Drawings of Macbeth Rehearsals at Bristol Old Vic by Jonathan Polkest
with commentary on rehearsal techniques and seminal ideas about
rehearsal technique.
A Brief look at Rehearsal in Production.
Space, Body Spectator or Actors, play, and audience? Realizing potential for performance, always benefits from Direction or a defined point
of view to penetrate and infuse the collective energies with flow. Often that role is undertaken by a director. A director should provide leadership, without being overbearing or boorish, whether it's
a staged reading to a congregation, a reader's theatre performance at
reunion, or a full scale theatre production.
A director may take responsibility for the combined aspects of a production, as an artist he or she nurtures a vision from the collaboration that
ties their own performance elements with those of the text, the space, the performers and makers and organizers. (the company).
Directing as an art form became prominent during the late nineteenth
century emerging from a prevailing societal reliance upon rank and authority. In one form or another "Directors" probably existed since the classical
Greek theatre when the
didaskalos, meaning teacher,
instructed the performers.
The Medieval theatre employed stage managers called
conducteurs de secrets. Shakespeare may have embarked on some recognizable elements of directing his company
at the Globe Theatre during the Elizabethan age. And Moliere, it is said :coached his
company.
From
1750 to 1850, the manager/director or actor/manager/director became
promenant. Developments helped to shape the need for a director at this
time with rising standards in education and literacy, social awareness of antiquarianism, the technological development of scenery, and the focus on naturalistic production values.
- As "production" or Mise En Scene gradually eclipsed the power once
held by the play itself, they perfected the implements with which the
director would work -- the rehearsal, the coordinated acting group and
the external paraphernalia of archaeologically accurate sets and authentic costumes
and props. Their activities placed greater value on the creative contribution
made by a single autocrat with a production overview.
The
director with a capital D impacted the theatre world
in 1874 when the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen toured Europe with his troupe
of actors. The tour presented theatre artists with the value and artistic opportunity
a director could use. Although somewhat "wooden" by contemporary standards the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen developed and introduced crude directing principles which continue in some modified formats
to this day. His principles included intensive rehearsals, the demand for disciplined
and interactive performing, historically accurate sets and costumes, extensive
use of staging and masking, the directorial need for total visual control
over all aspects of the production, and the value of ornament/ detail.
Overall, some of
the practices implemented by the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen exist today.
The director has two basic charges: to implement or coax a unified vision
within the finished production, and to lead the ensemble toward its ultimate
actualization.
The director invokes the interpretation of the play, with the blessing of the playwright (if possible), by inviting particular designers,
and technicians in planning the production, by casting and by the system of rehearsal used by the actors,
and allow all elements to conspire into the finished production.
Before
rehearsals begin, the director meets with the designers. At this time,
the director exchanges ideas and listens to
ideas from the other artists. This intercourse results
in compromise. The traditional heirarchical idea that the director
decides upon the interpretation continues to prevail although the idea of dramaturgy and some operatic systems of collaboration have infused companies with a more democratic approach. The director may have specific
requirements that would need to be presented to the designers before their
work begins.
When
casting a play, the director is aware of the physical demands of a character.
Physical appearance must fit the character. For example, a thin Falstaff
would tell a new story, a very different interpretation of Falstaff could emerge or the whole thing could fail. Physical appearance must also be seen in
relation to other characters in order to perceive that person's suitability
to the ensemble as a whole.
- Depending on the specific demands on the play and the
rehearsal situation, the director may pay special attention to any or
all of the following characteristics: the actor's training and experience,
physical characteristics and vocal technique, suitability for the style
of the play, perceived ability to impersonate a specific character in
the play, personality traits which seem fitted to the material at hand,
ability to understand the play and its milieu, personal liveliness and
apparent stage "presence," past record of achievement, general
deportment and attitude, apparent cooperativeness and "directability"
in the context of an ensemble of actors in a collaborative enterprise,
and overall attractiveness as a person with who one must work closely
over the next four to ten weeks.
Rehearsal is the Directors most time consuming production factor. The director focuses upon the entire cast during this time.
The director's medium is the actor in space and time. Space is defined
by the acting area and the setting while time is defined by the duration
of the production and the dynamics of the drama.
