwards and ending in the middle as the ultimate climax: the turning point, the descent into madness, the event between cause and effect. Part of you couldn’t help but laugh at some of the atrocities on stage, and then you hated yourself for it. However, despite everything, it remained plausible. At the start of the performance, my one complaint was the slow pace, however it couldn’t have worked without it as it so perfectly established these characters as a reality. As director Simon Stone writes in his notes, “these people do exist. They live in our world. They’ve always been here and always will be. They’re not monsters or half-animals or gods. They’re humans, and that’s what makes them so terrifying.”

Unfortunately its Sydney season had ended and I am unaware of any information that suggests it’s touring elsewhere (if you have any, let me know). If you missed out, I’m so sorry for it was a truly amazing production.

To Simon Stone, thank you! You’re back to my number one! (In all truth, you never left.)

Love Never Dies

I was being awesome as I usually am at the Greengate Hotel during another Tuesday Night trivia listening to the results being announced. As always, we laughed at the collection of stupid names all the teams had come up with from “Hungry Hungry Hypno-toads” to “The threesome plus Max” and yet one name in particular caught my attention:

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s New Musical: Paint Never Dries 

Ummmm…. harsh man… harsh…

I, for one, have seen that musical TWICE and have found it to be everything a good piece of theatre should be!

Although this is hard for me to say, this Australian production of Love Never Diesis, in my opinion, BETTER than the last production of The Phantom of the Opera to reach Australian shores which in case you weren’t blessed in that opportunity, you missed out… seriously missed out… just like you will seriously miss out if you don’t see this production! By tickets now if you can, good ones if you can afford it: they are worth every penny!

The Australian Take: 

What I would really like to stress at the moment is that this is not the production that played earlier in London and New York, you know, the ones that flopped. The difference is about $9 million of reworks and renovations to a show that seemed doomed. Oh, and one of the most inspiring team of creatives to turn that cash into something much more precious and unforgettable.

Not only were all of the original designs scrapped and recreated, the story itself was changed, the order of songs was tampered with as well as Charles Hart (one of Webber’s close collaborators for Phantom) writing additional lyrics.

Sunset Boulevard was previously the only show of Webber’s that had changes made to it after opening, and even those were minor and were completed in a few short weeks. Nothing this drastic has been seen before in the world of Webber and yet… it seems the results speak for themselves.

Simon Phillips’ production of Love Never Dies is rumoured to tour (in the stead of the original West End production) internationally through such countries as Japan and Germany. While watching his first run through of this production, Webber was reported to have approached Phillips during interval, put his arms around him and said “this is one of the best productions of my work I have ever seen.” Such praise from the artist of such an extensive list of works is truly an honour. He even suggested that a DVD be produced of the Australian production “as a calling card to the rest of the world.” Even before rehearsals, after examining the model of the proposed set, he compared set and costume designer Gabriela Tylesova to “a young Maria Bjornson” or the designer of Phantom: another serious honour!

Australia has succeeded where Broadway and West-End failed. It saddens me to think that this great musical was about to perish as “that lame sequel to The Phantom of the Opera that really shouldn’t have been made but sucked” as it not only is an incredible production in its own right, but holds true to the core of Phantom.

Simon Phillips’ Production:

I think the best way to describe this production of phantom is found in the last song of the first act, Webber’s “Beauty Underneath”:

Have You Let It Draw You In,
Past The Place Where Dreams Begin?
Felt The Full
Breathless Pull
Of The Beauty Underneath?

Phillips and his creative team of designers, writers, crew and cast have created a world we only really glimpsed in Phantom. The rough chaos of Manhattan’s Coney Island acts as the perfect backdrop to allow audience to delve further than ever before into the dark and enchanted world of Mr Y (otherwise known, to a certain theatre in Paris, as Opera Ghost).

I won’t say much about the cast except that they were all brilliant. Ben Lewis proved to be an incredible Phantom while the Soprano Anne O’Byrne stole our hearts as Christine. Together, they excelled even further. As a “phan” I always thought of the concept of Christine loving and, more so, lusting, after the phantom to be foreign and yet, all fears were lifted as they sung “Beneath a Moonless Sky.” As an already amazing piece of music emerged from these actors, suddenly the thought of the Phantom as a lover became even more so a reality than explored in Phantom. All of the other mains excelled to the high standard set by the leads, as well as the ensemble. There seemed to exist a myriad of characters that came to life on the stage and yet their individuality failed to stop the coming together of a completely cohesive cast and production.

