The cry of the gesture

We had the wonderful Norman Taylor again for two morning workshops.  Of course it was unutterably brilliant... Movement analysis... of course... mime.  Articulation of the space.  The space.  Always with 'the space!'  So we did the Le Coq articulation phrase - Make a cocktail.  

1... see the cocktail shaker on the counter

2... open the hand out wide ready to take the shaker... the cry of the gesture...

...Norman calls this wide spread hand the cry of the gesture...  I love that.  It made me want to do it.  That my hand spoke of a cry for movement.  Ja.  But when it comes to the technical side of this work... poetry really can see one through!  And its funny with mime, things you normally know without having to think - like which way to twist open the cocktail shaker - simply goes out the window and everyone is asking... which way is open?!  Something one never considers... or gets wrong... when opening a tap!  As Norman with a wide smile and fixing his hair continues to say... You have to be a maniac for the detail... don't miss a beat... be ridiculously big, in order to become small... in the same way that children learn to write big in order to write small... 

AHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... ringing through the streets of Florence!

Because when you break it down the amount of detail in a simple movement phrase is staggering.  I'm going to leave it at step 2 - The cry of the gesture. 

That afternoon we did our Larval mask performance...  With scrambled brains from articulation articulation articulation... we decided that when in doubt... articulate... and breathe!  Our feedback was next time try to articulate the play rather than play the articulation... Of course...  Which we did.  

Go big to go small.  Articulation.

me, Nicole, Vika and Lucy in larval masks

My alien!

We finished our home made masks!  The amazing thing is they all seem to have soul. Yay.  Even my alien!  I know.  You wouldn't really say it by looking at it.  But it's true.  So exciting.  Of course Matteo helped everyone with reconstructive surgery and some much needed paint make-overs... in most cases to calm the masks and help them to come to life on stage.  The mask proposes a physical form and a state which proposes specific play and brings the mask to life.  Like magic.  But if the mask is stuck... what Giovanni calls an expression mask rather than an expressive mask... then it is better to hang the mask on the wall and start again.  The mask depending on how you play it physically has to have more than one emotion... and hopefully even several.  The mask and the counter mask.

My sleeping profile

Following our personal creations... or our artistic statements... We have began the process of learning how to make masks properly... professionally!  Starting with the profile of the face.  After observing and drawing each other profiles, from a small lump of clay we had to create a three dimensional profile...  As I was working on one side of the profile from the top down... Surprisingly she ended up looking like she was sleeping... with the weight of slumber.  Let the form emerge.  And it did.  Art.

A pinprick for the light...

Some of the basic principals of the stage are simply... action, reaction, listening, high level of energy, listening, breathing, listening, crescendo, listening, articulation of space, listening... simple.  Sure.  In theory.  But everything we do here is improvised.  Gets a bit trickier.  And of course the wonderful repartee... 'The theme is the theme!'  Meaning as soon as a character walks on stage a 'theme' is established... A movement theme like a simple example is, they can't sit down... or they are waiting... or they are impatient or what ever.  As soon as a second character enters - at exactly the right moment - of course (because you were listening!) -  that established theme must be developed from the dynamic between the two characters...  Yes of course.  Development.  Obviously.  But really, even spotting the theme, so that you can actually develop it, takes super duper skills in.... listening!  Mmm.  Giovanni continually tells us that we are 'doomed to play the theme!'  So, if you don't feel what you do on stage and suddenly you change it... it stops working and the scene dies.  You've killed the play.  Basta.  Over.  Start again.  Listening.  So this is very fine and complex work.  Art.  Grr.

So there's that...

Now imagine placing brown bag over your face with a few pinprick holes punched into it and do all of the above... listen... act... react... clock the audience... articulate... breathe... develop the theme... technique... sentiment... listen!  Ahhhhhh!  And you can't actually see... never mind listen.  Swan dive off the Duomo...

Enter... daa daaa... Masks!

The other wonderful repartee... 'of course it's impossible... now go do it.'  And amazingly once you get over basically being blind... and have spent enough time looking at the mask and finding a shape with your body... and you breathe... play arrives.  Essential play.  Because most of the time you are pausing to 'listen' to what your on stage partner is doing so that you can react accordingly... hopefully.  And you have no idea what you are actually doing.  Because really you are blind.  But you have to trust the form and the mask.  Commit to the sense of play.  And only then can the mask live.  The mask really comes alive... seemingly changes facial expression with the actors changing sentiment.  A grumpy face suddenly smiles.  An arrogant face crumbles with sadness.  An aggressive face is suddenly overwhelmed.  And it is wonderful to watch.  Every tiny thing is amplified.  The smallest hand movement.  A look.  A breath.  The everyday becomes epic.  Matteo (movement teacher and mask maker extraordinaire!) keeps reminding us... inside a drop of rain is the whole universe.

