Devise - "to contrive, plan, or elaborate; invent from existing principles or ideas: to devise a method."
I found this introduction to 'Devising Theatre' to be very interesting. It changed the way in which i view devised pieces. Prior to reading the text, I associated devising with 'frustrating brainstorming', i always pictures a handful of actors and directors standing around feeding off each others imaginations in order to come up with an idea or concept. However, i have learnt that it can be different.
"Devised theatre is not always in contradistinction to 'straight' theatre" - this quote remains in my mind after having read the text, as this seems to sum up how i felt about 'devising', trying to be too diverse and 'alternative'. And although i do enjoy improvisational work, i found companies who strive to be TOO different, slightly pretentious and flamboyant. Nonetheless, after reading the text, i have come to realize that devised work CAN be scripted, it can be naturalistic and have direction, as well as involving elements of improvisation, spontaneity and impulsiveness, which makes it so refreshing. This has given me a much deserved respect for devising theatre companies, and the way in which they've been able to penetrate the slightly closed minded and judging world of theatre.
Posted by Ailee Kemeny
Sunday, 18 November 2007
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
GROUP D'S REFLECTIONS FROM WEEK SEVEN (DEVISING PROCESS DOCUMENTATION)
1) Week 7 Blog
Today's lesson took a new and interesting structure. Firstly, i really enjoyed the trust exercises that took place. The students did a great job teaching these exercises and i think it really did help us as an ensemble. It was then great to finally get to discuss our concept of fear in our groups and to see everyone else's ideas. I think that the theme of 'irrational fear' that is present in both groups means that the two pieces will gel well together for the final performance. My group is first meeting on Thursday of this week where we'll explore how to take everyday objects and try to create an image or perception of 'irrational fear'.
Posted by Emma Bilton
2) Fear is Positive
I very much enjoyed participating and teaching the trust exercise that had been taught in the Lee Simpson Improbable workshop. I was interested to see how people who didn't participate in the Improbable workshop found the exercise. Everyone had different reactions to the first part of the trust exercise. Many people found it exhilarating to be lead around the room with their eyes closed, however, many people found it difficult to trust the person leading them and had images of something happening to them, such as hitting the wall. However, as the exercise went on, soon people realised once they had knocked into someone and that was the worst thing that could happen, the exercise didn't seem so 'scary'!
I was very intrigued whilst teaching the second part of the exercise, how the participants would feel with people from the group watching them. As the space was large when I was involved in Lee's workshop, everyone was able to take part simultaneously. Once the exercise had been undertaken I was interested to know that some people found it off putting having others watching them, this made them aware of the space around them as well as feeling claustrophobic and embarrassed at being watched. I also noticed if someone made a sound, the person being lead would tense and worry that something was happening to them, or they would start laughing, nervously.
After undertaking the exercise we discussed the notion of fear associated with the exercise and how fear can be positive. At first the people with their eyes closed were very conscious of what they were doing and how they were moving, however as the exercise developed many people became fearless and began to enjoy the exercise.
I am very excited about starting our final piece, our group have some great ideas associated with the theme 'fear' and I feel that we will be able to produce a very interesting creative piece of work.
Posted by Charlotte Harvey
3) Hand-Holding Game
I really enjoyed the hand holding game when we did it in the workshop with Lee Simpson - I felt that it broke down many of the communication barriers for me, and I relaxed into the methods of Improbable much more. I think that this was also the case in the class this week. Although in a very different situation to before - a smaller room, with lots of people, I still think that it is a game that can really break the ice in any class like this. A second attempt at the game also gave me more understanding of what it is for. I could relate the idea of spontaneity to this as well. As something that I have had problems with, it was interesting to realise that you could be spontaneous through leading a person around the room, and having to react to everything that happened there and then. If there were any mistakes made or accidents about to happen you just had to deal with them. I found that this was a very good way to understand Improbable in another way - it is refreshing and makes the often difficult themes much more fun!
Posted by Emma Fielding
4) Week 7 Blog
I found it very interesting this week to observe how our group reacted to the ‘Improbable’ trust exercises. Peoples’ experiences differed greatly from the original workshop group and it was very interesting to see how people can experience the same thing very differently and how one exercise can help people in various and unexpected ways.
