What is performance?

A great exploration into the context, methods and forms of dramatic performance

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Changing the Classics: Original vs. Contemporary Interpretations

 In the three disciplines and forms of performing arts- acting, dancing and singing, there are very significant historical playwrights, choreographers and composers that have had a great impact on theatre in this country and around the world. An example for each discipline would include:

William Shakespeare: the Elizabethan playwright of works such as ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Othello’ and ‘Macbeth

Marius Petipa: the 1800′s ballet choreographer of works such as ‘The Nutcracker’, “Coppelia’ and ‘Swan Lake’

Rodgers and Hammerstein: the 1940′s and 50′s composers of works such as ‘South Pacific’, ‘Carousel’ and ‘The Sound of Music’

William Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ VS Frantic Assembly’s ‘Othello’

The original performance conditions of ‘Othello’ used thrust staging with a very minimalistic set. One of these features was a canopy above the stage, with stars and the moon painted upon it, to represent heaven and hell- death and tragedy are key themes in Othello, so this would have been very symbolic for this piece. Other key features of the set include a bed and the balconies above the stage, which were used by characters such as Iago to look out to the audience as monologues were performed. 

Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ is set in the city of Venice and on a military base in Cyprus. In Frantic Assembly’s ‘Othello’, the action takes place in a pub during the 2000′s. The set for this adaptation replaces Desdemona’s eventual death bed with a spinning pool table, which characters are lifted over and onto to show shifts in power. Traditional military costume is replaced with tracksuits, and the war violence in the original piece translates well into the rowdy setting of the local boozer. Although little of the text is altered, northern accents are used to further emphasise the rough and ready setting. Overall I feel this is a fantastic adaptation, and proves that classics can be changed and given a new lease of life.

Marius Petipa’s ‘Swan Lake’ VS. Matthew Bourne’s ‘Swan Lake’

‘Swan Lake’ is a truly iconic ballet across the world. Odette, a pure girl trapped in the body of a swan, wishes to be free. She comes close to her dream being discovered in the form of the handsome Prince Siegfried, but at the last moment, her evil twin Odile seduces him away from her. Heartbroken and helpless, Odette kills herself and finds peace and freedom in heaven. 

 Pepita’s original version of the piece is very linear and follows this naturalistic storyline. The choreography also uses the traditional ballet technique, with male  and female ballerinas in their corresponding gender roles. The traditional tutus and pointe shoes are worn.

 In stark contrast, Matthew Bourne’s ‘Swan Lake’ uses an all male ensemble of swans. Whether the piece is classified as ‘ballet’ or not is greatly disputed, as a more contemporary style of dance is performed. The production itself, in some ways, mocks the generalised balletic forms and is much more playful and comedic, the swans pecking the ground, for example. The ensemble of swans are topless, exploring themes of male sexuality and exposure. Overall I feel that this adaptation is very clever and effective.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘The Sound of Music’ VS. ‘Showstopper! The Improvised Musical’

Although not a direct comparison, I feel that ‘The Sound of Music’ is very much the epitome of what us as audience members class as a traditional piece of musical theatre, while ‘Showstopper!’ breaks the mould.

 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘The Sound of Music’ I feel is a classic example of traditional musical theatre. It is very much a family orientated piece, uses a traditional music score. The piece has a clear beginning, middle and ending, and is very much a linear, naturalistic piece as it follows the story of Maria, a nun, becoming a governess to Captain Von Trapp’s children and earning their respect. It features very elaborate staging, costume and special effects.

 On the other end of the spectrum, ‘Showstopper!’ is a completely improvised piece of musical theatre. Because of this, the piece does not have as much of a linear, naturalistic storyline, and I feel this makes it more of an abstract piece- the storyline and main ideas of the piece change with every performance. Minimalistic staging, costume and effects are used in this piece, with the focus being on the actors themselves. 

Overall, I feel that exploring how the classics in the theatre world can be changed and adapted to fit with the moving of time was very interesting and helped to shape my understanding of theatre.

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My Work: Performance of ‘Lost in The Rain’

 Project 2 of first year of BA (Hons) Performing Arts is entitled ‘Post-Dramatic Performance’. This project stated that as a collective, we must tear apart our performance of ‘The Sound of Heavy Rain’ by Penelope Skinner, and create an original work of theatre using its themes and concepts. 