Directors
tend to follow an established process during rehearsals. the
director usually invites the actors read through the script, occasionally a good director gets the entire company to read through. The read-through
allows the director to influence character motivation,
and interpretation pointing the actors towards their characters
in terms of an agreed understanding. The director blocks the actors.
Blocking is an actor's basic broad movements which will develop the physical correlation of the actor's performance. The director indicates movement
such as entrances and exits and positions onstage although good stage management (invisible so far in this description) always "spikes" the entrances and exits from reading a scale groundplan and transposing doorways, or edges with small pieces of coloured tape.
Detail, which helps indicate subtleties in his
or her character. Detail includes working out stage business,
an actor's less physically obvious movement. For example, fixing a drink, making
a phone call, hanging clothes, or other habitual characteristics are pieces of stage business. The actor will wish to originate his or her own stage business.
Motivation
and detail continue while time is spent devoted to lines. Interpretation
of dialogue must be connected to motivation and detail. During this time,
the director is also concerned with pace and seeks a variation of tempo.
If the overall pace is too slow, then the action loses its fresh quality.
If the pace hastens, it could be less comprehensible to the audience.
Also,
eventually, the actors will need to be off script. Once off script and
the lines are memorized well enough that the actor is not thinking "What
is my next line?" then the rehearsals enter into a very rewarding
stage of development. For actors cease to read their part and truly make
it living. They also discover new avenues of interpretation once off script.
Late
in the rehearsal process, the director often has the actors run through
the production. A runthrough gives the actors a sense of continuity from
one scene to the next. At this stage, the director usually does not stop
the actors but takes notes to give after the scene is finished.
Drawings of Macbeth Rehearsals at Bristol Old Vic by Jonathan Polkest with commentary on rehearsal techniques and seminal ideas about rehearsal technique.
“Artists are recording our times, in the future this is what society
will look back on as a record of our age… Responsibility as an artist is
to not say what something is, but to ask what it is… There’s nothing
wrong in having an interpretation, but we must not insist that it’s the
whole truth.” Robert Wilson
The theatre of Robert Wilson is rooted in the visual arts. He creates
a highly associative world, in which ideas and emotions are
communicated non-linearly, outside the narrative structure of story. We
may not know what his work means but it affects us. Pieces unfold like
visual music where meaning is perceived subconsciously, on an “interior
screen”, where we all share a universal language.
This is where reality exists for Robert Wilson.
The Process
The conception of a piece is a process of building up layers,
beginning with visual imagery, proceeding to stage movement, and later
to costumes, words, music and scenic designs.
Wilson begins with a series of sketches in which he outlines the
entire work.
To these are added visual images from a variety of sources, along with
texts and general ideas. The result is a “visual book” from which the
entire production is built – not a script or a score, as in traditional
theatre.
Wilson next develops patterns of movement emblematic of each
character, fitting the characters together and refining the visual
presentation. Each scene becomes a living painting. Wilson operates in
the manner of a visual artist, adding the theatrical equivalents of
colour, shading, and texture as he goes along. At the same time he
develops ideas for stage properties, lighting, and costumes.
Like a tapestry woven together, visual and audio themes occur and recur, always the same, always different…
What is so compelling about Wilson is that he tries to banish the
accidental from the stage. After sketching out the general rhythm and
movement of the piece, Wilson studies each means of expression. Every
movement – whether a nod of the head, a twitch of the hand, or a
repositioning of the arm – is planned and staged. Every costume, every
prop, every chair is designed specifically for the production, and
placed with precision to make everything on the stage balance with the
story being told.
Conversation between John Tusa and Robert Lepage regarding performance and the dynamics of staging.
At a very early stage I think you found that being on
the stage with actors was a real personal and psychological liberation.
Has that sense of being freed by being on the stage has that ever left
you?
No never and I think it has a lot to do with the fact I'm a very shy
person. I mean for, for somebody who, who's in the world of
communication and, and you know an actor on stage has to be everything
but shy, but I'm a very, very, very shy person so the theatre allows me
to hide behind the group phenomenon. Theatre is, is one of these
artistic expressions that don't exist if there's not, a community
or a collectivity around it.
But you do do one man shows.