People’s research on the theme of ‘Fear’ was also very varied and extremely useful. I enjoyed helping with the discussion and I believe the many different aspects of fear will be used well within each of our devised pieces, from the physiological to the psychological effects of a very powerful emotion.
Our first meeting was productive, although we haven’t quite started improvising yet, we have the basic structure of our piece nearly sorted. I look forward to working in a similar way to ’Improbable’ I believe it will be a very enlightening and liberating experience.
Posted by Ella Rhodes
5) Blog Week 7
Besides talking about our final year production we did some warm-ups which we learned at Lee Simpson's workshop. I found it really interesting to do those again. It's amazing how your body and mind remember things that were last done quite some time ago. I noticed that it was much easier for me to concentrate on my actual thoughts. The access I got to my own mind was a lot better. Practicing the trust-exercises again showed me, how useful they really are.
The other thing we did, was clarify the possible outcomes of the theme for our final production. Although we didn't quite establish a ready concept, it was very interesting to listen to the experiences others had concerning FEAR. Everybody had a spooky story. We discovered that most of them had a dreamlike (in terms of a nightmare), atmospherical and mysterious touch to them. So, I suppose that our group starts off trying to create a certain atmosphere… we'll see what will come out in a few weeks from now…
Posted by Mirjam Frank
6) Trust Exercises
In this week's lesson I really enjoyed the trust exercises. From being a participant in the Improbable Workshop with Lee Simpson I had already experienced the exercise. However, this time I found myself having different responses to being led around and leading my partner around. It was interesting to see how we reacted according to the smaller space. I found it really effective being an audience member as I was able to see the exercise from both perspectives at once. I enjoyed watching the varying reactions to being swapped and it was interesting to see how some people felt completely comfortable being led around while others were much more guarded. I think that dividing the class made it much easier to appreciate the exercise as we saw it from many perspectives and I found it also very entertaining as an audience member watching people try to swap and partners being forgotten and bumping into each other. I look forward to experimenting with such exercises within our devising groups as I really felt this particular game built trust and worked on the idea of using fear.
Posted by Fran Smith
7) Fear, Trust and Ensemble
As I missed out on the workshop with Lee Simpson, I was pleased to get a chance to try out the exercises that were practised. I especially liked that the individuals who took part in the workshop led the exercises. I found that the exercises were delivered through their own experiences of the game as they recalled how they had felt when they played the games. I felt very trusty towards my partner and I got the feeling that in general the whole group seemed to becoming together more, which is definitely building on our ensemble skills which is crucial for our final piece.
I am happy with the theme of 'fear' which has been set for our final pieces. I feel that it is an emotion with connotations of personal experience and wide-spread qualities which will allow us to all bring an individual notion to our pieces but at the same time to capture away in which we can convey this as an ensemble. Also when thinking about situations when one responds to fear, I realised that our reactions are always totally spontaneous as we act on impulse and therefore naturally. I just hope that we will be able to establish this kind of impact reaction and response in our pieces.
Posted by Faith Brandon-Blatch
8) Blog
I'm feeling fairly optimistic about our performance. With only 10 minutes per group, a good 3 weeks to create something, and a solid foundation that we can build on (after our meeting on Thursday), I think everything will be done in plenty of time. The only trouble will be keeping things fresh once we've created them, but by applying Improbable's principles we should be fine.
Posted by Emma Berge
9) Blog
Our first few meet ups over with and I'm actually quite happy about the process so far. I remember some devising i did a few years ago and the process of doing everything became more and more painful as time went on as we were, in essence, trying far too hard and sort of shot ourselves in the foot. It's difficult to keep our creativity and imaginations at a level without going too far so a piece becomes too unstructured or too surreal but i am happy with what our group has done so far! Hopefully it'll stay that way!
Posted by George Calderwood
10) Blog
In Monday's lesson it was enjoyable to begin working in our groups. It was interesting to discuss our stimulus 'fear' and see what was conjured up within the group. We at first discussed what scared us and see how some of us have well known fears such as spiders, heights, small spaces or the dark, however some of us had less common fears such as putting your left foot on the floor! We then went on to discuss nightmares and the nature of bad dreams, such as the weird things that happen, eg. people changing into other people or not being able to run away. We thought it would be good to try and recreate a nightmarish atmosphere in the piece so the audience could feel as if they were in a nightmare and use all our fears within the piece. We thought of the idea of storytelling as this links back to Improbable's work as they often tell stories or anecdotes within their piece's. A few of us shared stories of the most scary moments we can remember and we thought it would be good to use these in the piece as it links back to Improbable's 'Lifegame'. It will be interesting to begin devising when we have our rehearsals on Monday and see where these initial thoughts lead. Im excited!