However, despite the astonishing skills of the actors on stage, there was one woman who really stole the show: Gabriela Tylesova.

There are simply no words to describe the brilliance of the design of this production. I am going to start by giving you an insight into the set. The set was flawless yet rough, beautiful yet terrifying, strange and yet oh so familiar. The set changed as often as the emotion of the characters leaping from the subtly distorted calm of Christine’s dressing room to the absolute chaos of the circus just beyond the door. Huge ships were appeared from thin air, floors spun both clockwise and anti-clockwise, platforms fell and rose and swayed, lights took over and flashed almost as if a strobe, and yet, total stillness was still able to prevail. Despite the huge change of setting the operetta proposed Tylesova was still able to hold true to the core of phantom. One scene in particular comes to mind: the Phantom and Christine and standing on a balcony, the stage floor laden with a thick fog while the golden rails intertwine twisting into flame like lamps on either side. Is anyone else reminded of the little boat ride the same pair took in Paris a decade ago? (see above post)

The costumes were just as amazing: full of the same incredible amount of detail, thought, individuality and truth to Phantom (once again, note above… freaky right?). Before the performance I had laughed with my sister at the souvenirs they always sell, when I laughed particularly hard at a pack of cards with a different character on each one. At the end of the performance I was looking at them in envy: they were actually depicting the originally designs for the costumes. I had to have it! So, I fished out my $20 (which for an actor is a lot!) and payed for my own copy of the designs. They hang in my room at the moment, dancing upon my walls. Still I look to them with awe!

Bravo, Gabriela Tylesova. Bravo!

Talking about designers, I would like to give a quick kudos to lighting designer Nick Schlieper. Finally someone who understand that in a large-scale production the whole stage doesn’t have to be fully lit all the time and that sometimes characters can fall into some sort of shadow, and better yet, use the shadow! I really truly loved the whole lighting design and it complimented all the other aspects of the production beautifully. For this, I thank you.

The only aspect of the production that would disappoint the die hard “phans” is the story line. I always had the issue with Phantom that, as bluntly put by Madame Giry, Christine chose “beauty and youth over truth and art.” (like how even Belle in Beauty and the Beast still gets her handsome prince!) And yet, even though I was more than satisfied with the play’s ending (ok… I balled… seriously balled… both times…) I really came out of that theatre adamant that I really didn’t want her to be the gambling alcoholic Raoul or the masked murderer. (Ok, I was kinda rooting for the Phantom but, you know, he did threaten to kidnap her son.) The other problem was that, while I believe Raoul was how he was depicted (awesome work Simon Gleeson) I couldn’t see how such pure love turned out how it did. All in all, this whole storyline might upset a few “phans” but I am more than glad! It really brought out a complexity to the characters that really most musicals never show.

So, all in all, if you can SEE THIS SHOW! It’s incredible and everything theatre should be! Go now, open another tab in your browser and book! What are you still doing reading, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!!!

It is worth every effort it takes to see it.

Baal

Small synopsis: Baal is a Brecht play (written in his college years and later revised over 10 years) in which the notion of the isolated artist is explored. Brecht presents us with an artist; self-isolating, angry and violent. Over the play, Baal becomes a destructive force that consumes himself and the people around him: very much a reaction against Hanns Johst’s portrayal of the isolated poet in Der Einsame (The Loner). 

Ok, so I went to see Baal at the STC and let me tell you, it got a lot of press and excitement. News papers were screaming about the nudity and the extreme violence. To tell you the truth I was incredibly excited! I love new and contemporary theatre that stirs an audience (as long as there is a point and not shock for shocks sake).

Frankly, I was disappointed.

If I was really harsh I would describe this production as pathetically frustrating, but that seems incredibly cold hearted for a piece that had potential and a few “ding” moments.

The first thing that got me right from the start that the actors were using ACTING VOICES! It wasn’t truthful and it was incredibly off putting to see what I had been learning in first year first semester totally disregarded! The cast itself was also pretty amateurish. Maybe it came from more the directors fault? Whatever the reason, it really wasn’t up to the high standard of STC. Frankly, the actors lacked honesty and truth to the characters and situations… it was too false, too scripted. This doesn’t mean it should be more naturalistic, personally I would say the opposite. IF I was directing, I would have taken some of the stronger images (which tended to be the more expressionistic ones such as the short scene where Baal is told his lover is pregnant and his response {really cool stuff with multiple a actors becoming one character and the staging was to die for}) and take that expressive quality and extend it more so into the rest of the play. I would like it to, like this production TRIED to do, is to start very naturalistically and then descend into a terrifying, deconstructed, expressionistic world that is the black hole that Baal has become. Excited? I am. So yeah, point being is that these images and moment had potential, I just wish the actors and directors could have pushed these moments and images into the rest of the production.

