Expression Lab: Weekend Workshop: Course Details
07-03-2009
(Evening 6 to 7 pm Mandar Kulkarni)
Exercises:
Everyone in the group suggests an exercise and the group does it.
Surya Namaskaar 3 times
Recital of Om three times.
(Pradeep Vaiddya: 7 to 11 pm)
Games and Acting Class:
1) Mock Introduction Game: Everyone introduces himself or herself. They use their original name for this introduction but the information they reveal while they talk about themselves is all untrue. One has to try to do this ‘mock-introduction’ of self very convincingly. Nobody from the audience knows that what he or she is telling is ‘not true’. We discuss if anyone at any point of time found the information being given to be false or untrue? We further discuss why someone ‘felt’ a mischief at that ‘some point’. What prompted them? Finally we find out that we introduced a ‘not me’ and in theatre while playing a role what we do is something like this game. We introduce or later portray a ‘not me’ convincingly by using the body and mind of ME!
2) Borrowed Experience: Partners shared their TRUE experiences. Now A comes ahead and tells the experience of B (that B has shared with A) as if that particular event occurred in A’s life itself. Later we closely look at the differences of ‘story telling patterns’ of both A and B for both their stories. The narrative, the difference in the ‘feeling’ or ‘perception’ of ‘the dramatic point’ in the story when the ‘teller’ differs. We come to the discussion about the ‘story telling’ involved in Drama or Plays. The character, characters’ perspectives of the same story and the clash between the Actor and Character’s value judgments.
08-03-2009
(Evening Session: 6 to 11pm Pradeep Vaiddya)
Exercises:
1) Different Types of Walks. Walking with a purpose. A definite purpose as per the instructions by the facilitator.
2) Pushing a Stone: There is this imaginary stone in front of each candidate. They have to push their stones with hands, feet or as applied. The stone weighs 5 Kg first. Later it grows in size as per instructions. Finally it grows so big (6ft x 6ft x 6ft) that the entire class has to push it out of the classroom.
3) Focus Exercise: Each candidate fixes a point on a wall and one exactly opposite it on the opposite wall. Instructor counts from 1 to 9. With each count the candidates advance in a particular direction with their focus on that imaginary point. When a number is repeated the candidates turn at 180 degrees and focus on the opposite point continue walking one step per count and so on. The objective is to gain quickly and maintain the focus.
Discussion on internal and external focus while performing the above actions. Outer and inner focus and their necessity while acting.
Improvisations:
1) Sitting in a chair – Trying to ‘live’ only that moment, not the entire episode. Doing this again to find the exact feeling of sitting ‘as somebody’ or ‘for something’.
2) Two strangers meet somewhere and introduce each other - tell names and 3-4 sentences. The candidates do not know about each other when they begin. They fall in a situation prompted by the arrangement of chairs and the way they are asked to sit on them. The impro stops when they have introduced them by their names or purpose.
14-03-2009
Evening Session (Pradeep Vaiddya: 6 to 11pm)
Exercises:
1) Walking, Running, sprinting all over the hall avoiding collisions.
2) Balance game: Leaning forward, backward, sideways just up to the point you lose balance completely. Discussion on Dynamic Equilibrium and about function of losing and gaining balance that is movement.
Game:
1) Trust game: forming a small circle, having one fellow stand in it, and fall off in any direction. The others help him to stand erect; again he lets himself fall off. Discussion on Jumping off the cliff, and allowing letting go. Trust overall.. about our group, about our life.
2) Bears and Villagers: One candidate is a bear and the bear attacks a village where we have all other candidates working as villagers. When the bear attacks each one has to fall down as if dead. The bear will try to get his prey by watching carefully for movement. He will take the person showing any signs of life to his territory. Once having crossed the border that prey, too, becomes a bear. The game continues till everyone becomes bear or one person resists becoming a bear for consecutive three rounds when all others have become bears.
First, I allowed all the candidates play this game in a routine manner. Then I asked them about their belief. What will happen if you start believing that you really are going to turn into a bear after crossing that line and what certainly would be something horrible .. and no one would really want this to happen to oneself.
When the class is induced into a game play with a certain kind of belief and the task of remaining a human being as far as possible .. or when the play is connected to beliefs related to survival .. the nature of the game changes drastically. The game turns into a real like struggle of people and animals fighting for survival.
This game took us to the discussions about ‘belief’, the importance of belief in theatre. Then we also talked about ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ by the audience and hence the theatre being a ‘medium of absence’.
