Throughout our devising process we have been playing
with the idea of puppetry and telling stories with both puppets and physical
theatre. We started with using random objects as puppets but later in the
process we decided; although using objects as puppets is effective, it wasn’t
the style of show we were trying to achieve. After losing the idea of using
objects as puppets we explored the use of actual puppets, this proved to be a
useful and effective technique. A good example of a devising puppet group are
Handspring Puppet Company, their use of puppets to create a narrative and clear
message I feel helped shape the piece so far. A good case of puppet use in a
show is the Handsprings production of Midsummers Night Dream; within this piece
most characters are puppets but there are also actors working with the puppets
in the show.
Having the audience
connect with the puppet and recognise him as a character is a powerful yet
difficult task, but when rehearsed to the a high level, performances such as
handspring's really deliver that practice to its fullest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg2aOtYIYxs
The difference between
an actor taking a role and having that role fulfilled by either a puppet/object
is that it creates a performance that makes an audience concentrate and watch the performance from a fresh
perspective.
after seeing this
performance it showed me that both puppet and actor can be on stage and have
equal affect of giving a well structured and clear story to the audience.
another big
part of our devising process was devising scenes themselves, we started by work
shopping different ideas such as a mead hall feast and gathering an army, both
were effective ensemble pieces and have been put into the performance, this was
only after we had worked and re-worked our practice; tweaking areas that were
not as strong as other and cutting bits that did not make sense in the
performance. Also throughout we were writing parts of scripts as we were
experimenting and devising scenes, I feel this process is important as it can
help structure a performance, all parts of script were sent to our directors
for feedback and any edits or ideas they had. This led to a drafted script
which won't be final as we are still devising scenes.
A good
learning process with devising for me were the recourse packs of Frantic Assembly, in these packs they
tackle step by step guides to each of their shows. for example in the pack for
their show "Pool, no water" they go day by day discussing how they
attacked the devising process.
"These
kinds of accidents are a crucial
part of the
creative process. We have
found that
you must remain open to
them. I
think we may even partly rely on
them and
actively create situations and
improvisations
that will allow them to
happen."
http://www.franticassembly.co.uk/media/media/downloads/pool_no_water_Resource_Pack.pdf
All these
aspects of devising have helped me get a clearer understanding of how to devise
a piece of performance successfully and make said performance tight and clear
for an audience. this also includes different styles of performance for example
shadow play and movement pieces.
bibliography.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg2aOtYIYxs
http://www.franticassembly.co.uk/media/media/downloads/pool_no_water_Resource_Pack.pdf
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