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I like this video i was involved in so thought I'd post it...

Client: Avusa Media
Production Company: Mann Made Media
My Role: Concept Development
Written by Nick Warren

"We see you!..." - The art of mocking

In the Wings has its first guest writer... the ever brilliant supremely wonderful Vika Mia Dahlberg-Hansen to talk about Bouffon and Grotesque from this past month at Helikos International School of Theatre Creation... Where she is currently studying...

Dancing Bouffons!
photo by Stefano Borghi

Hello! This is Vika, a fellow traveller at the HELIKOS journey; I am honoured to be a guest writer on this blog as I have always told Jenine that I consider it my best notes.

Jenine asked me to write about last term where we studied Grotesque and the art of mocking in the crazy world of Bouffon –or Buffoons as I have heard English speakers call them. I had never heard of them before they invaded the school…who are they? Well, they have big white puffed bodies; their shape is somewhat human, but twisted into a grotesque version of the human form. Giovanni tells us that they are minor Gods related to satyrs, who come to our world, and love to imitate it, because to the Bouffons everything is a game, and their favourite game is called “Human Society”. They see everything and will play with the subjects most dear or painful too us: family, moral, race, religion, war… Nobody or anything can feel safe…

How to become a Bouffon? Well, once you have got your puffed body, you need to change your state of mind into an extremely playful one, somehow similar to that of a child – but with absolutely no feelings about what you play except for the ecstatic excitement of the game. And then you have to change the way you look at things, isn’t it all fun? The gaze in your eyes will adjust and get a slightly sadistic smile behind… and AH! The Bouffon has arrived, as Giovanni would state. Now all you need is a Band – a gang of fellows up to no good – ready to mock in jubilation…

Of course there are many ways to mock something. A character might contain a mocking aspect, but the treatment is somehow compassionate, a clown is the mocking of the actor behind it, but in both cases they generously give or share their suffering with the audience…the Bouffons take from and feed off the audience and make them suffer. At best it should be almost unbearable to watch, and the laughter is different, if it comes… once you have surrendered to the madness.

At our show Giovanni warned the audience that the might feel offended, but he did not apologize, because it is not the artist that makes the world grotesque, the world is full of contradictions. The Bouffons have no opinion, they just play the game, can you imagine to be part of this?

However, even if the Bouffons have no opinion the actors and writes behind them do, and you have to check what you want to say, and first of all check that in the mocking of a subject you must mock EVERYTHING about it… luckily the Bouffons have no problem with that.

So if you mock the subject of abortion, make sure you get around both the people for and against. In the mocking of the event of 9/11 let the Bouffons scream with fear as they watch the airplanes crash but at the same time let them take photos in excitement and film it for YouTube. And if you let the Bouffons have a go at the people who do not care about the extreme exploit of the third world, have them also mock the new age conscious consumers who feel like such a better person. And in the end do not forget to give a kick at artists who make art about social injustice through the art of mocking...

Bouffons are played at an extremely high level of tension and energy,
and after a full of play you would find big white pools of exhausted actors lying around the floor of the studio...
photo by Stefano Borghi 

After the crazy mind-blowing period of mocking madness we worked on grotesque characters. The word grotesque means something that is hidden. What lies underneath?

A singing duo.
photo by Stefano Borghi

There are several levels of grotesqueness in the world around us, all you need to do is push the hints further to find what was hidden. Often it means that the dynamic of a character must be pushed so far that the complete opposite will appear. Something is grotesque when the mask and counter mask are present at the same time, like fear and excitement, like complete order and absolute chaos… like a vulgar woman singing a sentimental love-song or a diva that demands: look at me – don’t look at me!..

The pushed contradicting dynamic creates an extreme tension that twists the characters and makes them suffer. The physical forms, like the Bouffons, are also puffed with stuffing underlining or creating a tension in the body. Any character can be pushed to the grotesque, it is a bit like wearing the character inside out and turning the volume to the max… sometimes you find quite surprising things stirring underneath the surface in the grotto –tesque.

Ahhhh.
photo by Stefano Borghi

Thank you Vika... you rock!

Love,

Jenine

Stand Alone

After working for such a long time on solo shows... namely Dirt and Sunday Morning... We have just launched into a two-hander. And it is so exciting. But before I move on to that I wanted to pay homage to the stage craft of solo performance... it seamed right as James Cuningham just won the Fleur du Cap for best actor in a solo show for Sunday Morning... It's rough being out there alone. And i've only done it in a short scene never mind an hour long play... with such a massive crescendo. 

What is it like to be on stage alone. James described it once as going from doubles tennis to singles. That your co-performer really is the audience.  That is it can be lonely and often exhilarating. 

Recently I received photo's from our final performance at Helikos... a few of which were solo performances... So... a bit about those...

