One of the most satisfying theatrical experiences is to come away from a performance feeling you have witnessed a true honing of the craft. Off Balance International Devising Theatre Company are a group of actors that manage to achieve just that. Taking the idea of black box theatre literally to the letter, these graduates of LISPA (London International School of Performing Arts), have come together to create unique performances, such as their interpretation of the legend of Robin Hood, which was presented to critical acclaim at the 2009 Stockholm Mime Festival.
The performers all use a huge range of physical performance techniques, however their main influence for this piece in particular is their use of minimal staging space and their decision to have all actors constantly on stage and occupied. The piece actually begins with the ensemble cast carrying their tiny rectangle stage into the performance area, carried above their heads with all the reverence of coffin bearers, the stage is lowered ever-so-carefully to the floor. These actors utilise every scrap of space at their disposal – a real lesson in stagecraft.
The term ‘physical theatre’ obviously covers a huge range of styles and disciplines but is often developed through an abstract and stylised approach. Off Balance, by contrast, have pulled away from this to some extent with much of the impact and especially humour coming directly from their very literal physical interpretations of objects, sculpting themselves into human props which manage to become both hilariously simple and extremely ingenious at the same time; shown to great effect in their interpretation of Robin Hood. The actors, working in an extremely restricted space, forge all the technical ingenuity you can squeeze out of the human physical form into becoming everything from a forest full of Merry Men on horseback, to a spiral staircase, to the Sheriff of Nottingham sitting aloft his ornate throne.
Looking at Off Balance's interpretation of Robin Hood can be an interesting introduction to the Lecoq technique.
Jacques Lecoq felt that when devising new work, actors will too often rely on behaviours and movements they feel are expected from them, contradicting his view that the best performance comes from feeling free, totally uninhibited and at one with the body – being aware of its natural tensions, reactions and responses and consciously using these as part of a performance.
The following warm-up aims to focus on instinctive responses:
Using tables or chairs, form a couple of passage-ways in your performance space. Students start walking around the room passing through passages as they wish. On your command all students must pass through the passages as quickly as they can, jostling for space, making way for each other and so on. Give other commands such as ‘jog’ or ‘crawl’. After a while stop the activity and tell students they will continue but this time they are to be aware of the ways they instinctively slow down to make way for others, manoeuvre around each other, or speed up to get through a space quickly before someone else blocks them in. Did it make students think about how natural movements are mostly intuitive?
Talking points – use of stage
- Discuss utilising all areas of the stage and the ways it can be used to enhance a performance, for example spotlighting specific areas of the stage while keeping other areas in shadow.
- Think about the benefits and drawbacks of different stage types, for example in-the-round has the benefit of helping to create an intimate atmosphere but requires very thoughtful blocking technique.
Physical Theatre warm-ups
Bounce
This is a real high-energy warm up focusing on synchronised movements. Line pupils up in pairs one in front of the other with a bit of space in between. Put on some good bouncy music with a strong beat and get pupils bouncing up and down in time to the music. On your instruction, everyone changes direction according to your command, for example ‘Left’ – everyone turns mid-jump to the left, or ‘Back’ – everyone takes a jump backwards. Get students turning in all directions. To get fully warmed-up, encourage the change of direction mid-jump.
Maltesers
This warm-up mime comes from my drama training days. When performed with conviction, you really should be able to taste the chocolate.
Start the mime by opening an imaginary packet of maltesers; can you smell the chocolate when the packet is opened? Take a chocolate out and put it in your mouth. Imagine that first taste of chocolate. Imagine the feeling of chocolate melting on your tongue. Crunch your malteser up and swallow it – can you actually taste it?
Hand sign conversations
Divide the class into pairs. Ask students to hold a conversation with their partner without using any spoken words, relying instead on hand gestures and signs. Show the best – not too rude – work!
Long distance runner
The purpose of this warm up is to show how subtle a change is required to completely alter the atmosphere of a performance. The teacher directs the mime with students running on the spot in their own space throughout.
Start with leisurely running during a warm Spring morning. Suddenly, students hear something in the distance which alarms them, causing them to speed up, gradually increasing speed, using facial expression to show their concern. The situation gradually develops into something more serious, with students having to use their hands and arms to protect themselves from flying objects being thrown as they enter an area of violent protest, and ends with students out of danger, out of breath and still looking over their shoulder as they continue to run away.
Silent story starters
In pairs, students improvise their own short scene but must start with at least 30 seconds of silent acting. They are given a theme as the basis for their improvisation which could be, for example:
- Worry
- Anger
- Flirtation
- Annoyance
- Bossiness
- Disgust
- Anxiousness
- Excitement
- Embarrassment
Try using Off Balance's performance techniques as a starting point for some physical theatre work with your students. After watching their interpretation of Robin Hood, get students thinking about ways they can build on some of the ideas used by Off Balance to create a unique restricted space adaptation of a simple story well known to the group, or example Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, or The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
Robin Hood – part 1: https://tinyurl.com/TDRobHood1
Robin Hood – part 2: https://tinyurl.com/TDRobHood2