Acting Exercises:
Introduction to a character:
Everyone came up with some character i.e. enacting a character who introduces himself - his name, his job/work and why is he there in that situation.
Discussion about the words Actor, Character and Role. Discussions about information and introduction or converting information into pieces of knowledge about a person or a character.
15-03-2009
Morning Session (10 to 11 am Mandar Kulkarni)
Exercises:
1) Jogging, Running, sprinting.
2) Jumping over increasing heights: Over someone’s one leg, both legs, hands, back etc.
3) Frog Leaps
4) Recital of "Om" and ‘Aaa’ lying on the ground
(11am to 2.30pm) and Evening Session 5 to 10 pm)
(Pradeep Vaiddya)
A passage was given to each candidate to learn it by heart. After primary learning of this passage:
Games and Exercises:
Playing with an imaginary jumping ball while reciting the passage aloud in an imaginary cubicle separating each candidate from all others.
Dubeyji’s Exercises: The candidates were given a passage each to by heart it. Voice Modulations and search for the range of one’s own voice.
They walked and talked in various speeds and voice levels. Loud, Louder, Loudest – Normal – Soft, Softer, Softest. Repeatation.
They quarrelled and threw stones at each other while using the passage lines for ‘abusing’ each other.
Kabaddi. In place of saying kabaddi they say the lines of their respective passages.
Imagining a face to tell each line of the passage and exercise ‘look-breathe-speak-look’ principle (by Pt Satyadev Dubey)
Understood? Don’t Understand? Why Are you not understanding? Exercise in Simple format
Acting Exercise:
Performing simple day-to-day actions: thinking about something that is before and after that particular action. Discussion about immediate past and future of every theatrical action.
Each candidate first understands the definite purpose given by the instructor and then says aloud the passage to an imaginary audience. The change of purpose induces changes in the passage recital. Discussion on the changes that occurred in everybody’s speech patterns.
21-03-2009
(Evening Session: Mandar Kulkarni: 6 to 9)
Exercises:
Surya namaskar – 5
Making sounds from mouth/ vocal apparatus
Making sounds from the body parts
Creating a rhythm using the above two
Games:
The basis of all art - the history of art, Classical audience and masses - origination of Folk forms and Classical forms of art .. Becoming Tribals and exercise primal art forms. Becoming ‘Adiwasi’ (tribals). Looking at art as a form of primal expression.
(Pradeep Vaiddya: 9 to 11 pm)
Acting Exercise:
Imagining that the piece of paper is something more than just a piece of paper but still something made of paper itself, depending on how you receive it from the instructor once you are on stage.
Discussion about the characteristics of acting and performing. Intellectualising while improvising.
22.03.2009
Morning Session (10 to 2.30pm: Pradeep Vaiddya)
Exercises:
Running and Suddenly stopping.
Dubeyji’s Exrecises : Kalal, Nahi kalala, ka kalat nahi .. Passage recital with a child and later with a police officer that is about to arrest you wrongly taking you as a terrorist.
Washing car and playing badminton while reciting the passage.
Acting Exercises:
Doing Simple actions: Drinking water, having tea. Using your imagination. The term ‘if magic’. Performing with a belief. If this glass contains water… if this glass contains milk. And so on. Belief, Purpose and Doing Some action while being a character. Addition of imagination. Imagining simple things to support belief. Supporting the belief and supporting the character building through imagination.
Acting and Reacting. Action reactions between two persons. Two characters. And Improvisations involving two persons.
22.03.2009
(Evening Session : Rupali Bhave : 5 to 10 pm)
Exercises:
Words, Letters voice modulation: Primary Exercises.
Saying them in particular fashion attaches emotion to them.
Creating a pattern, rhythm with the sounds.
Individual guidance on each participant's volume and clarity of speech.
Games:
Chain Game: Creating a mess with a human chain and solving that mess (guntaa) in time.
Acting Exercise:
Improvisations of Three persons:
Two persons are discussing something, a third person comes there which disturbs both of them. They either succeed or fail in sending that person away.
28th March 2008
Evening Session
5 to 6 PM Mandar Kulkarni
Exercises and Warm Ups.
Games
6 to 7 PM
Pradeep Vaiddya
Discussions about the workshop proceedings and individual problems if any.
7 to 10 PM Aanand Chabukswar
Aanand's session included comprehensive work beginning with warm up session, voice warm up and thereafter, he started his work on 'understanding me' and 'creativity within'. The overall coverage was for two sessions. He conducted the first session today.
29th March 2009
Mrning Session
10 to 11 AM Mandar Kulkarni
Warm up Exercises and Rigorous Games
11 AM to 2.30 PM Pradeep Vaiddya
Building a scene by studying a character. A lab experiment.