Yes I do do one man shows but I never call them one man shows, because
there's so many people in the rehearsal room that take responsibility
for whatever happens. It's, it's difficult for me to, to express myself
as a solo artist, and even if I do, I do call myself a director and I do
put myself up front and, and defend my work, but as I say I'm a very,
very shy person, so and theatres are full of costumes and sets and masks
you could hide behind, and I think my, my life is about trying to get
rid slowly and slowly of those crutches and to present myself as I am.
Because I think you said probably some time ago though, when
you went on the stage, if speaking made me uncomfortable I could use
gestures, if that wasn't enough I could move and use space and light.
Are you suggesting that you are now moving to a position where just
being on the stage and speaking is something that you're happy with and
you say you don't have to rely on these crutches of technical support?
Yeah actually I have this idea for a project that I'll be developing in
the next few years about voice, it's called Lip Sync and I'm forcing
myself to go towards that, the simplicity of just standing there and
speaking, and before, before you get to that you have to go through all
the different possibilities and of course dance is one, movement is one,
architecture is one, imagery is one, and so once you've tried every
other avenue you naturally, I think theatre naturally brings you to the
spoken word, but you have to be ready for that and, and if it takes a
whole career to get there then, and, and I prefer that because I think
that unfortunately the word is too often the starting point of theatre
and, and that gives way to one kind of theatrical expression. I think an
image could also trigger theatrical expression and maybe the word is
the final thing.
The Suzuki Method of Actor Training
drawings made in rehearsal of Macbeth accompanied rehearsal system commentary.
Looking at Drawings in Performance (rehearsal) by Jonathan Polkest.
Tadashi Suzuki (born June 20, 1939) is a theatre director, writer and philosopher working out of Toga, Toyama, Japan.
Suzuki is the founder and director of the Suzuki Company of Toga
(SCOT), organizer of Japan’s first international theatre festival (Toga
Festival), together with director Anne Bogart he co-founded the Saratoga International Theatre Institute
in Saratoga Springs, New York, and creator of the Suzuki Method of
Actor Training. Suzuki also was General Artistic Director of Shizuoka
Performing Arts Center (SPAC)(1995~2007), an international committee
member of the Theatre Olympics, founding member of the BeSeTo Festival
(jointly organized by leading theatre artists from Japan, China and
Korea) and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Japan Performing
Arts Foundation, a nation-wide network of theatre professionals in
Japan.
Suzuki’s works include “On the Dramatic Passions”",
“The Trojan Women”,
“Dionysus”,
“King Lear”, “Cyrano de Bergerac”, “Madame de Sade”, etc. Besides
productions with his own company, he has directed several international
collaborations, such as
The Tale of Lear, co-produced and presented by four leading regional theatres in the US”;
King Lear, presented with the Moscow Art Theatre;
Oedipus Rex, co-produced by Cultural Olympiad and the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus; and
Electra, produced by Ansan Arts Center / Arco Arts Theatre in Korea
and the Taganka Theatre in Russia.
Suzuki has articulated his theories in a number of books. A collection of his writings in English,
The Way of Acting is published by Theatre Communications Group (US). He has taught his system of actor training in schools and theatres throughout the world, including The Juilliard School in New York and the Moscow Art Theatre. The Cambridge University Press published
The Theatre of Suzuki Tadashi as part of their
Directors in Perspective series, featuring leading theatre directors of the 20th Century. This series includes works on Meyerhold, Brecht, Strehler, Peter Brook and Robert Wilson among others.
Rehearsing in Public by Michael Simpkins in the Guardian 2008
Nicholas Hytner's suggestion that rehearsals of plays should be "visible and accessible" to the public will have instantly tightened the sphincter of every actor in Britain.
Hytner
is well known for thinking "outside the box". Indeed, his extraordinary
ability to carry his troops through innovative and often terrifying
processes of change is what has made his tenure at the National Theatre so stupendously successful. But rehearsals open to the public?
The
prospect is terrifying. Families wandering through in lengthy
crocodiles, parents with headphones clamped to their ears pumping out
background commentaries: "The play being rehearsed is one of Chekhov's
finest. Unfortunately that middle-aged actor/writer from north London
who said he could play the mandolin in order to get the role is sadly
deficient, which is why he's holding the instrument the wrong way up
while the director is staring thunderously at him from the corner.)
And
the sacred space that represents our precious cherry orchard inundated
by discarded crisps and trails of Haagen-Dazs? Whoa ...