The nudity was also a bit meh. Trust me, there was a lot of sex (and all the rest) and you saw EVERYTHING (except one actor always had some sort of underwear over his genitals) but clothes kept coming on and off and on and off and on and off and on and off… you get the point. It was almost like a nervousness, like the actors knew that it was taboo just to be naked. Personally, what I would’ve like to see (which kinda happened and failed) was to start with everyone fully clothed and as the play progressed and the characters emotionally destroyed, clothing would be removed AND KEEP THAT WAY! (Sidenote: my grandfather said they were probably putting their trousers back on to hide their small dicks…. lmao but awkies).

Secondly… the violence was nothing. There were three moments. The first was Baal dragging a woman offstage to (rape? and) kill her. The second was him washing the blood off his arms and the third was him punching his gay lover. Honestly, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that all in Macbeth, Hamlet, and any other Shakespearean tragedy. Also, have you seen contemporary pieces? There’s violence EVERYWHERE and yet somehow this stuck? Please. It was nothing. Why has the media made such a deal over it? I have no clue.

One person I would really like to give kudos to is the set designer, Nick Schlieper. The set was brilliant and I only wish everything else could match it (the lighting also fit awesomely well so kudos to lighting.. which was done by the same designer [and associate designer Tom Willis]). I could see the stage literally de-constructing itself! When the walls of the stage toppled over and landed on top of a strategically placed actor (they call that a float because the object / set “floats” down on a bead of air) and the air rushed into the audience… wow. And the rain! The rain was fantastic! Honestly, really really brilliant set! Damn rest of production for not meeting the sets standards!

Anyway, all in all disappointing however well worth while. It’s great to see brilliant theatre but seeing the not so great theatre and finding out why it wasn’t so great is also just as important (although could’ve done without the $150 or so it cost for two tix and dinner). All we can do is take it, reflect, and offer our own work in return.

Bec xx

Theatre Superstitions

Today I was talking to a friend and he wished me “Good luck” for an upcoming performance type thing. Good luck! GOOD LUCK! Does he want me to fail? After pointing out him jinxing me (thanks Nate) he then proceeded to tell me that I was silly to abide to these superstitions.

You know, it’s funny, I am in no way a superstitious person: I will happily trip over a black cat,  under a ladder while breaking a mirror and no care about my future consequences (you know, apart from that small trip to the doctors for the big glass shard sticking out of my head). Yet, when it comes to the theatre, I shun all those that mention the Scottish Play! I don’t know what it is, it’s just what we actors do. So, to stop ignorant people like those who will not be named (Nate… cough) from jinxing our performances, I thought I would let you know some theatre superstitions and where they come from (well, a few of them… I’m not a history book).

