Young Friend of the Almeida LAB

Or Nearest Offer - SOLD!

2009-07-27T04:52:00.000-07:00

So... after 6 day-long Sunday workshops; a week-long intensive residency; countless hours of research, writing tasks and learning lines; 29 rehearsals; a production week, including 3 dress runs; workshops in schools; 3 performances; a talkback; and a party... Our Nearest Offer finally came to an end. And what a project! Well done to everyone involved.

Talkback

2009-07-24T01:43:00.000-07:00

This is programmed to take place immediately after the first show.

Here are a few questions to consider...
- What was your favourite show of the season / the one you enjoyed workshopping the most? - -- What was it about the show (i.e. what were the themes / issues in it) that resonated with you?
- Can you give a brief synopsis of the plot of that play?
- Can you track the development of your character? When do you think he/she first emerged? Did he/she come from a specific workshop / idea?
- You often had writing tasks to complete in the workshops. How did you find this experience?
- How did you feel about having your words and ideas being used, re-worked, added to, ignored (!) and shaped into a final script?
- What do you think about the play? What do you think it’s about? Can you give a brief synopsis of ONO?
- How did you find the transition from exploration (LAB) to performers (GULP)?
- What have you learned – about theatre / about being an actor / about working as an ensemble / about yourself / about your ideas/thoughts/opinions – by being involved in this project?
- Is there anything that you would like to have seen done differently in the project – by the creative team or by yourself?
- How has this project differed from other Almeida projects that you have been involved in / other drama projects? Please elaborate...
- How does it feel to perform your play, to an audience, on the Almeida stage?

What's in a Name?

2009-07-24T01:13:00.000-07:00

BEN

There once was a boy named Ben
Who did ballet all day long , and then –
He made Colin laugh –
While Grace had her bath
Then was left alone to play in his den.

The yellow sun – smiling – in our room.
The rude red of Grace is absent.
Just Colin and me – myself and Colin –
No-one to interrupt this magic.

He said he was my buddy
He said he was – my pal.
But now he’s dead –

Grace won’t get out of my head
– And I will not get those tall shoes now.

LAILA

Longing for a friend to share her dreams,

Laila sits on her patch of grass and waits for her life to change.

She looks up at the sky that moulds into her name,

Laila - why can't things be normal again?

Married at seven, "you’re beautiful", who cares?

She wishes to just dance into the night and forget about tomorrow -

- and the next day and the next and the next...

Session 29 - 19 July 2009

2009-07-24T01:12:00.003-07:00

Today was the last day we spent in the rehearsal room before moving across to the Almeida stage, beginning our production week where our wonderful set awaited us. In the rehearsal we run the show at a staggered pace, improving and adding additional pieces as we went. Once we had finished the first run we received notes that added to the on-going direction we had received during the run. We then went from there to re-run certain scenes taking our new direction on board and the fact that the stage would change the performance which we would be standing on very soon. This was especially true for the ensemble pieces or the scenes that required all of us on stage as they needed extra precision and attention. We finally prepared for the week that was ahead through discussing what would be different and what challenges we would be facing.

Louie

Postcard Options - which is best?

2009-07-24T01:12:00.001-07:00

Session 28 - 18 July 2009

2009-07-24T01:10:00.000-07:00

Despite not having Aisha, we ploughed on through and had a very tiring but productive day. We took some notes and then worked on and ran specific scenes.

We also ran the dance a few times and, in our breaks, worked as a team to sort out any messy or unknown sections. We then did another run of the whole play which was a significant improvement on before but there is still quite a way to go.

The main problem is still clarity and articulation but hopefully some one-to-one sessions will help with this. The whole company could also work on volume and projection because the Almeida auditorium is a much bigger space to fill than the rehearsal room!

However, Or Nearest Offer is really coming together and should be great by Friday! The whole company is so excited about seeing the set and working on it for the first time on Tuesday!

ES

Session 27 - 15 July 2009

2009-07-21T01:15:00.000-07:00

With our beloved Director Vik away, today was more about the technicals that make up our show. We started off with meeting two more people of the GULP team, Lorna our Stage Manager and Sinead our Assistant Stage Manager. They talked us through their roles and what they expected of us, it's been really exciting to meet these two as it's given us a clear idea of just how much has been going on without us as the company really being aware of it. There are so many people to this company, we know nothing about the technical side to our play and by meeting these two it's made the whole play seem a lot more real. We're being treated like a professional company, it's brilliant! But also sort of scary. A lot of effort has gone in to Or Nearest Offer so we better come up with the goods!

After meeting our stage management crew, and being warned about Lorna's ability in bollocking (clearly we can't be fooled by her lovely persona) we got down with the rest of the rehearsal. The Sunday before we had done our first run and today was just about going through the notes again but this time with more emphasis on Tanya's notes. As the writer she knew best about what were the most important words and phrases in each of our characters scripts and as we found out some of these important parts were being lost whether due to loss of clarity, speed or paraphrasing. After talking through the notes Anne took some of us in to a one-on-one session to work through these important notes. I'm not sure what each person did but you could really tell the difference when we went through some of the scenes. After this we were all given our adverts to write up in black marker, I'm not sure what will happen with these but I'm looking forward to finding out... After the fumes of the makers pens got too much for us, we also went through the dance and the songs to make sure they were looking and sounding great.

Now to the really important part, costume! All through the session each of us was being taken away to the glamour of the phone room (we've been assured that all the professional actors have their costume fittings here even if it is a small office with a mirror leaning on the wall!) Yet another part of the Almeida workings we wouldn't have seen had it not been for LAB. The costume fitting, as you can imagine, was awesome! Finally we were getting to see what each of our characters was going to be wearing. For me personally, it helped me to really get in to character more, I could see what sort of clothes Ellie wore and I know when our dress run comes the costumes will really help with our movement and giving a real interpretation of our characters. It's clear to see just how much time and effort Fabrice has put in to this play. It was great to be in rehearsal after each person had their fitting, everyone would crowd around asking questions; what we were wearing? Did we like it? And Desara, were you really going to be a fully fledged chav!? (The answer was yes - she even has the fake nails to go with it!!) All of this has made the play seem real, in a week we WILL be performing on the Almeida stage. Exciting, but bloody scary!

MK

Session 26 - 12 July 2009

2009-07-21T01:14:00.000-07:00

Well - could have been a good session? WHY DON'T YOU TELL US, RAZ???

Session 25 - 11 July 2009

2009-07-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

A later start, but that doesn't mean everyone was on time - including our director! All was good anyway because we got a full voice workout which includes sending our mouths to tongue boot camp with Anne.

After the arrival of Vik, we worked on finishing stitching together all the scenes, getting up to the end of Alex and Desara's part before lunch.