The
rehearsal room is one of the last bastions of privacy. Like the Lord's
pavilion for old buffers or the changing cubicles in high-street stores
for middle-aged women, the rehearsal room is the only space in which
actors can make fools of themselves, where we can examine the size of
our arses in the mirror or dribble down our blazers after a hearty
lunch. It's all about experimentation isn't it?
Indeed, when I first worked at the NT in the early 80s
you couldn't see in a rehearsal room even if you were in the
production. The only aperture, a small glass panel at eye level in the
single entrance door, was habitually stopped up from the inside with
masking tape or sheets of paper to stop prying eyes. Every time you
entered you took your life in your hands, hoping the hinges wouldn't
squeak just as the leading actor was reaching his big moment.
First-night nerves were a doddle by comparison.
And when I think
of some of the terrible things I've served up in the privacy of the
rehearsal process: the idea I had to play one role in a West Country
accent; the first time I had to take my clothes off. The notion of the
paying public being able to view my shambolic efforts is more horrifying
than I can describe.
But Hytner is nothing if not inspired. His idea will probably be a fantastic success,
leading to a whole new understanding of live arts among the general
population, and heralding in a whole new golden age of drama
appreciation. I really wouldn't put it past him.
-Artaud was born in 1896 and died in poverty and insane in the year 1948
-Since his death his imaginative ideas have impacted modern theatre
through metaphysical creations that provide an altered perception of
reality (i.e. Surrealism)
-"Theatre of Cruelty" is Artaud's style and most infamous and impacting style
-Artaud saw theatre as a reflection of the real world, thereby making it
possible to alter the wider society through his performances.
-If civilisation was sick, then the theatre reflected it, both must
change in order for society to have the capacity to develop any further.
Technique
-Visual poetry using stylised movement combined with music and different
sound effects all used either harmonically or discordantly to assist in
the communication of morals in the piece.
-Assaulting the sense, Artaud wanted his Theatre to hypnotise viewers,
like a snake charmer, so that the audience (now in a trance like state)
could be shocked into confronting themselves, their preceptions of
reality, their ways of life and the meaning and the mystery of
existence. To do this an "assault" on the senses was embarked upon,
using lights, music, all technical elements, in much the same way modern
rock concerts do.
-Creating a dream world, through an intricate and complex use of masks,
ritualisitic objects, notion of symbolistic value attached to costume
and tradition. In an attempt to remove the audience from their lives and
place them in an unfamiliar world of surrealistic rituals, Artaud
combined all technical elements of the performance in addition to the
actors themselves.
-The notion that the audience should be englufed by this world meant,
Artaud desired to place his audience in the 'centre of the action' as so
have them being physically and emotionally effected by the events
taking place around them.
-Deliberate Cruelty, not physical cruelty that draws blood but an attack
on the audience in an emotional context, with the intent of making them
feel pulverised, uneasy and drained.
-Improvisation, there were to be no scripts, nor false, forced
representations of the human psyche, but rather improvise and build on
themes of power philosophical significance.
the aesthetic of a rehearsal room requires a certain understanding in the onlooking visitor- drawings of Macbeth with Pete Postlethwaite at Bristol Old Vic by Jonathan Polkest
Antonin Artaud was highly influential in shaping physical theatre - rejecting the primacy of the text and
suggesting a theatre in which the proscenium arch is disposed of in order to engage a direct relationship with the audience.
Eastern Theatre
traditions also influenced a number of practitioners who
influenced physical theatre. A number of Oriental traditions have a
high level of physical training, and are highly visual. The Japanese Noh tradition, in particular has been drawn upon a lot. Antonin Artaud was fascinated with the energy and visual nature of Balinese
theatre and wrote extensively on it. Noh has been important for many
practitioners including Lecoq who based his neutral mask on the calm
mask of Noh. Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook, Jacques Copeau and Joan Littlewood
have all been consciously influenced by Noh. Alongside contemporary
western practitioners, certain Japanese Theatre Practitioners were
influenced by their own traditions. Tadashi Suzuki
drew partly on Noh and his highly physical training has been
disseminated into the west by his students and collaborators. This has
particularly happened through Anne Bogart's Collaboration with him and the simultaneous training of her actors in both the Viewpoints method and Suzuki training. As well as Suzuki, the Butoh Movement, which originated from Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno
contained elements of Noh imagery and physicality. Butoh, again, in
term has been influencing Western practitioners in recent years and has
certain similarities with Lecoq's mime training in terms of ideas
(impression and consequential embodiment of imagery, use of mask etc.)
