Commedia dell'arte

Introduction

Commedia dell'arte was a part of theatre in Europe around the 16th and 17th century. It translates as 'comedy of the professional artist or actors.' When I first heard about this and it's translation I was excited to learn about this type of Theatre as I've heard so many people saying its a great style of physical theatre, and how unique and fun it is. 

Stock Characters

In Commedia there are different stock characters. A stock character is a character that appears in every Commedia dell'arte play. For example Homer Simpson appears in every Simpsons episode. Some stock characters are relatable to the audience as they know someone who is like the character. These characters have rules and are in a hierarchy of status.

Harlequin

Some Stock Characters:

Harlequin - This is one of the main characters in Commedia, the character of Harlequin can be linked to Joey from friends as he is very handsome but isn't clever, Harlequin is also amorous, this sometimes gets him into trouble as he doesn't think. The costume of Harlequin is tight fitted and has diamonds and colour.

Columbina - There aren't many female characters, however she is often featured. She's beautiful and extremely graceful. However she is cunning and will use her body to get her way. She would most likely be seen in a dress that's worn to show her status as a servant. Her stance is a slight tilt from the hips to try and show off her best features.

Pantaloon - He is a mean old man and is often portrayed as rich. In some extracts of Commedia he has been seen as Columbina's father. Usually he has aches and pains and he is short sighted. His mask makes him seem mean and also ridiculous. He wears very tight fitted clothes and yellow slippers with a black cloak. His stance when talking to someone is bent forward but when receiving information lent back. He is the top of the pecking order. He has money and his orders are usually obeyed.

Masks

In Commedia one feature is Masks. this feature was used for most characters to give the audience a better view of the characters status and feelings. For example Pantaloon's mask has very bushy eyebrows this shows his age and gives a subtle feeling of how wise he is. Without actors being able to show their facial expression because of their masks they have to make sure their body actions tell the story of their character. This is one of the many reasons of why Commedia was so popular because it was so melodramatic, that it made the audiences laugh. This was one of the many reasons why Commedia was so popular in the 16th and 17th century.

Workshop

From spending a whole day looking at Commedia I felt I was familiar with this form of theatre. We first started the day off with learning about the history of Commedia and when it was most popular, we also watched some videos of students trying different scenarios and also a teacher explaining the hierarchy in Commedia dell'arte. After this we did a practical and were asked to portray different Commedia characters, we were also given scenarios and to each pick different characters and play with status, for example a Zanni may be cleaning a Pantaloon's yellow slippers to show hist status, this I found really helpful because I gained a better understanding of the hierarchy. Our class also did an exercise where two captains were trying to get past each other. This was really funny to do because of the reactions of the cowardly captain. It was lovely portraying this juxtaposed character, from the cowardly side to the arrogant side. 

Influence

Commedia has had a big influence on many different contemporary shows and films. For example the hit comedy show Friends, the character of Joey is very much Harlequin. Another influence is in Kafka's Metamorphosis Lodgers.  David Schwimmer who also appeared in friends was educated in Commedia and added it to different slapstick scenes. Commedia also had an influence of 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' who is dressed exactly like Harlequin.  

Devising - Week 3

New Ideas

As we told our idea we started to notice as well as Deborah that our work as we would like it would not fit the time limit that is required. We had many scenes that we wanted to use but unfortunately it would of taken a long time. Our work was also quite linear meaning that it was a story, however we needed it to be less linear to achieve the physical theatre style. On Monday we found it difficult to devise as Donna was away and so was Lewis. 

We looked at a scene where Brother Taylor meets Billie Joe, in this physical theatre scene. We discussed how this is the first time they meet and they both dislike each other as brother Taylor is getting married to Bobbie and she is in love with Billie. In this scene we first have a stare off this shows the tension between these two characters and is almost like what boxers do to publicise a match.  After this I run really fast at Billie as if I'm attacking him, Billie leap frogs over me to show he's dodging an attack, it also shows how he dodged people finding about his and Bobbies relationship. Next Billie runs at me and I catch him, this shows how whatever Billie tries to do Brother Taylor is one step in front. This catch we learned from Kirsty and is very much in the style of the physical theatre practitioner 'DV8'. after the catch I throw him down and push him back as if to show I want him away from me, however I pull him back to show the tension at this point he punches me in the ribs and this is when Lewis' character intervenes. His character is the father and his intentions is that his daughter Bobbie will marry Brother Taylor and will stop the relationship with Billie. Unfortunately at this point we couldn't add Lewis' part as he wasn't with us.

After choreographing this we went to Deborah's lesson.

