Tuesday 25/02 – HAPPY COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE DAY!

The day of our performances arrived and we began with our morning warm up before we got straight into rehearsing “Toby or not Tobi”. We rehearsed the show in full four times (including a dress rehearsal) before our first show at 1:30.

The set was finished and the running order had been pinned up behind the set:

 

After each run-through we would receive feedback on how to tighten up our performance as well as working out the kinks in scenes. Tom and I spent time working on the joke of confusing the words “Love” and “Loathe” so that the words sounded the same and picked up the pace so that the back and forth of dialogue was similar to watching a tennis match.

My main piece of feedback during the devising and rehearsal process was that I needed to perform out to the audience more, and so whenever I came on stage I made a conscious effort to look out into the audience as a way of reminding myself that is where I needed to perform.

Once we had done our final rehearsal, I had my face painted white, and my lips red to create the “mask” of the lovers and then it was show time!! 

Lovers makeup

Both performances were successful and incredibly well received by both audiences. The first audience was made up of performing arts students and so the more “risqué” moments were very well received, it had been thought that the evening performance which was made up of parents would not have responded as well to the “risqué” moments but it appeared that both audiences were accepting of the “racy” nature of some of the jokes.

The full show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7lV7pkzWlo

For me I think the movement used in Commedia is critical to making a performance enjoyable because the large movement really helps bring the characters to life and the mannerisms such as the Lovers large arms movements or Pantalone’s fidgety hands helped to make the audience laugh.

I think that I made a vast improvement from our first rehearsals on Tuesday morning to our final show in the evening as I felt I was much more comfortable in opening up my performance to the audience allowing me act out more. I feel most of my improvement was in the sword fight between Laertes and Angelica as I had been rather cautious in rehearsals and was unable to really get into the role however during both performances I found myself really becoming Angelica and by the time I had made my exit I was out of breath from exerting myself to the fullest during the fight.

If I were to make any changes to my performance it would be to become lighter and more fluid in my movement as once I was in costume I found that I became slightly restricted. So if I were to repeat my performance I would put more thought and creativity in showing the fluidity of Angelica, such as including some turns to give her a more balletic appearance.

Commedia is a physically challenging type of theatre but it is such an interesting art. I found the mask work to be a bit of challenge as I struggled to find a mask that fit and so this meant I had to speak much louder to ensure that my words didn’t get lost. However being given the opportunity to play a lover allowed me to take on some really interesting characteristics and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to explore the “amorous” side of a lover as well as the “mad” side. The contrast between the two emotions was really fun to play and the sudden change was a moment of comedy during Laertes and Angelica’s fight.

Having spent seven days learning the art of Commedia dell’Arte I felt incredibly privileged to have been able to take part in Commedia dell’Arte Day.

Monday 24/02

With only one day until Commedia dell’Arte Day we still had our final scenes devise, including the pivotal final scene where EVERYONE dies!

It was decided that the final scene where Hamlet and Laertes die that all other characters will die as well. This led to everyone going off in pairs to devise an unarmed or armed fight scene. Initially Jodie and I were to devise a fight between Ophelia and Angelica but found it difficult to choreograph anything without any character motivation.

Once all of the combat choreography had been devised Graham watched them all and worked out where to place them within the scene. Fights between the Zannis occurred during a pause between Hamlet and Laertes sword fight which helped break up the action and prolonged the inevitable mishaps that occur in Shakespeare’s writing.

Angelica’s death occurs midway through Laertes taking a swipe at Hamlet and inadvertently stabs his love. It was important with my character’s death and all others that the choreography was perfect. I had to ensure that I was positioned correctly to get “stabbed” otherwise it would have looked messy and broken the illusion of the death.

As Commedia is tongue-in-cheek it meant that the deaths had to be over-exaggerated and so any noise we made was multiplied to emphasise the death. Once a character had died they would join the dead choir and an “aaah” would be sung out as a dead character joined the chorus.