The project is almost coming to an end and it's quite upsetting, so lunch meant memorial pictures.

Vik worked with Alex and Desara over lunch and this improved the scene and really bought out their hard work.

Aisha.

Session 24 - 8 July 2009

2009-07-12T07:25:00.001-07:00

We were upstairs with Anne doing vocal warm-ups. We had to lie on the floor and make funny noises using our diaphragms. We then had to get into pairs and poke different parts of our partner’s body. This helped us to free our body and move to natural influences.

Yasemin

Session 23 - 5 July 2009

2009-07-12T07:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a very exciting rehearsal as we started to see Or Nearest Offer come together in a smooth, interesting way. We mainly focussed on Topaz's section as Vik edited bits and peices of the section.

We also worked on Laila and Zaid's section. We created the tree using peices of material.

Pius

Session 21 and 22 - 1 and 4 July 2009

2009-07-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we rehearsed the dance for the Bollywood number – Dance Pe Chance. I taught the dance to people who had missed the session where we set the dance. We also rehearsed our starting positions at the beginning of the play, and did a whole run through of the play up to page 19.

On Saturday we rehearsed at the Union Chapel - we moved on from page 19. We also learned our positions for Hometown Glory. Then we carried on working through all of the scenes all the way to Laila and Zaid’s moment by the tree.

Desara

Session 20 - 28 June 2009

2009-07-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

Today we rehearsed, rehearsed, REHEARSED! Big surprise!

For a while we have worked separately on scenes and now at last we are working on combining all of the things we have worked on separately... and it's so exciting.

One of the hardest things we are working on at the moment is the transitions between one scene and another. It's funny how we were so secure when everything was fragmented, but now that it's coming together it's taking longer than we thought to make our play a PLAY!! Even though everything is blurry, we'll sharpen it up 'cause we have no choice!

Naomi Ackie.

Session 19 - 24 June 2009

2009-07-12T07:14:00.000-07:00

Today, as usual, we prepared and rehearsed our sure-to-be wonderful performance. We opened with a focusing warm-up and the traditional game of zip-zap-boing!

After this, some of us retreated to the green room to put the finishing touches to our characters and lines. This will prove invaluable for future weeks as it will be much easier to work without scripts. It looks like we are in for a great show!

Alex

Session 18 - 21 June 2009

2009-06-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

As always we began with a physical warm up, taken by various members of the group, which quickly led into an energetic game of “Zip, Zap, Boing!” featuring Desara’s beloved “funky chicken”.

We then gathered round the piano for the vocal warm up and tried to make Jane feel uncomfortable by singing “Papa’s got a head like a ping pong ball” with unnerving panache and energy. The group did a run of Kate Nash’s “Mouthwash” and indeed the movements are now sharp and in synch which makes it very powerful to watch – Vik’s running exercise last week clearly did the trick! The singing also has force and aggression which makes the piece highly engaging.

We were shown a model of the set for the first time which was very exciting; the stage is designed to look as though it is made up of stacks of newspapers and wedged amongst these are various objects which can be used for many different things; such as a ladder (which will become the tree), a window, a piano and a bed frame.

The soloists in “Hometown Glory” performed to the rest of the cast; this song will be an effective way of connecting the journeys of Ellie, Shanice-Loren and Stacey and indeed of all the cast selling or escaping from something. Vik then rehearsed a number of scenes, whilst the rest of the cast went through Dance Per Chance in the green room (thank-you in particular to Eliza and Louie for teaching it to me, you were both very patient!)

Grace Chilton

Session 17 - 17 June 2009

2009-06-26T11:51:00.002-07:00

Today we focussed on Naomi and Raz’ scene and linking it with the beginning of the show, which included three tableaux from each of the characters. I then had to master turning on Naomi’s alarm clock after my pose – which proved some goofy difficulty! It was great to see the scenes finally coming together and starting to look like a real show.

Jess

Session 16 - 14 June 2009

2009-06-26T11:51:00.001-07:00

Today we spent a lot of time in the green room running through our lines or practicing our dance routine, while Vik called us down one by one to direct and perfect our scenes.

We then did some vocal exercises with Anne which helped me a lot with my projection and articulation. We then pieced the first scene together.

Layla

Session 15 - 10 June 2009

2009-06-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

In this rehearsal, Vik wanted to start stitching the play together. He started working with Raz and Naomi and the rest of the cast went upstairs to learn their lines.

Shanice.

Summer Festival Web Page

2009-06-14T04:59:00.000-07:00

To keep up to date with the Summer Festival - and to tell all of your friends and family, click here: http://www.almeidasummerfestival.co.uk/

Session 14 - 7 June 2009

2009-06-14T04:36:00.000-07:00

After a brief physical warm-up, we played our much-loved ‘Zip Zap Boing’ which Jess and Yasemin tied.

Then we had a vocal warm-up with Harry singing “A ram sa sa, a ram sa sa, a riggy diggy diggy diggy, ram sa sa” (to the vague tune of the ‘Pizza Hut Song’). As we sang ‘sa sa’, we had to pat the knees of the person on our right and then on the ‘riggy diggy’ bit, we had to wave our arms in front of the person on our left which, needless to say, led to much confusion.

We then ran through ‘Mouthwash’ and rehearsed it with staging. We did have a distinct lack of energy which Vik tried to fix by making us sing while running on the spot. This also demonstrated to us the importance of being fit when we’re in a production!

After that, we sang ‘Chasing Cars’ which closes the show and staged it with the dialogue too. It’s starting to look brilliant and I think it will be a moving end to the play whilst also giving a sense of hope.

Towards the end of the rehearsal, we did one last run through of ‘Mouthwash’ which was significantly more energetic than earlier on. It’s looking good and thanks again to Vik, Harry, Jane and Tanya as well as the amazing projects team for giving us such a fantastic opportunity.

Bring on the Summer Festival!

Eliza Shea

Session 13 - 3 June 2009

2009-06-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

Hi y'all!

Ok, today was another jam packed rehersal! We had to come half an hour early to do some recording, which was really good! We started with a warm-up, led by Naomi, which was fun, but different.... Then, Vik told us to work on our Bollywood dancing. We all seemed enthusiastic about doing it. First, we worked in our groups, re-tracing the moves. After, we decided to dance as a whole group. As Louie and Layla worked along side one another, they came up with a small piece together, then the rest of us joined in. When I was standing aside, I could see that the group is becoming more focused and better. The whole thing flows nicely and you could really see it's turning into a really awesome play! After that, we did the train scene. It was more improved than the last time we did it, also. It felt intense.... Overall, the rehersal was really neat and I really can't wait to perform on stage!YAY!