Posted by Helen Hudson
11) Further Work As A Group In And Out Of Class
My group have progressed significantly in terms of theme and ideas over the past week. Firstly there was the lesson in which we discussed our responses to the theme of our piece ‘fear’. Concepts of rational and irrational fear arose. These lead to an idea of using objects to create shadows that looked frightening, but later revealing the objects and showing the audience the completely harmless reality. I believe that as soon as we begin to actually try out this idea we can further it and it will tie in well with the marking criteria ‘using objects effectively’. In class the group seemed to co-operate well as an ensemble. No one argued or pushed aside anyone’s ideas. The main problems that did occur were the different levels of familiarity with each other. Some people lived in the same halls as each other whereas others live off campus etc. There was a general feeling that the first meet up should be used for getting to know one another and allowing everyone an equal amount of speaking time.
We all met up on Thursday 15th November, at 10am. We had all agreed to bring an object to the discussion, which we thought could be used in helping create interesting shadows. The objects needed to appear harmless when revealed. So objects like knives or sharp objects would not be suitable. I brought along an umbrella and other objects included newspaper and jewellery hanger. We realised that in order to try out our ideas we really needed rehearsal time in the boilerhouse or at least in a decent sized room; our first meeting was in halls. Meeting in halls allowed us all to feel at ease and I think everyone spoke at least once. We also came up with more ideas. For instance there was a general unease with circus environments. We felt that if we created a circus environment we could really work as an ensemble. One person could take on the role as ringleader and perhaps narrate (which relates to Improbable) and there was a possibility of including puppets (again used by Improbable). Before our next rehearsal I intend to continue looking for interesting objects, as well as research the topic ‘circus’ and see what other ideas it leads to.
Posted by Sylvie Barlow
12) The Rehearsal Process
Starting to create a final piece has been very interesting. Each member of the group has their own ideas which are all very different which means that we can have a varied piece. The difficulty is that we must follow the style of Improbable which means remembering what their ideologies are at all times so that we don't get too carried away when devising. These ideologies include things such as Story telling, improvisation, the use of props eg newspaper ect.
Posted by Louisa Hagan
13) Blog Entry
All I can really say is that I am really excited to be devising with an ensemble again, it may be crude to say but making theatre is fun! I'm looking forward to seeing what both groups produce. I think it's also pretty incredible that with a good third of my group living off campus, we still managed to drag ourselves out of bed for early rehearsals, some of us waking up at six or seven!
Posted by Gemma Moran
14) Spirit
The first thing I must say is that “Spirit” is an incredibly touching and surprising piece of work. The unusual staging, though potentially limiting, was used to great affect by the performers, with the ensemble’s imagination extremely evident in the set's almost “cute” versatility. Its secret compartments and continuing transformations from acknowledged stage, bed, roof etc continued to delight my childish side throughout the production, and made the simple nature of the storytelling more than a little endearing. It fitted wonderfully with the group’s use of characterless yet not lifeless dolls, which again gave a strong sense of the childhood imagination being bought to the stage. It was interesting to see this method of storytelling used for such a serious topic as war, but I feel it worked rather well. If I’m not mistaken I could feel a slight Brechtian influence in this, with the audience being removed from the story itself but bought closer to its themes with its distinct breaks in character, and the use of three differing “environments”
For the first time in viewing an Improbable performance, I could feel a clear and distinct aim in the piece; I was going to learn about war through viewing certain portrayals and concepts of it. The character based “fairy tale” as it were was clearly used to engage an emphatic response, the sound scape “war games” an emotive one, with the actor’s arguments serving to represent the conflicts of everyday life which an audience member themselves may recognise, and therefore bring pleasure in mimesis and invoke a cognitive response.
