Notes from an IB ISTA Drama Workshop

Day 1

Upon arrival at The International School of Bangalore (TISB), we were welcomed and divided into four ensembles to spend the rest of the workshop with.

My group is headed by a woman called Jillian, and our the day began with generally getting to know each other, learning people’s names and being informed of upcoming events. We began with laying down on the ground and several breathing/ physical exercises, and then passed around various (imaginary) balls of different shapes and sizes, all in the goal of getting comfortable as a group and becoming familiar with one another.

After a short break, we began the real work. This morning it involved studying and familiarizing ourselves with Rudolf Laban’s movement analysis:

SPACE	TIME	WEIGHT	EFFORT ACTIONS
Direct	Urgent	Strong	Punch
Direct	Urgent	Light	Dab
Direct	Sustained	Strong	Press
Direct	Sustained	Light	Glide
Indirect	Urgent	Strong	Slash
Indirect	Urgent	Light	Flick
Indirect	Sustained	Strong	Wring
Indirect	Sustained	Light	Float

We first explored both forms of spatial movement (direct/ indirect – they’re pretty self-explanatory), we focused on discovering the difference between sustained and urgent movement, and realizing the that ‘slow motion’ is only effective if it’s a sustained movement throughout your entire being – a single limb or action out of tempo with the rest can ruin the effect. We then played with the difference in our actions depending on if they’re ‘strong’ or ‘light’, before we put them together in different combinations, thus discovering Laban’s eight analyzed effort actions.

Punch, Dab, Press, Glide, Slash, Flick, Wring, and Float.

These are the eight basic building blocks of all movement (on stage or off stage), and can be combined and twisted; but in a way make up the equivalent of the alphabet of movement. They make an excellent guide, especially when working on developing a character’s particular movement.

We explored these basic blocks of emotion further through small, improvised skits, developing a feel of what effort actions make the most interesting, and least productive, combinations.

Very interesting.

After lunch, we had our fist master class. It focused on simple (low budget) technical effects and lighting, with a bit about the stage, and was simply fascinating.

·      Box – short hand for the ‘light box’

·      Light control panel known as the ‘jester’

·      Lights are divided into ‘subs’ and ‘vadars’

·      Sounds control panel and amps are also in the box

·      Both the jester and the sound control panel can be programmed to perform a specific sequence, so all there is that’s needed to do during a specific performance is to push the ‘next’ button according to the scene

·      Arkaos – a fantastic, yet simple, equivalent to Photoshop program for videos, instead of photos (layers, effects, speed, etc.…) – doesn’t export easily though

“Chopping and cycling the video in many different ways.”

“Can start to make a mask out of the characters.”
- (Edge detection filter)

“… often try to produce film quality footage on stage; but you can’t, you just can’t do it.”
“Go for something more expressionist, something more vague – then you can start to do something really cool.”

·      You need:

-       Laptop

-       Projector(s)

-       Webcam

-       Cam coders

-       USB video capture card

-       Old phones (androids)

-       X-MINIS speakers: portable, cheep, long batteries, connectable, good sound, resonance

-       Flashlights (LED): focus ones, laser pointers, with color filters

·      Remember: projecting onto different surfaces produces different effects

A few tricks of the trade:

·      Gauze trick:   
            - first used in the Victorian era
            - low tech
            - useful for Haunted appearances
            - Disappearing/ reappearing
            - “the dust sheet” – piece of gauze, bed sheet, film put in front of a car            window, etc.… (Just has to be kind of see-through)
            - light from the front: can’t see past it (bounces the light back towards the     audience
            - light from the back: can see what’s behind (reverse effect)
* plays with layers, light and colors

·      How to make a human face more like a ghost:
            - Arkaos
            - Camera
            - “Mesh mode” effect           
            - Projector
            - Keep most of the screen black
            - Avoid square shapes!
            - Avoid crisp, white edges – avoid PP shape at all costs!
            - Be creative with what you project onto
* yellow cable is for video

·      Projecting onto a person:
            - Have the image follow them around by using (hacking) and Xbox     connecter
 * “impressionistic”
 * “loose”

·      Projecting onto:
            - bubble-wrap
            - people
            - sheets
            - (screens)
            - walls
            - floors
            - mist
            - smoke
            - etc.

