CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT COURSE
October-November 2010 in collaboration with Shelton Theater School, San Francisco, California
This intensive workshop is proposed for the advanced level acting students and is particularly focused on the concept of understanding the notion of dramatic character and techniques of its representation on stage within the approach proposed by K. Stanislavsky and developed later on by his followers in Russian theater of the 20 - 21st century. In the course of classes students will be introduced to the specifics of understanding the dramatic character from two different sides: from the inside (psychological approach), based on the analysis of factual, historical and individual circumstances extracted from the dramatic text; and from the external form (mask approach), based on the elements of Michael Chekhov’s technique and some oriental theatrical traditions. Upon such introduction the course will immerse its participants in the practical experience of application of the introduced techniques to different aspects of representation of the dramatic character on stage. Literature and materials used in the course:
Michael Chekhov “On the Technique of Acting”, K. Stanislavsky “Actor Prepares”, Literature about “commedia dell’arte” theatrical tradition, Theatrical facial masks.
Hi everybody!
ReplyDeleteI'm receiving messages from some of you with questions and comments regarding our work in the class and issues that we're addressing during the course of Character Development.
I think it might be useful for others to read and - perhaps - respond to these comments and my answers. Therefore we've established this space on our blog, where you could leave your thoughts and ask your questions. I'll try to reply to them here.
Hope you'll support this way of communication and participate in it. Looking forward to read your thoughts here.
oleg
Hi Jenna,
ReplyDeletethank you so much for sharing your thoughts and feelings about the class and - particularly - for referring me to the article about the Indonesian dance. I found it very interesting and very useful in relation to our subject and our approach to the Character. I was more aware of Bali dance, which was so intensively studied and described by Eugenio Barba in his books. The Indonesian tradition seems just a wider ground for it.
I think it would be very appropriate to recommend this article (as well as works of E.Barba) to other students in our class. So i'm copying here your email with the link to the article (hope you have no objection to that):
I have really found this class so inspiring and challenging! Very challenging, and feel very grateful to have been part of it. I'm glad you started a blog, as I just came across a fascinating paper that touches on several relevant subjects, that I'd love to link to for discussion.
There is a dance tradition in Java, that originated with the use of masks, and started as a shamanistic animistic ritual, but evolved into
a form of high Art entertainment for the Royal Court of Java and the type of dance is referred to as "Becoming a Puppet" when translated.
The paper also addresses, some of the things you talked about in regards to art forms with a stylized structure, and typography of
universal characters, but a huge element of improvisation. I also feel it is a good example of what I was alluding to about the roots of
performance being in shamanic and primitive religious practices. I will put a link in the email, but will of course, post all this to
your class room blog. =)
Link to article from The Journal of Religion and Theatre, Vol. 7, No.
1, Fall 2008 “Becoming a Puppet”: Javanese Dance as Spiritual Art
http://www.rtjournal.org/vol_7/no_1/hughesfreeland.html
Hi guys,
ReplyDeleteso for those who was absent at your class on Nov.13, the assignment for the next (the last) session is:
- to continue observing in imagination one of the mechanicals characters that each of you should choose for yourself,
- to clarify for yourself the main structural elements of the 2nd scene (rehearsal in the forest) and the action of your character in it, so that you would be ready to improvise the whole scene with your partners during the class,
- to read and analyze in the proposed way the scene 3 for mechanicals (the performance),
- continue working with masks and with your own shadow as a training in the process of "showing".
Also here is the link to the text by Kleis "Puppet Theater":
http://academic.udayton.edu/bradhume/hst348/Kleist.htm
Thank you very much for your work and participation in our research of the notion of the character on stage. I'm looking forward to our next meeting and hope it will be even more inspiring than the previous ones,
oleg
Hi Oleg,
ReplyDeleteThis is Daryn. I apologize for just now posting the questions I originally asked you; I tried once last week but for some reason it never appeared. Again, I was just wondering about and additional and supplemental reading material you could recommend to fill in any gaps or further explain all that we went over throughout our classes. As I said, I came across Jerzy Grotowski's "Towards a Poor Theater," but I haven't picked it up yet. Is that one I should get, or is there a different Grotowski book that might be more appropriate? Also, I was hoping you could give me the name of the Russian philosopher you mentioned in the final class when we were discussing life and its relationship with the universe and how we are not just part of its creation but actively creating and being recreated.
I can not thank you enough for your class Oleg. It opened doors we didn't even know were there, and even though we only had five weeks to study I know all of us took so much from your class; not only from the information, but from your overall passion for the arts and your approach to life. I wish we had five more weeks, and five more after that. Thank you for your time, your passion, and love. I'm know none of us will forget this experience.
Sincerely,
Daryn
p.s. Are you going to keep this blog for a little while in case we discover any more questions we have?
Thank you very much Daryn,
ReplyDeletefor your so enthusiastic response to our short common work on Character Development. I can also state that i'm very pleased by this workshop, the group of participating students, their activity and interest.
We certainly can continue using this blog for communication on theatrical issues, for exchanging ideas and news.
Yes, the book of Grotowsky that you've found is the most known and perhaps the most important one. There is also a book by Thomas Richards "At Work with Grotowski on Physical Actions", which describes the later period of Grotowsky's development. Both those books i can highly recommend.
The name of philosopher mentioned during our last session is Vladimir Vernadsky, who is one of the most important figures in Russian Cosmism. His most known work is "The Biosphere". Again, my attention to him is not due to any direct theatrical ideas in his works but because i admire his vision of life and the complexity and connectivity of all life processes.
Getting back to the character development subject i can suggest to read the play by Luigi Pirandello "Six Characters In Search Of The Author", which takes the issues of theatre characters and elevates them to the level of existential metaphor.
And of course anything you can find about the Commedia dell'Arte, its techniques and specifics will give you a lot of ideas about the approach to the character on stage.
I hope that sometime we’ll be able to come together and collaborate on other theatrical issues in another workshop or artistic project. Meanwhile I’m wishing you a lot of success and discoveries in your search for theatre and I’m looking forward to hear from you from time to time.
oleg