This is all well and good, but what truly stood out what that this all occurred without once seeming contrived. I could see how the next night might change completely, with a new set of characters or even actors,where perhaps it is another person who feels spurred to cause an arguments, or perhaps where the little puppet men do make maybe just once, if the audience hoped long and hard enough. Despite watching on vhs, I felt as though I was included within the performance, I was constantly encouraged to think and would rather have liked to be there.
Posted by Gemma Moran
Today's lesson took a new and interesting structure. Firstly, i really enjoyed the trust exercises that took place. The students did a great job teaching these exercises and i think it really did help us as an ensemble. It was then great to finally get to discuss our concept of fear in our groups and to see everyone else's ideas. I think that the theme of 'irrational fear' that is present in both groups means that the two pieces will gel well together for the final performance. My group is first meeting on Thursday of this week where we'll explore how to take everyday objects and try to create an image or perception of 'irrational fear'.
Posted by Emma Bilton
2) Fear is Positive
I very much enjoyed participating and teaching the trust exercise that had been taught in the Lee Simpson Improbable workshop. I was interested to see how people who didn't participate in the Improbable workshop found the exercise. Everyone had different reactions to the first part of the trust exercise. Many people found it exhilarating to be lead around the room with their eyes closed, however, many people found it difficult to trust the person leading them and had images of something happening to them, such as hitting the wall. However, as the exercise went on, soon people realised once they had knocked into someone and that was the worst thing that could happen, the exercise didn't seem so 'scary'!
I was very intrigued whilst teaching the second part of the exercise, how the participants would feel with people from the group watching them. As the space was large when I was involved in Lee's workshop, everyone was able to take part simultaneously. Once the exercise had been undertaken I was interested to know that some people found it off putting having others watching them, this made them aware of the space around them as well as feeling claustrophobic and embarrassed at being watched. I also noticed if someone made a sound, the person being lead would tense and worry that something was happening to them, or they would start laughing, nervously.
After undertaking the exercise we discussed the notion of fear associated with the exercise and how fear can be positive. At first the people with their eyes closed were very conscious of what they were doing and how they were moving, however as the exercise developed many people became fearless and began to enjoy the exercise.
I am very excited about starting our final piece, our group have some great ideas associated with the theme 'fear' and I feel that we will be able to produce a very interesting creative piece of work.
Posted by Charlotte Harvey
3) Hand-Holding Game
I really enjoyed the hand holding game when we did it in the workshop with Lee Simpson - I felt that it broke down many of the communication barriers for me, and I relaxed into the methods of Improbable much more. I think that this was also the case in the class this week. Although in a very different situation to before - a smaller room, with lots of people, I still think that it is a game that can really break the ice in any class like this. A second attempt at the game also gave me more understanding of what it is for. I could relate the idea of spontaneity to this as well. As something that I have had problems with, it was interesting to realise that you could be spontaneous through leading a person around the room, and having to react to everything that happened there and then. If there were any mistakes made or accidents about to happen you just had to deal with them. I found that this was a very good way to understand Improbable in another way - it is refreshing and makes the often difficult themes much more fun!
Posted by Emma Fielding
4) Week 7 Blog
I found it very interesting this week to observe how our group reacted to the ‘Improbable’ trust exercises. Peoples’ experiences differed greatly from the original workshop group and it was very interesting to see how people can experience the same thing very differently and how one exercise can help people in various and unexpected ways.
People’s research on the theme of ‘Fear’ was also very varied and extremely useful. I enjoyed helping with the discussion and I believe the many different aspects of fear will be used well within each of our devised pieces, from the physiological to the psychological effects of a very powerful emotion.
Our first meeting was productive, although we haven’t quite started improvising yet, we have the basic structure of our piece nearly sorted. I look forward to working in a similar way to ’Improbable’ I believe it will be a very enlightening and liberating experience.
Posted by Ella Rhodes
5) Blog Week 7
Besides talking about our final year production we did some warm-ups which we learned at Lee Simpson's workshop. I found it really interesting to do those again. It's amazing how your body and mind remember things that were last done quite some time ago. I noticed that it was much easier for me to concentrate on my actual thoughts. The access I got to my own mind was a lot better. Practicing the trust-exercises again showed me, how useful they really are.