 The first stage of the creative process was picking out the key themes and motifs from the play. Some examples of constant themes and ideas that were stressed throughout the play that we chose to experiment with include:

Loneliness (shown in ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’ sequence)

Alcoholism (Drinking/Water Sequence)

One-sided love (Pina Bausch inspired dropping sequence and ‘You Make Me Feel Special’l Monologue)

Smoking (Smoking Sequence)

Rainfall (Constant rainfall projection)

Gender fluidity (Gender Sequence and Sex Change)

Gender Stereotypes (’I am a man’ and ‘I am a woman’

Cabaret (Chair sequences and slow tango)

 The second stage of the process of developing the piece was to devise segments of text and movement to put together to make a whole piece of original theatre. This stage allowed for us to think outside the box and create samples of text and movement which may not fit into the normal conventions of theatre and dramatic text. Richard Schechner stated that:

 “What ‘is’ or ‘is not’ performance does not depend on an event in itself but on how that event is received and placed. Today the enactment of dramas ‘is’ a theatrical performance.”

(Schechner 2013, p39)

‘Lost in the Rain’ was very much an ‘is not’ performance, as it was not an enactment of a drama like ‘The Sound of Heavy Rain’, our performance prior. “Lost in the Rain’  did not depend on an event, it very much depended on a set of core themes and ideas, and how the audience received these messages and what it meant to them.

 The performance of the piece itself used many technical elements and conventions, such as rainfall projections, microphones and a live camera setup. I feel that these elements helped to create more of a post-dramatic piece, along with the non-naturalistic styles of text and movement used throughout.

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Annie Sprinkle, Post Porn Modernist 1989-1996

Annie Sprinkle, as a performance artist, wanted audiences to have an open dialogue about sex and feel more comfortable talking about it to their peers. A particular aspect of the sexual reproductive system that she wanted to explore in performance was the vagina. The concept behind her performance ‘The Cervix Show’ was that whilst the penis was clearly visible and out there, the vagina is tucked away, which is why she felt that people had more preconceptions and inhibitions about it. 

 For the piece, Annie placed a camera inside her cervix, inviting people to have a look inside it, freeing their inhibitions. This made for a very interactive, abstract piece of performance. The piece comes under the category of ‘live art’, as her cervix was the performance space in this piece of work.

 Unlike the naturalistic actor who tries to disguise the work of performance, performers in many... productions studied...lay bare the making of the performance. [Some] work implicitly acknowledges the spectators’ role in completing the performance- something which applies to all theatre, of course, but which is often ignored.

(Giesekam 2007, p249)

I feel that this quote from “Staging the Screen’ by Greg Giesekam largely summarises Annie Sprinkle’s piece ‘The Cervix Show’. The making of the performance and the performance space itself (the cervix) is laid bare in front of the audience. The audience also complete the performance itself, as without them, there would be no performance as they are the ones looking into the cervix itself.

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Post-Dramatic Performance Monologue: ‘You Make Me Feel Special’

The second performance project of Year One- Post-Dramatic Performance- allowed for more creative input in terms of text and written and devised material. I devised my own monologue for this piece based on my own experiences with a person of the opposite sex- its themes include:

Physical attraction

Self doubt

Being eager to please

Idolisation

Obsession

Emotional connection

One sided love

After receiving feedback from my tutor, I realised that the main themes of my text were much like the characteristics of Maggie in ‘The Sound of Heavy Rain’ by Penelope Skinner. As our new show for project 2, ‘Lost in the Rain’, is inspired by the themes and ideas of the play, I felt that this was very appropriate. 

During one rehearsal session, work began on transforming this monologue into an ensemble piece. This shift in the amount of people on stage instantly gave the monologue a completely different effect- when I performed it as a solo actress, I felt that the changes in emotion and impact were very linear and predictable, and somewhat dramatic, when the ensemble were on stage surrounding me, I felt it became more post-dramatic, as a creepy effect was created, almost having the effect on the audience that they were being stalked. 

