Rhythm exercises (pretend there is somebody we hate)

Aim of Task: To know be introduced to the concept of internal and external rhythms.

Description of Task: Our teacher explained to us that there is two type of rhythms: external and internal rhythms. Internal rhythms are the inside pace of the actor, the pace of his emotions. On the other hand, the external rhythm is the pace of the physical actions of the actor. So for example, a situation where there is a lot of tension would have a very fast internal rhythm, but if the tension is created by the waiting of some important news, there wont be a lot of physical movement so it would be a slow external rhythm. In a running competition, for example, there would be a fast rhythm, both external and internal because of the excitement and the quickness of physical actions.

So, to put this into practice, we experimented with an exercise that would require us to have a very slow external rhythm but a very fast internal rhythm. We grouped into partners. Partner A would pretend to be a person Partner B really dislikes, however, Partner B will try to be as condescending and "nice" as possible to Partner A. Nashwa was Partner A and I was Partner B. I pretended I was on the canteen table and then Nashwa came to ask me some questions and ask me if I wanted to go out to get bubble tea. My internal rhythm increased a lot because, inside, my emotions where bursting, I didn't really like this person. However, I couldn't show this because I was trying to be nice, so my external rhythm had to remain calm, slow.

Even though I really tried to remain with a slow external rhythm, my external rhythm started to increase slowly, as Naswha kept on insisting. I also started to look for ways to get rid of her, which kinda increase my external rhythm too.

Reflection: As an actor, I think having fast external and internal rhythm, or slow internal and external rhythm, is not that difficult to do, one comes with the other normally. However, a combination of slow/fast internal/external rhythms comes only in some very specific situations. It's rather uncommon, and this might be the reason why it is the most difficult one to imitate.

Conlcusion: External and internal rhythms normally have a same pace, because our bodies express their emotions naturally. However, sometimes because of societal norms, we shouldn't really express this emotions. But as we are more and more pressured, these expressions will start to show, regardless of how much we try to oppress them. Stanislavsky focuses greatly on emotions, and with this exercise, we can pay attention to how the rhythm of our internal emotions affect the rhythm of our external actions.

Given circumstance - cooking and burning...

Aim of task: To experiment more with given circumstances.

Description of task: Today, our teacher asked us to spread out in the classroom so that we could find our own space, where we would pretend cooking a meal. To do this, I imagined a stove in front of me, with one cabinet on each side. I started by miming taking a couple of vegetables, putting them on the cabinet, chopping them and putting them on a pot placed on the stove to cook them. Just a simple cooking process, like I would imagine it in my mother's kitchen.

After that, Steve gave us a given circumstance. He told us that now, we should imagine that our parents had told us to make dinner, although we didn't really want to, and repeat the miming again. While doing this miming, my movements where a little bit bigger and stronger, as if I was trying to show some anger because of being forced to do something I did not want to do. My facial expression also changed, my eyebrows remained frowned. My movements weren't as careful as precise as in the original miming.

After being done with this miming, Steve gave us another given circumstance: imagine a very close friend had just died and you had to prepare dinner for everybody to came to his funeral. With this given circumstance, it was really difficult to even do anything. I was really slow, my head tilted down, and my whole body felt heavier; my shoulders where lower. I stopped at times, I didn't even really want to continue, I just wanted to lay on the cabinet with my head down. I had no reason to keep on cooking when such a bad thing had happened.

After this one, Steve told us a new given circumstance. Now, we should imagine that we were preparing dinner for somebody we really liked and that was going to come over. For this given circumstance, the rhythm increased a lot. Unlike the last given circumstance, now I felt a lot more eager to prepare dinner. I was also trying to be really careful with whatever I did, I even pretended to call somebody for advice on the cooking. The pattern of my movements because faster, and there was a smile on my face.

Now, Steve gave us a different scenario, we had some papers we wanted to burn. For this scenario, I imagined a several big piles of paper on the floor. I took a bunch of paper and put it on a separate part, took out some gasoline, pour it over the paper, took out a lighter and lit the paper on fire. Then I started taking bunches of paper by chunks and putting them on the fire.

After completing the scene “neutrally,” Steve gave us a given circumstance, that the paper we were burning was a lot of waste paper. My actions didn't change that much for this given circumstance, I just took the paper and put it in the fire, like before. I tried to pick bigger chunks this time though, given that I knew all of this was waste.