The other thing we did, was clarify the possible outcomes of the theme for our final production. Although we didn't quite establish a ready concept, it was very interesting to listen to the experiences others had concerning FEAR. Everybody had a spooky story. We discovered that most of them had a dreamlike (in terms of a nightmare), atmospherical and mysterious touch to them. So, I suppose that our group starts off trying to create a certain atmosphere… we'll see what will come out in a few weeks from now…
Posted by Mirjam Frank
6) Trust Exercises
In this week's lesson I really enjoyed the trust exercises. From being a participant in the Improbable Workshop with Lee Simpson I had already experienced the exercise. However, this time I found myself having different responses to being led around and leading my partner around. It was interesting to see how we reacted according to the smaller space. I found it really effective being an audience member as I was able to see the exercise from both perspectives at once. I enjoyed watching the varying reactions to being swapped and it was interesting to see how some people felt completely comfortable being led around while others were much more guarded. I think that dividing the class made it much easier to appreciate the exercise as we saw it from many perspectives and I found it also very entertaining as an audience member watching people try to swap and partners being forgotten and bumping into each other. I look forward to experimenting with such exercises within our devising groups as I really felt this particular game built trust and worked on the idea of using fear.
Posted by Fran Smith
7) Fear, Trust and Ensemble
As I missed out on the workshop with Lee Simpson, I was pleased to get a chance to try out the exercises that were practised. I especially liked that the individuals who took part in the workshop led the exercises. I found that the exercises were delivered through their own experiences of the game as they recalled how they had felt when they played the games. I felt very trusty towards my partner and I got the feeling that in general the whole group seemed to becoming together more, which is definitely building on our ensemble skills which is crucial for our final piece.
I am happy with the theme of 'fear' which has been set for our final pieces. I feel that it is an emotion with connotations of personal experience and wide-spread qualities which will allow us to all bring an individual notion to our pieces but at the same time to capture away in which we can convey this as an ensemble. Also when thinking about situations when one responds to fear, I realised that our reactions are always totally spontaneous as we act on impulse and therefore naturally. I just hope that we will be able to establish this kind of impact reaction and response in our pieces.
Posted by Faith Brandon-Blatch
8) Blog
I'm feeling fairly optimistic about our performance. With only 10 minutes per group, a good 3 weeks to create something, and a solid foundation that we can build on (after our meeting on Thursday), I think everything will be done in plenty of time. The only trouble will be keeping things fresh once we've created them, but by applying Improbable's principles we should be fine.
Posted by Emma Berge
9) Blog
Our first few meet ups over with and I'm actually quite happy about the process so far. I remember some devising i did a few years ago and the process of doing everything became more and more painful as time went on as we were, in essence, trying far too hard and sort of shot ourselves in the foot. It's difficult to keep our creativity and imaginations at a level without going too far so a piece becomes too unstructured or too surreal but i am happy with what our group has done so far! Hopefully it'll stay that way!
Posted by George Calderwood
10) Blog
In Monday's lesson it was enjoyable to begin working in our groups. It was interesting to discuss our stimulus 'fear' and see what was conjured up within the group. We at first discussed what scared us and see how some of us have well known fears such as spiders, heights, small spaces or the dark, however some of us had less common fears such as putting your left foot on the floor! We then went on to discuss nightmares and the nature of bad dreams, such as the weird things that happen, eg. people changing into other people or not being able to run away. We thought it would be good to try and recreate a nightmarish atmosphere in the piece so the audience could feel as if they were in a nightmare and use all our fears within the piece. We thought of the idea of storytelling as this links back to Improbable's work as they often tell stories or anecdotes within their piece's. A few of us shared stories of the most scary moments we can remember and we thought it would be good to use these in the piece as it links back to Improbable's 'Lifegame'. It will be interesting to begin devising when we have our rehearsals on Monday and see where these initial thoughts lead. Im excited!
Posted by Helen Hudson
11) Further Work As A Group In And Out Of Class
My group have progressed significantly in terms of theme and ideas over the past week. Firstly there was the lesson in which we discussed our responses to the theme of our piece ‘fear’. Concepts of rational and irrational fear arose. These lead to an idea of using objects to create shadows that looked frightening, but later revealing the objects and showing the audience the completely harmless reality. I believe that as soon as we begin to actually try out this idea we can further it and it will tie in well with the marking criteria ‘using objects effectively’. In class the group seemed to co-operate well as an ensemble. No one argued or pushed aside anyone’s ideas. The main problems that did occur were the different levels of familiarity with each other. Some people lived in the same halls as each other whereas others live off campus etc. There was a general feeling that the first meet up should be used for getting to know one another and allowing everyone an equal amount of speaking time.
