Script writing with Michael

So, last week Michael decided to have our lesson in the park. We were asked to do some script writing (YAY) and experiment with different kinds of format. For example, having only two characters saying on word each, or only having ten lines of dialogue. Here are my ones:

Two characters. Three words.
Person 1: Think of anything.
Person 2: I have nothing.
Person 1: Why don't you?
Person 2: I am stupid.
Person 1: Yeah, I gathered.

Three characters. One word.
A: Fire
B: Extinguishers
C: Foam
A: Party
B: Music
C: La la la?

Ten Lines
A: He's left me.
B: What?
A: He's gone. Left me. Vanished.
C: Why!? I'm so sorry
A: I don't know what I've done to deserve this. I've been so good. I've cared for him...
C: Oh honey, I'm sure Rob will come back
A: Wait, what? Not Rob, Dhillon.
B: Isn't he your dog?
A: Yeah?
B: Oh.

Monologue
Writing a monologue? Seriously, I really cannot be bothered right now. We're in a park. I just want to find the jungle jim and the swings! Is that too much to ask for!? My hand is hurting doing all this writing. I've literally been writing for two hours, now! Okay, maybe not. Twenty minute's maybe but that's not even the point. The point is I like swings. And I just got pen on my chino's. This is just fantastic. Damn pen. Well, at least I've written this poor attempt of a monologue..... Now where's the swings?

Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999)

In this lecture we learnt about Jerzy Grotowski who was a Polish theatre director, actor trainer and a theorist. His first work began in 1957 to 1969 with play such as:

• Forefather's Eve 1961
• Akropolis 1962
• Dr. Faustus 1963
• The Constant Prince 1965
• Apocalypsis cum figuris 1969

His work was mainly about actor/ audience relationship. Although he regards Stanislavski as the 'Theatrical Grandfather' his theories and work was not similar to his)

The training to actors was also very important to Grotowski. 

• Voice/ sound projection: Vocal resonators.
• Physical/ Physique exercises/ Barbra influences: Tumbling, forward rolls, tiger leaps, summersaults.
• Body/ physical memory: Stimulates actor to become conscious of what they're doing. E.g. Performance, life. Natural movement. 
• The Plastique's (Plastic Training): Isolations and articulations of joints.

All training to to effect the idea of 'VIA NEGATIVIA' (Latin 'By the Negative')

Researched ritual traditions of other cultures. Transcultures.

Western - Mime, ballet, classical

Other - Haitian, ritual, Yanvalou.

Sir Ken Robinson

In this lesson Michael decided to show us a video of Sir Kenneth Robinson. Sir Ken Robinson is an author, speaker, advisor on Education, Creativity and Innovation. The video shows him speaking to an audience about how schools are actually killing creativity.

Watching the video was very inspirational and I believe everyone who's interested in entertainment and the arts, or wants to pursue a career in that entertainment NEEDS to watch this beauty of a video. He managed to add humour and wit in the lecture yet managed to maintain the seriousness of the topic in his speech which made it very enjoyable to watch.

Jazz Pumps and Warm Up's. Hello Year Two!

Day one. Second year. Hasn't time flown by!

We all started off the day doing a two hour physical and vocal warm up with Nick and Michael which turned out to be incredibly tiring, yet very, very fun! Coming back to uni with a pot belly and excess weight that has been gained over the summer, I must say it was pretty refreshing to get back into the usual Uni routine and starting off with those warm up's and work outs was just what I needed.

As well as doing several activities to get our bodies warmed up, we were all split into pairs (year one with a year two). Our task was to massage each other to release any tension in the body. It was a very calm and relaxing way to get to know one another and gain a sense of trust with the other person.
The vocal warm up was also very beneficial. Although, I'm not very confident with my singing voice it allows me to widen and experiment with my vocal projection as I'm naturally a very shy and quiet person.


After the warm up we had the whole day with Nick. We were all asked to think of a number of personal stuff to write on a piece of paper anonymously. Such as:

• One positive and one negative thing about ourselves
• Something we've thought about frequently in the mornings when we wake up

This task was incredibly interesting as the whole class were somewhat able to delve into people's thoughts. The fact it was all anonymous was also intriguing as it cause a sense of mysteriousness with the person and how their mind thinks and functions.
I can't really remember what I wrote for the first part of the activity but for the second part about the first thought when waking up in the morning I wrote down :
"What the heck am I going to be doing in ten years time"


Afterwards, Nick chose one of our answers and in groups, we had to create a piece that was based on the persons answer to what they thought about in the mornings.