Catch you later, guys!

Chloe Morgan :) x

Session 12 - 31 May 2009

2009-06-05T01:55:00.000-07:00

It’s time to get serious!!! It seems people are really starting to as well with Raz for the first time arriving in jogging bottoms (which he took ages to change into) and having a whole cast here on time and ready for some pain. Sadly that wasn’t on the agenda for today and Vik has decided to make us jump through hoops in small manageable chunks (Yippee).

Eliza and I were chosen to go through Vik’s arsenal of actor building techniques. They were as tiring as they were effective. He certainly knows how to squeeze every shred of potential out of you whether that’s running round with purpose, carrying something over your head or speaking with your tongue hanging out (that was definitely the worst). But you can honestly see the effect it has on your performance and that’s one of the things that makes Vik a great director.

During this everyone was upstairs learning lines and talking with Anne on marketing. I heard they have come up with some great ideas for badges and postcards, possibly t-shirts/ hoodies. Excellent. There will not be a soul alive in Islington that won’t know about our show.

After this there was a great session with Harry where we got through a lot of our favourite warm ups like Arva Maria (sorry if it’s spelt wrong). We went through Chasing cars which is sounding great. Then we went to work on learning Yaz’s song which could possibly be sung as a group. I’m sure everyone will agree with me that the lyrics are excellently written and the singing is beautiful.

Aisha McKenzie

Session 11 - 27 May 2009

2009-06-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

After warming up as a company vocally and physically we proceeded to run through the third song in 'Or Nearest Offer' 'Mouthwash'. This song needs particular attention as like most of the songs it involves the whole company and is split into many parts. After this Vik (Director) chose a couple of characters scenes that he personally was going to concentrate on this rehearsal. leaving us the rest of the cast to go through pieces and scenes together or by ourselves, looking at what the scene itself means and what each line is saying about your character and what it is trying to achieve. As well of course as learning the lines themselves. It is important as a company that when the director chooses to focus on something in particular that the rest of the show is not forgotten, there is never a time in ‘Or Nearest Offer’ where there is nothing to be done.

Session 10 - 24 May 2009

2009-06-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

We did warming up by stretching with Vik. It took 15 minutes to complete the warm-up. Then we had our very effective lesson with Harry, which was singing. We were singing Chasing Cars and Mouthwash. After we completed our time with Harry, Naomi an I worked on pages 3 to 5 with Vik. We re-edited the lines by cutting and changing some around. We were able to create a new structure. I learnt a lot more about my character - I have realised new points about Raz - about his body languages, vocal awareness and non-verbal communication. It is now clearer to me what Raz's dream is and what he really wants.

Session 9 - 20 May 2009

2009-05-26T04:57:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night and we know the drill by now. Come in and we’re straight down to our stretches or as the company know them Vik’s torture time… Though I’d like to think that we’re getting better at them each session! Once that was over we went straight in to one of our first big numbers, Kate Nash’s Mouthwash. In the play just before Mouthwash there is going to be this big Bollywood number with the whole cast dancing and all that, something I am very excited about! Because of this Vik wanted the staging of Mouthwash to be quite minimal and a lot of the song is positions and other quite static movements. After a long time making sure we had our turns exact and our walking direct Vik was happy to leave it there for the week. It’s looking really good and our singing is improving all the time! By July we actually will be looking professional, I’ve no doubt!

After our break Vik wanted to meet people individually to go through characterisation, he took off various different people and spent around 20minutes with each of them. I was one of the people taken off and it was a really helpful session. We looked at my monologue and found ways to make my learning of the lines exact; generally it helped us to get in to our characters more through the understanding of the words. While people were taken of individually the rest of the group were up in the greenroom singing along to I pods and drinking proper ‘good’ hot chocolate, sorry, I mean we were all hard at work learning our lines!

I can’t wait to see how the rest of Or Nearest Offer is staged; it’s such an exciting process to be part of. Bring on July!

MK

Session 8 - 17 May 2009

2009-05-26T04:51:00.000-07:00

Today we had a long physical warm-up to get ourselves ready for an intensive vocal session and the rest of the day.

10am is an early start for most teenagers so you can kind of guess we were tired. However, the warm-up seemed to have helped. We stretched out and all gathered around the piano to begin our vocal warm-ups. After the warm-ups we sang the script’s song Chasing Cars. Then after that I went over my song.

Yasemin Ergun

Session 7 - 13 May 2009

2009-05-22T03:33:00.000-07:00

Wednesday’s lab was full excitement and a lot of learning. We started off by going though ‘Kate Nash’s’ ‘Mouthwash’ which was of course extremely interesting to watch, bubbling with fun and topped off with a great sound from the company as a whole. We worked on our staging with Vik. Under Vik’s expertise our fantastic director we were able to produce a brilliant sound boldly supported by strong threatening heal popping movement’s right in your face.

The experience then turned even more exciting as we were sent upstairs to the green room to learn our scripts under the conscientious eyes of Jane our assistant director. We were sent down one by one to work separately with Vik on our characters in some parts of our scripts. Meanwhile upstairs we were bustling with enthusiasm as Chloe and I played spin the bottle to ascertain who was to be tested next with lines. I was loosing so I thought it’s the bottle so we borrowed Ayesha’s bottle without noticing that it looked exactly the same as the one we already had which was Layla’s. Then came the challenge of telling which was which before she returned. We were slow, she returned, and there was a selection of only two words we could say - sorry or oops.

We then got on with it until we heard some foot steps. It was no one else but Naomi and Eliza doing their thing on the dance floor. It was wonderful, more than you can imagine.
This week personally was by far the most exciting because it was really nice to see our performance coming together. FANTASTIC.

Pius Abitegeka

Session 6 - 10 May 2009

2009-05-14T11:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday’s Lab was full of excitement. We had visitors - one of which was a gorgeous
little girl named Charlotte - I must say we did get a bit distracted but we were soon put into working gear with Harry our vocal coach. Harry was there with Vik and the rest of the team. We managed to put a nice first gloss over the last few pages of the play. In addition we worked on the middle of the play where we have other musical pieces. Let’s just say that everything is slowly but surely falling into place. To accompany the songs we worked on our staging with Vik. It was fun to position ourselves as if we were on the stage. This show is going to be brilliant.

