Week 8: A Room Full of Candles

Just a word about our Physical Theatre classes. A topic I think I've neglected a little because it's not my passion and I didn't choose to specialise in it. Nevertheless we still have a couple of classes in it per week (whether you've chosen it or not). Which I'm grateful for, because in the last couple of weeks we have been having a whale of a time. We have been portraying the Elements. Yes that's right, walking around the room like Earth, Air, Water or Fire. Capturing a way of moving that reflects each of these, for example: earth as solid, air as floaty, water as flowing and fire as crackling and bursting. My favourite moment was when we all stood together and were 'candles'. Open, shining faces, slightly bobbing to and fro atop our grounded bodies. It was so cute! (Doing fireworks was also fun, but rather more mental!)

And it's really interesting to see how simple things like this can translate in to theatre and character. For example: using earthy qualities to portray authoritative characters like bouncers or policemen; airy qualities to portray dreamers, open or spiritual characters. A few people have asked what Physical Theatre is, compared to just 'Theatre'. Physical Theatre aims to portray its meaning (a story, a moral, anything) primarily through movement of the body instead of dialogue. So you have to be very physically aware of yourself, your posture, every little movement and what they imply to the audience: what you can make them imply.

We have also looked at Masks. And had the privilege of seeing our director bring in and work with a number of masks he has made over the years. It was great to see him in his element.

 
It's fascinating to see a group of people you know all wearing Neutral Masks and yet somehow still portraying different characteristics. Learning to be neutral before overlaying the intended detail is a definite skill.

Despite not taking Physical Theatre as a specialisation, I am really enjoying the process of learning to appreciate more the value and impact of physicality and precision of movement in performance – and hope to translate that in to my own pieces. Our Christmas show will be themed around the Elements...so you'll be hearing more of this!