Journal Reflection 7 (24/9/12)

Reflection: Write a Paragraph reflecting upon the plays that you have explored in class. Waiting for Godot, Measures taken, Doll's House, The Crucible. Comment upon the genre, styles, political comment. Social comment, Which one you like or didn't like and why? Reflect upon whether you think the plays have impacted in anyway upon you today?

The plays that we did in class were all different from each other in style and genre. The isms were different in each play, which drives the play in different directions. Overall, it was interesting on how we went through the plays in different techniques, performance styles, backgrounds and mindsets.

Genre
Because the 'isms' were different, the plays have different motives and styles therefore different directions. For example, the 'Doll's House' is based on realism and feminism while 'Measures taken' is based on Marxism. One is focused on political issues while the other is based on everyday life. Each plays are directed to different audiences. 'Doll's House' is directed to females in family household while 'Measures taken' is directed to people who are interested in politics in those times of the day. 'Waiting for Godot' is an absurdist play, somewhat similar to Doll's House in presenting reality to the audience but in a very straightforward, 'wake-up', 'in-your-face' manner. 'Waiting for Godot' presents reality in a symbolic way rather than the aesthetic way. 'The Crucible' written by Miller, who wants to portray the idea of McCarthyism through unnatural and magical means. Every play is symbolic and has hidden meaning in varying degree, especially in 'Waiting in Godot'. The very fact that it is an absurdist play has the notion of making a fool out of you, or at least making u feel that this is absurd.

Styles

The atmosphere of the plays varies. Imagine that they are atoms in a space or room:

Doll’s house – fluid, flowy with a moderate speed. Then it gets a little faster, starting to collide into one another with impact until it gets to the highest tension. Almost increasing the heat of the surrounding, where the kinesthetic speed of the atoms gets faster. It is as if the Water molecules transform into air molecules. Tension is build gradually, dynamically and dramatically. The space is small and confined because it is taken in a small house.

Measure Taken – The atom’s speed is almost like a marching style. It goes in a constant maybe rigid robotic marching. It is very rhythmic in action and speed, even for the way of speaking. There are many commands and choppy words and movements to it. Space is also confined or rather there are many rooms that the atoms can go to fill in with. It is up to the audience to choose which space they want to fill.

Waiting for Godot - The atom's speed varies a lot in this play. It maybe spastic, jolting at some movements. Drugged movements. Atoms collides very little. Dull colour. Space is unlimited, free for atoms to roam around. In this play, it is subjected to audience' preference, whether they could take the 'face-smacking', absurdism of this play.

The Crucible - Darker atmosphere. Dull and cold. Atoms move slowly and occasional collides at each other. Tension is random and explodes anytime. It is also quite difficult to understand and grasp the meaning of the play because magic, witchcraft are involved here. It represents something. It is symbolic. Idea of McCarthyism is used to fight against USA's accusations against the communists. 

What I like
I actually like the absurdist play, 'Waiting for Godot'. The acting styles and techniques are really different from the rest and it is really interesting. The way the actor stands, walks, sits, takes off his hat or boots. The way he speaks is also different. It is not so much of speech that we use as a means of communication. It is now the symbols, gestures, actions that have great importance in communicating the message as well. There are now more emphasis on the other factors rather than just using words to deliver the message.
But at the same time, I like simplicity of 'Doll's House'. It is straightforward in that the audience understands it very well. There is not much of a extraction of hidden meaning compared to the other plays. It leaves you thinking and also applies to me in my life, where I am now. It depends on my mood. It is just some times where you want to just watch simple plays on some days. =D

What I do not like
I absolutely do not like 'Measures Taken'. I find it too boring because of its rigidity and rhythmic movement that imitates after robots. It presents different views of political parties and feeds audience with political messages. The agenda is to get people arise against the Nazis. However, I do understand that the context now and in the past is different. They face the Nazis and we do not face the Nazis, so our feelings are not stirred up by these kind of plays. But I wouldn't want to pay to watch these kind of plays.
I find it difficult to understand 'The Crucible', because of the involvement of magic and the spiritual realm. The atmosphere here is quite dreadful because tension is almost everywhere. There are alot of accusations and dark meanings to it that I do not like. Too many accusations may not provide a direction for the audience because it is unresolved.

Reflection Journal 6 (17/9/12)

Impact of 20th century theatre in my life: what does it mean to you? What can it mean to you?

Impact of westernism? How to relate to  Asian theatre?