Barbara in her solo performance of the Bavarian story Brandner Kasper
photo by Stefano Borghi

The moment arrived when we all had to stand alone on stage... The audience, the lights, the silence, the anticipation, the nerves... the waiting. Ahh. You step out and it's just you.  You alone... to make it happen or let it fall... and only have yourself to blame. The best form of defense is attack. They say. So go for it! Tell me a story. And we did. And in some ways I feel I learnt the most about theatre from this period of solo storytelling. So many essential theatre rules are amplified.  

Vika in her solo performance of the Snow Queen
photo by Stefano Borghi

Like... 

Action reaction... it is not possible for both your characters to speak at the same time... never-mind a group of gawking on-lookers inspecting Saartjie Baartman... or a league of angels swooping down to fight the Snow Queen's Snow Bees...  

Rhythm... if there are no suspensions there is no time to breathe... pause... give the audience (and yourself) a chance to take it in.  

Voice rhythm and resonance... no two characters should sound the same or it can be confusing... 'who is she now?' Someone in the front row whispers. Shu. Liz our voice teacher helped me so much with this one in my solo piece as some of the characters were starting to bleed into one another... Resonance is one one aspect of voice but so is rhythmical speech patterns. She has the most amazing ear for this. Respect.

Body shape... no two characters should have the same vibration, consistency, shape... 'which one is this again?'

Space...  Somehow one person creating space, drawing images in the mind of the audience, is so quintessentially theatrical. Because firstly it is quite difficult so one has to be rather inventive and suggestive, and so the imagined space can become huge... We feel like we can really see the mountains and valley's of Bavaria... the long and lonely corridors of the Ice Palace... the star spangled African night sky shining down.

Articulation. Play. Crescendo. The necessity of the audience.

Of course. But these rules are so amplified when it is just you.  Alone.

Me in my solo performance of Saartjie Baartman
photo by Stefano Borghi

I have a new found respect for what James Cairns and James Cuningham do in Dirt and Sunday Morning respectively. It's not easy to stand alone.

Beautiful things.

I spent a wonderful evening at the press launch event in Johannesburg of Kirsten Goss and Missibaba... Such stunning hand-made jewelry and hand-crafted leather bags and belts... a stunning combination of some of the most exquisite South African products around.  My sister, Renee Schonborn... who does the PR for Kirsten Goss asked me to take a few pics... which I did... and below are some of them.  For my efforts Kirsten gave me sweetest gold star necklace.  How lovely.  I wear it every day.

Chloe Townsend creative genius of Missibaba

The dynamic Kirsten Goss and Chloe... both wearing gorgeous Kirsten Goss necklaces

Kirsten and her infectious smile

my sister Renee Schonborn and Chloe... posing x

The stars of the show... Missibaba goodies

Jewels jewels and more Kirsten Goss jewels 

Champagne and fizzers.  Of course.

Yum.

Tell me a story...

Upon leaving Helikos at the end of 2012 the last thing Giovanni said to me was... when you get home... Teach.  I told this to a friend of mine here in SA and her immediate reaction was 'oh dear - weren't you very good?'  And I laughed - firstly that this is the perception of teaching - so wrong - and secondly that I'd never even thought about it like that. So no - that's not why. The reason is because one should pass it on... Share some of what I've been so lucky enough to learn to people who would like to learn it... rock on!

Freya, Justin and Vika... being Pirates from our Pirates of the Caribbean Bandes Mime performance at the end of 2012

...So after a few weeks of being home this voice got a bit louder... But there were a few questions making it not that easy to answer... Where, what and how... I wanted something that was more substantial than a once-off workshop, somewhere not as restrictive and full time as a high school or a university, and most importantly... a place with students who want to be there. So I contacted the Market Theatre Laboratory... The Market Theatre Laboratory was started a number of years ago as a place for underprivileged students to come and study theatre. What a wonderful thing. Happily my application was successful and within a few weeks I had my first class. Storytelling. That's the title of my class... and my favourite thing in the whole world. Why would anybody ever want to do anything other than tell stories?

So we began... a room of 11 totally keen totally engaged totally talented second year students.  And it is such fun... Mainly we are looking at crescendo and theatrical space. Always with the space! How can we leave the theatre? How can we see the soccer field, the desert, the jungle, the bar... but really see it and not intellectually know where we are through dialogue, indication and explanations... but really go to there. Because that's what its all about. To really go there... into the imagined world.  Sometimes when it happens their faces light up like a brand new thought. ...It's what we all want, when we go to the theatre... To dream. To believe.

Tara reading the treasure map... where X marks the spot!

So the students have started bringing in short stories, fairytales and such that we will begin the very exciting process of transposing them for stage... Yay.

Tara, Me, Freya, Justin and Vika... watching the bird fly off with a precious piece of our gold!

This sequence of images (all taken by Stefano Borghi) is from our bande mimeé show... a troupe of mimes... telling our version of The Pirates of the Caribbean at Helikos International School of Theatre Creation... where it was all about play, rhythm, sound, crescendo, and of course, the space... Giovanni often said that it is your right to have fun on stage - and then it is your obligation.  And in Pirates... we had a whole load of fun.

And in the end... the young lovers find each other x
Sweet.