The next given circumstance Stave gave us was that the paper we were burning were letters of an ex-partner and we were burning them to forget about that ex-partner. For this given circumstance, I wasn't very sure whether I wanted to burn the paper or not. I tried to pick up a letter and read it, but I couldn't do it because I knew I had to get over this. So I started burning, rather slowly, with a slow rhythm and then, after I had put all the letters in the fire, I sit down just watching at the fire and with one hand on my face, trying to cover my eyes.

The last given circumstance to this scenario was that the paper we were burning were very confidential documents of the FBI or a very cautious organization. In this given circumstance, my rhythm increased a lot. I started looking around because I knew this documents were highly confidential and they couldn't catch me. I had to get this done as soon as possible without anybody I noticing. I sit down, so that nobody else could see me from far away. I tried to make this as fast as possible.

Reflection: I found out that for each given circumstance, my rhythm increased. I think it is true, in real life, that the rhythm at which you do things is different for different situations. And this rhythm can change with a very sudden circumstance like receiving a phone call with bad news or experiencing something unexpected. It can be difficult to imagine a given circumstance if it is too far away from something that could really happen to you. For example, when I was burning the confidential documents, I felt that this was a situation that I could never be in. However, I tried to imagine how this situation would be and I tried to combine different situations I had been in: doing something I did not want other people to take notice of and doing something quickly. I realize it is very important to do a lot of given circumstance exercises because that is what realistic theater is all about, pretending a given circumstance on stage.

Conclusion: I realize it is very important to do a lot of given circumstance exercises because that is what realistic theater is all about, pretending a given circumstance on stage. All of realistic theater is a very TOK-ish topic. Can we really, fully, pretend like if something is happening and do it the same way as if it actually happened? What if, what we are pretending to do, had life-long consequences?

Entering a classroom with a given circumstance

Aim of task: To have a first experience of what Stanislavsky thought a "given circumstance" in class and to be introduced to the topic. To observe how a given circumstance can affect realistic acting.

Description of task: Today, before entering the classroom, our teacher Steve told us to get into a group and told us to "pay attention to whatever we do in the next few minutes." We went into the classroom and Steve asked us a couple of questions and did little games like pretending to be a military general, he also gave us a handout in a few minutes. After that, he shouted "freeze" and he asked us all to leave the classroom.

He told us that now, we would have to repeat everything we did again, since we entered, but we now gave us a "given circumstance": that two of our classmates, Undine and Arshia, had an very intense argument about god yesterday, so intense that they did did not talk to each other anymore. So we had to repeat everything we did before since entering the classroom but pretending like the argument actually happened yesterday. We all came into the classroom but nothing changed really, because Undine and Arshia weren't sitting nearby anyway the first time. The given circumstance was not that relevant when repeating the actions. After a few minutes he told us to stop and go out of the classroom again.

We went out of the classroom and now our teacher gave us a different given circumstance: that our classmate Vincent had released a "silent gas from behind" at some point while we were all inside. We came into the classroom again. Coincidentally I was sitting next to Vincent. I didn't change my actions that much because I am sick and my nose is obstructed, so I cannot really perceive a lot of smell! However, I asked Vincent, "do you feel a bad smell?" after watching everybody around me cover their noses with their hands. After a few minutes our teacher stopped us and brought us out. We realized that actually, those who where farther away from Vincent started covering their nose before those of us who where near Vincent.

Our teacher gave us one last given circumstance. The given circumstance was that, today was Maddie's birthday and Jose, who had a crush on Maddie, had sent an e-mail to the whole class so that we would pretend it was not her birthday, because she was a slut. This given circumstance was the one that changed the action the most. We all came in, and sang Maddie happy birthday. There were groups around the class gossiping about the e-mail and you could clearly see Jose being rather uncomfortable (and some other people were around Jose, kind of reclaiming him why did he do that). After a while Jose passed around a paper that said "Maddie is a slut" which eventually reached Maddie who read it at loud. At this point, Jose stood up and revealed he had a crush on her. It was very funny. The way the "coming into the room" was a little bit similar to the original one only in the start, but in the end, this given circumstance really changed it a lot.

