dance piece

In today's lesson we came up with the idea of including physical theatre. We came up with this:
We would play the song "Roxanne" from the film Moulin Rouge. It begins with Meg and I standing side by side facing the front and behind me is Dan, behind Meg is Mickey. We then do a series of movements that resemble both abuse and sexual abuse. I then get dragged to the floor and whilst I lay there we show the rape between Meg and Dan. To show this rape scene we decided to show it through dance. This will suit our audience more as acting out a rape scene is far too explicit for their age. At the end of the song we show Meg and I drowning our husbands and then being cursed to the sea by Carl.
This entire physical theatre piece shows the back story of the Sirens, telling the audience how they came to be these creatures. I believe the song fits the story perfectly because this is a twisted love story just as it is in the actual film.
After this piece I think we should then show the Sirens drowning some sailors, do then the audience know what these sirens do and why they do it. I also think Carl should narrate this so the audience have a further understanding of the story.
I am extremely happy with our performance so far.

Lesson review

In today's lesson we focused on the problem of Jason and the argonauts. This story is an extremely complex and long story. We only have 1 lesson a week and only 4 weeks left to finish the play we haven't even started. We were told that the only option is too split into 2 seperate groups and work on one scene for the rest of the week's. My group decided to so the Sirens:

The original stories tell us that the sirens were daughters of the river-deity Achelous. Their names meant beautiful face, beautiful voice, white being, music, maiden face and persuasive face, and so on. It is said they

challenged the muses to a musical duel but were defeated, and so abandoned the forest rivers for the rocky shoreline of southern Italy, perching there and luring sailors to their deaths with their songs and their beauty.

When Ulysses (Odysseus) left the enchantress Circe on his homeward journey, she warned him that he should ask his crew to fill their ears with wax while they rowed past the rocky shores where these creatures lived. Ulysses, wishing to hear the fabled sound of the sirens, ordered his crew to tie him – ears unblocked – to the mast. The crew followed their orders, and even though the sirens begged Ulysses to stop and come to them, the danger was averted.

Our group decided to include the back story of two of the Sirens (played by me and Meg). We decided to change the original Siren story and make it a bit more modern instead. In our version there were two woman who had a joint marriage. Both of them thought they had found true love and married their husbands happily. When they went home one woman was physically abused by her husband whilst the other was used mainly for sex. When the woman that was abused came over to the other woman's house for comfort she was sexually abused by the other woman's husband. So, one woman was abused sexually and physically and the other was used sexually and was cheated on. Out of rage both of the women drown their husbands and as punishment were sent to live out there days as mermaids, prisoners of the sea. But when men happen to cross their sea the women seduce them with their looks and voice and then drown them, still raged by the past.

My group decided to split the stage in half to show the different stories. 

weeks review

This week we devised a number of different scenes to include in 'Alice in wonderland'. We also faced one of our major problems, time. We realized how little time we have left to finish this play. We also noticed that devising a script for this play is extremely hard as we haven't come up with a base for the play. The basic plot seems to change every lesson and we have too many good ideas that we don't know what to use. I think we need a team leader who decides over all what we do and don't use. This will stop arguments and stop us from wasting time on a scene that we later decide we don't like.

I am finding learning lines easy in this play. Usually learning lines seems to be a major problem for me, but seeming as there is no script and we make up the lines as we devise the scene, the lines seem to stick in my head easily. My aim is that in two weeks time we would have finished the play and be able to do a few dress rehearsals.

Jacques Lecoq

Jacques Lecoq (December 15, 1921 – January 19, 1999), born in Paris, was a French actor, mime and acting instructor.

He is most famous for his methods on physical theatre, movement, and mime that he taught at the school he founded in Paris, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq from 1956 until his death in 1999.

Lecoq taught physical education for several years. He later found himselfacting and a member of the Comediens de Grenoble. This company and his work with Commedia dell'arte in Italy (where he lived for eight years) introduced him to ideas surrounding mime, masks and the physicality ofperformance. During this time he also performed with the actor, playwright, and clown, Dario Fo.

He was first introduced to theatre and acting by Jacques Copeau's daughterMarie-Hélène and her husband, Jean Dasté.^[1]

In 1956, he returned to Paris to open his school, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, where he spent most of his time until his death, filling in as intewrnational speaker and master class giver for the Union of Theatres of Europe.