• NEVER EVER say Macbeth in a theatre but instead you must say “The Scottish Play.” It’s also advised not to quote it, especially the lines of the three sisters! If you do wither, you must counteract by leaving the theatre building, spinning around three times, spitting, cursing, and then knocking to be allowed back in. There is a debate where this originally came from however, the most logical reason and I believe well known, is because Macbeth was was an incredibly popular play so as theatres were closing down it was put on as a final attempt to save the theatre. Also, they say Shakespeare put a curse on the play so he could only direct it. There’s stuff about  swords and witchcraft and a really cool one about the Actor who first played Macbeth dying shortly before or after the production but I tend to stick with the first one.
• DO NO wish an actor good luck for a performance! Instead you can wish them “Chookas!” “Break a Leg” or even “Break a bra-strap!” which is my personal favourite. No one really knows where this comes from, but a lot of people suspect that it’s to do with audiences in Shakespearean times throwing tips and actors bending down, breaking the line of the leg, to collect the thrown money.
• NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER eat Maltesers during a performance. I totally did not make this one up to stop two very rude audience members who shall not be named (They rhyme with Narcus and Mate… hint: switch the first two letters) from eating Maltesesrs DURING a performance! He person who rhymes with Narcus, would you like it while you were working If I came in, stared at you and ate maltesers WHILE you were trying to complete a complicated tax return? Yeah, thought so.
• Theatres should be closed once a week. This is for the ghosts to put on their plays. Pretty self explanatory. Also, turns out that apparently the first guy to ever speak as an individual in a play was called Thespis (thus Thespian) and he’s usually blamed for any unexplained “mischief” especially if it’s on the 23rd of November which is apparently the day he first spoke in a performance. 
• A light must always be left on in a theatre. This comes from two main ways. The first is to ward off ghosts. The second is to provide the ghosts enough light to put on their plays. There’s a third one about tripping and dying and becoming a ghost if you can’t see, but while hilariously funny, I personally think the other two are better.
• DO NOT whistle in a theatre or off stage. This is because the crew controlling flown sets, ect, used to respond to whistling so if you whistled something could land on someone’s head. It makes good sense! Also, apparently if this whistle is heard, someone will lose their job though not necessarily the whistler so it’s just a bitchy thing to do.
• DO NOT sleep with a script under one’s pillow. I dunno why.
• No real money should be kept on the stage.
• No real jewellery but should be used. Both this and the one above probably came from theft issues, or something about gambling.
• It’s bad luck to ever complete the play without an audience. So actors, don’t ever say the last line in rehearsals or they invite a very small audience of friends or reviewers to dress rehearsals.
• A bad dress rehearsal leads to a good opening night.
• One should not practice bowing until they feel they deserve them.
• NEVER give a leading lady or director (or anyone just to be safe) flowers before opening night! This is a big one! Seriously, don’t. Actually, to be safe, don’t give flowers ever before a show and wait ‘till afterwards. I remember while playing Silvio in The Servant of Two Masters and actor was given flowers before opening night. Upon receiving them, she threw them into the bathroom cubicle and told NO ONE to open the door before the end of the show.
• One closing night, it is good luck to give the director and/or leading lady flowers from a graveyard. This is to do with the symbolism of the show ending (dying). Also, really really gorgeous and will totally let you pick up hot actor chicks. It came from the fact that actors are poor and would steal flowers from a graveyard instead of buying expensive bouquets.
• Peacock feathers should never be brought on stage. Apparently there a lots of  bad stories. Also, it has the “evil eye” on it from greek mythology.
• Having a bible or religious book on stage is unlucky.
• Blue is unlucky unless counteracted by silver. Apparently as theatre companies were dying, they would dye clothes blue (the most expensive dye) hoping to appease the audience. But, wearing real silver PROVES your wealth rather than the fake wealth of dying troops. P.S - this is the main one and usually only counts to WEARING blue colours. The other two colours below aren’t very well known.
• Green is also unlucky. Apparently because theatre used to be outside so you couldn’t see the actors… because audiences are that stupid (apparently?).
• And yellow is unlucky! Colour of the devil from the days of religious plays. Also, really bad to have a yellow clarinet.
• Never have THREE candles lit on stage. Side note: the actor closest to the shortest candle is the first to marry of the first to die.
• Having a mirror on stage is bad luck. This is because it might break and broken mirrors bring 7 years of bad luck for you AND the theatre. I guess it’s ok… as long as you don’t break it but… is it worth the seven year risk? Btw, rewrite to what I said before about the cat, ladder and mirror… I don’t care as long as it’s not in a theatre.
• Cats are mixed. Having a cat in the theatre is good… but kicking a cat is really bad and also if it runs across the stage during a performance, shit is about to go down man… bad shit.
• While on stage, NEVER look at the audience from behind the curtain. Peekers are not welcome, and that goes for stage managers too!
• Real flowers should never be used on stage. Derived from a cost thing.
• Knitting is unlucky on and off stage.
• Messing with make-up boxes brings evil.
• It’s unlucky to carry a make-up box. Derived from making actors seem like amateurs if they carried their own make-up.
• It’s bad luck to clean out make-up boxes.
• If powder is dropped on the floor, dancing on it will bring luck.
• An actor should not look into a mirror over the shoulder of another actor or bad luck will befall them.
• Before making their first entrance, an actor should be pinched for luck.
• To trip while making an entrance on opening night will ensure the success of the play.
• If a actor trips over the hem of their dress, they must kiss it ensuring them another contract. Anything that will get you work!
• If you find a thread on another actors costume, you should wind it around your finger without breaking it. The number of times wound around represents the initial of the manager to give you your next contract. Once again, anything to get work.
• To ensure the success of a new theatre, a piece of coal should be thrown from the stage into the gallery. 
• DO NOT sing tunes deemed unlucky. These include I Dreamt that I Dwelt in Marble Halls, The Dead March and Three Blind mice.
• DO NOT place your shoes on a chair in a dressing room.
• If a costume catches a piece of scenery as an actor enters, they must do the entrance again.
• If the first person to purchase a ticket to a play is elderly, the play will run for a long time while a young person means the opposite.
• If a torn bank note is used to purchase a ticket, the man in the box office will occur a change in position.
• The usher who seats the first person will be brought good luck. If that person has a seat number of 13, bad luck will befall them.
• It’s bad luck for an usher to not hear the first lines of the play.
• If a woman faints in the audience, which usher is in control of the section where she was seated will have bad luck for the rest of the night.
• If an usher makes a mistake seating their first patron, there will be two more mistakes made.
• An usher’s first tip should be rubbed on their trousers (or skirt) and kept in their pocket for the rest of the season for good luck.
• To have a company member smile at you, being an usher, is good luck. Seriously, poor ushers have it tough!