We all met up on Thursday 15th November, at 10am. We had all agreed to bring an object to the discussion, which we thought could be used in helping create interesting shadows. The objects needed to appear harmless when revealed. So objects like knives or sharp objects would not be suitable. I brought along an umbrella and other objects included newspaper and jewellery hanger. We realised that in order to try out our ideas we really needed rehearsal time in the boilerhouse or at least in a decent sized room; our first meeting was in halls. Meeting in halls allowed us all to feel at ease and I think everyone spoke at least once. We also came up with more ideas. For instance there was a general unease with circus environments. We felt that if we created a circus environment we could really work as an ensemble. One person could take on the role as ringleader and perhaps narrate (which relates to Improbable) and there was a possibility of including puppets (again used by Improbable). Before our next rehearsal I intend to continue looking for interesting objects, as well as research the topic ‘circus’ and see what other ideas it leads to.
Posted by Sylvie Barlow
12) The Rehearsal Process
Starting to create a final piece has been very interesting. Each member of the group has their own ideas which are all very different which means that we can have a varied piece. The difficulty is that we must follow the style of Improbable which means remembering what their ideologies are at all times so that we don't get too carried away when devising. These ideologies include things such as Story telling, improvisation, the use of props eg newspaper ect.
Posted by Louisa Hagan
13) Blog Entry
All I can really say is that I am really excited to be devising with an ensemble again, it may be crude to say but making theatre is fun! I'm looking forward to seeing what both groups produce. I think it's also pretty incredible that with a good third of my group living off campus, we still managed to drag ourselves out of bed for early rehearsals, some of us waking up at six or seven!
Posted by Gemma Moran
14) Spirit
The first thing I must say is that “Spirit” is an incredibly touching and surprising piece of work. The unusual staging, though potentially limiting, was used to great affect by the performers, with the ensemble’s imagination extremely evident in the set's almost “cute” versatility. Its secret compartments and continuing transformations from acknowledged stage, bed, roof etc continued to delight my childish side throughout the production, and made the simple nature of the storytelling more than a little endearing. It fitted wonderfully with the group’s use of characterless yet not lifeless dolls, which again gave a strong sense of the childhood imagination being bought to the stage. It was interesting to see this method of storytelling used for such a serious topic as war, but I feel it worked rather well. If I’m not mistaken I could feel a slight Brechtian influence in this, with the audience being removed from the story itself but bought closer to its themes with its distinct breaks in character, and the use of three differing “environments”
For the first time in viewing an Improbable performance, I could feel a clear and distinct aim in the piece; I was going to learn about war through viewing certain portrayals and concepts of it. The character based “fairy tale” as it were was clearly used to engage an emphatic response, the sound scape “war games” an emotive one, with the actor’s arguments serving to represent the conflicts of everyday life which an audience member themselves may recognise, and therefore bring pleasure in mimesis and invoke a cognitive response.
This is all well and good, but what truly stood out what that this all occurred without once seeming contrived. I could see how the next night might change completely, with a new set of characters or even actors,where perhaps it is another person who feels spurred to cause an arguments, or perhaps where the little puppet men do make maybe just once, if the audience hoped long and hard enough. Despite watching on vhs, I felt as though I was included within the performance, I was constantly encouraged to think and would rather have liked to be there.
Posted by Gemma Moran
3 KEY ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FOR THE FINAL PIECE
- Did the devising process that started from the theme of 'fear' lead to an engaging theatrical representation?
- Did the piece make effective use of objects in a way that served the narrative/story?
- Did the group work successfully as an ensemble?