·      Arkaos:
            - You can use pre-recorded footage to do pretty much anything you would    do with live footage
            - In footage looping – use patterns that can repeat
            - you can layer images
            - bottom layer / top layer = ghost video clips
            - COPY mode effect
* whatever you can do with video you can do with sound

·      Phone trick:
            - record sounds on old android phones
            - save and set as default ringtone
            - attach to speakers and hide under seats
            - call/ text the phones! (Start a group Skype call without picking up/ send group text/ etc.)

·      Pepper’s Ghost:
            - really old trick
            - Piece of glass, black box around the actor in the wings, reflection off the invisible glass makes their shape appear, and disappear as they step forward out of the necessary angle (seems like they disappeared into thin air)

Old vs. New:

·      “use both”

·      “I like blending”

·      “I like it best when people mix paper with the new technology available”

We had a short break after the master class, and then worked on different styles of theater and broke in to groups to create a small skit based on the love triangle represented in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The group I’m in is focusing on Comédia del’Arte. We’ll present them tomorrow (about three minutes long).

After dinner we had the privilege of watching an Indian interpretation (unfortunately in Hindi) of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Like we had done in the Tempest, the most important keywords were in English, but the majority of the play was in Hindi. I still understood what was going on, and by the end of the play even could interpret the majority of the jokes. I do regret not being able to fully comprehend the dialect as it was obviously very well written, but the actors were fantastic.

Day 2

This morning we worked on our skits (ours using Comédia del’Arte), which represented the love triangle that we see in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, before presenting them to the class. One of the most interesting styles chosen was Playback Theater. We then discussed the representation of Twelfth Night we’d been privileged to see last night. One of the girls who spoke Hindi explained to me that the interpretation was really done as a traditional Indian folk tale would be represented in a rural northern village, and each of the characters represented a specific state in the country.

Fascinating. It just proves that you really can perform Shakespeare using almost any style.

After briefly touching on the RIs and a short break, we focused on directing a project from a stimulus (very much like a practice PPP). Jillian had elected a piece of music that had been one of the stimuli offered to the IB students three or four years ago, and we began with listening. Then each time, she’d ask us to write down what it made us think of, sometimes focusing on one aspect or the other.

It’s simplest here simply to put down my thought process. Each bullet point is after listening once to the music:

·      It made me sad, in a lonely kind of way – made me think of my fears of going off to College and feeling so alone, so far from anyone who loves or cares for me. Yet it also gave me hope – an image of me snuggled in a warm blanket by the fire, reading on my IPad with a mug of hot cocoa; feeling glad that I’ll always have someone through the stories. Though it may only be through words, and I’ll never see a face.
A search for love that never seems to have worked out.

·      Nostalgia
Female
A warm chair by the fire, a book & a mug of hot cocoa
Walking alone down a crisp winter street
Memories of friends and family – group hugs
Pain/ loss, yet an with an odd combination of peace and contentment
A search for love
Friendship
Color – moving on
Tears – smiles
Hugs – friends

·      1) Go to college
2) Feel lonely and miss family/ trouble opening up to people
3) Alone
4) Finds comfort in books, contentment
5) Time – makes closer friends
6) Falls in Love
7) Opens up, blooms. Happy.
8) Feels loved and wanted, is no longer alone
9) Smiles. Hugs – confidence and stability
10) Loss. Lonely. Pain.

·      Themes:
            - Nostalgia
            - Loneliness
            - Love
            - Separation
            - Fear
            - Growing up
            - Time
            - Shyness
            - Friendship
            - Family
It’s those simple moments to cherish; holding hands or throwing snow, a stolen kiss under the mistletoe, snuggled together on a couch, mutual support, love and care

We then got into groups and shared what we’d gotten from the music, and we chose one about a ghost forced to watch their past unfold, seeing and regretting their mistakes yet hopelessly helpless to intervene. Depressing really.

This is basically the story outline we came up with:

She saw them all

Yet could not reach them

That invisible veil

Stood in between them

She struggled and thrashed

Yet the bonds stayed attached

Her increasing pain

With every mistake she made

Her heart broke down

Tore into pieces

She screamed aloud

Yet made not a sound

Pain shines bright

As her inability to alter life

Forced to watch it unfold

Her friends of gold

So kind and caring

While her so blinded

By jealousy and greed

Her thoughts foolish of a child

In the end turned mild

She’d ended up caring

Yet never daring

She lost it all

Took the fall

Everything imperfect

Before shunned and hidden

Her life now over ridden

Her heart torn apart

Time is unalterable

She couldn’t escape

It was far too late.

