Nicols Wilson Blog Asessment 2

1. With our mouths closed, the voice redundant, many would have been incredulous in thinking that any work could be devised at all. However, one of the key elements to our creative process is what Dymphna Callery states as ‘discovering their somatic impulses and developing a physical articulation of the imagination.’ (2001, pg 163) We create work through play, listening and responding to what the body is organically wanting to communicate. Although, as mentioned in the book ‘The Invisible Actor’, ‘listening to the body requires training since it isn’t the same as ‘doing whatever you want’. As an ensemble we have antecedent ‘training’ which has built up a shared physical vocabulary within the whole group meaning that in the last five weeks we have been producing work very quickly. This collective training has in no way stifled our individuality though and for Porto, even though each action may be the same during the ensemble piece, the emotional context and story behind the gesticulation inevitably varies from character to character. The training just gave the fundamentals, it is up to the individual to give it that emotional layer and allow their character to grow through the physical improvisation sessions.

2. ‘The character I want to contribute to Porto is someone who is in a massive state of distress in the current place she’s in and just wants to leave straight away.’ This is how it started, with these exact words. Through developing this character, I think it was important to note and not shy away from the real extent of how distressed she was feeling. This quote, ‘the basis of the actor’s craft is to reflect through his physicality all that is happening inside: to make the invisible visible’ (2002, pg 19) relates to my character, that her painful emotions on the inside had to become real through raw physical movement on the outside. During this process, I really began to feel what Yoshi Oida talks about when he says ‘you begin noticing how even tiny physical changes can affect your inner states.’ The fact that my face is covered means that it is only my body that I have to convey what I feel. Everything felt like a struggle for my character anyway, so by taking away her sight and even small things like covering up her hands, affects her inner state even more so. She’s still working through that inner state now and is likely to d so throughout the entirety of Porto.

3. ‘A character’s physicality is not merely a question of a walk or how the arms are dangled. It is not enough to give the character a limp or other physical change. The actor must recreate the physical feeling of his character’s specific [limp], which is the result of a specific body under specific social and emotional circumstances.’ This is a quote from Anne Dennis, The Articulate Body and is very relevant my character. To find my physicality I had look at what emotional and social circumstances were in place. By doing this, the emotional burden I was carrying became a physical one. I made it difficult for this character to walk, having the spine completely bent over so it became a struggle to lift my legs. Due to the character’s distressed circumstance, the body is in a constant state of motion, swaying, grabbing at clothes, clenched fists hitting the bag or hitting one’s self until she becomes exhausted of her emotional state. This filters through the entire body, leaving her weak, her physicality is now more like a dead weight, lifeless. As Lorna Marshall states ‘It is not enough to mentally comprehend a character or situation, we must embody it.’ (2001, pg 163)

Bibliography
Callery, D., 2001. Through The Body: A Practical Guide To Physical Theatre, London: Nick Hern Books Limited
Dennis, A., 2002. The Articulate Body: The Physical Training of the Actor. London: Nick Hern Books Limited
Marshall, L., 2001. The Body Speaks: Performance and Expression, London: Methuen
Oida, Y & Marshall, L., 1997. The Invisible Actor, London: Methuen