Deborah's Lesson

In Deborah's lesson we were prompted to try something new as the idea we had planned was too linear, we were thankful that this was brought to our attention early in the devising process. She told us how it would of been easy for the audience to guess what was going to happen because of the obvious storyline. We were also told how some of our story and lines were cliché. For example their is a dance where I am with Phoebe and I say 'for the time we have left let's spend it together'. Unfortunately this line is quite cliché and almost sounds unreal however this is not what our intentions were. Our group were guided that it would be better to set it in a wedding environment where things can happen and go wrong and it can be less linear, in this fashion we would also be able to use the audience as Wedding guests. I had the idea that we could have three relationships and base our piece around the theme of 'Abuse.' I said that we could set it in a Restaurant and Kennedy raised the idea that we could show three different types of how abusive the couple were. For example subtle abuse, so things like a kick under the table or a subtle look. Then a more noticeable by the audience abuse where you can see physical hitting and mental abuse like name calling. The third couple was to be neutral this would give the audience a nice scale to see how abusive some can be. 

We thought the restaurant idea was good but we felt we had more options with the wedding and also link it to the arranged marriage. As this was one of our ideas Deborah was willing to help us build on our idea and play a game sort of exercise that we may use in our piece, much like the work of 'DV8'. This improvised games helped to produce ideas. The game had rules that each member had to follow, the rules we used were that one person had to be standing at any one time, another rule was that someone had to be moving to a different seat. This simple exercise created moments of unison and tension between different people in this game. This gave us different ideas of how we can develop on this and maybe use it in our piece. Other rules could be that you have to make eye contact with only one person, or you have to balance the plate meaning that you do the opposite to another person in this scenario. This could be implemented into our piece as we could explain to the audience the rules and they join in.

On Thursday we started to devise some more and look at new scenes and a way in which we could add Lewis into the scene with me and Joe. Me and Joe had already devising a physical scene and we've now added Lewis in, for this scene Brother Taylor and Billie Joe have had a tense battle and Father comes to break it up. After this the father who is on Brother Taylor's side shakes his hand, we then do two roll overs back to back, to show the connection and companionship between these two characters. This sequence is also good because it allows 'Father' to be face to face with Billie creating tension. Billie and the father then have a set of moves that resembles a fight this is good because it shows what lengths Billie will go to because he is truly in love. At one point in this sequence Billie is thrown into centre stage, where me and Lewis' surround him, at this point Billie runs away. This scene is good because its easy for the audience to make out who the antagonists are. 

In our group also the girls did a dance to show abuse with movements that resembled a dagger going into their heart. The boys later joined in on this and did movements in this scene such as pushing the girls hands down to show abuse. We thought this was good as it showed the major theme in our play. However from feedback from other members in the class it was difficult to understand what was going on and it would of been better with just the girls. This constructive criticism was duly noted and we will look into changing it next week. 

Conclusion

Overall this week I felt we bonded over doing simple tasks and exercises like the wedding game suggested by Deborah. I think there is still a lot of work to be done but we're on track. 

Devising - Week 2

Making Dinner Scene

For this week we started making some scenes to fill our 30 minute time. We started off by making a scene at a dinner table between the family. The abusive dad played by Lewis, the scared mother played by Kennedy, their youngest daughter Betty who is played by Phoebe and their eldest daughter Bobbie played by Donna. This scene we had created was quite easy to create as they improvised as me and Joe who plays Billy watched and directed. It was good for me and Joe to watch as we got an audiences perspective and we could input different ideas to enhance this scene. I brought up the idea that the family should be saying grace to start the scene to show their religious views. This was lovely because the first thing they see is a religious family at dinner thanking God for their meal. This sets the scene and foreshadows one of the major themes in our devising piece. While me and Joe were watching we felt that it was good but it needed more of a physical theatre influence. Kennedy then came up with the idea that Betty, Father and Kennedy's character all asked Bobbie why she wasn't eating at the same time. This Berkovian type effect will make it more memorable for the audience and will also make them feel sympathetic for Bobbie. We decided that we could have a dinner scene more than once to show the gradual progress of the family and the repetition in the characters feelings. 

Tableaux

On Wednesday we did 3 different tableaux. A tableau is a group of people representing the scene motionless. Instead of looking at scenes we decided to focus on objectives and feelings of each characters. In the first Tableau Bobbie and Billie are kissing, as Brother Taylor is reaching out to touch Bobbie. This shows how Bobbie and Billie are in love but Brother Taylor also likes Bobbie and wants to make the family happy. In this tableau the relationship between the parents is very prominent. We can see Lewis aggressively pulling Kennedy closer to him to show how he feels she can't be trusted. I think Lewis' positioning is very good as he isn't blocking the character of the mother but he is very close to her.