As a group we had to compose a simple melody that would play under the final deaths of our performance, and we worked to create an “eerie” yet “holy” sound with a steady base and a high melodic rhythm.

Once all scenes had been finished we then put the scenes into their running order for their first time. I found this rehearsal process very interesting as we had been left to devise the scenes ourselves and it wasn’t until Monday that we got to see how the scenes fitted together to create “Hamlet”.

Monday was also the first time we worked with a set, our set was limited to two doorways and one backdrop upstage centre, this was advantageous as we did not have to worry about complicated scene changes or entrances but it meant that we had to be especially careful when offstage as we didn’t have much space in the wings.

Friday 21/02

We continued to devise scenes around the basis of the story of Hamlet. During the morning I found myself sitting around while other scenes were being created and so I wrote up my scene (Scene 3) and then went away to further work on it. The first change we made to the scene was to introduce a Zanni for my character and this meant that I was able to interact with both Zannis and allowed more humour to be included. Within the scene Zan Polo and Angelica get caught up in a back and forth of whether Laertes does in fact love Angelica and Graham suggested that we experimented with the delivery of the words “love” and “loathe” so that they sound similar enough for Angelica to get confused. I found this back and forth was quite effective as it allowed me to look at my movement as well. For example, I was able to include quick side-to-side movements to display the sorrow and excitement that Angelica would switch between as she misheard what Zan Polo said.

Another joke we found was effective was Angelica telling Dave that they had a dress fitting to attend to before she exited and then Dave would speak out to the audience “But I don’t need a new dress” before turning and doing the tired run while crying as he exited. We found that the run emphasised Dave’s reluctance at going with Angelica and found that the joke was receptive to audiences.

Another scene I was sent away to devise was a scene that would show how Laertes is persuaded by Claudius to fight Hamlet and Claudius uses Angelica as his persuasion. As in my first scene I had to ensure that my posture remained the same and that I didn’t slip out of it during the scene. The one difficulty I struggled with was facing out towards the audience rather than facing Chris. It took several run-throughs for the staging to really drill in to my head. My first entrance in the scene Laertes and Angelica are looking longingly at one another but once I re-entered after Claudius’ sets his plan in motion to set Angelica up I got to explore the vexed side of Angelica. Although Lovers are quite graceful and beautiful in their movements if they have been scorned in love they can turn murderous. When Laertes refers to Angelica as a “harlot” I got to explore the more aggressive side of my character and was given the opportunity to take part in a sword fight which resulted in Laertes being beaten by an angry Angelica.

I was slightly nervous when sword fighting as I hadn’t felt particularly knowledgeable on what we had learnt Wednesday but I found that once I had learnt a routine I was much more confident and found myself enjoying the fight.

We also included some dialogue into the fight to emphasise the argument between Laertes and Angelica:

Angelica: “I never loved you” (Advance towards Laertes)

Laertes: “Well, you have a voice like grating metal” (Retreat from L)

Angelica: “Well, your breath smells” (Advance towards L)

Laertes: “Well, you look fat in that dress” (Retreat from L)

This final line results as the last straw for Angelica and so Chris and I did a bind with our swords that ended with me taking his sword and kicking him to the floor before Angelica leaves having beaten Laertes. I spent most of Friday afternoon going over the choreography to ensure that neither Chris nor I got injured.

Laertes and Angelica sword fight

Thursday 20/02

Thursday began with learning our final Commedia character: The Doctor.

The Doctor: The Doctor is very similar to Pantalone in ways, but is more intelligent. The Doctor has a tendency to ramble on about things and will often get distracted, most likely by food. The posture of the Doctor is neck extended with the belly pushed out. His walk his slow as he is an old man and so he can barely pick his feet up off the ground and is unable to bend down. The mask of the Doctor varies from the other masks as is only covers his forehead and nose and is decorated with facial hair, such as eyebrows and a moustache. He often blows his lips together which will result in the moustache moving.  

 

Now that we had learnt all the characters we began the audition process for the casting of our Commedia piece. This was done in a workshop style and so we would move around in the space as the character that Graham called out.