We had a few scenes which had lines that can be spoken in almost any situation. Candidates were divided in pairs and given those scenes for study.
Now each scene was to be presented by six-seven pairs in different flavors as per their work. We witnessed six-seven different versions. Then we worked on several possibilities around the presented scenes and tried to improve them
Evening Session
5 PM to 6 PM
Pradeep Vaiddya
Continued the former exercise.
6 PM to 9.30PM
Aanand Chabukswar
Continued his second session.
9.30 to 10 PM
Pradeep Vaiddya
Summing up.
04 April 2009
Evening Session: 5 to 11 PM
Pradeep Vaiddya
Warm Ups With a Rope:
The entire group holds a rope tight so as to hold it straight and move in all directions keeping it straight like a stick.
Keeping it straight they would catch a person running anywhere in the hall. Once the rope touches the person, the group has to wind the rope around him/her.
Walking on a very tight rope that is actually held on the ground itself, imagining that it is hanging at a height of 30 feet from the ground. Balancing act.
Game: Hiding your team member.
Batch is divided in two groups. One group now hides or covers one of their team members in such a way that the other group should be disabled to touch that person. The other group searches and fights for such an access and their target is to touch the person being hidden. Increasing difficulty levels make the game more and more interesting.
Acting Exercise:
Participants were re-organised in pairs. Each pair was given few scenes. All these scenes were such that the lines spoken in them were free from gender bias or a particular expression. The pairs had to create a context to the scene given to them and perform it. All pairs performed the same scene one after other. We studied the change in the expression of the same lines due to changed context and due to different where the context occurred to be similar or same.
Emotion Memory Exercise:
Guilt-Buster Circle:
Every one was allowed to clear the backlog of confessions. Other actors sat in a circle around the person confessing. They wore neutral masks. The person confessing was supposedly sitting in a glass chamber. The thick walled glass would allow outsiders to see but not hear anything. The confessions would be true, spoken but the voice would not come out. They would be like a silent movie. Just lips and mouth movements may be seen. The entire hall was lit very dimly and everyone confessed. The facilitator looked upon an emotional outburst of a few candidates while someone else began to confess.
Thanks Circle:
After everyone calmed down. We arranged ourselves in circle and imagined the faces or features of persons, beings from whom we have received something that we can acknowledge. Thereafter we thanked them for the same. All this was done silently.
05 April 2009
Morning Session: 10 am to 11am (Mandar Kulkarni)
Traditional Exercises: Jor, Baithaka (Push-ups, sit-ups etc) and voice warm ups.
Pradeep Vaiddya (11 am to 2.30pm)
Discussion:
Theatre as career, passion etc. The differences in the career in TV, Films and Theatre.
Acting Exercise:
Continued the exercise of neutral scenes. Few more scenes were performed and studied. Further some scenes were performed by making a few amendments in the plot, characterisation or before that was set for that particular scene by the candidates. Then the effect was studied. Various other possibilities of the scenes were discussed. The importance of ‘if magic’ and ‘reacting’ was studied.
From here we moved on to improvisations. In these improvisations two or three actors were given brief about their situation and were set in the improvisation against or with each other. The brief was about the same incident but it was from the perspective of ‘that’ character. We studied the moments that were created in the improvisation. The ‘true moments’ and possibility of creation of such moments on stage at our disposal as actors was studied.
Evening Session: 5 pm to 10 pm
Exercises with Rope:
Forming Alphabets:
Facilitator throws the rope anywhere and counts from 10 to 0 and within that time, using the rope, the candidates are supposed to form the alphabet with that was told before throwing the rope.
Certain shapes like flower, spectacles etc were tried in a similar way.
Game:
Vish-Amrut game using the rope to give vish.
Acting Exercise:
One line was given to all. The line was ‘‘I am not an actor. A cannot do this.’’ They were asked to prepare for 25 situations and using that context the same line was to be presented by everyone in 25 different ways. We discussed about ‘mimicry’ and ‘acting with the feelings’. We also found out the ‘truth’ factor in the presentations.
Emotion Exercise:
Everyone sat in circle with his or her backs towards the centre of the circle. They were asked to remember with all the details (especially sensory information like colours, smells etc) the most sad or hurting experience in their respective lives. The facilitator looked upon an emotional outburst of a few candidates as and when required.
Later when everyone calmed down, they were asked to remember the happiest moment of their life. When everyone was laughing or smiling they were allowed to share this moment with others if they wished so.