Desara Bosnja

Session 5 - 6 May 2009

2009-05-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

It's all about the music!! Today we focused on the singing aspect of our performance and it was soooo much fun! Our musical director Harry (who we were introduced to two sessions before) started us of with some very catchy warm up songs like, "Ave Maria," "Pa Pa had a head like a ping pong ball," and, "This old freedom train," my personal favourite. Once we had warmed up our voices we began our singing session which challenged our concentration and memory skills. Our three main songs being some of the well known pop songs of our time, such as Kate Nash’s "Mouthwash," "Chasing Cars," by Snow Patrol, and "Home town Glory," by Adele. Our basic aim for this session was to catch our bearings with each of these songs and learn to sing as a group instead of individually, because although most of us knew the songs we had never sung them together in front of a paying audience (which is slightly different from singing in front of the mirror with your hair brush!) It was doubly important to make sure people were singing the right notes to make our cast sound and look professional and confident. Apart from having some difficulty with Kate Nash (there’s always one *tut tut) we became quite confident with the songs and Harry helped us introduce yet another group skill to our cast which will be shared with the our audience come July!

Thanks Harry! ... and the LAB of course.

lol

CHEERIO!

Naomi Ackie

Session 4 - 29 April 2009

2009-05-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

This session, we split off into three groups to develop our roles in Our Nearest Offer. First, we went to the green room with Anne to work on vocals. This was basically lying down and humming. Then we went to work on our characters. We made timelines, mapping out the key moments in our characters' lives.

Session 3 - 23 April 2009

2009-04-24T04:14:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday the members of GULP were eager to meet Harry, who is the musical director of “Or Nearest Offer.” It was a great start to the session, beginning with vocal warm ups and ending by learning the round “The Freedom Train” which provided a chance for our many talented singers to shine. It was also a pleasure to meet Fabrice, the designer of the play. Vik then led the physical warm up, designed to heighten our awareness of the way in which we moved and could use our bodies, through use of different tempos and quality of movement, focusing not only on our actions as individuals but of the group as a whole, aiming to maintain equidistance from each other, filling the whole space at all times. Alex, Naomi, Ayesha and Louie proceeded to take on the role of story tellers and narrated various tales using a variety of techniques such as multi-role, direct address, and adopting a different narrative view point altogether. These were very successful and delighted their audience with the vigour and audacity with which they were performed. The most successful stories drew the listener in through use of eye contact, clarity, imagination and energy. During the last part of the rehearsal we had another read through of the play itself, focusing on communicating and story telling rather than merely reading for sense.

As ever, it was an extremely fruitful session and it will be exciting to see what Gulp eventually achieves!

Session 2 - 14 April 2009

2009-04-20T05:12:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday the cast of GULP were given the privilege of reading the finalised script written by Tanya. Everyone was eager to read not only their parts but also each others, which really added to group dynamics. I was one of the few who abstained from reading the last page before we came to it, however it was very difficult as the excitement in the room was vast! We were all so pleased to be given our characters on the page, so that we could start to work with them with a solid script. And the script truly was marvellous! Not one face was displeased or apprehensive towards the carefully crafted characters in the script, and I have to thank Tanya again on behalf of YFA LAB 'GULP' crew for her hard work! I look forward to working with the whole Almeida team in putting on a Brecht-esque thought provoking and truly stunning production!

Jessica Collins

Introducing Gulp

2009-04-14T03:53:00.000-07:00

It's now time to hand over the writing of the BLOG to the LAB participants - or rather members of the Gulp Company (the Gulpers???) They will guide you through the rehearsals in their own words, but before they do - here is the marketing tag line for the play that Tanya has written:

GULP presents

Or Nearest Offer...

Everything must go: beds, mobiles, dreams, babies. Going, Going, Gone...?
What happens when you're all sold out?

And now it's over to Layla for the first rehearsal diary:

The first lab session back after a long, restful break was a laid back start to what will be a hard working next few months. The main focus of this session was to come up with a new name for our company, one that is catchy, unique and means something about us. We were split into small groups to brainstorm as many ideas as we could. We were then asked to choose five favourites per group that would be with everyone in hope that we would find the perfect name for us!

After some discussion and a vote we managed to narrow it down to 2: “Beyond Upper Street” and “Gulp.” It was quite a hard decision because a lot of the names were very creative but perhaps a little too much. I think “Gulp” will win. I prefer it because of its short catchiness.
We were then asked to write a 20 word description of our play to give us an idea of what might be written for the real thing.

This session was fun. Although I’m not into discussions and like to work and brainstorm by myself I still got a lot out of it.

Half-Term Intensive Week

2009-02-24T06:47:00.000-08:00

What a busy, fun-filled and productive week – everyone really got to explore their characters and Tanya now has the enormous task of taking all of your ideas, characters and stories away and threading them together to resemble a play – good luck Tanya!

Anyway… we started on Monday with an exercise that would stretch the duration of the week – writing a diary entry, for your character, before, when and after their advertisement had been placed. Vik then led a physical warm-up (jeans really were cumbersome and there was plenty of puffing and complaining!) and everyone was then asked to find a space in the theatre and individually explore their character’s bedroom. Everyone was aksed to come up with three movements that could be repeated, and then exaggerated, to suggest how they might spend time in their own space. Vik also reminded the group about the French word for rehearsal – répétition!

We next repeated a quick warm-up exercise from LAB 4, where participants had to recreate a variety of objects using their bodies, from an umbrella to a desk; and a pair of shoes to a duvet. The duvet was particularly inspirational and we found ourselves coming back to it again and again over the course of the week.

After lunch, we hot seated Alex, Grace, Shanice and Chloe’s characters and then finished off with some focussed improvisations – Naomi (or Veronica) and Raz crossing paths but always missing each other; Grace and Ben being visited by a social worker; Shanice’s parents turning up out of the blue; and Alex and Jack discussing Alex’s encounter with a chav.

Tuesday again started with the diary and we re-capped everyone’s character profiles and shared homework tasks. Vik again led a physical warm-up – this time teaching the group the Lindyhop. We then worked on putting two of Monday’s exercises together – working on Grace and Ben’s room and Mollie’s room, but with additional actors becoming the objects in their rooms. The group were encouraged to personify the objects as much as possible and breathe life into the inanimate furniture and objects. We then went on to hot seat Yaz, Naomi, Raz, Mollie, Desara and Grace (again). Again, the time after lunch was spent on specific improvisations to help move the characters’ stories forward. We spent time physicalising Aisha’s monologue to strangers on a train – playing around with the difference between what happened when they responded to her compared to what happened when they ignored her; and we also worked on physicalising Leila’s encounter with the tree. Leyla’s monologue is great – but we decided to play around with her having more urgency, even being angry at the tree. It was great to see how the tree responded to her woes.