The next stage involved Graham calling specific people up onto the floor to be a specific character, for example I was called up for the roles of both Columbina and the female lover. I felt that these were my two strongest characters and so I felt really comfortable performing in the scenarios we were given for these characters.

The scenario given for the lovers was to move around the space doing “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” and to make grand gestures and so over-the-top that you begin to feel ridiculous, because of the melodramatic  characteristics of the Lovers.

We were then told which Commedia role and Hamlet character people had been cast. This was a very different way of being cast as we were technically being cast as two characters due to the nature of Commedia dell’ Arte. Once most of the group had been cast they were sent off to start creating scenes based on the scenes in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, however myself and Chris, Michael and Jack were asked to act as lovers again and the guys had to deliver a beautiful speech to me professing their love while I stood and reacted to their words. I then had to return with a response saying that we could not be together.

I found this exercise slightly challenging as I had to interact with the three guys from a distance where I could not see them. However I felt this helped with the melodramatic aspect of the Lovers because everything they do is very large and so it meant that I had to ensure all my movement was noticeable.

After watching performances from those who had gone away to devise scenes I was cast as a female lover, however because of the limited characters in Hamlet I was to play a character created specifically for our production: Angelica, the lover of Laertes.

Chris, Tom and I then went away and devised a scene when Laertes and Angelica profess their love for one another via Laertes’ Zanni Zan Polo. We decided to incorporate a Zanni into the scene because it gave us the opportunity to experiment with physical comedy, such as a stage slap. The feedback I received once we had performed the scene was that I needed to face the audience more rather than look at Zan Polo, as in Commedia it is important to act out to the audience and just refer to the characters on stage with you.

Having established our scene it meant we were able to go back and work out any kinks and look at the delivery of jokes which were lost, such as referencing “Marco Polo”.

Wednesday 19/02 - Sword Fighting

Sword Fighting

We were shown the various types of swords that we could use when sword fighting.

The Épée and Foil swords are used in fighting and it is important that they are kept in their pair as the swords may be damamged if they are not used with their type.

Our first lesson in sword fighting was learning how to parry. A parry is a defence manoeuvre to block or deflect an attack. We were taught five parrys, which we would then put into use when choreographing a sword fight. To practise these parrys, we moved swiftly from one another as if we were defending ourselves in a fight.

1. Protects the lower left side of the body

2. You then move the sword across your body to protect the lower right side of the body

3. Protects the right side of your upper body

4. The sword then swipes across to protect the left side of your upper body

5. The sword comes up in front of your head to protect your head and shoulders.

 



 

Once we had learnt to parry we began to put them into use by taking swipes at our partner while they parried (deflected the stabs). Taking a swipe means to bring the sword around towards your partner. Once we had practised with swipes we then parried with stabs, which meant we took quick stabs directly to the five positions of the parrys.

We then began to move the fighting, using the advance and retreating steps we learnt during our unarmed combat. It was important that if the “attacker” advanced the “victim” must retreat to ensure that no injuries occurred. Before the fighting begins we had to make sure that we were at our safe distance, much the same as when doing unarmed combat. It is imperative in sword fighting that the safe distance is kept because although the swords are safe damage can still be caused if not careful.

Once we were comfortable with our sword technique we began to include lunges to attack and retreat as well as the molinero, which is a movement where the wrist twirls the sword around. It is a more intricate way to take a stab at your partner.

I struggled with the sword fighting slightly as I am left-handed and found it near, impossible to fight right-handed. This meant that I had to learn positions differently to my partner, who was right-handed, meaning we had to be more cautious when advancing towards one another.

Wednesday 19/02 - Stage Combat

Stage Combat
Wednesday’s session was dedicated entirely to stage combat: unarmed and armed (swords).

We began with unarmed combat such as throwing punches. We started with the health and safety precautions. Once we had paired up we stood so we were facing one another and then we had to measure our safe distance by our arm width. If our hands were too close to our partners face it meant we were breaching the safe distance and were at risk of making physical contact, whereas we were learning no-contact combat.