 The repetition of particular lines such as “I can help you”, and the addition and rhythm of words such as “coffee, tea, wine, a beer, cocktail, a glass of water” all enabled the piece to ‘come alive’ on stage and come across as a creepier, more sinister piece, rather than sensitive.

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Partner Movement Motif Inspired by Frantic Assembly

Close to the beginning of our practical performance project entitled ‘Post-Dramatic Performance’, we devised a short partner sequence that could be repeated by each pair travelling down the length of the room. This sequence consisted of a synchronised movement, a lift, and then an end position. Below is my choreography sequence I devised with my partner in this motif, Orlaith:

1. Synchronised crossover roll

2. Scissor kick side lift

3. Lunge end position

I feel that this motif in our post-dramatic performance was heavily inspired by the work of the theatre company ‘Frantic Assembly’. The company is very well known for its heavy emphasis on physical theatre in their pieces- the use of lifts, ducks and dives is effective as it shows the switches in power and status. The transitions between the lifts and main movements are so smooth that one movement flows seamlessly into another. Finally, the use of slow motion into much faster, forceful movement in time with the music helps to show the change in pace and dramatic tension. The trailer below is of a show I have seen on stage at the Curve myself, and provides a very good example of the use of physical theatre in their work.

Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett, the artistic directors and co-founders of ‘Frantic Assembly’, have a joint vision and view about the term ‘choreography’:

By choreography we mean any formalised movements that become set and can be repeated. This can be the dynamic and spectacular or it could be the minute and precise. It can be explosive and it can be introspective.

(Graham and Hoggett 2009, p125)

 Overall, my movements in the devised partner motif flowed seamlessly into one another and used physical theatre to convey certain moods and emotions, much like the work of the company Frantic Assembly.

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Hetain Patel is a live artist who grew up in Manchester, but has heavy Indian roots and family heritage. He uses these confusing elements of identity in order to inspire and influence his work. Originally starting out as a visual artist and photographer, he soon began to experiment with the creation of art through the use of his own body; his body has become the theatre space. 

 The project above is called ‘Sacred Bodies’, and was one of Patel’s first projects as a live artist. To create the first piece, Patel used a special type of red Indian pigment, called vermillion powder, which is commonly used to paint bindis on the faces of Hindu and Indian women. The fiery red colour of the pigment really brings out the print and I feel evokes a sense rebellion- only the women in Indian culture wear bindis, so Patel has rebelled against the societal norms of India in the process of his work.

 The two pictures below use mendhi, an art form and medium used to decorate only the hands. Again, Patel has rebelled by using it across the whole body. I think the use of a very dark henna, rather than a traditional chestnut brown shade is effective as it makes the work stand out and give the image a clear focal point.

 Hetain Patel’s work has given me an insight into live art as it is perhaps a form of performance I was yet to understand fully, and I really like how themes and cultural influences can be used and pulled apart to create a piece of work.

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A Focus on Dance Works

“Swansong’ by Christopher Bruce (above) and ‘Nutcracker!’ by Matthew Bourne (below) 

In the past, I have often analysed and evaluated the published dance works of recognised choreographers. These two particular pieces- ‘Swansong’ by Christopher Bruce and ‘Nutcracker!’ by Matthew Bourne, are great to draw a comparison as they have many similarities and differences:

Similarities  

Both are a similar style and genre of dance- contemporary ballet

Both evoke a certain mood and emotion to the audience

Both use multiple dancers in these particular motifs

Both pieces experiment with power and hierarchy

Differences

‘Swansong’ uses a very minimalistic set with the chair being the focus, whereas ‘Nutcracker!’ has a much fuller set

‘Swansong’ uses dim lighting to create a darker atmosphere, whereas ‘Nutcracker!’ uses soft washes of light to create a romantic feel

In ‘Swansong’, the two guards dance in synchronisation while the prisoner has a solo piece, whereas in this motif of ‘Nutcracker!’, a pas de deux is used

‘Swansong’ draws on the context of the prisoners of Guantanamo Bay, whilst ‘Nutcracker!’ is more of a beautiful, fantastical world

‘Nutcracker!’ has a more linear storyline than ‘Swansong’, which focusses more on context and choreography than a plot

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My Work: Performance of ‘The Sound of Heavy Rain’ by Penelope Skinner

During the first 6 weeks of the academic year, our year group was split in half to work on two separate performances of the play ‘The Sound of Heavy Rain’, written by the playwright Penelope Skinner. This was for the completion of Project 1: Dramatic Performance.