Wednesday – and mid-week – again we started with diary entries and the Lindyhop. We then went straight into hot seating Eliza, Leyla and Aisha, before working again on pysicalising objects in relation to characters. Chloe worked with a group to show her using a PC to communicate with the outside world; and Aisha worked with more people on physicalising the train. We then presented homework tasks – participants were asked to bring in photographs or pictures that suggested memories for their characters. They had to describe them to the rest of the group being as specific and detailed as possible. We then extended this, as a writing task, asking participants to create a poetic response reflecting the tone of the memory for them. The afternoon saw more work on the train, expertly choreographed by Vik. We also had a marketing meeting with Doug, Head of Marketing here at the Almeida, to discuss strategies for how LABBERS can promote the show.

On Thursday, we went straight into some hot seating, followed by some focussed improvisations. Alex and Desara worked on their encounter in the park, where Alex is offering £100 to get his phone back; Leyla worked further on her confessions to the tree; and Eliza and Raz worked on a scene where Raz confronts her about stealing his sister’s jewellery. Raz and Eliza played the scene quite realistically, but then we gave Raz the challenge of not speaking, but showing his feelings through actions. After lunch, we hot seated Pius and worked on two further scenes – one with Pius selling love, and the other physicalising Grace’s notes for the supermarket notice board. And on Thursday evening, Mike Attenborough came to talk to the Young Friends about In a Dark Dark House. It was a fantastic two-way exchange with Mike talking about the process of getting the play from page to stage and the young friends sharing thier throughts about the play. A real treat, so thanks Mike.

Friday already? The week really flew by. We started with the Lindyhop again and then shared our character name poems and diaries for the week. Luis was hot seated and the group was split in half to work on two improvisations – the first, an encounter between Leila and Zain (Luis) by the tree; and the second, Yaz pinning her fortune-telling advertisements to some trees. Vik then choreographed a scene to Lonely, by Akon, where everyone made a simple move that reflected their character before moving into a scene where Raz and Veronica wake up simultaneously from their duvets and move around their rooms.

After lunch, we worked on improvisations in pairs: Naomi and Raz on finally meeting at a newsagents in Highgate; Mollie and Shanice both selling on the internet; Desara and Alex on the way to a party/dance class on the bus; Louis and Leyla meeting for the first time on Leila’s wedding day; Jess and Chloe – the former talking to an imaginary friend and the latter to a real friend on the internet; Aisha and Eliza meeting on a train; and Yaz and Pius responding to each others ads. We then finished by hearing some ‘words of love’ from Pius and by hot seating Eliza (whose character has now changed considerably).

All in all a considerably productive week – I’m really looking forward to getting into rehearsals for the new play.

LAB 6 - When the Rain Stops Falling

2009-02-11T05:39:00.001-08:00

Sunday 8 February 2009

Today was the final Sunday LAB session – next is a full week of intensive exploration during half term.

We started the day by listening to the adverts that participants were asked to prepare for the session. These were great, and ranged from selling a bracelet to a toy; and a mobile phone to an acoustic guitar. Participants were then asked to think about how they might physicalise their ads. How do we stage a gumtree ad or a notice in a window? Again, this produced some imaginative responses – from a literal presentation of being that faded piece of paper in the shop window, to using the body to create the object being sold.

We then spent a little more time sharing talents. Those who didn’t share something last time, were asked to at least sing ‘Happy Birthday’ if they weren’t comfortable with anything else. It is becoming more and more likely that music will form part of the final piece, and so it was important for Tanya to ascertain people’s singing abilities. It is also likely to include movement, and so Raz and Desara spent some time teaching their choreographed routines to half of the group each.

We decided that as this is quite a complicated plot to get your head around, that it was a good idea read the synopsis of When the Rain Stops Falling before focussing on sections of the script. A number of questions emerged. What is fate? What would life be like in 2039 (especially if something that you took for granted no longer existed)? What is the significance of a name? Why does it keep on raining? We discussed some of these questions before breaking for lunch.

After lunch, we read sections of the script that looked at some of the questions that had emerged from the discussion, including the following excerpt:

You’re twenty four years old. You work in a roadhouse in the Coorong. You play netball on Tuesday nights and clean the bird shit from the headstones of the graves of your family on Sunday. You know that if you don’t leave here soon you will marry a farmer from Salt Creek. He will be a good man who works hard and likes a beer. He will love you and you will make his life hell because that’s not the life you want. You will go mad in that life. But you don’t know what other life there is. Then this man, this stranger walks into the roadhouse, in the middle of winter, all the way from London and orders a toasted sandwich with no ham and talks about things that they don’t talk about in the Coorong. He says let the dead take care of the dead. And now he’s sitting in the car with the engine running listening to a song on the radio. And you know the song. You know it well. You know the last verse has just begun, you know the words, you could sing them and when it’s done you know you’ll hear the tyres on the gravel and he will be gone and you may as well start looking for your wedding dress. You want to go, you want to run, you want to leave these ghosts behind but you’re scared. In your stomach, in the pit of your stomach you know there is something wrong and that you should not get in that car.

This prompted even more discussion about fate, and we divided the group down in to two halves. One half were asked to present the opening of the debate pro-fate and the other anti-fate. Lots of arguments were put forward – from the fact that no matter what path you take, or choice you make, the outcome, or final destination will always be the same; to the fact that fate is a human construct that we have invented to try to understand ourselves better, and that the only inevitable fate is death. The groups were then asked to create two pieces – the first a physical, or abstract, representation of fate (pro-or anti, depending on the group) and the second also a physical, or abstract, representation of a specific argument (pro or anti fate). Again, these were fantastic.

Finally, we spent the remaining hour talking about the direction the play is heading in. Tanya told everybody, individually, the ideas that she had for their characters and set everyone a task for half term. All in all a great last Sunday LAB – I’m really looking forward to half term and getting stuck into the stories of each of the characters.

Tanya’s Thoughts – at this stage.
To quote Tanya – “It’s still like a blancmange that’s not set yet – and we will shape it during half term.”

This will not be a three act play. Music will play a big part in it. Nobody will be over the age of 19. The concept of the advert – of each of you having something to sell – will be a major through-line of the piece. Each of you will have a different story. The undertone will be mournful, but with a will to change – young people looking to change their lives or transform in someway. The loneliness of the transition from childhood into adulthood is daunting, but the energy will come through the staging… There will be three tracks and three choreographed pieces, and the individual stories/strands will be weaved through these. Others will be used physically to be part of each other’s stories.