- When we think of 'theatre' we immediately think of theatre of the western style (Greek, shakespeare, Artaud, Growtovski, Stanislavski, etc.) Whatever we considered as East, it is counted as exotic.

- Affects our culture in a way. The things we do, the things we watch and the perspectives that we have on our lives. There is then this lack of knowledge on our historical and cultural aspects of our society. There is even this question of whether Singaporeans have a culture of our own. In the inaugural Social Sciences Conference organised by the Singapore Management University (SMU) School of Social Sciences, ex-president Nathan probe the question of if we have a culture? Ex-president Nathan (2012) said that 'We have to say ‘yes I’m Chinese but I’m Singaporean, yes I’m Indian but I’m Singaporean, yes I’m Malay but I’m Singaporean.' These things override us. And it will take a long time for this Singaporean identity, this unique Singaporean identity to develop' (Para 6) It sort of apply to theatre as well. When we do our Asian theatre, we kind of include western influences, techniques, styles into it.

- Raise awareness philosophically, regionally, religiously, physically, mentally, etc. 20th century theatre burgeoning of knowledge is reflected in theatre. There is shared knowledge that raises our awareness.

- The way of speech is more westernized. As I mentioned that there will undoubtedly western influences such as speech. Hence the working of our characterization tends to be more westernized too.

- Provides a basis for us to discuss issues. 

- Expression as individuals, where there is raised self-consciousness. More understanding of life. Finding more of ourselves. Eg, characterization allows us to explore and unleash our personality or hidden talents or identities. Chekhov emphasized much on characterization and transformation to take place in the theatre. Chekhov suggested that ' the desire for characterization is actually the desire for transformation.' (Chekhov, 1996: Tape 1) When we have that desire to vary character and type, we find ourselves exploring the individualities and become more aware of ourselves. A sense of individuation.

- Dislocating, which means to take me out of myself. We try our best to hang on the facts and truths. Becoming more confused. Maybe not confused but more complicated and thought provoking. But Jane ask were we not confuse before then? 

- Theatre is a platform where hidden meanings and truths are found. Facts are not truth. Facts can be truths but truths are far more than just facts. Truths have a deeper meaning. Facts are tangible and visible. But truths are deeper than what we think them of. Truth is what sets us free.

- There is also this film into drama and drama into film. 

- Western theatre impacted upon by the East cultures. Some of the 20th western practitioners were influenced. Eg. Artaud, Brecht, etc.  They are in search for spirituality and the unconsciousness of the mind. Moving away from the using of our brains. As I have indicated in my past reflections that they intend to seek more of poetic language rather than speech language. To reach out or touch our senses before the mind.

- Opened up our minds of seeing things in different ways. 

- 20th century theatre pushes us to the theatre of the future as well. Where do we see ourselves moving into? What is our future? Can we predict? What can we expect? 

- There are more provocative thoughts then in the past because of the globalization, modern technology and openness that the world embraces. But at the same time, there is tighter control also to keep control and order. Tighter control means to have order? or is it to keep things from the people? Tighter control does not mean to have order and control. We may be deceived

- Involved in life. Political life takes us away from life as we see. We get smarter and more engaged in life. 

- 20th century theatre is also a platform of sharing and learning where I not only learn about myself but also about other people's thinking. I see the way others see things as and I learn from them. Makes me not a selfish person.

Struggle for Hope

Interesting video on how Yo-Yo Ma plays western Bach prelude and fugue to suit the ballet dancers. He also use western music to accompany the Kabuki performer on stage. This is how Western and Eastern culture intertwined with each other. Kabuki has flow-y and fluent gestures. Filled with aesthetic elements. The beauty of it is how the performer, who is dressed as a female, uses gestures and water-like, drifting movements in their performances, never stopping. There is this constant fluent rhythm imitating spirituality(Spirits glide). The dynamics are not so sharp but rather it is gradual. It was so beautiful. It captivates the audience. 

Kabuki requires alot of work. To have a successful Kabuki performance, many backstage helpers are required to change and make up the Kabuki actors, do stage settings and elaborate decors and costumes.( Pronko, 1967, Pg 114) It is through all these that the essence of beauty is there, which captivated the hearts of Artaud and many other western practitioners. 

This gives me an idea to go find such videos for my presentation on Interculturalism.

Chekhov
Desire for characterisation and transformation of self on stage. Techniques are forward, simple and amusing. He utilizes mask of character that the actor creates himself and wears it on stage. We embody the character that we create and the desire to become that character.