For the second activity, Steve asked for a volunteer. I raised my hand. Steve asked me to give him something valuable, so I gave him my phone and then he asked me to go outside of the classroom. When I came in, Steve told me that he had hid the phone somewhere inside the classroom and that I had to look for it. And started searching around the room and asking my classmates if I could have a clue or if there was any hint I could get to get my phone. Then they started talking about me "looking in the heights" and "projecting my imagination." The words "height" and "projecting" gave me the hint that my phone should be on top of the projector hanging to the ceiling. There it was. Now, Steve gave me the phone and told me to go outside the room for a while. After I was outside the room for a few minutes, Steve called me and told me to come in and be the actor in the play "Alan looks for his phone." When I came in, I tried my best to pretend I was looking for my phone. I could exactly remember the same locations but I tried my best to resemble the order of the locations I had looked through before. However, as I looked for my phone I noticed something.

I was not the only actor in the play "Alan looks for his phone."
This was a problem because, before, I would respond to the laughter and smiles of the audience. I would also respond to whatever comment they made to me. But now, they were all a lot more serious, it did not feel the same. It was like an actor not replying to your lines on stage, the play could not be done without all the actors participating.

Reflection:
A given circumstance on stage is supposed to change our attitude on stage. To really internalize a given circumstance you need to change your whole mental state and imaging all the possibilities that could happen if the given circumstance actually happened.

Conclusion:
When I think of this given circumstance exercise a lot of TOK-ish questions arise to my mind relating to determinism: when we act out what we just did with a different given circumstance, it's like we are creating a separate choice in life. It's something strange; but interesting, I guess.

Skin and Bones

As a part of our second year's Independent Projects, one of our second  years, Bita, wrote a play called "Skin and Bones." This play was rather abstract, with a lot of physical actions. It was about the story of her life. It relied a lot on musical features, there was no vocal dialog between the actors but there was always music in the background. There was also a projector that kind of presented the environment in which the scene was taking place.

This play made me realize how important physical actions are in theater. Just as in Commedia dell'Arte, physical actions on stage communicate a lot to the audience. This was entirely about that, the only communication that happened between the characters was physical. Here are some pictures of the performance:

Stanislavsky's presentations

Influence of Stanislavsky in the United States:

• Stanislavsky developed a method which aimed at accessing "truth and honesty."
• Actor feeling: something Stanislavsky developed to emulate a character.

Stanislavsky influence in the US:

• American theater was never very well accepted over Russian theater
• Method acting emerged in the US through Russian immigrants
• The method used "emotional memory" as the basis of technique
• In method acting, the actor would have to rely on past experiences to recall and reproduce them on stage.
• Lee Strasbourg was very important influencing the United States as he had learned from Stanislavsky.
• Even today, Stanislavsky's method is used by actors in the United States.

Realism and Naturalism, the difference:

• Naturalism is much more reasonable, naturalism will explain the objective reasons by which each of the actors do their actions while realism will try to explain the actions in the play the most literal and "plain" way. Naturalism was influenced by the ideas of darwinism and science.
  

Life of Stanislavski (for presentation)

• He was born as Constantin Sergeyevich Alexeyev, in Moscow, 1863 but later changed his stage name to Stanislavsky from an actor he met during amateur theatricals.
• He had excellent education, including singing and ballet lessons.
• He started performing at 14 at his father's theater.
• By 1888 (25 years old) he directed and acted in performances for “Society of Art and Culture” which he had founded.
• On 1897 Vladmir Nemirovich-Danchenko and Stanislavski established the Moscow Art Theater which intended to protest against artificial theatrical conventions of the time.

• Starting with Alexey Tolstoy's Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich and then with Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, his theater started becoming popular for his realism and naturalism.
• In the next two decades, the theater continued being popular with plays from different genres, including: Maxim Gorky's sociopolitical drama The Lower Depths (1902), Leonid Andreyev's symbolic The Life of Man (1907), Maurice Maeterlinck's enchanting fairy tale The Blue Bird (1908), and Hamlet with settings by Gordon Craig (1911).