 The process of developing this performance piece began by us spending a number of sessions physicalising each primary character. We began with the character of Dabrowski, and created a number of significant characteristics for him, including the smoking of a cigarette, and a slow walk- the females in the group changed their stance by widening their legs and bringing the pelvis forward to appear more masculine. Maggie’s character was determined by a quicker paced, ‘shuffle’ sort of walk, her head constantly checking the surroundings around her and her movements very jerky. Foxie, in all forms, we knew would come across to the audience as a huge diva, full of self-confidence and a true performer, so we characterised her using perfectly placed cabaret poses.

 We then were given out our parts for the piece. I received the role of 1 of the three narrators, as well as various ensemble roles within the piece. Although to begin with, I characterised my narrator as very androgynous and more unisex, I feel that as I worked through the piece and as the weeks went on, a more feminine, sassy side of her character came out in time for the final performance. I also developed the physicality, and used exaggerated mime such as drawing out a television set and holding a glass of whisky. One audience member remarked that my physicality in this particular scene reminded them of a scene from the Tarantino film ‘Pulp Fiction.’

 I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the physical theatre ensemble as I feel that this is what gave our group’s performance a particularly innovative, cutting edge. This involved particular bar scenes, multi-roling, and appearing as reporters. Notable points include:

‘The clink of glasses’

The pig snort during Graham’s scene

The physical tube scene

Passed out drunks

Fox transformation 

Disco scene

‘What’s in the bag?’

Cabaret finale

Overall I feel that although physical theatre elements and multi-roling were used to give our piece a slight contemporary edge, I still feel that we used many elements of dramatic performance throughout, and the piece had a clear storyline.

On the other hand, when watching the other group’s performance of the play, I feel that their interpretation had a much more linear storyline, and used more elements of dramatic performance than ours. More of a focus was on the voice and naturalistic acting, rather than physical theatre and movement. I thoroughly enjoyed watching their piece as it was very interesting to see the differences between the two groups and our different ideas of dramatic performance.

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Seen Performances: ‘PORT’ by third year BAPA students

A promotional poster for ‘PORT’.

In order to gain an insight into the ways in which technology and visual effects can enhance a theatre performance, I attended a third year devised performance, entitled ‘PORT’. The piece was devised by third year students, who created their own company named ‘Duck Village’, and used their own experiences and inspiration from a university trip to Malta to devise their performance. The piece encompassed maritime life and struggles, and I feel related a lot to the slave ships from years ago.

The three actors in the piece- Luke, Keila and Dale, were placed at equal distances apart across the ship’s structure. Each of them also had a corresponding motif of speech, which was repeated throughout the piece and varied in pace and pauses to achieve different forms of dramatic effect. 

 Luke was placed far stage left, using the tall end part of the structure as a podium for him to stand upon and directly address the audience as his ‘friends’. He spoke of the voyage itself to begin with, immersing the audience into the journey going ahead. As the piece continued however, his tone and the content of his speech darkened, talking of a potential virus aboard the ship. 

 Keila was placed on the opposite tall end of the structure, facing sideways instead of directly face on, adding a different visual dynamic. Although Keila spoke in Spanish repetitively for her motif, and to a non-fluent speaker it may be unclear what she was actually saying, she spoke in a very passionate, heartfelt manner, as if making a declaration throughout.

  In contrast, Dale often changed positions, but was mainly placed in the centre, towards the bottom of the structural staging. Once again, in contrast to the other two stronger and more forceful roles, Dale’s simple yet poignant line ‘How long will they wait?’ provided a sense of insecurity and uncertainty for the piece, and also had the effect of worrying and panicking the audience.

 Lighting, projections and audiovisual effects were used in abundance. Behind the structures was a large screen, in which projections of heavy rain stopped the main flow of action on stage. Whilst the rainfall was in focus, the structures were blacked out, and over the rainfall, a warped sound effect was played, much like the breaking down of a technical system. This showed the downfall of communication between the ship’s bodies and had the effect of making the audience worry, not knowing what was going to happen next. 