He goes on to say that there is no equal people in life, as well as no equal in the characters that we create. Though there is same type of character, eg. (teacher, stallholder, etc. ) but all are different in their individual character. It is unique and special in varying degrees. We then start to individualise our characters on stage. Most often we find our personality and character by embodying those characters.

Bibliography

Chekhov.Princeton, N.J. (1996) Film.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/common-s’pore-identity-has-yet-to-develop--former-president-nathan.html

Reflection Journal 5 (10/9/12)

Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot'

Absurdism theatre is originated from the Euro-American Avant Garde, highly influenced by the aftermath effects of WWII. Sort of similar to Artaud's intention of Anti-theatre for theatre of cruelty, Beckett aimed to bring Human's reality of frailty, feeble and search for answers about life through theatre of Absurd. It is no longer an Art that needs appreciation but a space where the hidden reality and questioning of the meaning of life are brought forward. He wanted the people to experience this reality through entering a world of myths, religion, cosmic sensation.

Beckett uses language that are distorted, incoherent in a questionable state. Some questions are open-ended and randomness of words will start to appear. Language becomes dialectic. Beckett did not like to use dialogue or conventionalised language speaking as a means of communication because 'conventionalised speech acts as a barrier between ourselves and what the world is really about: in order to come into direct contact with natural reality, it is necessary to discredit and discard the false crutches of conventionalised language' (Culik, J. 2000, Para 5) He pushes the boundary of communication through other means of the common language speaking. Instead of conversational dialogue, Beckett attempts to portray poetic images using elements, symbols, lighting and movement. There is no drama conflict or tension. In his play 'Waiting for Godot', there is a sense of alienation, meaningless existence (nihilism), loneliness, randomness and weirdness which makes the play topic-less. The play is characterised with little logical flow, pausing, senseless talk, actions that disrupts the flow of talk, etc. There is this type of tension that is not based on power struggle or climactic areas but a dramatic tension on dialectic between two people.

Then there is this symbol of the tree that represents something which Godot might want to imprint on the audience's mind. The tree exist in many religions and different meanings of life. In our culture, I think tree represents the tree of life. In NIE, meranti tree is used in the Gesl project because it symbolizes strong bark (body). In the Chinese context, tree metaphorically means family tree. Tree in Christianity represents life, bearing fruits of the spirit. A tree also represents the connection between heaven and earth. Tree represents so many things but in this play, I figure that he wants to portray the cross of Christ since they were talking about christianity. But at the same time, he questions where is God in my life? What is the purpose of my existence?

Mandala - 'that which encircles the center'. It is found in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is used as an offering made to a spiritual teacher in request for a teaching, the conferring of a set of vows, and for the conferring of a tantric empowerment. Each quadrant represent a theme. Some culture says it brings good luck, some says its divine protection from their Gods. 

Question: What do you think sort of theatre we might be working? How would you stage a play based on the global society?

I think we would not be doing the theatre of Absurd because our culture still has tradition roots attached to it. Anything as profound and deep as this kind of theatre is really beyond understanding. I think the Singapore audience will really be APPALLED by the play and walk out of the theatre and complain about wasting their time and money. It has not come to the time where arts are appreciated by Singaporeans yet. They want meaning, they want logic, they want instant answers, they are impatient and needs spoon feeding. The Beckett's or Artaudian kind of theatre would just disgust them and drive them away. I do not think Singaporeans are ready to take in the controversy or black sattire that is found in Beckett's (or Artaudian) theatre because we do not experience any lack of anything. Eveything here is considered a well provided life. Imagine if Singaporeans were thrown in 'prison' where they watch something that is so controversial, they will just go mad. 

Probably the plays of realism will be practical in the Singapore context. Political plays similar to Brecht's theatre will be possible as well because Singapore's politics is still active in many areas of our lives. 

Betolt Brecht

East German theatre practitioner who is a marxist. (Marxist support Karl marx's ideas). Marxism is based on socio-political and socio-economic philosophies which are derived from a materialistic point of view on the historical development. There was a revolutionary discourse (Germany) of how to stop the Nazis, which is a paradox.

One technique that Brecht adopt is the Alienation technique (A-effect), where the audience is able to recognize the subject but the  is unclear and mystified. In the past, a dream-like space is created and a barrier is surrounded by this space. Masks were worn in earlier plays to depict this mysterious feeling, an object that seemed near and familiar in our lives but is also far away. Neither here nor there. Brecht then removes this Proscenium arch and brings it across the stage. Willett (1977) 'such devices were certainly a barrier to empathy, and yet this technique owed more, not less, to hypnotic suggestion than do those by which empathy is achieved' (Pg 192) This technique does defamiliarisation, in German called 'verfremdung'. It may be a gesture or a verbal line that wakes audiences up. 