As well as ideas outside of the western theatre tradition creeping in
gradually, there is a tradition from within Western theatre, too,
starting with Stanislavski. Stanislavski, later on in life, began to reject his own ideas of naturalism,
and started to pursue ideas relating to the physical body in
performance. Meyerhold and Grotowski developed these ideas and began to
develop actor training that included a very high level of physical
training. This work influenced and was developed further by Peter Brook.
Contemporary dance has added to this mix significantly, starting particularly with Rudolf von Laban.
Laban developed a way of looking at movement outside of codified dance
and was useful in at looking at, and creating, movement not just for
dancers but for actors too. Later on the Tanzteater of Pina Bausch and others looked at the relationship between dance and theatre. In America, the postmodern dance movement of the Judson Church Dance also began to influence theatre practitioners, as their suggestions for movement and somatic training are equally accessible for those with a dance training as those with a theatre training. Indeed, Steve Paxton taught theatre students at Dartington College of Arts and other institutions
Physical theatre descended from a variety of origins. Mime and theatrical clowning schools, such as
L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, have had a big influence on expressions of physical theatre, and practitioners. Contemporary Dance
has also had an influence on what we regard as physical theatre,
partly because most physical theatre requires actors to have a level of
physical control and flexibility rarely found in those who do not have
some sort of movement background. Modern physical theatre also has
strong roots in more ancient traditions such as
Commedia dell'arte and some suggest links to the ancient greek theatre, particularly the theatre of Aristophanes.
Another tradition started with the very famous French master Etienne Decroux (father of corporeal mime). Etienne Decroux's aim was to create a theatre based on the physicality of the actor allowing the creation of a more metaphorical theatre. This tradition has now grown and corporeal mime is taught in many major theatrical schools.
Daniel Stein, a teacher out of the lineage of Etienne Decroux, has this to say about physical theatre:
"I think physical theatre is much more visceral and audiences are
affected much more viscerally than intellectually. The foundation of
theater is a live, human experience, which is different from any other
form of art that I know of. Live theatre, where real human beings are
standing in front of real human beings, is about the fact that we have
all set aside this hour; the sharing goes in both directions. The fact
that it is a very physical, visceral form makes it a very different
experience from almost anything else that we partake of in our lives. I
don’t think we could do it the same way if we were doing literary-based
theatre.
The point at which, arguably, physical theatre became distinct from pure mime is when Jean-Louis Barrault
(a student of Decroux) rejected his teacher's notion that the mime
should be silent, deciding that if a mime uses their voice then they
have a whole range of possibilities open to them that previously would
not have existed. This idea became known as "Total Theatre"
and he advocated that no theatrical element should assume primacy over
another: movement, music, visual image, text etc. being viewed as
equally important, and that each should be explored for their
possibilities. Barrault was a member of Michel St.Denis's company, alongside Antonin Artaud.
Physical theatre is used to describe any mode of performance that pursues storytelling or drama through primarily physical and secondarily and mental
means. Several traditions of performance all describe themselves as
"physical theatre", which has led to considerable confusion as to how
physical theatre should be defined. The means of expression seem to be
primarily physical rather than textual, often with emphasis on musical
elements. Many of these various Physical Theatre traditions share a
collaborative devising approach to theatrical development and creation;
various groups, such as DV8, Frantic Assembly and the Forced Entertainment all use differing but nonetheless devising-based processes.
Some analysts believe that physical theatre was influenced by Bertolt Brecht.
Dympha Callery suggests that physical theatre shares some common
characteristics, even though the definition of physical theatre is still
problematic, they all are not necessarily true all the time, and that
these examples are not exhaustive.
Regietheater
Regietheater (German for director's theater or producer's theater)
is a term that refers to a contemporary practice
of allowing a director (or producer) total freedom in devising the way a given
opera (or play) is staged so that the composer's original, specific
stage directions (where supplied) can be changed, together with major
elements of geographical location, chronological situation, casting and
plot.
