Annette Campbell 0922152 blog assessment 2

Callery states that “Devising is rooted in the concept of the creative actor developing idea’s from tasks”. (Callery, D.2002: pg 165) In the creative process of 'four ways to speak out' one of the key strategies of devising that were used involved the usage of play. Introducing the play method enabled us to experiment without the need of a stimulus. This provided an adequate amount of freedom which enabled us to create pieces to levels in which we may never have experienced. It also allowed us to express ourselves in a way that uses our bodies to create pieces rather than our minds. Referring back to semester 1 we learnt a palette of techniques in our play sessions. The techniques that we had learnt have been proven to be extremely beneficial when creating pieces for ‘four ways to speak out’. The reason being is that our bodies are now trained to hold different body weights and we remember certain movements through body memory. Another strategy that has been fundamental throughout this process is the clap method. The clap method has proven to be a success throughout our ensemble pieces as it has provided the opportunity for each person to provide an input by creating a gesture that relates to domestic abuse. It is important that when devising different pieces, we should not allow ourselves to become precious with the creations we have made as this is a working process and ideas will constantly change throughout. “Devised theatre can start from an infinite number of possibilities such as an idea, image, concept, object, poem, piece of music or painting and the precise nature of the end product is unknown”(Oddey.A, 1994, pg.1).

In the beginning my character was portrayed to be a woman full of confidence, extremely self involved and likes to think of herself as a highly respected individual that the community aspire to. As she was the owner of a wine bar i imagined her to be the type of person who was the life and soul of a party and was friends with the whole community. I also had a sense that my character was not the nice person that everyone perceived her to be. Although she was friends with the missing lady, there was a huge resentment towards her that my character kept hidden. Throughout the process of p&p, my character has transformed into the opposite of what i imagined her to be. As my character was placed into a trio working with Huma and Sarah, it has changed my perspective. My character is no longer this confident, colourful individual. She has become extremely paranoid and feels over protective over her two other friends. She no longer feels any resentment towards the missing woman and is deeply concerned about her well being. As the three of us have lost our dear friend which has had a huge impact on us, i am determined to keep the other two women safe from Andy.

Throughout the process of the performance, my characters physicality had transformed into the opposite of what it once was. At the start of the process when walking around the space, my spine was straight, the shoulders were back and i held my head high making slow movements to walk around the space. When we were placed in our trio as my character had changed, my whole body language began to mold with my new character. When walking around the community my spine is curved and i am constantly looking around to see how far Andy is away from me. My pace has began to speed up and my facial expressions are never relaxed. During the piece there becomes a point in which i regain my confidence but this only lasts a few minutes. This is during the first duet piece, as i travel the room to reach my partner my spine is straight, the shoulders are back and my head is held high. For some unknown reason during these few minutes, i am no longer afraid of Andy and he is no threat to me. The character that i now portray would not have been the character i would of chose but it does fit well in the sections i work in.


Bibliography

(Oddey. A. Devised Theatre: A practical and Theoretical handbook. London, Routledge, 1994)
(Callery.D Through the Body. London, Routledge 2001)