And through the tiniest pinprick... light by which to play.

So... we have started this journey with larval masks, these are non-expressive masks, that force simple amplified essential play... non speaking masks that are very loud.

Photo courtesy of Helikos ... Larval Masks, the eyes of the mask are not the eyes of the actor... if you look closely you will see the pinpricks which let in the light!

At the same time as we burst open the door to this fantastic world we were also tasked to make our own mask without any help from each other or google... or whoever.  I tried to imagine if I had never made a mask before... what would I do... and this is what I came up with...

one - a balloon

two - paper mache

three - an alien! yay.
 four, the actual mask, will be in the next post.

Mmm... We get to play our home made masks next week in front of the public.  Lucky public! Art... and crafts.  What fun.

Cosi alla vita... Such is life

Our first project for second year has been a wonderful journey of four weeks from observation to performance.  An absolute luxury to fully focus in on one thing...  The assignment was an 'inchieste' - an intense observation of something in life... the subject matter was left wide open for each group to decide on, so long as it was observable... and not for example 'the meaning of life...'  The observation includes rhythm, form, dynamic, architecture, text, colour, sound, sentiment, images and so on... The idea behind the observation is so that one does not start from an ideology - meaning from what you think you know about the chosen subject - but rather to slowly discover it as it is, as truthfully as possible, and only then transpose it for the stage.  The group I was in chose aging / old age as the subject... And really, I think this has been one of the most profound and moving experiences of my life.  

We started very slowly... sitting in a corner cafe watching a lone old man in a faded red coat and a battered cap, sitting on his fold out chair outside his second hand book shop looking up and down the road, hardly moving, talking to the people who passed by or sometimes just to himself.  A fixed point for the life teaming, swirling, hurtling past him.  Within a few days we entered into another world.  A side of Florence where no tourists go.  Down winding cobbled Florence streets in through secret doors into an otherwise hidden world where people mostly over 70 line dance, gamble, rock n roll, play cards, sing and star in amateur theatrical reproductions of The Odyssey... which had Helena and I literally bent over crying with laughter until our stomaches ached.  Naturally the whole performance was in Italian and I understood nothing and, of course, understood everything... The leading man, playing Odyssey, could not remember even one of his lines... the monster cyclops constantly forgot all his actions his entrances and exits... the fortune teller kept whacking her forehead to light up her 'crystal ball' which was one of those light-up bouncy balls kids love...  the main woman, playing Penelope, delivered all her dialogue in the most fantastically melodramatic displays of theatrical performance I have ever seen.  I thought I was going to die laughing.  The singing mermaids in full wigs and tie on wooden tails... The show and tell dance moves.  The chorus of directors on and off stage who kept shouting out when ever someone forgot something.  Honestly.  I just loved it.  It was nothing short of wonderful.  It was like we were let into a secret world behind the grey stone walls of Florence.  If one is going to live to ripe old age, then the Italians are doing something right... staring as the leading man in The Odyssey... or still being lead in dramatic dance... seams like a fun way to enjoy the time. 

We also visited an old age home... an impressive historical building with immensely high pressed ceilings, a massive crystal chandelier, an intricate marble floor...  It was beautiful and tragic at the same time.  They sat around like broken rocks, their once strong bodies bent with time and weathered by their past stormy lives... Finally giving in to gravity.  Just sitting.  Waiting.  A tissue.  A tightly clutched hand bag.  A string of pearls.  A neatly buttoned up cardigan.  A cup of tea.  A piece of cake.  A quietly watering eye.  A shaking hand.  A song from their youth sang with no need of an audience. 

There was one woman in particular in the library room who just sat there, every now and then she opened her eyes and asked for a mint... to which the others would laugh and tease her, as apparently she always asks for a mint.  It was very moving... the bullying... the waiting.  Why not just give her a mint.

The highlight of the old age home came just as we were planning to leave... an Italian performer arrived to deliver one of the songs from Dante's Divine Comedy.  As soon as everyone finally settled down he began his wonderfully dramatic recital... people fidgeted... coughed... walked through the performance space... blew their noses... whispered... 

'Which song is it?' 

'I don't know, but definitely we are in Hell.'  

A wonderful piece of dialogue that also made it into our final show.

The thing about observing like this all day for two full weeks... including the weekends and a number of evenings... was that what we were observing, as well as things we didn't even know we were consciously observing became insidious.  Little things we saw began to creep in slowly and manifest in our individual performances as well as in the themes of the piece as a whole... the immense joy we surprisingly experience almost everywhere we went... the care in each and every gesture... the time it takes to perform simple tasks... the loss of choice...  the solitude... a vital mind with a body that is giving up... this thing that old people carry their whole history with them, in the folds of the skin, in their gestures, in their gaze... and of course, ultimately the waiting for the end to arrive. 