Actors preparing exercizes to start rehearsals for Macbeth at Bristol Old Vic
drawing by Jonathan Polkest
Grotowski revolutionized theatrical process and made a profound impact on the way acting is valued both he and Eugenio Barba, made a very considerable impact upon all forms of contemporary theatre. Barba was instrumental in revealing Grotowski to the world. The editor of the seminal book,
Towards a Poor Theatre (1968) which Grotowski wrote together with Ludwik Flaszen, proposed that theatre should not compete against the overwhelming spectacle of film and should instead focus on the very root of the act of theatre: live actors co-creating the event of theatre with its spectators.
Theatre - derived through the actor's technique, his art in which he strives for total consciousness and higher motives - establishing an opportunity for what
could be called integration, the discarding of masks, the revealing of
the real substance: a totality of physical and mental reactions. This action is treated as a discipline, with a full
awareness of the responsibilities it involves. Here we can see the
theatre's therapeutic function for people in contemporary societies. The actor accomplishes this act, but he
can only do so through a reaction
with the spectator - intimately, visibly, not through a lens, or a microphone, not a wardrobe, or set designer - in direct
confrontation with the living actor, and somehow " instead of" him. The actor's act -
discarding half measures, revealing, opening up, emerging from himself
as opposed to closing up - is an invitation to the spectator. This act
could be compared to an act of the embedded, genuine love
between two human beings - this is just a comparison since we can only
refer to this "emergence from oneself" through analogy. This act,
paradoxical and borderline, we call a total act. It
epitomizes the actor's deepest calling.
Pete Postlethwaite and Patricia Kerrigan in Macbeth Rhearsals - drawing by Jonathan Polkest.
In 1968 Jerzy Grotowski became familiar to a broader public realm. His company performed the Stanislaw Wyspianski play
Akropolis/Acropolis (1964) at the Edinburgh Festival.
The production and technique had been well received in Poland achieving wider
recognition, and was published in
Pamiętnik Teatralny (Warsaw, 1964),
Alla Ricerca del Teatro Perduto (Padova, 1965), and
Tulane Drama Review
(New Orleans, 1965). Being the first time many in Britain had been
exposed to the concept of "Poor Theatre". That same year
Towards A Poor Theatre
appeared in Danish, published by Odin Teatrets Forlag. It appeared in
English the following year, published by Methuen and Co. Ltd., with an
Introduction by
Peter Brook,
then Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company
Jerzy Grotowski - toward a Poor Theatre.
Grotowski was interested in archetypes; movements, sounds
and situations basic to the human condition and broadly understandable
across human cultures. He used them as powerful tools for
his actors to communicate with the audience at a very basic level.
Perhaps this is similar to Artaud's symbolist drama.
Both Grotowski and Artaud looked to symbolism and ritual as
theatrical sources, but they developed and employed them differently.
Artaud's theatre might be seen as therapeutic
because it entails 'acting out' and might be cathartic for the actor
or the audience, breaking free of restrictions that keep one from
being fully alive.
Grotowski's technique of working with the
actor who 'makes a gift of himself' is reminiscent of psychoanalysis,
as the patient freely talks about whatever enters his mind, but
this is not what working with the technique was like in practice,
nor would Grotowski agree that this was in any way an objective
of the work. In rehearsal the actors work from within themselves,
concentrating on the physical movements in an almost meditative
manner. Grotowski, as the director, would suggest and guide, and
would ultimately select the movements and sounds that would continue
to be part of the work in progress. I believe he was fascinated
with this creative aspect of the rehearsal process, and as he moved
more away from directing public performances after 1973, he was
ultimately more interested in the rehearsal process than the performance.
In reference to the idea of 'Holy' as applied
to theatre, again they had different approaches. Artaud's
'Holy Theatre', to me, seems holy in the way that the Hindu god
Kali is holy, an awesome power that is both creator and destroyer.
Grotowski's reference to 'Holy Theatre' generally applies
to the dedication of the actor, in giving himself as a gift, an
almost saintly holiness which carries over to a performance which
is transcendent in a much more subtle, human sized way.
-Owen Daly
Peter Brooks - The Empty Space.
