Choosing our greek myth

In today's lesson we were asked to vote for which greek myth we wanted to perform. We could either choose Jason & the golden fleece or the story of Aries. I voted for Jason and the Golden Fleece because I believe it would appeal to our audience more than the story of Aries. Jason and the Golden Fleece has slot more characters in meaning people are able to multi-role. I also found the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece more interesting than Aries, and it would be easier to develop. At the end of the lesson we decided to do Jason and the Golden Fleece.

Jason and the Golden Fleece

Also see The Illustrated Jason. Heroic leader of the Argonauts, a team of heroes who journeyed from Greece to distant Colchis in quest of the Golden Fleece. Jason was the son of the lawful king of Iolcus, but his uncle Pelias had usurped the throne. Pelias lived in constant fear of losing what he had taken so unjustly. He kept Jason's father a prisoner and would certainly have murdered Jason at birth. But Jason's mother deceived Pelias by mourning as if Jason had died. Meanwhile the infant was bundled off to the wilderness cave of Chiron the Centaur. Chiron tutored Jason in the lore of plants, the hunt and the civilized arts. When Jason came of age he set out like a proper hero to claim his rightful throne. Unbeknownst, he was to play his part in a plan hatched on lofty Mount Olympus, where Hera, wife of mighty Zeus himself, nursed a rage against King Pelias. For Jason's uncle, the usurper king, had honored all the gods but Hera. Rashly had he begrudged the Queen of Heaven her due. Hera's plan was fraught with danger; it would require a true hero. To test Jason's mettle, she contrived it that he came to a raging torrent on his way to Iolcus. And on the bank was a withered old woman. Would Jason go about his business impatiently, or would he give way to her request to be ferried across the stream? Jason did not think twice. Taking the crone on his back, he set off into the current. And halfway across he began to stagger under her unexpected weight. For the old woman was none other than Hera in disguise. Some say that she revealed herself to Jason on the far shore and promised her aid in his quest. Others claim that Jason never learned of the divine service he had performed. Jason lost a sandal in the swift-moving stream. This would prove significant in Hera's revenge. For an oracle had warned King Pelias, "Beware a stranger who wears but a single sandal." When Jason arrived in Iolcus, he asserted his claim to the throne. His uncle Pelias had no intention of giving it up, particularly to a one-shoed stranger. Under the mask of hospitality, he invited Jason to a banquet. And during the course of the meal, he engaged him in conversation. "You say you've got what it takes to rule a kingdom," said Pelias. "May I take it that you're fit to deal with the thorny problems that arise? For example, how would you go about getting rid of someone who was giving you difficulties?" Jason considered for a moment, eager to show a kingly knack for problem solving. "Send him after the Golden Fleece?" he suggested. "Not a bad idea," responded Pelias. "It's just the sort of quest that any hero worth his salt would leap at. Why, if he succeeded he'd be remembered down through the ages. Tell you what, why don't you go?" And so it came to pass that word went out the length and breadth of Greece that Jason was looking for shipmates to embark upon a perilous but highly glamorous adventure. And despite that Pelias had been attracted to the idea precisely because of the miniscule chances of anyone surviving to lay eyes upon the Fleece let alone get past the guarding dragon and return with the prize, large numbers of heroes were ready to run the risk. Among them were Heracles and the heroine Atalanta. So Jason arranged to have a ship constructed by the worthy shipwright Argus, who in a fit of vanity named the vessel more or less after himself, calling her the "Argo". Argus had divine sponsorship in his task. The goddess Hera, who had it in for Pelias, enlisted the aid of her fellow goddess Athena. This patroness of crafts secured a prow for the vessel from timber hewn at the sacred grove of almighty Zeus. This prow had the magical property of speaking - and prophesying - in a human voice. And so one bright autumn morning the Argo set out to sea, her benches crewed by lusty ranks of heroic rowers. And true to Pelias's fondest aspirations, it wasn't long before big troubles assailed the company. After stopping for better than a fortnight on an island populated exclusively by women, they put in at Salmydessus. The king welcomed them but was in no mood for festive entertainment. Because he'd offended the gods, he'd been set upon by woman-headed, bird-bodied, razor-clawed scourges known as Harpies. These Harpies were possessed of reprehensible table manners. Every evening at dinnertime, they dropped by to defecate upon the king's repast and hung around making such a racket that he wouldn't have been able to eat had he the stomach for it. As a result, King Phineus grew thinner by the hour. Fortunately two of Jason's crew were direct descendants of the North Wind, which gave them the power to fly. And they kindly chased the Harpies so far away that the king was never bothered again. In thankfulness, he informed the Argonauts of a danger just ahead on the route to the Golden Fleece - namely two rocks called the Symplegades, which had the disconcerting habit of crashing together upon any ship that passed between them. Phineus suggested that it might be best not to experience the effect of these Clashing Rocks firsthand. And he even suggested a mechanism by which this might be avoided. If someone or something could be induced to pass between the crags first, causing them to clash together, the Argo could follow quickly behind, passing through safely before the Symplegades were ready to snap shut again. By means of this device, Jason caused the rocks to spring together prematurely. The Argo was able to pass between them relatively unscathed. Only her very stern was nipped and splintered. Once arrived in Colchis, Jason had to face a daunting series of challenges before he could even get to the grove where