Organic Theatre Day (2008)

Saturday 31st May 2008, Prompt Corner, 11am - 5pm

Introduction

Led by Carolina Giametta Cordes, director of GROW <ref>GROW website</ref> and senior trainer at Bigfoot <ref>Bigfoot Theatre Company website</ref>, SLT's Organic Theatre day showed how games and character exercises can be used to great effect when devising theatre. Originally conceived as a training day for the teachers of our Saturday classes for children and teenagers, the course was opened up to adult members too. The games and devised pieces are shown below for reference.

Games and Activities

The games shown below are roughly in chronological order.

Yes, Let's!

The whole group walks around the room in neutral position. The aim should be to walk in different directions simultaneously (i.e. not in a circle). The facilitator begins by shouting an activity, for example "Let's all ride a rollercoaster!"; the group responds with a shout of "Yes, Let's!" and proceeds to act out the activity described. Anyone in the group can then shout out a new activity ("Let's all be rock stars!" - "Yes, let's!") and the game continues. If any individual is uncomfortable with a particular activity suggested, it is up to him/her to shout out a new thing for everyone to perform.

The objective of this exercise (beyond being an icebreaker) is to encourage enthusiasm for performing whatever is asked and to break down self-consciousness in performance.

Kabish-Kabash-Kaboom

The group is divided into two teams who stand at opposite sides of the room. A "safe line" is drawn in front of each team, behind which no team member can be captured by the opposing side. The aim of the game is to capture members of the opposing team and to avoid capture by them during several rounds of play. Before each round, the teams collectively decide between them which of the following characters to play:

• GIANT (raise arms and shout "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum!")
• WIZARD (extend right arm as if wielding magic wand and shout "Zap!")
• GNOME (go down onto haunches, squealing "Ninny-ninny-ninny!")

In a similar way to Scissors-Paper-Stone <ref>How to play Rock-Paper-Scissors on Wikipedia</ref>, each character can overpower one of the other two, but is in turn defeated by the other, thus:

• GIANT beats WIZARD
• WIZARD beats GNOME
• GNOME beats GIANT

At the facilitator's signal, the teams approach each other 3 steps at a time, reciting "Kabish-Kabash-Kaboom". When the teams meet in the centre, they simultaneously perform their character. The losing team must run back behind their safeline before they are captured by the victors, whose team they now join if caught. In the case of a stalemate, where both teams present the same character, they return behind their respective safe lines, wring their hands with the words "Mutter-mutter-mutter". The game ends when one team has captured all their opponents.

Key performance ideas here are cooperation as part of a team, observation, commitment and focus.

In Grandma's Footsteps

We played this classic playground game <ref>Grandmother's Footsteps on kefkefkef.com</ref> with a few twists:

• The Original version: One of the group is nominated "Grandma", who faces the back wall with a bunch of keys directly behind her. From the opposite end of the room, the rest of the group members approach Grandma to try to catch the keys. Whenever Grandma turns round to look at the group, everyone must freeze - if she sees anyone moving, they are sent to the back. The player who succeeds in grabbing the keys is the winner and becomes Grandma for the next game.
• Playing without Grandma: the game is repeated, but the group imaginges Grandma and decides collectively when she has turned round. Anyone who freezes too late must go to the back - honesty is important here. The focus remains the same, but the group becomes even more aware of the people around them.
• Observing the game - no Grandma and no keys: Half of the group sit at the Grandma end, while the others play the game as before - but with no Grandma and no keys. The observers should avoid being too near the place where the imaginary Grandma would stand. The focus remains the same, but the observers witness the concentration of the players as they attempt to outwit Grandma. As a further extension, the players were given free rein to do whatever they liked when reaching Grandma - join the audience, or even pull them into the game.

Aside from the competitiveness fostered by the game scenario, Grandma's Footsteps shows how a strongly focused group can be captivating and unnerving for an audience to watch. The undivided attention needed to play the game prevents players becoming self-conscious about their "performance", but at the same time creates a captivating scene.

Laban Movement Exercises

Laban <ref> Laban Movement Analysis on Wikipedia</ref>

Gallery

Pictures to go here...

References

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