 Projections were utilised by the use of projected images on the structures themselves. At various points within the performance, camera’s with live TV cables were used to film members of the group behind the structures, whilst their actions were projected live in front of the audience. I really liked how the cameras and cables were visible to the audience whilst this was happening, as I feel that they were not trying to create an illusion of reality, and in turn this made the performance more post-dramatic. 

 A significant moment in the piece in which projections were used was in the second half of the performance, in which Dale ducked behind the middle structure, and laid on his side underneath some wooden beams in a very constricted, uncomfortable position. He appeared very sick and unwell to the audience, and I felt that it related to themes of slavery and the slave ships of the   late 1700′s, in which convicts had to endure inhumane conditions in order to reach their destinations, although many ended up dying on the ships themselves. This moment really emphasised this and gave a distressing feel to the piece.

Overall, I felt that this piece fitted more into the post-dramatic area of performance, due to the minimalistic staging, repetitive motifs used, and more of an emphasis on technology and special effects used than a linear plot, however I feel that themes and historical context were communicated effectively.

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Spoken Word in Original Performance

In response to my recent post about the performance of Ben Norris’ ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Family’, I have began to think more about how devised original works are put together, and in particular, how spoken word is used in performance. 

 In ‘The Viewpoints Book’, Anne Bogart and Tina Landau effectively explain the process and components needed to devise original work;

In the creation of original work, it is helpful for the process to be grounded in three basic components upon which a production can be constructed:

The question

The anchor

The structure.

The question (or theme) motivates the entire process. This central driving force should be big enough, interesting enough and relevant enough to be attractive and contagious to many people. The question emerges from personal interest and then spreads like a virus to other people who come in contact with it. 

      The anchor is a person (or event) that can serve as a vehicle to get to the question.

      The structure is the skeleton upon which the event hangs. It is a way to organise time, information, text and imagery.

(Bogart and Landau 2014, p154)

In ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Family’, I feel that the question would be ‘Can you really receive acts of true kindness from absolute strangers?’, relating to the amount of people he didn’t know who stopped and gave him a lift to where he needed to be. The anchor I feel would be the people giving him the lifts to his destination (to see his father), as without them, he would not have been able to cover the geographical distance needed to get there. Finally, I feel that the structure is an autobiographical, spoken word piece.

 Feeling inspired by Ben Norris’ piece, I decided to create my own piece of spoken word performance. My piece, an extract of which is shown below, is inspired by my own experiences of freshers week this year at university. I feel that the question of my piece would be ‘What is freshers and university really like?’, the anchor would be me beginning university, and the structure would be an autobiographical, but dramatised spoken word piece. 

It started as nothing, it always does When neither you nor I knew fudge All about each other. Well yeah we spoke a bit on a group chat about what we were looking forward to, (and what we were not) But we had never ever sat And…had a conversation.  

So then I got here Unpacked my shit And then went to a predrinks. You were there. Obviously. I was too. You wore a scabby black tshirt, while me? Mate, I was dressed as a lion Out de MOTHERFUCKING zoo. (a hot one though)

Vodka flowed while sourz were shot, while that absolute legend Jason Game Played the game just right, And down the hatch went his dirty pint. His second of the week, in fact. I, however, am not that strong, though I drank a small amount (That cheeky Smirnoff didn’t count) Soon all the booze I’d brought was gone, But gone was I also.

This was zoo party night. 

The actual night itself weren’t that bad

...nah it was shite.

You made it for me really. We did a pre-club maccies and you bought a meal Just so you could get a kiddie’s copy of ‘The Diary of a Wimpy Kid’. Who the fuck does that? You. Who the fuck Makes all their new bezzie mates sit round a lamppost in the freezing cold, The lads loving the banter The girls (well, me) pissed off their rockers having to cling on to the lads And make them listen to your goddam awful storytelling? You do, and this was before we went out on the lash.

