Elizabeth Payne Final Blog Post

1. From the Validation stage to Performance the whole community started to group and come together as an ensemble. Common themes began to emerge such as longing for love, Sarah Evens’ character and Gavin as well as Amy in the love triangle and the wanting they all had for the same thing, for love of Gavin and his attention. Wanting what someone else has was also a common theme that occurred in smaller groups and dominantly in the shape of Lauren going around different characters looking in their bags or taking their clothing and using it as her own such as David’s’ tie and bible. The space of Porto was alien to us all when we began our journeys and so these longings became a part of all our characters, to form relationships so we where no longer alone and for protection from the curious characters of Nicola and Blake. This theme we all shared in the format of the ensemble work and the community that became around this fear and longing for protection from them. The ensemble united in movements at the beginning even when a smaller group where not part of the larger group they slowly became incorporated with the larger group so that they where the same. Shared Experience use the ensemble to express the common themes in their performances,

‘building a common language and close-knit ensemble where they could be open and daring, able to take risks and play in the moment’ (Callery: 12)

The united community happened again but slower when Nicola and Jay had a larger interaction towards the end of the performance, this common theme of belonging and being scared of the unknown gave a bed rock for the performance and so gave us the chance to all interact together with our created language around this theme.

2. Working within the studio for so long gave us a comfort zone and a home for Porto. We worked for 6 months in the same space, knowing our outer limits in relation to size but also to the distance of an audience. Moving into the theatre changed all of these variables. In the Arena the depth was now greater by a considerable amount meaning the chairs for the opening sequence and the peripheral work needed to be pushed much further back then what we where used to working with. The distance of the audience also was a issue, when working in the studio whenever there was a audience watching they where very close and could see the simplest and smallest of movements, however the new space gave us a much larger space and consequently the movements had to be pushed onto a new level so that all the audience could witness the movements right down to the facial expressions that where to small to begin with.

It became difficult for some to get used to the technical elements of working within the theatre. Having lanterns so close to the performance at head and foot level was difficult as on occasions Jay would swing Nicola and come close to hitting one and on another moment when the ensemble are moving together, as a performer concentrating on the movements, knocking into the floor level lantern happened. All of this occurred in initial rehearsals though by the performance a second sense of the technical elements that surrounded the stage was acquired by the ensemble. Physically the characters began to develop, interacting more successfully and fluidly instead of forcing the movements; the fresh new space gave the characters the opportunity to explore new depths and came at the right time for my character and others. A lot of company’s such as Motionhouse Dance theatre, Vincent Dance theatre, Forced Entertainment all have a base and then tour; these companies also come across developing performers when they reach new spaces in an interview with Kevin Finnan artistic director of Motionhouse states:

‘Another thing that is guaranteed to happen every time, is that as soon as I get a show on the road, as soon as its made, I start seeing all of the things that I wish I had done with it.’(Finnan)

Unlike Motionhouse we where able to change and develop our characters to feel this new desire and emotion that was being created by the new space that was given to us in the Arena theatre.

3. ‘Every movement within the choreography has to have a reason to be, rather than the choreography simply being the reason itself” (Finnan)

This was a policy of producing Porto from the very start and until the very end. Over final three shows my character developed greatly, she became deeper and the connections I made became stronger. When working with Luke our connections developed through the last 2 play sessions more then they had through the other rehearsals in the studio. We developed movements of touching our toes to bring me off the chair and being embarrassed by being so close became more emphasised by the delicate touches we now developed together. We where adding to the score that we had already created in the performance, and so Validated and Performed them. This just showed how the RSVP model was still present in force especially for my character even at such a later stage in the whole performance.

In another way my character also developed through the final performances in relation to the main partnerships I had with the two ‘Super men’ Richard and Alex. The three of us grew together in our reactions to people coming into our space over on stage right and also our energy throughout the overall sections of our peripheral work and during the train scene where much higher. Having this heightened energy we where able to express our childishness and united front against others much more effectively. Emotionally and physically my character began to change. I was much more attached to Alex and Richard I wanted to be physically near them so we lay across each other or just hugged, emotionally I would be thinking about them even when I was distracted by something else because I would want them to see what I could see which would excite my character.

This depth I only found once the first show was being prepared for in the warm up and slight play that was conducted. Like these changes at the last minute is similar to Charlotte Vincent from Vincent Dance theatre

‘spends the first leg of any tour tweaking and re-rehearsing the work, to ensure it is the best it can be, and that it is somehow ‘saying’ what it is she wanted to say’

Saying what I want to say with my own character was very important and so these revelations of emotion and physicality where very important even at the end of the shows. As a whole the company went from strength to strength as every character within the ensemble grew and became more comfortable with expressing their characters personal journey to the live audience. Every character had their own personal journey from the writing of the letter to the last three shows, at every point the RSVP model was being used with the build up of our body’s’ physical knowledge from the research stage that benefitted the changes that happened over the final shows, each stage was needed to be reflected on right until the end.




Bibliography

Callery D, (2001) Through the body: a practical guide to physical theatre Nick Hern Books:London

Finnan K, Motionhouse Dance Theatre (2009) [online] [Warwickshire] http://www.motionhouse.co.uk/documents/studentpack_003.pdf [accessed 14/05/09]

Finnan K, Motionhouse Dance Theatre (2009) [online] [Warwickshire] http://www.motionhouse.co.uk/documents/SyndicatedinterviewwithKevinFinnan_002.pdf [accessed 14/05/09]

Vincent Dance Theatre (2008) [online] [Sheffield] http://www.vincentdt.com/faq.html [accessed 14/05/09]