DANCE HURT ME

Confessions

I think the physical theatre sequence that Rhianne and I have been working on during the process of Woyzeck has been so stretching and hard work, but is 100% worth it! The argument that Marie and Woyzeck have is super super quick and almost impossible to access the true depth of it all in the ten lines we have each. There is SO much subtext and the stakes are higher than ever in this part of the play- and the physical section that we have created has managed to give us the best access we could possibly ask for. After actioning the script and doing all the work we have on it- I feel that the scene is now in an amazing place to work instinctually and impulsively.

The stimuli that we have worked on has been this dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpVf5-aTgys , the song Hurt me- Lapsley and the subtext of our scene.

- The video has been amazing to work from because by no means are we dancers but we have manage to capture the balance between dance and theatre.

- It's been amazing to work with Theia on the project because she has done an amazing job of nurturing our ideas- the process has very much felt like a collaborative devised piece of work and I feel that is why Rhianne and I feel so deeply rooted to the work we are performing.

- The song and the lyrics are ridiculously relatable to the position of both characters in the play and I have found the song so easy to relate to and helps me to get into the emotional position that I need to be for my character in the following scene.

LABAN EFFORTS AND WOYZECK

Today we did lots of work on LABAN. I've found over the last two years that I actually love working with the LABAN efforts and should therefore use them more. 'The place is cursed, you know, Andres' now has a float, slash and a punch in it. I think it works well in refreshing patterns that you've learnt during the process and ultimately enables you to find new things. 

I've also worked out some new Laban efforts for the scene 'stab the shewolf'. Woyzeck is completely crazed by this point and therefore this should be influencing his physic. Exploring the scenes with the different efforts has certainly secured a new realm of range in my performance. It's interesting also just to see how an effort effects the objective and therefore action that you are playing. How is 'to patronise' different as a slash to a dab. 

The past few weeks I haven't commented on my uncertainty about my scenes with Andres. Exploring them with different efforts has definitely made us find new things in them.

Once receiving the notes from our first run in the new theatre, I feel as if the opening few scenes had instantly improved. Finding new ways of saying the lines and playing my actions has been vital to explore Mike Alfred's 'different every night' techniques. 

Running the scene with the captain, a close shave, was very interesting with LABAN efforts involved. I found that there's was a lot of 'to float', to 'push', at one point 'to punch' and sometimes even 'to slice'. I love the fact that this was found as its given a dimension to our relationship within the scene and out, that we had yet to found. I think there's a massive amount of underline tensions between these characters that needs to be felt. 

MIKE ALFREDS REFLECTION

Mike Alfred's techniques have made playing the character very interesting. The idea of being different every night definitely allows the moment to feel more in the moment and real. It's about being completely in search for the truth, and the truth is probably different every night, purely based on a different day, a different body.
I love exploring character through objectives and actioning, as I'm naturally someone who works from imagery of the character. I feel like the written work allows you to ironically be completely free on stage. The work before, the more I do, the more free and confident in my choices I feel.
This process also allows the risk element I feel that makes something explosive and new every night.

ACTIONING

I have actioned and applied objectives to every single scene and line that I have within the play. I have also managed to apply LABAN efforts in to the piece, monologues that are slightly harder to action.
(Script handed in/ALL IN SCRIPT).

WOYZECK WARM UP PLAN

5 Minutes of training

Start of my warm up will be a military work out in true style of the play. It will be about really working the legs and upper body in order to feel the reward of laying in semi supine.

5 Minutes of Breathing

Breathing and removing whatever is in the mind and body that has happened in the room previously. Breathing in the room and removing everything that is external from the room.

5 Minutes of body work and floor

Working with your body and parts that you rarely explore- and the floor. Finding a real grounding. Exploring different ways of exploring the body and being rooted to the ground.

2 Minute Focus

Eyes and Body working together in order move as an ensemble. In a circle. Focus is put upon the other person. Finding eyes and viewing your fellow cast members. Whilst one member of the company moves to the floor slowly, has to get around the circle.

RUNNING AND FITNESS = WOYZECK

Running and fitness

As I feel running and fitness is vital is important in this piece have begun running twice a week in order be more fit for the end piece. The opening and pre-set is only the beginning of the physical torment for Franz. He is throughout life put through the rigour of being busy. I don't see him as a massively strong man however. I can visualise Woyzeck being quite skinny and frail. He's more scary looking in his paleness and warrior look and presence.

WEEK REVIEW- 18TH DECEMBER

THIS WEEKS THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS:

I feel as if the character plays with competing feelings of both jealousy and pity. He's completely jealous of 'man's ability to be strong and emotionally simple. He's very angry at the world for the position he's been put into. He feels extremely let down and misunderstood by nearly everyone around him. When everywhere you know is busy and scary, where do you go?

That's the question I've asked myself. If everything changed around me, and didn't feel the same. What would I do? I'd probably cry a lot and get smashed. Woyzeck does that exact thing. He cries an awful lot and goes back to avenge his new cause, his new source of misery. The thing he loves the most is Marie and yet when something is bringing negativity to your life, you cannot help but try and remove it. A man brought to this has to be completely broken. My version of Woyzeck is going to be completely broken by the situation he's put into and therefore has nothing left but to be extremely honest and explosive in his actions. I see him as a character that is completely trying to shoot a ball in to a goal, in order to get approval. But no one else can see the goal. He's constantly trying to show people things that he can't prove, because much of his world operates within his brain. 

POST TRAUMATIC STRESS- THE ESSENTIALS

Re-experiencing

Re-experiencing is the most typical symptom of PTSD. This is when a person involuntarily and vividly re-lives the traumatic event in the form of:

• flashbacks
• nightmares
• repetitive and distressing images or sensations
• physical sensations – such as  pain, sweating, nausea or trembling 

Pain, sweating, nausea or trembling- I think thinking of times in the play where these occur are essential.

Hyperarousal often leads to:

• irritability- 
• I think this essential with my scenes with Andres and doctor.

• angry outbursts- 
• This gives me a little more justification for the moments of angry outbursts that he has during some of his scenes with Andres and Marie.

• sleeping problems (insomnia)
• "I can't sleep" and "I can't get any rest from it" need to be completely genuine in truth.

• difficulty concentrating- 
• This is definitely applicable to the fair scenes

THOUGHTS I THINK THROUGHOUT THE PLAY

Beginning to think of these sort of things in depth is beginning to help me build the circles of at tension that I am aware of.

I loved the circles of attention work that we have done this week because it's made me ask questions about who and what type of relationships I have with people in the play. Who EXACTLY are they to my character and why are they in that position. The biggest question I had was about the Captain in this session- I think it's pointed out to me that Captain isn't directly in their with Woyzeck- my response to that is that even the outskirts won't give him a break.

COPYING OF LINES. LEARNING LINES

Copying lines out is definitely one way I have been able to not only learn the lines- but divide them in to their different sections. With my end monologue above its been a good way of finding what sections that may need different LABAN efforts applied to it too. 

It is certainly not a way of managing to connect with the language but it is a starting point to learning the lines and getting them from the page to the mind. The issues I have found with learning some lines like this, is that they are not always in your body- they often show you to learn things in a pattern or not necessarily imbedded.

'FREEMASONS'

PLAY RELEVANCE