So we get to Fan Club, and I start laughing about how in Leicester

We call it Fanny. We show our wristbands and all that shite And we’re in. Have a jagerbomb, courtesy of James (I think?) Have a dance. Have a Bacardi and coke, then a dance and then A tequila shot. Oh sweet Jesus that was me done that was. Luckily everyone wanted to go early So off we went. The other girls linked arms with James, And you took mine. Nothing meant by it of course, Just making sure That I didn’t fall in the River Soar (that’s actually a canal).

Overall I feel that using Bogart and Landau’s theory helped me to understand more about devising original work and how the process can begin. Applying the theory to my own work and the seen performance of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Family’ really helped me to put my learning into practice, and think more about this one style of post-dramatic performance.  Below are a few of my own images that inspired my spoken word piece. 

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A Focus on ‘Dramatic Performance’- Naturalism in Acting

In this blog post, I will be discussing and evaluating Stanislavsky’s system of naturalism and relate it to my work and that of others, to gain a more focussed insight into dramatic performance.

Naturalism first came into being by the practitioner Constantin Stanislavsky. The system consists of ‘truthful acting’ and psychological realism, meaning that what the viewer sees is close to real life. Stanislavsky wanted the audience to believe that the play was real, and that they were not watching a piece of theatre at all. This is sometimes referred to as a ‘suspension of disbelief’. Stanislavsky came up with the idea of the ‘fourth wall’, an invisible wall between the audience and the action on stage, as if the audience is looking in on the action. They should not be involved in the action on stage.

A play that I feel truly showcases the more traditional, dramatic and naturalistic style of acting is ‘A Doll’s House’ by Henrik Ibsen. The play is in three acts with  a clear beginning, middle and ending across the scenes, therefore following a linear plot structure and telling a story. The play has five principal characters- Torvald, Nora, Mrs Linde, Krogstad and Dr Rank, and fully encompasses issues relating to the context of when the play was set (in the 1800′s), such as financial ruin, trust, maturity and status.

This play, when performed to the playwright’s very naturalistic intentions, should make the audience feel as if they are taking a step into Victorian society. The actors playing the roles must use traditional Stanislavsky techniques in order to achieve this. Breathing techniques are extremely important. After all, Stanislavsky once said; 

 Till you realise that the whole basis of your life- respiration- is not only the basis of your physical existence, but that respiration plus rhythm forms the foundations of all your creative work, your work on rhythm and breathing will never be carried out in full consciousness, that is to say, as it should be carried out, in a state of such complete concentration as to turn your creative work into ‘inspiration. 

(Merlin 2007, p34)

Breathing is a form of relaxation, an aspect very important in Stanislavsky’s system. In preparation for my own work, I used a technique in which I used a large inhale, before exhaling and using this exhalation of breath to let out a ‘hark!’ sort of noise. This really helped me to not only get into a state of relaxation, but also warmed up my vocal and other muscles in my body before going on to rehearse. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, it enabled me to fully concentrate on my breathing, which is something often forgotten about when ‘living the role’. 

 Conclusively, I feel that dramatic performance, although incredibly versatile, is very linear as a performance form, and does not reach the same heights, or break boundaries like post-dramatic performance.

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‘Chicago’, ‘Cabaret’ and ‘Sweet Charity’ are musical theatre pieces closely associated with the choreographer Bob Fosse. All of these encompass the traditional cabaret style dance mentioned in the previous post, and is used in our performance of ‘The Sound of Heavy Rain’. Through YouTube research online, I suddenly remembered a choreographed routine to the ‘Chicago Overture’ I watched on the UK version of the TV show ‘Dance Moms’, which I really liked due to the almost physical theatre aspects within it. 

Notable Points

At 0.54 when the group of dancers form a car, which I think is really clever because it uses over the top facial expressions alongside physical movements to create this scene within the dance- this lies within the ‘simple acting’ category on Kirby’s scale as it is dramatic performance, but uses over-exaggerated, cliche acting rather than complex emotions and thought processes. However, due to its over the top nature, it reminded me a lot of those black and white silent comedy features in cinemas which I really liked.

At 1.33 when the dancers run into position, and use musicality to shake their hips directly in time with a particular sound effect. Cabaret is all about precisely timed movements and the use of very specific beats in the music and I feel that this point in the routine showed this.

