Physical Theatre - Reflection


Over the last week, we have looked at the aspects of physical and how it could benefit in a performance.

Personally, physical theatre isn't for me; I like to act, but I wouldn't reject the thought of adding it to a piece if it was suggested but I would not have a clue where to start in structuring it.

It helped a lot that we mixed the groups, as we were all able to work with different people to gain confidence with them, however, I'm not really confident that I can do it yet.

So the activity for this week was to devise our own piece of physical theatre around a single prop.

Our group, (Luke C, Luke M, Joe and myself), we picked the Tie as our prop. We decided to base our performance in a shop and we all wanted the tie, for various reasons, and we had to fight over it (like you'd see on the TV on a sales advert), so we created quite a good performance where we all connected either to each other or the tie.
When it came to performing in front of the rest of the group, we were pretty confident in what we had to do; but when it came to a part of the scene where we were all tugging the tie, we'd practiced where we gently tugged it but with all the rehearsals and the pulls, when it came to the actual performance, the tie split and we had no idea what to do. we were stood there for at least two minutes just staring at the tie, looking between each other, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, we all just picked the same piece up and carried on. We knew that there was an obstacle and so, individually, we all thought to just carry on and move on from the obstacle.

With each performance I saw, it was great to see that everyone had an idea, no matter how small, of what the aspects of physical theatre are and how we can apply to our work if needed. 

From the work over the last week, I know have a better understanding of the requirements for physical theatre and what t actually is, what it includes and how to get inspiration for it.

 

Frantic assembly:

 

Frantic Assembly creates thrilling, energetic and unforgettable theatre. They aim attract new and young audiences with work that reflects culture; vivid and dynamic. Their unique physical style combines movement, design, music and text.

 

Led by Artistic Director Scott Graham; he formed the company with Steven Hoggett and Vicki Middleton in 1994 and continues to collaborate with many of today's inspiring artists.

 

Touring throughout the UK, Frantic Assembly has built a reputation as one of the most exciting companies in the country.

 

Also, the company has performed, created and collaborated in 30 different countries across the world.

 

Additionally, they operate a Learn & Train programme for around 6,000 participants a year to the company's process of creating theatre. Frantic Assembly also delivers Ignition (a vocational training project for young men), targeting those with little experience of the arts.

 

Their productions include:

• Lovesong ( http://www.franticassembly.co.uk/showreel/lovesong-showreel/  )
• Beautiful Burnout ( http://www.franticassembly.co.uk/showreel/beautiful-burnout-2012/ )
• Little Dogs ( http://www.franticassembly.co.uk/showreel/little-dogs/ )

Visit  http://www.franticassembly.co.uk/showreel/ more of their production and information on the company.

 

Frantic Assembly's main influences were Volcano Theatre Company and DV8