the Golden Fleece was hanging. And it was another irascible king who handed out the assignments. King Aeetes of Colchis was ruler of this barbarian kingdom on the far edge of the heroic world. He and his people were not kindly disposed toward strangers. On an earlier occasion, however, he had extended a gracious hand to a visitor from Jason's home town. This may have been due to the newcomer's unorthodox mode of transportation. For he arrived on the back of a golden-fleeced flying ram. The stranger's name was Phrixus, and he and his sister had been on the point of being sacrificed when the ram carried them off. The sister, whose name was Helle, had fallen from the ram's back into the narrow passage of water that came to be called the Hellespont in her memory. But Phrixus arrived safely in Colchis, where he sacrificed the ram to the gods and hung its fleece in a grove. Aeetes gave him the hand of one of his daughters in marriage. King Aeetes had taken a disliking to Jason on sight. He had no particular fondness for handsome young strangers who came traipsing into his kingdom on glorious quests featuring the trampling of his sacred grove and the carrying off of his personal property. For King Aeetes considered the Golden Fleece to be his own, and he was in the midst of telling Jason just what he could do with his precious quest when he was suddenly reminded of the obligations of hospitality by another of his daughters named Medea. Medea was motivated by more than good manners. For the goddess Hera had been looking out for Jason's interests, and she had succeeded in persuading her fellow goddess Aphrodite to intervene on Jason's behalf. It was no problem at all for the Goddess of Love to arrange that Medea be stricken with passion for Jason the moment she first saw him. And it was a good thing for Jason that this was so. For not only was he spared a kingly tongue-lashing and a quick trip to the frontier, but Medea quietly offered to help him in his latest predicament. For once her father had calmed down, he had waxed suspiciously reasonable. Of course Jason could have the Fleece and anything else he required in furtherance of his quest - Aeetes couldn't imagine what had possessed him to be so uncooperative. All he required of Jason as a simple token of good faith was the merest of farmyard chores. There were two bulls standing in the adjacent pasture. If Jason would be so kind as to harness them, plow the field, sow it and reap the harvest in a single day, King Aeëtes would be much obliged - and only too happy to turn over the Golden Fleece. Oh, and there was one trifling detail of which Jason should be aware. These bulls were a bit unusual in that their feet were made of brass sharp enough to rip open a man from gullet to gizzard. And then of course there was the matter of their bad breath. In point of fact, they breathed flames. Along about this juncture Jason thought he heard his mommy, Queen Polymede, calling. But then, as noted, Medea took him gently aside and suggested that she might be of aid. Quite conveniently for Jason, Medea was a famous sorceress, magic potions being her stock in trade. She slipped Jason a salve which, when smeared on his body, made him proof against fire and brazen hooves. And so it was that Jason boldly approached the bulls and brooked no bullish insolence. Disregarding the flames that played merrily about his shoulders and steering clear of the hooves, he forced the creatures into harness and set about plowing the field. Nor was the subsequent sowing any great chore for the now-heartened hero. Gaily strewing seed about like a nymph flinging flowers in springtime, he did not stop to note the unusual nature of the seed. Aeetes, it turns out, had got his hands on some dragon's teeth with unique agricultural properties. As soon as these were lodged in the soil they began to sprout, which was all to the good from the point of view of Jason accomplishing his task by nightfall, but bad from that of the harvest. For each seed germinated into a fully-armed warrior, who popped up from the ground and joined the throng now menacing poor Jason. Here indeed was a prickly harvest. Aeetes, meanwhile, was standing off to the side of the field chuckling quietly to himself at Jason's discomfiture and pending dismemberment in sorely mismatched combat. It irked the king somewhat to see his daughter slink across the furrows to Jason's side. But then Aeetes didn't think too much of it at the time. Having proven herself polite to a fault, maybe Medea was just saying a brief and proper farewell. In actuality, she was once more engaged in saving the young hero's posterior. This time there was no traffic in magic embrocations. Medea merely gave Jason a tip in basic psychology. Jason, who it was quite clear by now lacked the heroic wherewithal to make the grade on his own, at least had the sense to recognize good advice. Employing the simple device suggested by Medea, he brought the harvest in on deadline with a minimum of personal effort. He simply threw something at one of the men. The man, in turn, thought his neighbor had done it. And in short order all the seed men had turned on one another with their swords until not one was left standing. Aeetes had no choice but to make as though he'd give the Fleece to Jason, but he still had no intention of doing so. He now committed the tactical error of divulging this fact to his daughter. And Medea, still entranced by the Goddess of Love, confided in turn in Jason. Furthermore, she offered to lead him under cover of darkness to the temple grove where the Fleece was displayed, nailed to a tree and guarded by a dragon. And so at midnight they crept into the sacred precinct of Ares, god of war. Jason, ever the hothead, whipped out his sword, but Medea wisely restrained his impetuosity. Instead, she used more subtle means to subvert the monster's vigilance. Together they made off with the Fleece and escaped to the Argo. Setting sail at once, they eluded pursuit. Thus Jason succeeded in his heroic challenge. And once returned to Greece, he abandoned Medea for another princess. For though Jason had sworn to love and honor Medea for the service she had done him, he proved as fickle in this regard as he'd been unfit for single-handed questing