At 1.50 where a particular dancer splits from the group and begins to ‘show off’, prompting the other dancers to act bored and fed up and check their watches. This gave a real comedic element to the piece, and links to a particular theory and idea surrounding cabaret as an art form:

Emerging from bohemian haunts, the cabaret was the earliest podium for the expressionists, the DADAists, the futurists; it was a congenial forum for experiments in shadowography, puppetry, free-form skits, jazz rhythms, literary parody, “naturalistic” songs, “bruitistic” litanies, agitprop, dance-pantomime, and political satire.

 (Carlson 2003, p94)

 I strongly feel that this interpretation of a famous ‘Chicago’ dance piece comes under the category of ‘dance-pantomime’, as comedic and over the top elements are used in tandem with dance, to create a dramatic and comedic piece of performance.

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Cabaret is an artistic term that can mean different things to different people. In this article by the writer Ben Chu (linked at the bottom of this post) ‘cabaret’ is described as ‘an elastic category’, and ‘can include song, dance, comedy, magic, circus tricks and strip tease (burlesque).’ (lines 14-16)  

The picture above is Greta Nissen, a famous actress on stage and screen during the 1920′s and 30′s, when cabaret was in its true hey-day. I feel this picture sums up cabaret as an art form and genre for me as she appears very glamorous, has her arms perfectly placed, and a piercing, focussed gaze.

But what makes cabaret, cabaret? :

The venue will be intimate

The evening’s host is eccentric, flamboyant and in touch with their audience

The evening is full of variety acts

Dancers and burlesque acts accentuate and fully extend all of their movements, ‘showing off’ to their audience and putting on a good show

Although singing styles can vary, many female singers use a more sultry jazz voice to perform and ad-lib, often singing behind the track, as such is the case in jazz music

Props are often used, such as feathers and feather boas, canes and hats

In ‘The Sound of Heavy Rain’ by Penelope Skinner, Foxie O’Hara is a cabaret singer. In our interpretation of the play, as multi-roling is used throughout, around 15 of us appear as Foxie at the end of the play. A huge cabaret dance sequence is used, characterised and defined by large arm and hip movements. Further references to the cabaret style include when half of the group and manipulated like puppets by the other ‘Foxie’s’, thus putting on a show with comedic elements as well as sass and style. 

 Overall I feel that cabaret is a great example of true performance because it is all about putting on a show, accentuating movements and entertaining an audience. 

(Link to Ben Chu article http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/come-to-the-cabaret-a-darker-diversion-2329527.html)

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Seen Performances: ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Family’ at Upstairs at the Western

On the evening of Friday 14th October, I witnessed the one man performance of  ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Family’ by Ben Norris, at Upstairs at the Western. The performance was held in a very small, intimate theatre space, more intimate than the Curve studio, and I feel that this impacted how much Ben could interact with the audience members and get them to participate in the performance. 

 ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Family’ was very much a post-dramatic performance piece. This was evident throughout the piece- Norris seemed to play himself, rather than take on a dramatic role. The piece was very auto-biographical and followed Ben’s journey trying to get lifts all the way to his father. Although Ben seemed to be playing himself, and I feel that the majority of the performance lied more towards the not-acting end of the spectrum, like in ‘Shakespeare, His Wife and The Dog’, there were comedic and serious elements of dramatic performance. An example of a comedic moment was when he used the term ‘peas in a pod’ to refer to his relationship with his mother, yet classified his father as ‘a chicken balti down the reduced to clear section at asda’. This was very funny for the audience, and brought light to the tough situation Norris faced with his father. 

 Poignant, poetic phrases were used throughout the piece during more serious moments of reflection. Norris explained to his audience that ‘life goes on’, whilst looking out ‘past’ the audience. This created a distance between the performer and spectator, which is known as the alienation effect (verfremdungseffekt), a technique associated with the practitioner Bertolt Brecht. Brecht’s work broke the normalities and conventions of Stanislavsky’s naturalism and other mainstream theatre systems- the play must always remain a play, and not trick its audience into believing it is reality. The lack of connection here reflects Brecht’s system, although I feel other parts of the performance contradicted this, such as the handing out of props to audience members.