• Stanislavsky believed that, through study of the play, analysis of the role, and recall of previous emotions, the actor could arrive at the "inner truth" of a part by actually experiencing the emotions he conveyed to the audience.
• The actor must be able to repeat his previously experienced emotions at every performance.
• Stanislavsky's training aimed at stimulating the artistic intelligence of the actor, developing his inner discipline and controlling external means like voice, diction and physical movement.
• All of the best Russian actors of the 20th century emerged from his training methods.

• He published a book, called “My Life in Art.”
  He conducted several dramas of revolutionary significance.
• The Moscow art Theater was venerated as the fountainhead of “social realism.”
• His last years were concentrated on giving the final touches to his writings and he died on 1938 (75 years old).
  

Attention exercises for Stanislavski - center of attention

Aim of Task:

As we have started to learn a little bit about Stanislavsky and his techniques for actors on stage; today, we did some exercises of attention focus of the actor and the audience. The objective of this exercises is to improve the attention of the actor and observe some things that the actor does while observed by an audience.

Description of Task:

First, we divided the classroom into groups of four. This exercise would be about multitasking. One person would be sitting on a chair while another person would be standing just in front of him, doing several movements, one other person besides the person in the chair, asking him random questions, and one last person on the other side asking him simple calculation questions.

The person seated on the chair had to imitate what the person in front was doing while answering the questions by the two other people. It was a difficult task because none of them took priority over the other two, you had to do your best to answer the questions and mimic the movements at the same time. It is difficult to keep the focus on all three spots at the same time. When it was my turn, I tried to be as calm as possible so that I could answer the questions. I tried to prioritize the movements and leave the answers for after I had synced the movements

After the group exercise, we did something called the "center of attention" with the whole class. Our teacher, Steve, asked one of my classmates, Dorte, to leave the room where all the class was and do not listen to anything that we were going to discuss. Dorte agreed and went away for some minutes. Steve told us that he was going to call Dorte to come in, but he wanted us to stare at Dorte with natural body position when Dorte came in, with unbreakable eye contact. As soon as she came in all of us stared at her and we saw her sit on the chair in front of all of us. We did not say anything, just stare at her the whole time. We could see little, small smiles of nervousness while she was sitting there. Her body position was also defensive, she used her hands to cover her knees and her feet were held back. She also kept on looking around on everyone, as if she was expecting somebody to stand up and attack her and she wanted to be completely aware of when that would happen!

After that, Steve asked Dorte to leave the room again. We discussed all of the things that showed her defensiveness towards the audience and her nervousness with all the group. Steve told us that it is common for the author to feel nervous in front of the audience, and that Stanislavsky thought giving the actor a task on stage would shift the attention of the actor from the audience to the task; reducing how nervous the actor was due to his unawareness of the audience.

Steve called Dorte inside again and asked her if she had any homework to do. Dorte replied negatively. So when Dorte came in, Steve asked her to untie her shoelaces. We were still staring at her, everybody. Dorte still behaved a little bit defensive, she did not want to do what Steve told her to do. It seemed as she wanted to keep some distance from her and everybody else. There were some signs of nervousness, like looking around with her eyes.

Reflection:

It is interesting to see how we handle focus in different things. The multitasking exercise shows three kinds of different mental ability, kinesthetic (copying other people), logical (performing math questions) and verbal ability (answering questions). On stage, an actor has to focus on kinesthetic and verbal abilities separately, and coordinate them together. This can be a very difficult mental task and it is something the actor has to be trained for. Moreover, appart from being aware of the kinesthetic and verbal tasks, the actor deals with the pressure of the audience which might disturb his focus. This is what the second exercise taught us. When we stared at Dorte, with her doing nothing, she had no task to do. Her only focus was the audience and this is why she started to be a little bit defensive towards everybody. However, when she had a task where she had use her kinesthetic mental ability (tying her shoelaces) she had something to focus on apart from the audience which made her reduce her signs of defensiveness towards the audience.

Conclusion:
As an actor, it's important to keep track of where your focus is on-stage. You have to be not influenced by the audience. As we saw on this exercise, as you have a your focus on something that requires a use of your verbal and/or kinesthetic abilities it is easier to shift your focus and forget about the nervousness that being in front of an audience can cause. In a realistic performance you do not have tons of people observing you and, since Stanislavski looks to achieve a realistic performance, he does this exercises so that you can ignore the audience that would not be present in reality.