Starting out
"Follow"
8|1|2020
We completed a animal kingdom questionnaire and discussed the skills we will carry into Mask. We also assumed the skills we would learn this term, I believed that we would be focusing primarily on body language and physicality; mask work requires the actor to communicate without dialogue to an ever different audience.
We also view a short clip from Steven Berkoff play, The tell tale heart written by Edger Allen Poe- a gothic story that end in tragedy, Berkoff used mime to express this.
We also watched some mime performances from a French course from the le coq school.
9|1|2020
We arranged to travel to Worcester city to see a mask production by Vamos on the 23rd, I was originally sceptically about the quality of the show, believing it would be hard to follow and lacking in certain qualities that go hand in hand with dialogue; you wouldn't want to see a Shakespeare play without any dialogue? No.
Commedia Dell'Arte archetypes
Other characters originated as stock persona's and became familiar faces as skilled actors played them, for example the nimble Zanni, the wistful fool and the braggart capitano.
We completed a animal kingdom questionnaire and discussed the skills we will carry into Mask. We also assumed the skills we would learn this term, I believed that we would be focusing primarily on body language and physicality; mask work requires the actor to communicate without dialogue to an ever different audience.
We also view a short clip from Steven Berkoff play, The tell tale heart written by Edger Allen Poe- a gothic story that end in tragedy, Berkoff used mime to express this.
We also watched some mime performances from a French course from the le coq school.
9|1|2020
We arranged to travel to Worcester city to see a mask production by Vamos on the 23rd, I was originally sceptically about the quality of the show, believing it would be hard to follow and lacking in certain qualities that go hand in hand with dialogue; you wouldn't want to see a Shakespeare play without any dialogue? No.
The commedia Dell'Arte (Italian- Comedy of the profession) was an establishment of significant French influence settled Venice-Italy during the mid 1500's, when performance was generally unscripted and required no admission fee, actors where supported by audience donations. Heavily influenced by mime, making for dialogue-less performances. Made up of the literary society and street performers, it was popular theater whose cast of recognizable characters represented everyone in society. It's throngs were run fairly; everyone was paid and women frequented the stage.
Techniques
Lazzi- physical or verbal comedic relief that guided the action away from the main plot and then back to it.
Characters such as the 'early clown' the harlequin are still prevalent in entertainment today for example, the character Harley Quinnzel in the DC comics and films.
Commedia Dell'Arte archetypes
Pantalone- ( Mr. Punch from Punch and Judy for example) They're deluded, greedy and grotesque. An important Del'arte stock character, frequently paired with Dottore.
Other characters originated as stock persona's and became familiar faces as skilled actors played them, for example the nimble Zanni, the wistful fool and the braggart capitano.
About Vamos
Vamos direct and produce original, tear-jerking theatre; inspired by real life events. They're rooted in social research and are leading mask theatre. They have been producing since 2006 and continue to make excellent full mask plays- which they tour each year while also performing at festivals and events.
14|1|2020
We were given the option of several, current news stories to change into a mimed performance, as a group we decided on Harry and Megan's split from the royal family- Apart form Ben Deller and me, the group took terns narrating, I was very impressed by how quickly and efficiently the group worked as team to make an enjoyable, little performance. Starting out we talked about their move to Canada and then continued on to rehearse,
In addition four members of the group, at a time, selected a mask each; we were lined up facing away from our remaining piers and were called out one by one and given a personality to act out to the audience by Jack. I played a nervous, reserved and shy character, I crossed my arms around my middle and shuffled around. I felt as though I had become anew when putting on the mask, I realised that by hiding my face i was hiding my true emotions and only expressing the thoughts and feeling of my character though the movements of my body.
16|1|2020
Assignment was set to begin blog and we received feedback for our animal kingdom project.
We recapped yesterdays exercise 'magnet eyes'; where the eyes lock onto the audience and the body moved in the opposite direction to the stare. look to the audience for approval; maybe your character is doing something morally ambiguous
the audience)
For our warm up exercises, we pretended we were trapped inside a large bubble stretching out one part of the body at a time, focusing on our breathing while we move our bodies to touch the sides of the bubble.