Raz (based on one of your monologues) – you are a 17 year old boy, known as Razmataz. What are you escaping? What are your dreams? Can you also practise whistling Here Comes the Sun.
Leyla – you are a 13 year-old Indian bride. The son of your husband’s first wife is only a couple of years older than you and there is a spark between you. Who can you speak to about this dilemma? God, a tree? Can you also learn the first section of Hometown Glory on the piano.
Chloe – you are 16 years old and you are about to set up home with a much older man who has promised to train you as an opera singer. It’s not ideal, but you put up with him because this is your dream. Write a monologue – as an email – telling a friend about your new life.
Jess – you are the little boy, Ben. You live in a house with no adults, but Grace’s character is taking care of you and you have money. You are taking ballet lessons. See if you can work out the accompaniment to Hometown Glory on the steel pans.
Naomi – you are Veronica La Fleur. You pretend to be French – but you aren’t. Why do you pretend to be someone/thing that you are not? Please also familiarise yourself with Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars.
Eliza – you are the girlfriend of Maryam’s brother and you have been going through her jewellery box without her permission. It's an attempt to draw closer to her, but she takes it very badly. Your relationship with her brother is on the rocks. What kind of contact do you have with Maryam’s character? Phone? Texts? Bumping into her in the street? Build up a history of your relationship with her brother.
Desara – you look like a tough girl, but what you actually want is to be treated, by a man, with chivalry. There is a guy (Alex’s character) who is well-to-do but he isn’t treating you in the way you want to be treated. How did you meet him? How do you communicate with him? What do you want from him?
Alex – you are the posh boy who thinks that Desara will only be attracted to you if you are street. All chivalry – even though that is the genuine you – goes out of the window. Prepare a monologue/pep talk to yourself while you are getting dressed/at the mirror before going out that evening to a party you know Desara will be at.
Yaz – you are a wanderer, caught between one world and the next. You might sell an alarm clock because there is no point getting up in the morning. Write a monologue about another squashed animal in the road. Can you also email Tanya with the lyrics to your song(s).
Shanice – you want to sell everything you own because you want to cut loose and travel to a third world country. Your whole story may be told through ads. Have a think about creating some of them…
Grace – you live in a house with no adults (with Jess’ character, Ben). You are trying hard to be a responsible adult. How much of your story can we glimpse through notes on a notice board of a whole-food store?
Aisha – you want to escape the small town that you live in to go to London. You can’t wait to leave behind your small minded friends. You are driven by ambition. In fact, you are selling the violin of one of those friends to pay for your train fair. Tell someone on your train journey why new friends are better than old. Can you also familiarise yourself with Hometown Glory, by Adele.
Mollie – you are selling your baby. You don’t want to be a teenage mum and you have realised that you can make a bad situation better and get a lot of money – you’re not going to sink, but rather turn this to your advantage and swim. Make sure you understand your family context – what are you escaping? Also, learn Hometown Glory vocals.
Louis – you are the 16 year old son of a 46 year old Indian man with three wives. You are the son of his first wife. Leyla, age 13, is the third wife. You and Leyla hit it off, and in any other circumstances (i.e. if you weren't her step-son) romance might blossom between you. Can you research what you might be doing at that age in a fairly poor Indian family. What are your prospects? Who you might be forced in to marrying? Also – can you familiarize yourself with Kate Nash's song Mouthwash.
Maryam – you are the sister of Eliza’s boyfriend. You can’t stand the bitch (this is based on your monologue where she goes through your jewellery box) Your task is to build up a history for yourself of this character, her relationship with her brother, their family, her circumstances, what she wants, where she's heading.
Pius – you are torn between being a boy and being a man. Write a poem about being half-boy half-man.

Everyone – what are you selling; why are you selling it; and how? You might also like to create a character profile for your character, by writing down the following:
-Their gender
-Their age
-Their ethnicity
-Their name
-Where their money comes from
-What sort of accommodation they live in
-Where is this on a world map?
-Something they lack in life
-Something they need right now
-A secret they have
-A problem they have
-A memory they have
-Something they believe
-Something they wish for
-Where they are at this very moment
-What they are doing at this very moment
-What they are thinking or saying at this very moment
-Three other things you know about them (not that you’ve written this list)
-Have any other questions arisen from your findings? You don’t necessarily need to answer them at the moment.

LAB 5 - Parlour Song

2009-01-20T06:39:00.000-08:00

Sunday 11 January 2009

Today was the most productive and exciting LAB session yet – although I know I say that every time!

We kick started the session with our very own talent show! Tanya was interested in seeing what skills people had to feed into the final play. Jess was brave enough to start. She played Allegro by Taffanell on her flute and then wowed us with Badinerie by Bach on the Steel Drums. We clearly have some very talented people in the group. Yaz, Aisha, Chloe and Maryam all sang for us. Naomi and Mollie sang and played their instruments – Naomi the guitar and Mollie the piano. Leyla, Grace and Eliza all played the piano. Raz gave us a fantastic, self-choreographed piece of dance, and Eliza and Jess also danced for us – Eliza did a tap routine and Jess a ballet piece. And last, but by no means least, Shanice performed a poem that she had written herself. It really was an inspiring and talent-fuelled morning.

Next, we jumped straight into the homework task that had been set last session. Participants were asked to bring in an Ad – either from the perspective of a young person looking for work, or from an employer looking for a young person to work for them. We shared some of these and discussed any clues that were given about the characters by reading between the lines. Participants then worked in pairs to create a scene that showed the darker side of the ad in contrast to the ‘dressed-up’ side of it. It was really interesting to see how a simple ad generated deep and rounded character portrayals.

Next we looked at a specific except from Parlour Song, with the surtitle Each Year the Birds Come Back. This section of the script gives a sentimental account, by Ned, of an encounter on his honeymoon. He and his wife found a £50 note on the floor. They decided to split the amount and buy each other a gift. Ned wandered for miles before stumbling upon a birdbath – for exactly £25. It was perfect. And the birdbath is a symbol of the strength of their relationship. However, the birdbath has recently disappeared, symbolising the shifting nature of the relationship between Ned and his wife. Participants were asked to use this as a starting point for finding their own sentimental object – why is it so important to them and what, if anything, does it symbolise. They then wrote their own monologues to illustrate their shifting relationship with their object. Initially, it meant a great deal to them, but something happens / changes that alters that relationship. Again, the results of the exercise were fantastic.

We finished by discussing an article that I had seen in the Metro about the fact that life is meaningless for one in ten teens: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Life_meaningless_for_one_in_10_teens&in_article_id=458125&in_page_id=34&in_a_source=

I am amazed at how the issue of how we, as human beings – and specifically the participants as young human beings – deal with life’s challenges and ups and downs. Parlour Song is great as a starting point to look at the meaning of life / how you deal with things – as Ned is clearly going through some kind of mid life crisis and having to deal with this. As ever, the discussion was lively and informative. Keep up the good work guys!

Homework – write an ad selling an object that you once loved. Imagine the story behind it. Choose your words carefully – can the reader see the cracks between the words? If you have that object, please bring it with you to the next LAB session.