When we finally came to transpose all this for the stage, what was really great, and very important, was that we did not have a piece of parody, mockery or melodrama that in some way could have belittled the experience we'd had observing.  We ended up with eight scenes and a through-line of the soul of old people that somehow connected them together.  A poetry that was evocative rather than explicative.  Ultimately bringing the audience right into the piece with this knowledge that one day we will all be there.  Waiting for the end.

'Non si sa quando, non si sa dove, non si sa come... ma arrivera, e quando diciammo, benvenuta ti stavamo aspettando.'

'We don't know when, where or how, but it will arrive, and when it does we will say welcome, we have been waiting.'

A snap shot of the final scene... Vika, Lucy, Tara, Me, Helena, Alenka and Peter

Below are some photo's that I took whilst walking around Florence during our observation weeks... I will never look at old people in the same way.  I feel I have been changed for ever.  Like I have somehow in someway experienced the old person that I may become.

Such is life... one day you get old.

Where I walked #2

We headed back to Il Progresso, the old communist headquarters in Florence and our old studio from last year.  The first year students presented their creation there... 24 hours of Santo Spirito.  This is also where I lived last year... so it was kind of strange and wonderful to be back in this part of Florence... the familiar streets, the people we made friends with in the cafe on the corner, the eccentric characters frequenting the communist bar...  The first years have fully launched their Helikos roller-coaster adventure!  So exciting.  

Andrea, Dylan and Justin opposite Il Progresso, smoking and being cool on a tossed out sofa next to a line of smelly bins.  Lovely!

Shooting Alex

Event Client: Mann Made Media

Corporate Client: SAB (South African Breweries)

Event: Zenzele / Perfect Peak Roadshow (external audience)

Venues: Live show in Joburg | Video shows all across South Africa 

My Role: Creative Head, Live Co-Script Writer, Live Theatre Director & Live to Video Director

On-set shots for another live theatre production for the medium of film.  This is a roadshow that only has one large live show and the rest is a video rollout to smaller regions across South Africa.  So once again - the video does not form a simple record but rather a stand alone tool of education through entertainment.

So, we shot in the Johannesburg township, Alexandra.  I have a play called Weekend Special which is set on the dusty streets of Alexandra - and spending three days here on set was wonderful - there is such a vital life force and sense of community which in my opinion is just about not present in the suburbs.  I mean - I don't even know who my neighbors are!  For most of us, we never dare venture past the boarder between Alex and Sandton.  This was one of the reasons for making the play Weekend Special... we take the show mostly to private schools in Johannesburg, and whilst entertaining these kids, we also transport them into a township setting - many of whom would possibly only have seen from the Highway as they drive past.  This is all kind of besides the point... all i'm saying is being on set here, once again, reminds me of how diverse this city is.  And of how much I dig it.

Below is my favourite moment in the video where old man Baba Sfiso rushes down the road to tell Bra S'bu what his competitor Ma Miriam is up to in her tavern... such fun.

Here are three images of the chorus led by the main character Ma Miriam doing their thing... a teaser to the rest of the show... which i'll talk more about soon.  Rocking.  Our live show is in Johannesburg towards the end of this month.  It will also mark my last show before heading off back to Italy for second year at Helikos theatre school.

SAB Responsible Trader Roadshow

Event Client: Mann Made Media

Corporate Client: SAB (South African Breweries)

Event: Educational Roadshow (external audience)

Venues: Live shows in Durban, Joburg, Cape Town | Video shows all across South Africa 

My Role: Creative Head, Live & Animation Script Writer, Live Theatre Director & Live to Video Director, Animation Director

This has been the biggest show I have worked on... I think possibly ever!  It was such an exciting and wonderful job to be a part of.  Firstly the message rocked... we were to educate tavern owners, SAB's clients, all around South Africa on how to trade alcohol responsibly... If every tavern owner were to trade responsibly... this is how we stand a chance to change a community and ultimately an entire society.  In South Africa alcohol abuse is a serious issue (as it is every where in the world...) and the core messaging was around compliance, customers drinking too much, pregnant women and drinking, underage drinking and drinking and driving.

Industrial theatre was the at the heart of the delivery medium... from there we filmed the entire show, carefully translating the live piece to fully work in the medium of film.  This was such a great and wonderful challenge... the reason being that all too often filmed theatre simply does not work beyond a mere record of the work.  However here the vast majority of our audience were only going to see the filmed version of the show and therefore the impact and educational out-take of these video's had to match that of live performance.  And I believe we succeeded.

