Photos from '100 years!'

Rehearsal process/Evaluation of 100 Years!

Straight after Common Ground's first week of productions finished, we got stuck in rehearsals for our whole strand piece for physical theatre, which was to be called '100 years'.

It was difficult because a lot of time had lapsed between our physical theatre pieces, duets and solos, and trying to work all of our devising into one piece. We had been busy rehearsing for Common Ground, and then we had the shows, so it felt like we'd forgotten everything we'd done, but with lots of hard work, and focus we set to putting the piece together.

We included pieces from each class, Tim's, Jack and Simon's. Simon's group was the women in war, and the position they held, and we included their waltzing sequence, and reading the letters aloud. Jacks group consisted of the soldiers, so from their pieces we included men at war, three duets, and their lives after the war. And our group were the couples, wives and husbands during the war.

I think because the performance felt so unprepared and rushed because of how soon after Common Ground it was, we all thought it wouldn't go very well, but interestingly enough, I found myself really immersed and engaged during our first performance, and also very emotional as I reflected on the First World War, and the last 100 years.

I found all of it very beautiful to watch, even though I'd seen it a lot of times, and this proved what a great piece it was. After so many rehearsals, still, on the last performance of this piece, I found myself totally gripped by what was happening on stage. During the women waltzing, and them reading the letters, it made me think about how lucky we are, and how difficult it must have been for them.

I think the music really helped our performance feel alive. Below are some of the pieces we had playing in our piece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li2z1jlOYHk

That is Sigur Ros' 'Saeglopur' which played during a section where Tim's group were on the floor, and we had to explore the space, and one another's bodies, which included rolling over one another, and 'losing' our partners, and having to reconnect and find our husband/wife. This bit felt quite strange rehearsing at first, if a little weird and embarrassing but the rest of our peers told us it visually looked beautiful, so with confidence and focus, we made sure we took it seriously and I think it was a really successful part of our overall piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGD6I8usrT4
Above is the link to a song also included in our piece called 'Recurring' by Bonobo. This is actually one of my favourite songs, and I was thrilled Tim chose to use it in our piece. It started to play after the recording of 'What war means to me' and it began our duets on stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOSuObRNBUA

This also played in our piece. Kasabians 'Club Foot' was when we were doing our duets, after Bonobo 'Recurring' played, and the men soldiers from Jack's group came in and started doing their soldier duets, on the chairs, and we had to back away, scared.

 

Watching the performance on that platform was interesting because we could see everything, almost like we were exposed to it, forced to see what was happening.

 

I feel like our physical piece of '100 Years' went so well, and I'm thoroughly proud of everyone in our strand; it was sad because it's the last time we were ever performing together as a strand, and that meant a lot to us. I believe we set out what we achieved to, which was to make the audience reflect on the upcoming centenary, and the 100 years that have passed since those brave soldiers, and families went through such a traumatic time, and it gave us time to reflect on how much has changed since then.

Evaluation of our Duet

I was generally pleased with Ember and I' s performance, although it didn't go as well as I'd hoped. We had rehearsed really hard, and I feel like it could have gone better.

I was immersed into it from the start, and put my full effort and energy into it, and I was pleased with how the bits I contributed went. I felt disappointed with people laughing, during Embers 'gun section' when he was rolling on the floor, as I was sat with my back to him, writing a letter. It was frustrating because it wasn't taken seriously, for whatever reason, but I did feel like towards the end it improved, and was very emotional. During the section where 'Damien Rice, Delicate' played, I found myself getting very emotional, and thinking about all the research we'd done, and how a wife would feel if her husband was at war, and not knowing where he was or what he was doing, and the fear and anxiety she must have felt. I found myself imagining this, and how I would have felt, and how difficult it must have been.

One part of the piece I was particularly nervous about was when I was standing on a chair, and had to jump into Embers arm, and we did a lift, and I was thoroughly pleased with how that went, because there's always the fear of falling, and the piece losing the seriousness it deserves.

Overall I was happy with the performance, and the effort and hard work we had put into it, and the rehearsal process, but in the future I think I'd do a solo, because then I'd only have to rely on myself, and I feel like I should have had the confidence and belief in myself to be able to do that.