LAB 4 - Duet for One

2008-12-15T05:02:00.000-08:00

Sunday 7 December 2008

Toady was the fourth LAB – and the last one before 2009!

We started the session by preparing the written tasks (the ones that Tanya set last session) for performance. Instantly the tone of the day was set – as everyone had created some fantastic work, and it was really good to see it come alive.

We then read a section of the script which focussed on what Stephanie (the central character in the play) has lost due to her illness (she suffers from MS) – her ability to play the violin and ultimately her Music. The script also explored the role that parents play in shaping the future of their children. Stephanie had a very supportive mother (who died young) and a less supportive father. But his lack of support encouraged her to prove him wrong and make a success of her music. This lead to a discussion about parental pressure verses parental support; and whether anyone felt that their parents lived their lives though them, or were trying not to repeat their own mistakes with them.

We also talked about how we would feel if something we valued was from us, like our ability to play an instrument, our career, or even the physical abilities we take for granted – and whether it important, or not, to be optimistic and put a positive spin on a difficult situation. We played the 'No... Yes and... Yes but...' game to explore the idea of blocking an idea or going with it. Most people found it easier to use 'Yes but' than saying 'No'. Participants were then asked to think about something that they have lost (or would hate to loose) and to find an object to represent this. They then created physical monologues to express this loss (i.e. coming up with five of six actions or movements that could be repeated). They then taught these to one another, without communicating verbally, so that everyone had a new, inherited loss that was no longer personal to them. They then worked on creating verbal monologues to accompany their new inherited loss, expressing this sense of loss, but potentially giving it a whole new meaning. Again, the results were extremely positive and creative. Lots of ideas were generated for Tanya (we clearly have talented writers in the group); and we also worked on staging the pieces too.

Next we worked on how you might communicate your loss to an audience - and how we might share our secrets/problems/fears – through counselling, writing a diary, praying to God? We started with a fun, physical warm-up. In groups, participants had 10 seconds to physically create a mode of communication, using their bodies and working together as one, from a message in a bottle to a diary; and a PC to a mobile phone. We then asked participants to work alone, or in pairs, to create a short piece to illustrate how they might share their anxieties and problems. Some chose to confide in friends; others to talk in chat rooms anonymously; others in writing or though other art forms like painting or singing. Again, so fantastic work was generated - everyone is really stepping up to the challenge and pushing themselves to create exceptional work.

Finally, we returned to discussing music and its importance to us. Some people felt that they would be completely lost with out it - it has therapeutic value, it lets you unwind and de-stress, it is emotive, it helped you concentrate, it entertains etc. We then also asked everyone to name two tracks that they love, and Tanya is going to put together a LAB soundtrack for next session. She also set everyone two tasks for the January LAB. Firstly, anyone who has a special talent - be it singing, dancing, writing poetry, playing an instrument etc - they should prepare something to share with the group next time; and secondly – find two adverts that show a young person looking to change their lives in some way.

LAB 3 - In a Dark Dark House

2008-11-04T06:01:00.000-08:00

Sunday 2 November 2008

The first exercise of the day was actually a continuation of an idea that emerged from LAB Two – the concept of child brides. To provoke political debate, Raz and Maryam created a scene last session between a 40 year old man and an 11 year old girl who were in a relationship. So… we put a series of photographs on the wall, all depicting child brides, and the group were asked to complete a character profile worksheet for one the brides from one of the pictures.

See some of the pictures at the following website:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2006/07/06/magazine/20060709_BRIDES_SLIDESHOW_1.html
From this, they then worked in groups to generate questions that the issue of child brides raises in their minds (direct or rhetorical). For each question, they then generated three more questions that were prompted by the initial questions (creating nine questions)… and then three more for each of these questions (now 27 questions)… We then discussed any broad, general themes that these questions suggested.

Some of the Questions raised:
Is this / Am I normal?
-What is normal?
-Does this happen everywhere?
-Am I supposed to enjoy this?
-What do we mean by ‘this’?
-Why would anyone enjoy it?

Why would a 40 year old man want to be with a child?
-Was the 40 year old abused as a child?
-Is there money involved?
-Does he enjoy this?
-Sexually or psychologically abused?
-Social or business gain?
-Is he a paedophile?
-Are his actions legal?
-Does he get a thrill out of it?
-Is it natural for him?

How did the concept of child brides become acceptable?
-Has it always acceptable?
-What is meant by acceptable?
-Does anyone refute it?
-Is it a cultural thing?
-Is it tradition?
-Is it ingrained into society?

Could you learn to love your older husband?
-Is the child being deprived of their childhood?
-How would you be able to cope?
-Would you use your imagination to escape?

What culture is making these rules?
-Is it down to religion?
-Does the man have the right to control?
-Is a woman the object of a man?

After the break, some people were asked to write monologues from the perspective of their child bride; some completed a newspaper exercise, Commenting on Child Brides, using an article on child brides as stimulus; and the remaining group improvised a short scene between a parent and his young son who he caught having underage sex.

The scenes were great. Jess wrote a fantastic, but disturbing, monologue from the perspective of a four year old boy who had an unnatural relationship with an adult male. Aisha wrote a piece from the perspective of a child bride who had more in common with her husband’s children, of the same age, than with him; and Yasemin performed an interesting piece from the perspective of a 19 year old woman who had escaped from an arranged marriage with a much older man.

Girls – why not share your monologues on the BLOG?

After lunch, we read Act Two of In a Dark Dark House. The issue of child brides provided the perfect segue into the scene between Terry, who is in his late 30s, and Jenny, who is a 15 year old girl. We read the scene and discussed the behaviour of both characters in the scene – why was Jenny flirting with an older man? And why was Terry interested in someone half of his age? We also talked about what might’ve come before this scene and what might have come after. The group then divided into pairs and worked on an improvised scene assuming that something illicit had happened between Jenny and Terry. They were asked to create a scene either between Jenny and her psychiatrist, or between Terry and a criminal psychologist / policeman. Next, we took the same scene and, working in groups of four, two people were asked to play the actual lines of the characters and the other two were asked to play aloud the subtext – what were the characters actually meaning or implying through their words even if they weren’t saying it directly?

We finished the day thinking not only about the repercussions of abuse (for Terry) but also about the effect that a common or shared experience can have on siblings – after all, up until the last moment of the play, Terry and Drew appear to have experienced the same ordeal. In pairs, participants were asked to script a short scene between siblings who have a shared experience and demonstrate how this experience has influenced their relationship and the way that they behave towards each other.

Pairs then swapped scripts so that they were not working with their own words but were asked to interpret the words of others in order to play the relationship between the siblings.