 The piece used multimedia projections and video on a screen behind Norris, showcasing his route and memories of his childhood and youth. This use of interrupted media broke the flow of theatrical action, once again relating to Brechtian principles. Through the middle of the stage floor was several round torches placed in a vertical line, representing cat eyes down the middle of a road, which I thought was an extremely clever use of staging as it set the scene for the whole performance. Other props scattered around the stage floor include a rucksack, torch, flask and written signs with location names on, which really symbolised the fact that this man had nothing and was going on a crazy journey to reach his end goal- finding his father.

 Overall I feel that ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Family’ was an extremely clever and well thought out production, that used staging, multimedia and spoken word to convey an autobiographical account. 

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My Work: ‘The Sound of Heavy Rain’ by Penelope Skinner- Background

Throughout BAPA Level 4- Project 1 (Dramatic Performance), and BAPA LeveI 4- Project 2 (Post-Dramatic Performance), I will be studying and performing the play ‘The Sound of Heavy Rain’ by Penelope Skinner. The project also links in with the PERF1018- Perspectives in Performance and Digital Arts 1 module, for which this blog is for. 

 The play centres around four main characters- Dabrowski, an idle private investigator, Maggie, an anxious temporary secretary, Graham, an eccentric accounts manager, and Foxie, a mysterious cabaret singer. 

 The play begins with Maggie pleading with Dabrowski to find her lost friend Foxie. Many different theories of her mysterious disappearance begin to concern the audience, such as her brutal murder. It is not until the end of the play, however, that we learn that Foxie is in fact a figure of Graham’s imagination, a ‘character’ he created when he saw a beautiful woman on the train. Graham feels that he must dress as Foxie to discover his own true identity and who he really wants to be.

 My first performance of this piece will be dramatic. This means that I will represent a fictional character and fully encompass their role, trying to make my audience believe that I am in fact that character. Dramatic performance is very naturalistic and associated with telling a story and making the plot and characters clear to the audience. The piece lends itself nicely to multi-roling and is open to experimentation- although some minor post-dramatic elements of theatre will be used, it is still a dramatic performance piece. Likewise, my post-dramatic performance of the piece will still use some dramatic elements.

 I feel that performing and working on this play will give me a great basis of dramatic performance, and will allow me to grow as a performer and develop my own ideas. 

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Here, I have compiled a series of characteristics, and made them into a role on the wall for Ty’s character. The traits on the outside are what she reveals to the audience, while the traits on the inside are what she tends to keep to herself, and not want to disclose. I have used colour coding to categorise these personality traits as follows:

Blue - Stronger traits and traits relating to her line of work

Pink - Softer traits she feels she needs to keep to herself, and traits about love and feelings

Orange - More vague traits she isn’t sure about yet 

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Character Development- Given Circumstances

In order to use aspects of dramatic performance throughout the developmental process, I decided to use a Stanislavsky technique called ‘given circumstances’. Dramatic performance is closest to ‘acting’ on Kirby’s not-acting-acting spectrum, and more naturalistic as a character is fully developed and has a background, and clear emotions are used to help the audience connect with the character.

 In my performance of the play ‘The Sound of Heavy Rain’ by Penelope Skinner, I have been cast as one of three narrators. Rather than using ‘received acting’, and simply reading my lines on stage with simply a role in the performance and little or no characterisation, I have chosen to use complex acting, and devise my own character for this narration role.

 The given circumstances help to give me a basis in which to develop my character further, which are as follows:

Name: Ty Droskins (a fairly unisex name)

Appearance and Identity: Androgynous, but more feminine looking than masculine

Occupation: A businesswoman, and she is Dabrowski’s assistant. She hates how idle he is and wishes she was higher up in the industry so she could do his job instead (and probably do it a whole lot better)

Relationship Status: Single, but longs to feel love again. 

Past: Has a secret love affair with Graham 5 years ago, but left him when she caught him trying on her dresses and skirts. 

Present: She is still struggling to cope with their split, and finds release from wearing clothes somewhat like he used to wear. 

Future: She wishes to find love, however she is unsure of her own identity and sexuality, although she plays this off in her working environment and around others.