Songs included in the Duet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVM-tFAdADg

Above is the link to one of the songs playing at the beginning of our duet, it's by John McCormack, and it's called 'It's a long way to Tipperary'. This is perhaps one of the most famous World War 1 songs, and easily recognisable, even in modern day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6RnirpFaZk

This is another song we found called 'Oh it's a lovely war' by Courtland and Jeffries. This is also another very cheery happy song, and we plan to have this playing whilst I fix Embers suit, and make him look presentable as he is about to sign up for war, and at the time it was something that was very exciting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnL3NfhOsBM

This is a modern song, called 'Delicate' by Damien Rice, one of my all time favourite songs. It's a very beautiful song, and we plan to have this playing when we're back to back of one another, as I am writing him a letter, and doing mundane every day activities at home, for example, sewing or making dinner, and he is in the trenches, smoking, or playing cards with his friends.

Ideas for our duet!

Ember and I looked at lots of different poems, pictures and books to inspire us for our duet.

We decided we wanted to start our duet, with us eating dinner and having a 'normal' evening at home, to represent what life was like before Ember, (my husband) left for war.

We looked at lots of poems, including one of my favourites, Wilfred Owens 'Dulce Et Decorum Est' which is beautifully written, but ends with the lines 'Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori' which is Latin for 'It is sweet and right to die for your country'.
I love this poem, because it depicts the harrowing events and the harsh reality of how ugly and wrong war is, yet it ironically ends with the Latin, and leaves you thinking about how bitter that seems. It seems like the message in the poem is saying, although people lose limbs, children lose fathers, mothers lose sons, wives lose husbands, people are killed, it's fine because it's the noble, and right thing to do. I'm a pacifist, and I personally hate any form of violence, and don't think it has ever solved anything, and don't think it ever will, so I like the irony and bitterness in this poem.

We also read lots of love letters between wives and husbands during the War, which proved very interesting. This helped stimulate us and our ideas for our duet. We researched how long the letters would take to reach one another, and how a lot of the letters were 'censored' by officials, because the soldiers were writing what the war was truly like, and a lot of the propaganda back home was suggesting that war wouldn't be bad, not at all like the harsh reality of it. Letters were rifled through, and scanned for any obscenities, and most letters were censored.

Paper Exercise

We did an exercise where we had to get in to partners, and label ourselves A & B.
Tim put on some atmospheric music and we began.

In class, we spoke about how every individual leads their body in their own way and this will come from a different part of their body. For example, some people walk with their heads leading, and slightly forward, some people with their hips etc.
In physical theatre this can be even more important to look at, as things are enhanced to make everything more physical and less naturalistic. In partners A and B one partners would manipulate the others movement through a simple touch. Such as partner A taking the role of the leader and pushing gently B's left shoulder, this would create a fluid movement from partner B, allowing the push to move them into a different position without stopping. 

We then developed this exercise with the assistant of an object - paper. While all partner A's explored the space, partner B's would remain around the edge watching. B's were then given paper, which we were to tear up and place on certain parts of our partners, who were still walking around. We wanted the paper to balance, so I could bend a piece of paper without folding it and place in between my partners thumb and index finger, this should stay there without them adjusting.

 

I found that when I was walking around the middle, I had to fight against stopping at adjusting myself to assist them. For example, if my partner placed the paper in between my hand, my natural instinct was to grip hold of the paper but we had to let it naturally balance and not be focusing on the paper. We were told we had to almost be totally unaware of the paper, and our partner.  As partner B it was a good way to look at people's body language and their natural movement. You have to really assess how they move and what parts remain still enough for paper to balance. 

Exercises in the space

Another exercise we had to do involved being put in pairs, and we were told not to break eye contact as we walked towards each other in the space.

I was with Jonah and we begun by just walking around the room, which was very difficult, as you must trust your partner to not lead you into an obstacle around you. Also, it was difficult because with everyone unfocused at the beginning it was difficult to concentrate. Tim put on some music, which set the atmosphere and energy within the space, which kept everyone more engaged and focused on the exercise.

Within our partners we had to explore the entire space and our relationship with each other. This meant experimenting with levels and spacial awareness. Someone was always leading the other and sometimes we could be in physical contact, keeping our eye contact. It taught me how important your connection is with whoever you are performing with, whether that be another individual, several or even an object. It's important to know where they are in relation to you and how what they're doing affects you and visa versa.