To be continued...





Bibliography

Culik, J. (2000) The Theatre of the Absurd. Retrieved from http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/Slavonic/Absurd.htm


Willett, J., Ed.(1977) A Short Organum for the Theatre. Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic. Retrieved from http://web.mit.edu/jscheib/Public/21m790/brechtorganum.pdf

Reflection Journal 4 (3/9/12)

Hendrik Ibsen's 'A Doll House'

We went through the play again but added more layers to it. Jane told us to think about rhythmic movement of it. At first we could not catch what she meant but going through the scene again with her, I realised what she meant. We played around with dynamics, spaces, flow, contrast, settings, constellation of stage, etc. And just by adding dynamics to the play, it was making more sense and life to it. Even for our acting, we had more life to it, making it interesting. We had more to play around with. 

Setting

We first set up the stage with props. From what we know of the script, we set up a christmas tree, table, chairs, stove and piano. We decided who was at the scene, where the door is, which character is standing where, how the door bell would sound. We did a lot of brainstorming and I must say we did a great job in the setting because 18 of us were thinking and deciding where to put it. It was amazing that a bunch of us agreed on the setting. Since it was snowing, we figured our characters' clothes to be big and layered with alot of coats and thick fur. Their movement should be quite restricted because of their thick clothing.

Dynamics

It is important that we know the personality of the characters well. How we imagine and perceive them is how we are going to convince our audience the characters' behaviour and attitude. So we thought of Nora as a bimbo tic, fluttering, chattering, light-hearted, always-pleasing-her-husband kind of woman. There is this cheerful Nora who is always dancing around, pouting her lips kind of woman around Helmer. Helmer would be the one embracing her and giving her the attention. We then decide how Nora would move around the room in her big warm coats. 

Constellation

At one point in time (Nora and Mrs Linde sitting by the fireplace), we played with the staging of the two characters. Would it be better if Nora was on the right hand of the stage or would it be better if Mrs Linde was on the right? The right had more power and attention to it. After switching places, Nora would do good on the right so that attention was given to Nora, which was intended.

Flow

We had to pause in between our sentences so that there will be a flow and it would make sense. The pause also acts as a change of emotion and tone when characters change subject of topic in their sentences. If we do not pause, we find ourselves speaking too fast to communicate with the other party and we may stammer in the end, breaking the flow.

20th Century Theatre Practitioners:

- Bertolt Brecht

- Antonin Artaud

- Jerszy Grotowski

- Peter Brook 

- Alfred Jarry

- Ariane Mnouchkine

- Vladimir Stanislavski

- Augusto Boal

- Samuel Breckett

- Michael Chekhov

Samuel Beckett

Beckett is an Irish Avant Garde PLaywright, novelist, and theatrical director. He did not conform to traditional forms of theatre. He is an absurdist theatre practitioner, who came up with theatre of the Absurd. Like Artaud, he was anti-theatre and did not believe in relying on language or rather texts. His theatre is characterized by poetry and images. Words, images, scenes are repetitive, which makes little sense and flow. In order to create these sequences of poetic images, Ilbtihel (2008) states that Beckett ‘uses visual elements, movement, light’ (Para 7). There is no drama conflict, power struggle or plot within his theatre, which makes the scene more and less meaningless.

Like Artaud, Beckett is influenced by the popular theatre arts such as mime, ballet, acrobatics, conjuring, music-hall clowning, as well as one of the eastern theatre forms, the Noh theatre (whether directly or indirectly). Similar to Noh, Beckett always rely on sounds and effects to create the non verbal element in theater.  Pronko (1967) gave evidence that ‘Beckett’s characters (in Endgame more than in waiting for Godot) are turned toward the past, constantly reenacting the events of a life already lived, it is because they, like the Buddhist ghosts of the Noh, are tied to the wheel of life, unable to escape the effects of their past, unable to free themselves from a cycle that has become meaninglessly repetitious.’ (Pg 108) Though it was not sure whether Beckett went to the East or was influenced by the Noh, but there were similar influences of the Noh theatre on Beckett's Absurdism theatre. 

BIbliography

Ilbtihel (2008) Retrieved from http://englishukairouan.forumotion.com/t126-theatre-of-the-absurd-by-edward-albee         

Pronko, L. (1967). Theater East & West: Perspectives Toward a Total Theater. London: University of California Press.