And that is that! Also fun fact! To make theatre floors less slippery, they was them with coke. Or they can stamp around in rosin. Fun time! Anyway, if you made it this far, good for you! You win 10 internet points! I hope you enjoy the superstitions of the theatre as much as I do :-)

Bec xx

Zen Zen Zo

Okay, well on top of everything else I have been involved in Training Room Tuesdays which has been… to put it simply… FREAKING AMAZING! What we do is a type of training specific to a theatre company called Zen Zen Zo which focuses on physical theatre and is a mix (and a reaction against) of western and japanese theatre. It uses a combination of the Suzuki Training, Bhuto Dance and Viewpoints training. It runs for about three hours and homg! it’s so tiring! Like seriously! Three hours of intense physical strain.

Anyway, tonight we started with the classic stomp (times normal stomping by 10x and do that for about 5 mins straight then walk as slow as you can with as much tension while carrying an emotional image and state… it’s shit hard but I’m getting ok at it) along with some standing statues, sitting statues, freeform sitting statues, voice work and a viewpoints session to wrap up.

It was great add voice into! Chris (co-founder of Zen Zen Zo and our tutor) has the most amazing voice! I was so impressed! But I have a horrible habit of using my shoulders and head (moving them) which I HAVE TO STOP! Lotte in singing noticed it too.

The rest I think I did pretty well in. The standing / sitting / freeform statues while freaking hard, I felt like I did ok in. The freeform viewpoints session at the end was also amazing! We finally were allowed to combine all of them into on “lanes” exercise: tempo, duration, architecture, floor pattern, shape, gesture, spatial relationship, kinesthetic reaction and repetition. Towards the end it was amazing some of the images and interactions that were created. I love this class so much!

Anyways, I am EXHAUSTED and should be off to bed! Night all, I hope it was as great as mine!

Bec xx

How to Act Around Cops

So, my new experimental endeavour is directing a first year production! How exciting! Ignore the fact I haven’t directed anything before (except a small film about a maccas run in year 11 that really wasn’t that good although I do have to blame Marcus for a bit of it due to his “acting” skills and general annoyingness) because I have confidence that this will pull together! Actually, there’s something surprisingly magic about theatre that way… that at the end it all just seems to… click (Note: HSC IP & GP, Amadeus and so many more). Love those theatre pixies!

So far my stage manager is Josh and my cast contains the amazing talents of Corey (Barnum), Zephyr (Madson), Marty (Cop), Bradley (Dean) and Hannah (Steph). After our first read through earlier tonight I have decided that I am very very happy with my cast and the roles they are playing and as long as they stop trying to order my stage manager around asking for chi lattes and pizza… his shout… I doubt I’ll have to get mad at them… much. It’s actually really interesting even in this early stage to see how they’re interacting with each other and the text. Like, I didn’t think I would start to pick up on this so early!

Anyways, I guess I can’t get too mad at my actors… they’re the ones I’ll be blaming if the shows a bust. But I know it won’t be! Despite my complete inexperience I know the amazing talent I am working with along with a lot of perspiration, a sprinkle of inspiration and a visit from those theatre pixies will be more than enough to let this show become… something. And I mean something in a good way! If anything it will be an AWESOME learning experience! That’s why I started the project in the first place, so I could try something else creative before I am locking into becoming an actor (which, who knows, maybe directing is my new thing). It’s a bit like how my dad learnt to swim: he got chucked in the deep end and they hope he wouldn’t drown… or at least die. Good ole’ Tassies! (What… I’m not have Tasmanian… although it does explain the red hair).

In conclusion, DO NOT wish me luck (It’s bad luck) and I hope that eventually, when this is on, a few of you will be very interested in coming to see my show :-)

Bec xx