The inquirey into the meaning of theatre, led Peter Brook towards an
investigation of Tradition. That theatre sprang from life, then life must be questioned. Understanding theatrical reality also
entails understanding the agents of that reality, the participants in
any theatrical event: artists, actors, director, spectators. For a man who
rejects all dogma and closed systems of thought, Tradition offers the
ideal characteristic of unity in contradiction. Although it asserts its
immutable nature, nevertheless it appears in forms of an immense
heterogeneity: while devoting itself to the understanding of unity, it
does so by focusing its concerns on the infinite diversity of reality. Tradition conceives of understanding as being something
originally engendered by experience, beyond all explanation and
theoretical generalisation.
Even on the most superficial of levels, Brook’s interest in Tradition
is self-evident: one thinks of his theatre adaptation of one of the
jewels of Sufi art, Attar’s
.
Clearly an investigation of the points of convergence between Brook’s
theatre work and traditional thought is not devoid of purpose.
Peter Brooks approach.
In 1900, Max Planck introduced the concept of the ‘elementary quantum
of action,’ a theory in physics based on the notion of continuity:
energy has a discreet, discontinuous structure. In 1905, Einstein
formulated his theory of relativity, revealing a new
relationship between space and time: it would contribute to a radical
reevaluation of the object/energy hierarchy. Gradually, the notion of
an object would be replaced by that of an ‘event,’ a ‘relationship’ and
an ‘interconnection’—real movement being that of energy. Quantum
mechanics as a theory was elaborated much later, around 1930: it
shattered the concept of identity in a classical particle. For the
first time, the possibility of a space/time
was
recognised as logically valid. And finally the theory of elementary
particles—a continuation of both quantum mechanics and the theory of
relativity, as well as an attempt to go beyond both of these physical
theories—is still in the process of elaboration today.
Like both contemporary scientists and Gurdjieff, Brook is convinced
of the materiality of energy. Describing the characteristics of ‘rough
theatre,’ he writes:
The Holy Theatre has one energy, the Rough has others.
Lightheartedness and gaiety feed it, but so does the same energy that
produces rebellion and opposition. This is a militant energy: it is
the energy of anger, sometimes the energy of hate.
,
was written in 1912. When reissued in 1991 it had additional material
by Chekhov estate executor Mala Powers; an abridged version appeared
under the title,
, which was published in 1953 and reissued in 2002 with an additional foreword by
.
Among the most influential acting teachers of the century, Michael
Chekhov is also one of the most obscure, at least in America (where he lived
and worked the latter part of his life, dying in 1955 on the same day as James
Dean.)
Although many of Chekhov’s exercises are used widely in acting
programs, there are only a handful of teachers who focus on Chekhov’s approach probably because of the mystical element in his theories.
Chekhov was a follower of Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian who formulated a belief
system called Anthroposophy. Chekhov’s book “On
the Technique of Acting” (published in 1991 based on earlier writings), regardless of any spiritual beliefs promotes
down-to-earth advice for the actor. Chekhov wrote, “The desire and the
ability to transform oneself are the very heart of the actor’s
nature.
was edited by Andrei Kirillov and Bella Merlin, and was published by
Routledge in 2005, marking the 50th anniversary of his death
, profiles Chekhov and his fellow Russian associate George Shdanoff; released in 1998, it is narrated by
, for which Chekhov earned an Oscar Nomination.
an actor involved in some physical techniques.
graphite; gesso ; paper published in a limited run.
'Archeometre' is it the measurement of the 'Archee' (Universal Cosmic Force) of which the Hermetists speaks. Is it a process, a 'key' which makes it possible to penetrate the Mysteries of the Word. It is a measuring instrument of the first (primary) principles of the manifested universe.
Alexandre Saint Yves d'Alveydre's Archeometre shows the original Atlantean alphabet translates into the material the word, form, color, smell, sound and taste, the key to all religions and the sciences of antiquity.
The Archeometre is represented by a circle, which has two scales from 0 to 360 degrees and 360 degrees to 0. It is divided into 12 ranges with 30 degrees each. In the individual ranges are drawn in the tierkreiszeichen, planet, colors, tones and the letters of different alphabets.
The Archeometre is a universal canon (guide), which wants to point the relationship out between the astrological indications, tones, smells, letters and colors. The musician finds therein the color of tones, the writer the toncharakter of letter etc. The Archeometre is to also point practical use out that the religions, arts and architecture a synthesis from different ranges to form.