Mad hatter

In today's lesson we finished the mad hatters scene. This is possibly the most random and ridiculous scene yet. The props we used are just prices of wood stacked up on each other. I love how simplistic it all is and yet it works so well. Everyone knows what we are doing now and I can giant see this play coming together. Being Alice in "Alice in wonderland" certainly gives me a lot of pressure but it also makes me step out of my comfort zone. It makes me take on different emotions and feelings that I have never really thought about before. I like the challenge.

Bertolt Brecht

Born - 10th February 1898. Augsburg, Bavaria, German Empire. Died - 14th August 1956 (aged 58) East Berlin, East Germany. When Bertolt was 16, the first world war broke out. He registered for an additional medical course at Munich University, where he enrolled in 1917, there he studied drama. From July 1916, Brecht's newspaper article began appearing under the new name "Bert Albrecht". Albrecht was drafted into military service in Autumn of 1918. Only to be posted back to Augsburg as a medical orderly in military VD clinic; the war ended a month later. From his late twenties Brecht devoted his life into developing the combined theory and practice of his "epic theatre". "Epic theatre" proposed that a play should not cause the spectator to identify emotionally with the characters or action before him or her, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection and critical view of the action on the stage. He wanted his audiences to recognise social injustice and exploitation in his theatre, so they can effectively change the world outside the theatre. His plays were a representation of reality not reality itself. By highlighting the constructed nature of the theatrical event, Brecht hoped to communicate that the audiences reality was equally constructed, and, as such, was changeable.

Medusa

Medusa, one of the three gorgons, daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. She was the only one of the gorgons subjected to mortality. She started of as a beautiful woman. Commonly celebrated for her personal charms and the beauty of her locks. Medusa was a priestess to Athena (daughter of Zeus) she was devoted to a life of celibacy. But Medusa fell in love with Poseidon (God of the seas) and became united to him in Marriage. For this offence she was punished, her beautiful locks were changed into venomous snakes. Her once gentle love-inspiring eyes now became blood shot, furious orbs that when men looked upon would turn to stone. Her milk like skin, assumed a loathsome green tinge. In disgust Medusa fled her home. She was soon shunned by the world. And her personality now resembled the hatred of her appearance. Moving from place to place, some venomous snakes fell from her head and that is how these snakes appeared in certain country's. Medusa was defeated (beheaded) by overseas. Who used her head to turn his enemy's to stone before giving it to Athena who uses it on her shield.