Slaps: The first slap we learnt was a simple face slap. This is where you grab the collar of your partner’s shirt and when your hand moves to slap across the slapping hand would meet the hand holding the collar, creating the slapping sound.

!It is important that the head moves in the direction of the slap to make it look realistic!

Another version of this slap is rather than holding onto a collar of some point you just swing your hand around to clap with your other hand if you’re not in a position to reach for the collar.

Punches: It is important when throwing stage punches that you are always at a safe distance so as not to accidentally punch your partner. Much like slaps punches have an audible sound when made and so we were taught how to create naps. Naps are the sound that is made for the action of punching someone. To make a nap you must hit your chest with your hand cupped slightly to create a dense sound similar to that of someone being hit.

The punches we learnt included: a straight punch (arm goes straight out), cross punch (punch diagonally) and a hook (the arm creates a hook action when swinging around). Each of these punches also has different reactions from the person being hit. Such as the person being hit with a straight punch would jerk their head straight back at the force of the punch bit if I was the cross punch someone from my left the “victim’s” head would swing to their left.

Cross Punch

Having learnt these punches we were then taught the footwork that goes with it, as no fight happens in one place. The steps are “advance” and “retreat” – these are fencing terms. Advance is to take steps towards your partner and retreat is when you step away from your partner when they are advancing towards you. We were then set the task of following the steps Graham called out and then stopping and checking if our safe distance had increased or decreased. We found that it is harder to take large retreating steps compared to advancing steps and so this would affect the safe distance.

We then rehearsed the various punches we had been taught and incorporating them with the footwork.

Crotch/Stomach Kicks: Kicks were the first combat we learnt that involved contact. The basis of a kick to your partner is for a hand to be held in front of that part of the body (crotch, stomach, face) and your partner will kick your hand. The aim is for the top part of their foot to make contact with your hand to make the nap sound. It is also important that the hand held out is held out at a good distance from the body so as not to risk the chance of your partner’s foot accidentally making contact with your hand.

Another way to do a crotch kick is to do it at an angle. Your partner stands in a lunge position and you swing your leg round to make contact with the inside of their thigh and it is up to your partner to react realistically for the kick to be visually effective.

Ground kicks: This is when you are kicking someone who is lying on the floor, this combat is non-contact as the aim is to stamp your foot into the ground a couple of inches away from your partner’s body. The effectiveness of the kick is all up to your partner and how they react, that is an important rule in stage combat. It is all about the reaction that makes it look realistic.

Hair pull: The hair pull is fake. The person pulling the hair has no grip on the hair of their victim but has their hand held in a fist on the top of the victim’s head. It is up to the victim to grab hold of their partner’s fist and wrist and to verbally and physically react as if they are being pulled about by their hair.  This move is an effective way to get someone on to the floor because you can “throw” them down by their hair.

Choking: This move can be used at the end of a fight as a way for one person to kill the other. With this move it is important that the arms of the strangler do not wrap around the victims neck. The strangler creates a triangle position around the victim’s neck and then the victim places their hands on the stranglers arm and pulls away to give the impression of choking. This move can last for as long as you would like it to and is generally done with sounds of resistance from the victim.

Eye Gouge and Breaking the neck: Are both achieved by the reactions of the “victim”, with the eye gauge their partner merely cups their hand over their eye to create the illusion of “gouging” while the victim writes around in pain. The breaking the neck move is led by the victim. They are knelt between the legs of their partner whose arms are placed around their head but it is up to the “victim” to move their head to create the illusion. To further add to this a polo can be held between the victim’s teeth and they can bite into it to create the sound of bone breaking. 

 

Once we’d learned these unarmed combat positions we were given ten minutes to create a “fight” that involved five moves with transitions, such as advancing. The key piece of feedback everyone received was to watch the placement of the moves on the stage, for example if you were to do a cross punch side on to the audience it would be clear that the punch was being thrown over the shoulder rather than at the face and this would break the illusion.