Anyways, after lunch we had our second master class, this time about the Arshingingor Project. It was all about a mix of movement and spiritual singing. We worked on listening and learned one high kick, as well as different positions verging on the martial arts and how to stand in the most painful way possible. Apparently, locking your knees is very bad for you. An actor must be in good physical condition, as they use their entire body to portray their emotions and character, as well as their voice.

It was a curious course.

After a short break, we continued working on the stories we’d drawn from the stimulus music, and finished making a Pitch to act out to the class. That was interesting, and rather fun to do, though writing the real 250 word pitch is going to be difficult and unfortunately not much fun.

Jillian gave us a basic outline to follow for “how to approach working with a stimulus”:

·      First impressions

·      Who (characters)

·      Story
- Introduction
- Inciting Incident (Conflict)
- Builds
- Climax
- Falls
- Dénouement

·      Theme/ Message/ Big Ideas (what do you want to share with the audience?)

·      Ground Plan
- Proscenium
- Thrust
- Arena
- Traverse
- Found

·      Design
- Scenic (Place, era)
- Costumes (Colors, shapes)
- Properties
- Sound
- Lights

·      Cast the show

Also, for the PPP we basically ought to keep/ make a Director’s notebook (with all of the above), as well as a rehearsal schedule and a 250 (exactly) Pitch. – The PPP is an IA.

Concerning the Pitch:

·      Basically the commercial marketing/ advertising aspect

·      Include story (no more than 3 lines)

·      Shows the product

·      Audience reaction

·      Highlights of design (show highlights)

·      Not a movie trailer

·      You’re selling your show (trying to convince a theater to put it on/ an audience to go and see it)

·      3 main words to describe it

We also then discussed a bit about relationships between grandparents and grandchildren in preparation for this evening’s performance.

After dinner we drove to a nearby theater to attend the opening night of Valley Song, by Athol Fugard. It was a two-man show (one woman, and one elder man). The story itself was very moving, and although I was so exhausted it was at times difficult to stay awake, it was not boring at all. The songs the granddaughter sang could have been better, but she had a nice voice and they were in no means painful – just childish. Then again, perhaps that was the objective. At any rate, the ending made me almost cry, and the issues addressed were very pertinent. I’m glad to have attended the performance.

Day 3

Today was the last day. We ran through a slightly different program and had no master classes. The morning began with some work on Image Theater. We were introduced to the concept of the Rainbow of Desires – basically the rainbow/ variety of emotions that can be portrayed; the different façades of a human being, if you will. This technique is extremely useful and pertinent particularly when observing and learning about your character – it’s allows you to play them better as no character/ person is merely flat, and has only a single façade, opinion, nor view on life.

We touched on some of the other types of theater under the umbrella of Theater of the Oppressed, such as Invisible Theater (performed in public spaces and if done correctly, the audience never knew they were watching a play) that I find absolutely fascinating, and very intelligent.

When the man went to France, and found a freedom of speech and actions that didn’t exist in either Argentina or Brazil (both were under dictatorships at the time), he found that his previous methods of portraying his plays were rather pointless. However, he soon realized that people weren’t necessarily happy, and were being oppressed by things inside their heads. The suicide rate was higher than in either Argentina or Brazil.

Therefore he developed the technique known as Image theater, which uses a rainbow of emotions to analyze and get the multi-facetted view on a situation that can help clear up many previously held doubts.

We spent some time looking at grandfather/ granddaughter relationship portrayed in Valley Song, and analyzing the different sides of each of the characters. We then looked at how each aspect of either character would respond to each aspect of the other. It was fascinating.

After a short break and a large ISTA group picture, we divided into two groups and put together a short Rainbow presentation on a relationship that one of us experienced. We used my relationship with my siblings, so I got to watch.

To be honest, it as really something rather strange to see. Everyone’s personal interpretations of a character/ personality/ situation are different – but to see others interpret different façades of yourself and people you love is… strange. All of the people in our group (minus one) had siblings; so if they had younger siblings they played a part of me/ older sibling – and if they had older siblings they played a part of my young siblings/ younger sibling. This way they drew from their personal experiences as well as from what I’d told them.