Antonin Artaud

Antonin Christina Joseph Artaud. Born - 4th September 1896 in Marseille, France. Died - 4th March 1948 (aged 51) in Paris, France. Died from intestinal cancer. Nationality - French Occupation - Theatre director, poet, actor, artist. Artaud used a mixture of strange and disturbing lighting, sound and other performance elements to effect his audience. He suffered with mental illnesses and drug addiction throughout his life. He said that all people that want to act are crazy, because not only do we take on our own problems on a day to day basis, but we want to give ourselves more grief by playing other people and carry their grief with us. He also said that all people are savages with secret desires to commit outrages, acting releases the urge to do this.

Studying Antonin Artaud

In this week's lesson we focused mainly on Antonin Artaud. We explored more into his life. I found it shocking that he wasn't wealthy at all, and that he often spent nights on the streets because he couldn't afford a place to stay. It was only after he died that he was seen for his brilliance. I love the thought of being ahead of time. In the warm up we were asked to do different stretches, this made me realise that I am not flexible at all. Doing different warm ups highlights my good and bad aspects. We then learnt more about Artonin Artaud and how he was diagnosed with different mental illnesses. Personally I think they diagnosed him as mental because they couldn't explain his genius. Sir told us how Artaud knew the theatre wasn't a place to act normally, it was a place to express things in an abstract way.

Affecting the audience

In this week's lesson we focused on controlling our audiences emotions. We learnt about a man named Artonin Artaud. We learnt that he liked to make his audience feel scared and uncomfortable. Sir took us under the stage and already I felt uncomfortable and slightly intimidated. He taught us how a change of environment, changes the audiences mood. This gave me a lot of ideas for our performance on "Alice in wonderland". We where then split into 2 groups. My group was told to stay under the stage and face the back and stay still. The other group then had to try and make as feel uncomfortable or scared. I found that as soon as the lights were switched off I tensed up. I thought it was interesting that as soon as I was in an environment I wasn't comfortable in, my body language changed.

5 ways to tell a story

Movement/physical theatre: this is when you tell a story through body gestures. Most people mistake this for dance. When telling a story like this it usually includes little amounts of speech and props. Most of the props are replaced by people. For example multiple people would come together and create a chair using their bodies, instead of using an actual chair. This type of story telling is clever as it makes the audience think and let's them interpret the story in any way they want. dance: this is similar to movement. This is when the entire story is told through dance (often contemporary). Everything is usually exaggerated when telling a story through dance. Every small hand gesture and facial expression I'd magnified to help the audience keep up with the story. The music often reflects the characters mood too. singing: this is when characters sing songs that tell the story. A good example of this is "les miserable". What using song as a way to tell a story, we often rely on projection and tone in the voice to let us know how they feel. This is good as it makes the audience concentrate and really hang on to each word that is said by the characters. narration: this is when someone tells the story to the audience as if they were reading from a book,whilst others act. This tells the audience exactly what is going on. It helps give the audience a better understanding of each character. acting: this is the most common way of acting. This is when people act out the story, normally including speech and facial expressions. It is the most naturalistic way of telling a story.

Pina Bausch

Born - 27th July 1940 Died - 30th June 2009 A German performer. Often called a dancer/choreographer but didn't refer to herself as one. Born in Solingen. In 1972, Pina Bausch started as an artistic director of the Wuppertal Opera ballet (later renamed - Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch). Her best known price "Cafe Miller" (1978) - dancers stumble around the stage crashing into tables and chairs, most of the dancers were blindfolded. She died of lung cancer (she was known for being a heavy smoker).

Studying Pina Bausch

In today's lesson we focused mainly on Pina Bausch, and how she was well known in physical theatre. We started off with a meditation where we exercised our muscles, breathing and posture. Sir said something interesting about leaving your personality and personal trates at the door. At first I found it difficult to completely loose myself. But after the meditation I felt a lot more relaxed and comfortable with my environment. We also did a workout for 5 minutes. After I felt exhausted and drained. But although it ruined me physically, I felt alive and refreshed mentally. The exercise was a small snip into the lives of Pina Bausch dancers. We were told the Pina Bausch would do this to her Dancers for a longer period of time and the workouts would be far more intense.