We had a cast of five wonderful performers.  Hamilton Dhalmini played the tavern owner and the rest formed a theatrical chorus of workers in the tavern doubling up to deliver section specific monologues and role play scenes of... for example... 'how to handle a pregnant woman who comes into your tavern asking for a beer' ... and so on.  On stage the chorus device was fabulous - keeping the show buoyant, engaging and ultimately educational.  Education through entertainment at it's best.  For the video version we used the chorus in a musical-type way, and therefore not a million miles from it's live counterpart... how wonderful - it was such fun.

Here are some shots of the live show and stills from the shoot.  I'll upload a taste of the video's in a separate post.  Rock on theatre entertainment for education.  For me personally this is superb art... amazing actors working so easily on stage and in front of the camera with the same material... outstanding cinematography from Tom Marais - what a legend... Stunning narrative editing from Kirsten de Magalhaes - who totally understood where we were headed with this and then took it further...  Mic Mann as Executive Producer who worked more weekends and through the night more times than I could ever... Bruce Sherwell the animator on the final impact animation - a force of talent who too worked unthinkable hours to create such delicate work.  And finally Nick Warren the Creative Director at MMM who conceived, developed and sold this amazingly executed concept... without the idea, you have nothing at all.  Of course there are many many more people who make a show this big happen.

So... a meaningful show.  A rocking team.  Yay. 

Lerato Moloi on set as the chorus tavern worker... how pretty!?

Bongani Madondo on set as the chorus tavern worker... fantastic.

Hamilton Dhlamini on set as S'bu the tavern owner... rocking.

Bongani Madondo on set as Baba Sfiso in his final position... my favorite shot of the shoot... musical vibe!

Random of us getting ready... set up for a later green screen shoot... delightfully complex.

Tom Marais... another green screen positioning for later... what a wonderful dude... so much talent!

The audience arrives for our show in Johannesburg... bus loads of Tavern and outlet owners pored in.

Baba Sfiso comes to talk to S'bu in the live performance... 

The chorus on stage!  

The chorus getting the tavern ready...

Black Madondo at the end of his monologue...

 about to be joined by the rest of the chorus in a moment of celebration!

An intoxicated customer wanting to buy another drink... in the 'how to' section.

The end of drunk driving in the 'how to' section where the drunk guy thinks the worker is trying to steal his car

- this was one of my favourite bits in the live!

Jessica at the end of her rather rousing and emotion monologue on Foetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Beautiful actress. 

The wonderful Hamilton Dhlamini as S'bu in the live... come again!! 

SAB Dinaledi Event

Event Client: Mann Made Media

Corporate Client: SAB

Event: Launch (external audience)

Venue: SAB Warehouse

My Role: Script Writer & Concept development

Following on from the roaring success of S'bu in the Taverner Roadshow the next brief was to bring to life one of the other characters that he spoke of previously - thus really bringing to life the world of township taverns and the different characters and issues they each deal with. Bongani Madondo is a wonderful actor and James Cuningham directed it beautifully. Yay for great work.

Toyota... celebrating 30 years!

Event Client: Mann Made Media

Corporate Client: Toyota

Event: Staff Briefing (internal audience)

Venue: Theatre on the Track

My Role: Live Theatre Director

One of the most wonderful things (and there are many) about Corporate Theatre work - that makes my heart beat faster - is the level of performer one gets to work with. On this event I worked with Hamilton Dhlamini and Mncedisi Shabangu. These two actors are like thoroughbred race horses with energy that fills and overflows from the stage over an audience and much much further. They played the part of two newspaper vendors, with such style and class and generosity, who told the story of Toyota's 30 years of market leadership... The vibrant and powerful script, written by MMM Creative Director Nick Warren, went through the 3 decades from the 80's, 90's and 00's touching on historical moments in South African history, world history and juxtaposed with Toyota's massive achievements in this time both locally and internationally. It is work like this, live performance in front of a widely non-theatre going audience, where one sees the absolute power of theatre.

The brilliant Mncedisi Shabangu and Hamilton Dhamini

The very funny and extremely adaptable Deborah Da Cruz seamlessly stepped in at the last minute and took the flighty and very strict role of Floor Manager during the dress rehearsal when we realised we needed one... her job was keep things on track.

Deborah Da Cruz in action

Nick moving screens around and re-positioning the very many cars that had to drive on stage at different times.

Thanks Mann Made - it rocked!

Where I walked

It is fall in Florence.  The leaves are returning to the earth.  The wind is picking up.  The promise of rain, ever present.  Our first two weeks of being back at Helikos has been - mostly - dedicated to inchiesta... studying deeply a subject matter that interests you.  A theme in life that you can observe.  We have chosen old age.  Whilst out looking for a rumoured bar where old men gather to play cards we stumbled upon this park...  Autumn appropriately approves of our choice.  

like bent old ladies with fabulous hair do's

Where I walked