Lecoq aimed at training his actors in ways that encouraged them to investigate ways of performance that suited them best. His training was aimed at nurturing the creativity of the performer, as opposed to giving them a codified set of skills. As students stayed with Lecoq's school longer, he accomplished this through teaching in the style of "via negativa," never telling the students how to do what was "right." The goal was to encourage the student to keep trying new avenues of creative expression.

lesson review

In today's lesson we focused on creating the beginning of the scene.We began by brainstorming and some one came up with the idea to tell it as thought Jason was telling the story before he died. We then decided to flash back to the beginning of the story to the kings castle. We were reminded that we have to include the "wow factor" to draw the audience in.
We decided to create a party in the kings castle. We came up with a series of movements that would be the motif of the party. But we scratched that and instead decided to 3 people performing for the king entertainment. I am one of those people. And then the party would be interrupted and we would carry on with the story. The dancing would be the "wow factor" for the audience and draw them into the rest of the story.

Jason and the argonauts devising

In today's lesson we were split into three groups and were told to work on a part of Jason and the argonauts and decide how we would perform it and then teach it to the rest of the class. My group chose the part where Jason actually gets the Golden Fleece. We chose this scene because it includes violence, romance, physical theatre and this would appeal to our audience. In our story Jason gets given 3 tasks by the king. We thought we could do these tasks in shadow. By using the illusion of shadow we will be able to create objects such as the Dragon by simple cutting put a small image of a dragon and placing it close to the light, making it look huge on the screen (which is what the audience will be watching).

We then told the other groups of our ideas and everyone seemed to agree and think it was a good idea. Other groups presented their ideas. In Dan's group they decided to show us the beginning of Jason and the argonauts and how they would performe it. I liked the idea they had of the Greek party and how it will be interrupted. I think that when the witch predicts the new kings future ("beware of the man who wears one sandal") we could all go into a non-naturalistic, physical theatre piece. Where everyone becomes part of the spell, moving around the stage elegantly.

make-up lesson

In today's lesson were taught how to use liquid latex. We got a brief yet detailed explanation on how to use it, and what it does. We were then allowed to use it on others in the class. I used liquid latex to turn Dan into the white rabbit, this is his character in "Alice in wonderland". I found it interesting how you can completely transform someone's face, accentuate the features, make them look almost cartoon like. We were also taught how to fake injuries. We were shown an example on Toby, who had liquid latex and face paint on his face to make him look like he had been badly burnt.

Treachery of Jason - Jason and the argonauts

In Corinth, Jason became engaged to marry Creusa (sometimes referred to asGlauce), a daughter of the King of Corinth, to strengthen his political ties. When Medea confronted Jason about the engagement and cited all the help she had given him, he retorted that it was not she that he should thank, but Aphrodite who made Medea fall in love with him. Infuriated with Jason for breaking his vow that he would be hers forever, Medea took her revenge by presenting to Creusa a cursed dress, as a wedding gift, that stuck to her body and burned her to death as soon as she put it on. Creusa's father, Creon, burned to death with his daughter as he tried to save her. Then Medea killed the two boys that she bore to Jason, fearing that they would be murdered or enslaved as a result of their mother's actions. When Jason came to know of this, Medea was already gone; she fled to Athens in a chariot of dragons sent by her grandfather, the sun-god Helios.^[13]

Later Jason and Peleus, father of the hero Achilles, attacked and defeated Acastus, reclaiming the throne of Iolcus for himself once more. Jason's son,Thessalus, then became king.

As a result of breaking his vow to love Medea forever, Jason lost his favor with Hera and died lonely and unhappy. He was asleep under the stern of the rotting Argo when it fell on him, killing him instantly.

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

Jason returns - Jason and the argonauts

It should be noted that Thomas Bulfinch has an antecedent to the interaction of Medea and the daughters of Pelias. Jason, celebrating his return with the Golden Fleece, noted that his father was too aged and infirm to participate in the celebrations. He had seen and been served by Medea's magical powers. He asked Medea to take some years from his life and add them to the life of his father. She did so, but at no such cost to Jason's life. Medea withdrew the blood from Aesons body and infused it with certain herbs; putting it back into his veins, returning vigor to him.^[12] Pelias' daughters saw this and wanted the same service for their father.

Medea, using her sorcery, claimed to Pelias' daughters that she could make their father smooth and vigorous as a child by chopping him up into pieces and boiling the pieces in a cauldron of water and magical herbs. She demonstrated this remarkable feat with the oldest ram in the flock, which leapt out of the cauldron as a lamb. The girls, rather naively, sliced and diced their father and put him in the cauldron. Medea did not add the magical herbs, and Pelias was dead.^[13] Pelias' son, Acastus, drove Jason and Medea into exile for the murder, and the couple settled in Corinth.