It was strange, but interesting to see.

An actor is an “Athlete of emotions”

We next focused of the eight main Indian emotions categorized:

·      Sringara (love, lust, beauty)

·      Raudra (anger, rage)

·      Karuna (sadness, compassion)

·      Bhayanaka (fear)

·      Bibhasta (disgust)

·      Vira (valor, bravery, heroic)

·      Hasya (laughter, ridicule)

·      Adbhuta (wonder)

* 9^th (middle square) peace, bliss

We played with and explored these emotions for a while. Each one has a specific facial expression assigned, which we were shown and then told to forget, to embody each emotion as personally as possible. To make yourself, through both your thoughts and physical position, take on and feel that emotion.

A large square, divided into nine smaller squares, was etched onto the floor in black tape. Each square outer square represented one of the eight listed above, while the 9^th middle square was peace/ bliss, and left unmarked.

We then jumped into each square and assumed a pose that to us expressed that particular emotion.

After exploring each square, we went one by one through all nine in front of the others, spending at least fifteen seconds in each square in order to really embody and take on the emotion. Jillian called out the emotion, and we hopped to the square. It was surprisingly emotionally taxing experience.

After lunch, everyone finished having a go individually through squares, and then we moved on to exploring it in pairs. Reacting to each other, and stating, “I am (name)” / “and you are?” was fun, and slightly less exhausting than doing it alone. However, it’s much more embarrassing as you’re really having a highly emotional, three-word conversation with someone.

Surprisingly, love was one of the most difficult emotions for me to incarnate. I thought about it for a while since it caught me completely off guard – after all, love is probably, out of all the emotions listed, the one that is most deeply rooted within me. The one that I am fortunate to experience daily, on multiple levels and pertaining to multiple people – I have a large family that I love, and many friends and different people that I love in different ways. I have never been wanting for love – so why is it so difficult for me to portray?

And then I realized, that perhaps that’s the heart of the problem. It’s something so deeply rooted, and so personal, and varies so much depending on the person it’s connected to that I find it extremely difficult to portray. It’s so private and complex I’m not inclined/ have difficulty sharing it.

We then discussed what to do as our final ensemble presentation. Settling on a mixture of Playback Theater and Image Theater, we decided to ask the audience for a volunteer to share an inner conflict and then we’d present the different façades of the people involved (using the Rainbow principle), and each part of the Rainbow would be linked to one of the box emotions. I suppose we also mixed in Improvisational Theater to that pot.

We practiced a couple times with stories shared from our group, and the presentation to the other ensemble went well, and they seemed to enjoy it. Our biggest fear had been that no one would step forward to share a story, but it soon became clear that our fears were unfounded. We acted out two very different tales, and enjoyed doing it.

Saying goodbye wasn’t easy after dinner, but we were all so tired we slipped out before the evening performance.

Conclusion

Waking everyday before 6 am and not returning home until past 10 was exhausting, to say the least. However, I am glad that I chose to participate in the ISTA workshop, for several reasons.

For one thing, I learned an incredible amount during these past few days. Rudolf Laban’s movement analysis, the box emotions, the principle of a rainbow of emotions, and the concepts of Playback, Invisible, Image, and Comédia Theater could prove to be an invaluable help in completing the IB and all the theater IAs. There are also all the technical illusions and information about lighting that was shared which will be a real asset. But first and foremost, I learned a lot about subjects which I find absolutely fascinating, and thrilling to explore and play with.

I met some incredibly interesting people from Mumbai, Thailand, China and around India – and made some valuable friends I’ll hopefully keep in contact with. One thing everyone at the ISTA workshop shared was a passion for theater – I’m curious to see what path life takes for each of us. Their different views and methods brought diversity and enriched the experience for us all as we shared and exchanged ideas.

Working with Jillian was incredible. She’s a fascinating woman, and the time with her was very enriching and fun. Her views and comments were pertinent, and she shared her email at the end – another interesting contact I hope to keep.

The performances we were privileged to watch were done in very different styles and are nothing like any of the plays I had seen to date, so they expanded my horizons and imagination.

Altogether, I thoroughly enjoyed and profited from my time at the ISTA workshop, and it has left me thoroughly drained of energy but filled with knowledge that will prove invaluable in completing IB Theater.

An experience I won’t forget!