All in all – another really good session. And as always, we could have done with another few hours to continue exploring the ideas that we were beginning to touch on.

And finally… Tanya set some very specific tasks for individuals and pairs in the group:

Alex – to research the legal classification of a paedophile Grace – to research who the clients are of the young Chinese prostitutes in Britain (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/oct/11/immigration-people-trafficking).
Shanice – to research the Romeo and Juliet law.
Desara – to research exactly what young boys are getting up to, if this is all about young brides…
Romany / Jess – write a scene set in an internet chat room between an 11 year old child bride from a different country and an 11 year old in Britain.
Yasemin / Aisha – write a scene where a 12 year old girl has a closer relationship with her husband’s 13 year old son than she does with him.
Louie / Maryam – write a scene between two friends – one is very confident and ‘beyond her years’ and the other is quite shy and not as advanced emotionally as her friend.
Chloe / Layla – write a scene between a mother (who was herself a child bride) and her daughter (who is soon to be one).
Mollie - what about the husband? Write a monologue from the perspective of a 40 year old man married to a child.
Naomi - write a name poem for Aisha Camara (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/africanlives/ivory/ivory.htm).

Pius - write a name poem for Mwaka (http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so142/News_stories/Child_Marriage_in_Africa.html).

Hannah - write a name poem for Beatrice.

Darshanie - write a name poem for Nojoud Mohammed Ali (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7351336.stm).

Razvan - write a monologue for Ms Muanyongo - what has she had to endure?

Ilmi - you are the son of a man who has three wives. The newest wife is 11 years old - the same age as you. How does this make you feel? Write a monologue to express your feelings (you will also need to decide what country/culture you are from).

Post your findings / scenes on the BLOG – or email them to Tanya.

LAB 2 – Waste

2008-10-13T05:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday 12 October 2008

We discovered today that Waste is such a fantastic play for generating debate and discussion. We talked lots – about the following – and more:

- What does it mean to be a man / woman today?
- Abortion – does a woman have the right to choose?
- Politics – what concerns us politically today?

We began the day by celebrating the name, but instead of using our own names, we used the names of the characters that we created in LAB 1. Again – some interesting poems were generated. Please share them with us!

We then had a lengthy discussion about what people like / didn’t like / got out of seeing Waste. There were only 3 people in the group who didn’t manage to see the play and so they took part in an exercise where they were asked to rearrange the plot headlines in chronological order.

We then read selected excerpts from the play – the two scenes between Amy O’Connell and Henry Trebell – and then discussed the scenes before creating a Jerry Springer-style performance entitled, A Woman’s Right to Choose. Using Amy and Henry’s story as a starting point, participants were encouraged to bring on fictional characters to represent opposing view points. Again, this fuelled a powerful debate.

After lunch, we talked briefly about Henry Trebell’s political beliefs. He was an independent politician proposing a radical bill to disestablish the church. But he also passionately believed in educational reform – and giving power to the children. As a group, we talked about what concerned us politically, before dividing into pairs and deciding on a political issue to discuss further. Rather than performing the discussion in a naturalistic way, participants were asked to present their discussion using a power line – taking a step forward if their point was poignant and made an impact, and backwards if not – forcing the actors to actually think about the affect of what they were saying on their partner.

Finally, we worked on a whole group physical/rhythmic exercise called Transformations. Half the group represented a man / woman from the early 1900s and the other half from the present day. They then created 5 frozen images to represent a day in the life of their character – morning, mid-morning, lunch, afternoon and evening. They then transformed from image to image over 10 beats, 5 beats and then 1 beat.

All in all, it was a busy and productive day. Be sure to share your thoughts / opinions with each other on the BLOG…

LAB 1 - Kicking a Dead Horse

2008-09-24T04:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday 21 September 2008

Today was the first LAB session and an opportunity for the creative team and participants to meet for the first time.

We began the day by doing some exercises on group dynamics - this was the first time that many of the participants had worked together, so it was important to encourage a sense of camaraderie and team work.

All participants also took part in a Celebrate the Name exercise. In pairs, participants told each other everything they knew about their own names. They then went away and wrote a poem to celebrate their partner’s name.

We then went on to focus on the idea of gathering yourself up. Participants were asked to invent a scenario where they were leaving something behind. Where were they going? What were they taking? What part of them were they leaving behind? And what part of them were they taking?

Participants were then introduced to the character of Hobart Struther – an American man in his mid-60s, described as an, “Urban Businessman,” who, “suddenly decided to rough it.” He is tired and frustrated. With every new characteristic, participants adapted their physicality accordingly. They were then each given one of his lines to perform.

After lunch, we read and discussed the play. Some of the ideas that interested the participants / questions that arose included:
-The significance of setting – do we change to fit our surroundings or do our surroundings change us?
-What was the significance of the woman? Was she real or part of his imagination? Was it his wife, cleaning up after him?
-The ideal verses reality
-The Quest – the notion that the grass is always greener on the other side
-The impression of time – the heightened, dream world that he inhabited
-The clichés – deader than dirt, sick puppy etc
-The language (this sparked a debate about the use of obscenities in writing)
-The cartoon feel of the piece
-The fact that it is as if Hobart knows he has been written
-Everything that meant anything went into the hole, so it was inevitable that he would end up in it too
-The significance of material objects – do they equal happiness?
-The pursuit of happiness
-Loneliness
-Finding peace in the end.

Next we revisited the earlier characters from the gathering yourself up exercise, and asked a series of questions, ranging from the physical to the emotional; the daily to the psychological, to help gain a deeper insight into the characters that the participants had invented. From this, participants went on to write their own internal duologues for their characters, written at the point at which they were about to leave their old life behind. What dilemmas or pull in opposing directions were you facing? We shared these with one another and spent the remainder of the session discussing the day, and Tanya gave the group a series of questions to consider. These include:

1. What does 'authenticity' mean to you?

2. Are you afraid of death?

3. When and where do you feel most lonely?

4. Who or what is the 'dead horse' in your life?

5. What's your version of 'Kicking a Dead Horse'?

6. Write your own versions of 'Not my cup of meat' - where a well-known phrase is slightly twisted in an unexpected way. It doesn't matter how contemporary the phrase is, and the more phrases the merrier.

7. Write a list of food you might take with you on your journey. This can be from the perspective of the character you were working with on Sunday. E.g. Hobart's beans, jerky, trail-mix, plenty of water, m& m's...

PLEASE, PLEASE SHARE YOUR RESPONSES ON THE BLOG. WE’D LOVE YOU TO POST YOUR NAME POEMS TOO, AS WELL AS MINI BIOGS OF YOUR CHARACTERS… OR ANY OTHER COMMENTS THAT YOU HAVE…