After the first tableau we did a transition to get to the second tableau. From mine and phoebe's first position we pull Bobbie away from Billie and Lewis and Kennedy pull Billie away on the opposite side. This shows the separation the family want from the couple, yet Donna and Joe's characters are reaching out for each other as they want to be with each other. I like Phoebe's body shape in this tableau, she has managed to portray how her character is subtly clinging on to Bobbie, this is because she wants her older sister to be happy and also it would mean Brother Taylor wouldn't get married.




To go into the third tableau Lewis pushes Joe down to the floor to show
disrespect to their love. Kennedy's transition is quite easier as she changes how she stands and puts her arm on the dad's shoulder. This subtle transition is almost not seen and this is good because it looks like it flows from one Tableau to the next. In our final tableau I felt I did well portraying my character, as shown I am holding hands with Betty while also having my arm around Bobbie, this shows how I am in love with two women. I also think my stature in this is good as I have a good posture as I'm standing tall, this shows my status in the eyes of the father compared to Billie who is down on the floor.




I think this week we progressed a lot, I'm sure we will add these tableaux into our scene to show the thoughts and feelings of each individual character in a more in depth way.

Devising - Week 1

Ode to Billy Joe Initial Response

Texas Bar doors.

The Stimulus given to us for this devising unit was Bobbie Gentry's song 'Ode to Billy Joe'. We listened to the song about 3 times, my initial response was that it would be set in a Texas bar specially with the stereotypical doors, as shown.

I also had the idea that the family run a farm and the news of their son passing doesn't mean that much to them, 'well Billie Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits please'. This shows how even Billie's father wasn't shocked about his death and is shows that it isn't important as he would rather have the 'biscuits' then talk about his sons suicide. This also shows how their life goes on, this is ironically shown as of the repetition of the song and beat. 

Another response I had is that the lady singing the song Bobbie Gentry had a love relationship with Billie Joe and that they had a child. The relationship was hidden by Bobbie and Billie, because they would have been disowned by Bobbie's parents as they hated Billie. Bobbie soon became pregnant with Billie's kid. They managed to keep the pregnancy secret but it would have been impossible to keep the baby a secret, so once Bobbie had given birth, her and Billie decided to throw the baby of the Tallahatchie bridge. 'She and Billie Joe were throwing something off the Tallahatchie Bridge'. This is also the reason Bobbie has lost her appetite. 

Grouping

After everyone had thought about their initial responses we were told to get into groups with who we would be devising with. The class was told to get into 3 groups of 6. Our group quickly formed and I was happy with the outcome. I felt I was in a group of people that I was good friends with but also that I wouldn't get distracted. In my group was Donna, Phoebe, Kennedy, Joe, Lewis and myself. After the group got together we sat down and started drawing a spider diagram of different ideas for our devising performance. I felt Kennedy, Phoebe and myself contributed to the diagram the most. In this diagram we highlighted different thoughts like, covering up a murder as something is thrown off the bridge, to the idea that the Dad has a grudge. We also discussed how he could live with the guilt.

After looking into the story of Billie Joe, I remembered a song that I like called 'Take the Money and Run' by Steve Miller Band. The song mentions Billie Joe and Bobbie. However I think Steve Miller band's song is an interpretation as Billie Joe is said to rob a castle.

First Devising Idea

We then decided to look into making our first scene but before we did we did an exercise to get warmed up and also helped to produce ideas. The warm up we did was a piggback race between 3 groups of 2. This warm up was great because it enabled us to be connected with each other and also we used it as one of our ideas to open the play. In this we had three couples to show the different stages of Billie Joe and Bobbie. We had the young love portrayed between Phoebe and Lewis, then the careful and secret love between Donna and Joe and the nostalgic love in Kennedy as at this point in the couples life Billie has committed suicide. We also thought about the couples dancing and Kennedy dancing by herself to show her sadness.

A New Idea

We felt and made the decision that as a group we all wanted to portray different characters to make our piece more memorable we said how we felt that all boys portraying Billie and all girls portraying Bobbie wasn't what we wanted, and so we scraped the idea. However the idea was not all bad as we kept the element of three couples. We decided to portray Bobbie's family, which we decided consisted of the father played by Lewis the mother portrayed by Kennedy and the younger sister who is Phoebe. We gave different themes to the three couples, for the parents we had the theme of abuse and the Father abusing the mother. We have the loving relationship of Bobbie and Billie almost like Romeo and Juliet as they are keeping the love a secret. For the last couple the limited time, Brother Taylor my character is in love with Phoebe's character Sister Betty, but is getting married to Bobbie. Betty is however under age and so this relationship cannot be known.

Overall, I think the new idea is good and we have made sufficient progress. I also think are new idea is good and we can build on it.