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

talos - jason and the argonauts

The Argo then came to the island of Crete, guarded by the bronze man, Talos. As the ship approached, Talos hurled huge stones at the ship, keeping it at bay. Talos had one blood vessel which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by only one bronze nail (as in metal casting by the lost wax method).Medea cast a spell on Talos to calm him; she removed the bronze nail and Talos bled to death. The Argo was then able to sail on.

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

sirens - jason and the argonauts

Chiron had told Jason that without the aid of Orpheus, the Argonauts would never be able to pass the Sirens—the same Sirens encountered by Odysseusin Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. The Sirens lived on three small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them, which resulted in the crashing of their ship into the islands. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew his lyre and played music that was more beautiful and louder, drowning out the Sirens' bewitching songs

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

The return journey - jason and the argonauts

On the way back to Iolcus, Medea prophesied to Euphemus, the Argo's helmsman, that one day he would rule Cyrene. This came true through Battus, a descendant of Euphemus. Zeus, as punishment for the slaughter of Medea's own brother, sent a series of storms at the Argo and blew it off course. TheArgo then spoke and said that they should seek purification with Circe, anymph living on the island of Aeaea. After being cleansed, they continued their journey home

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

The Symplegades - jason and the argonauts

The only way to reach Colchis was to sail through the Symplegades (Clashing Rocks), huge rock cliffs that came together and crushed anything that traveled between them. Phineas told Jason to release a dove when they approached these islands, and if the dove made it through, to row with all their might. If the dove was crushed, he was doomed to fail. Jason released the dove as advised, which made it through, losing only a few tail feathers. Seeing this, they rowed strongly and made it through with minor damage at the extreme stern of the ship. From that time on, the clashing rocks were forever joined leaving free passage for others to pass

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

Phineas and the Harpies - jason and the argonauts

Soon Jason reached the court of Phineus of Salmydessus in Thrace. Zeus had sent the Harpies to steal the food put out for Phineas each day. Jason took pity on the emaciated king and killed the Harpies when they returned; in other versions, Calais and Zetes chase the Harpies away. In return for this favor, Phineas revealed to Jason the location of Colchis and how to pass theSymplegades, or The Clashing Rocks, and then they parted.

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

cyzicus - jason and the argonauts

After Lemnos the Argonauts landed among the Doliones, whose king Cyzicustreated them graciously. He told them about the land beyond Bear Mountain, but forgot to mention what lived there. What lived in the land beyond Bear Mountain were the Gegeines which are a tribe of Earthborn giants with six arms and wore leather loincloths. While most of the crew went into the forest to search for supplies, the Gegeines saw that few Argonauts were guarding the ship and raided it. Heracles was among those guarding the ship at the time and managed to kill most them before Jason and the others returned. Once some of the other Gegeines were killed, Jason and the Argonauts set sail.

Sometime after their fight with the Gegeines, they sent some men to find food and water. Among these men was Heracles' servant Hylas who was gathering water while Heracles was out finding some wood to carve a new oar to replace the one that broke. The nymphs of the stream where Hylas was collecting were attracted to his good looks, and pulled him into the stream. Heracles returned to his Labors, but Hylas was lost forever. Others say that Heracles went to Colchis with the Argonauts, got the Golden Girdle of theAmazons and slew the Stymphalian Birds at that time.

The Argonauts departed, losing their bearings and landing again at the same spot that night. In the darkness, the Doliones took them for enemies and they started fighting each other. The Argonauts killed many of the Doliones, among them the king Cyzicus. Cyzicus' wife killed herself. The Argonauts realized their horrible mistake when dawn came and held a funeral for him.

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

The isle of lemnos - jason and the argonauts

The isle of Lemnos is situated off the Western coast of Asia Minor (modern dayTurkey). The island was inhabited by a race of women who had killed their husbands. The women had neglected their worship of Aphrodite, and as a punishment the goddess made the women so foul in stench that their husbands could not bear to be near them. The men then took concubines from the Thracianmainland opposite, and the spurned women, angry at Aphrodite, killed all the male inhabitants while they slept. The king, Thoas, was saved by Hypsipyle, his daughter, who put him out to sea sealed in a chest from which he was later rescued. The women of Lemnos lived for a while without men, with Hypsipyle as their queen.

During the visit of the Argonauts the women mingled with the men creating a new "race" called Minyae. Jason fathered twins with the queen. Heracles pressured them to leave as he was disgusted by the antics of the Argonauts. He had not taken part, which is truly unusual considering the numerous affairs he had with other women. 

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos