Wednesday 13 August 2014

Guest Blog 1 2014: Mike Beigel Present Moment Theatre Lab Assistant Director -The Tempest

Hello all!

Today I am off to meet Caroline Laurie, Anthony King (CEO) and Sarah Linzey at MIND along with my daughter Grace who is a film maker to talk about making a new film about the experience of living with anorexia. The film is inspired by Caroline's personal story and journey through living with this devastating disease. In spite of huge struggles - Caroline is a vibrant, reflective person with great insight into the disease which she will share in this new film that we are raising the money to make. I'll report back following our meeting today.

To turn to another of the projects I am taking part in - Present Moment Theatre Lab 2014. I am involved in this summer production with 28 young people from East London, who travel everyday to Islington to rehearse a full production of The Tempest - directed by Present Moment's Artistic Director Joss Bennathan - we are approaching the end of the second week and rehearsals are going very well. Its a joy to be involved with a full team of professional theatre makers and this group of dedicated and talented young actors. There's a real buzz in the studios - and I thought it would be fun to share Mike Beigel's (Assistant Director) blog which captures moments from the rehearsal room. So here it is. Enjoy! If you want to visit or follow the journey with Mike go directly to his blog at pmtheatrelab2014.blogspot.com




TUESDAY, 12 AUGUST 2014


What a week!

I can't quite believe we've had a full week already, but what a week it's been! We've got two casts, 28 brilliant actors and one incredible ensemble.
So what have we been up to? Well, not only have we cast the show, started working on making sense of the text and begun blocking. We've also crammed in 3 masterclasses as well!
Our first masterclass was led by Mary Howland. It focused on voice technique and how this can be used to make sense of Shakespeare's text. We now use these vocal exercises as the basis for our daily warm-up. Much like a sports warm-up these focus on stretching muscles but with an aim to increase volume, clarity and vocal dexterity. A particular favourite of mine is Raisin Face/Lion Face, as can be seen below - I'll let you decide which one you think we're doing!

Our second session with Mary looked at deciphering the clues provided in the text. We began by getting our pencils and getting really stuck into our scripts. Putting double slashes when a phrase is finished and single slashes when a phrase is unfinished phrase - deciphering this using the punctuation provided in the text. We went on to consider the nucleus of phrases and bringing out the euphonious words where appropriate. A number of the actors seem to have a career in advertising beckoning!
Our next masterclass focused on movement - finding ways of moving through space and how this impacts on character. The session was run by Simon Rivers who some of you may recognise from the BBC series Doctors and who played Mephistopheles in Present Moment's production of Doctor Faustus.   Beginning with an exercise to develop focus - we saw how movement can combine with sound to create rhythms within an assemble. This also introduced the importance of working as an ensemble, and providing an awareness of the other actors - something he developed through a number of exercises.
Next the actors improvised what it meant to move as: fire, water, earth and air. Known as Elemental work these experiential exercises aimed at stretching the actors imaginations and bodies. Also proving very fruitful when discussing these styles of movement in relation to character.
There were a number of other exercises including mirroring and status games but too many to mention here. This was a workshop focused on introducing ideas and - through experiential exercises - developing a palette of movements in the actors' muscle memories.
The final masterclass of the week was a puppetry workshop by Raven Kaliana of the Little Angel Theatre. We looked at the possible uses of puppetry within the wider context of theatre. What they can do easily and what can be more of a challenge - before thinking in the terms of The Tempest where puppetry may be a good solution.
We looked at shadow puppets and how to create them. Introducing the idea of three dimensional shadow puppets and moving light-sources. How this can easily create textures, landscapes, journeys and scale using little more than a handheld torch and some crumpled fabric!
We then moved onto more traditional puppets and the fundamentals of creating them. Starting with a pole, a mask and a piece of fabric each of the groups of actors created vibrant characters - each with individual personalities and ways of moving.
All three masterclasses have provided me with revelations and I know from the actor's reflections that they have too. Whether it's discussing which characters are which element, finding ways to create personalities from lifeless materials or speaking the text with a greater understanding of the character's thought processes. I have seen these actors develop in front of my eyes this week and this is all work we will build on and take with us into production. You may not see any of these exercises in the final performance but the work done and insight gained will be more than evident.

Sunday 10 August 2014

Return From Sabbatical: Blog 9 2014

Good morning my dear friends - at least those of you who have joined me here on and off over the past two years.




I do have other friends too (you may be surprised to hear) who wouldn't been seen dead on one of the pages of my hithertoo prolific blog. It was perhaps in honour of this 'eschewing social media club' that I thought maybe I ought to do the right thing and step down for a few months from this podium of social media self-aggrandisement and indulgence that certainly some consider this form to be. Those that do however always hasten to add, with an often supercilious smirk that indeed this isn't about 'you Carole'- its about the whole thing. "It stops people communicating in person", "People are so trite - who wants to hear what someone had for breakfast?'', 'I've heard that people lose their jobs, or get found out by their employers for some drunken night in Magaluf - ooh er"………  and then of course the very serious concerns about cyber bullying causing an alarming rise in children under 16 taking their own lives  - no longer even a safe refuge in their own bedrooms. And the dark influences such as the  pro-ana forums in which young women (mostly) with eating disorders share ways of self-harming further.

One can't take exception with most of the above - and ultimately its a personal choice as to how much you engage or otherwise with any form of communication, in person or on the net. I find it interesting and funny to see the well rehearsed arguments for and against - the former usually with a certain evangelical zeal. I'm probably most likely to fall into the former which slightly still surprises me as a woman of a 'certain age'. Suffice it to say though I find myself feeling somewhat younger than my chronological age all too visibly reveals!  

Some who know me might think this is simply a retarded maturity and they might have a point -  but by and large I think it comes down to a certain 'curiosity'. I was renowned as a child for being a little bit 'nosey', and I'm 'curious' about the different loading of the two words? I like to find out things - its true, and curiosity seems to lend itself first to such a wide array of things, whilst nosiness is definitely about other people's lives isn't it?  Curiosity by definition can be about anything though - things, people, stories, science, philosophy, the arts - the natural world and everything else you can think of and most that you can't.


On balance I suspect mine is a healthy mix of genuine curiosity and nosiness. And so to Social Media. I love it. Yes I see all the cynics shaking their heads. Yes I know Facebook has all our details and with regular accuracy sends us targeted adverts for what they know we like. I particularly hate those…….fifty something ads inviting me to make my will, take out more life insurance, or get new dentures or pay for my funeral!  And yes its all a pain, and without looking much further we can all find many more bug bears. But most of us participate for better or worse in some way or other, and in particular the Internet Natives who find social media as easy as breathing. We all know that connectivity is now seen as another vital utility not just for doing the weekly shop online, but for ensuring constant communicating with each other. 

What always strikes me as odd though is that we complain about never being left alone, or finding ourselves constantly reactive to other people's agendas. Whilst that might well be true in the working world, where instantaneous response is de rigeur, heaven help us if we live in constant anticipation of yet another message. Its danger lies in its invitation not to miss out on something  - in the grand global gossip. But here's the thing - and its rather obvious - and that's choice. Yes that old idea of making a decision - remember that?  In some ways I really respect my recalcitrant 'eschewing' colleagues and friends for their stoicism in a world gone mad. However there is a third way (oh no did I really quote him?) - and that's surely about balance and integration. It is for me anyway. Hence my enforced blog sabbatical, as I did become somewhat addicted to a daily fix last year. So I have taken some of my own medicine and taken a break. 

To boot I have a number of good friends who put up their 'open for business' social media signs just when they choose to. And at other times the shop is most definitely closed. Hey it wasn't that hard, just pull the blind down. They neither eschew nor evangelise, but indeed conduct their online life much as they do their life in the flesh. As a recovering evangelist I salut them.

This is the preamble then to a series of blogs I shall write on different subjects over the next couple of weeks (and possibly more regularly than I have just suggested - dammit - I still have the bug lurking). This is because the last three months have had their fair share of ups and downs and some exciting developments and projects. I will share them in episodes I think.  So if you are 'curious' to hear more about the trials and tribulations of an itinerant director (who's delighted to have a new agent - Niki at http://www.nikiwinterson.com) then I'm your girl. (ok woman of a certain age).


Caroline - 21st birthday 
My next blog will feature the story of Caroline, a young woman of 21 whom I met whilst volunteering at MIND the mental health charity where Caroline volunteers too. Caroline lives with the intrusive and very cruel eating disorder - anorexia. She presented to our volunteer group supervision a few weeks ago - and I was overwhelmed with her frank sharing of her disease, her articulate and passionate desire to be well, her understanding of her own life. I am seeing her this week and will be catching up to hear how she's getting on. We will share her story together here.

Nice to be back.


Carole