Friday, 9 November 2007
ON SPIRIT
1)
I have to be honest, on seeing the opening of Improbable's 'Spirit', where performers Guy Dartnell, Phelim McDermott, Lee Simpson appear through holes in a wooden raked platform I expected a completely rehearsed and admittedly pretentious piece of dialogue. However, thankfully, this was not the case. By breaking the moment with a completely unrehearsed, lighthearted and improvised conversation it gave the piece a refreshing feel that set the standard for the rest of the piece to be unpredictable and theatrically exciting. Progressing from this, the performers used the flexible structure of the piece to its advantage by being able to accept accidents and mistakes that happened during the performance. For example, when a sack, acting as a pillow, fell off the top of the racked platform Guy Dartnell accepted this moment, and instead of ignoring it and carrying on as you would expect in perhaps a naturalistic play, he went to pick it up and this provided a very comical moment in the piece. I also enjoyed the way they mixed a playful and childlike attitude to using puppets and props to present their concept of war and conflict. This raised many poignant images in the performance, and these images were special as they were fresh and not contrived through rehearsal, so the piece was much more open for the audience to take what they personally found in the production.
Posted by Helen Hudson
2)
I just got back from watching spirit. Have very mixed views of the video. Loved the set and what they did with it. I especially enjoyed how tight their movements were in relation to it and some of the ideas they had around it were really creative. Only problem i did have with it was i thought some of the context and talking was verging on being pretentious. I find sometimes that when they talk it feels like they are talking down to the audience a lot, almost patronising in a way, i mainly feel this more from Phelim rather than the others. This could just be a personal thing though, i don't in any way think his work is bad i just maybe do not click on the same wave length as him. I did find quite funny though the way they used him as a puppet because when we did the devised peaces in our groups that was the original idea we came up with, people as puppets. cool that's about all i have to say really.
Posted by Fiona Allison
3)
My initial thoughts of the play was that it had quite a slow start, but potential to have an interesting concept. I was particularly impressed by the wooden set and the imaginative ways in which they used this, however, i feel there were more possibilities that could have been explored with the trap doors. I was particularly impressed with the 'dream' scene and how they managed to use the set, sound and lighting quite harmoniously in order to create the effect of a dream. Something i hadn't seen from improbable before was an affective use of sound scaping; this was used very well in the aeroplane kit scene and the buildings coming out of the wooden set created an affective image from the audiences viewing angle. I didn't however like the intertwining of the 'war' between improbable and the actual 'war'. I feel these two ideas did not complement each other and that they should have gone with one concept or the other as both had more potential than what was performed. I found the human puppetry very effective and would like to do something similar in my own devised piece, this linked nicely into the one man show scene where one actor played both characters, however it seemed unclear as to why this had to happen. It was also refreshing that the actors acknowledged the audience and included reactions from the audience in their performance such as a phone going off and someone sneezing. This did add another dynamic to the performance, however the overall product certainly maintained the classical 'unpolished' attitude that improbable are known for. However, this time it did not have the same positive effect as it has done in previous productions.
Posted by Emma Bilton
4)
This week I’d like to add a few comments about the video ‘Spirit’. The first thing that struck me about the performance was the acting space. I spent a long time trying to work out how the stage worked and I am still slightly unsure about how it worked. It seemed a very exposing space to work in. When the actors weren’t off stage or sliding through the grid holes they were directly in front of their audience. This made the interaction between the actors and the audience seem more pronounced than it has been in other Improbable shows. An example being when one of the performers says ‘bless you’ in response to an audience member sneezing. I was able to see links between the ways in which the actors allowed themselves to be exposed in a comic way to the workshop I participated in with Lee Simpson. The actors let themselves be spontaneous and even discuss it at the end, whereupon you find out that one of them dislikes the fact that he is usually spontaneous.
I would like to mention the use of the human puppet during the performance. One of the actors becomes limp for an extensive period of time. One of the other performers is able to use his limb frame like a puppet. I found this quite alarming to watch and think that it could be a useful tool to consider using in our final pieces on fear. During the performance I found myself enjoying certain moments. There were lots of details like the mobile phone sound (being described as magic), the way in which the pillows slid to their owners and when the actors had conversations that were unrelated to the actual story they were telling. For instance the discussion about the sneeze. I think the reason these moments worked so well for me was that they seemed so unexpected and surprised me.
I have heard so many war stories but none with instances of magic or a break where the storytellers argue about how good they are at telling the story.
Posted by Sylvie Barlow
5)
On watching a production of Improbable “Spirit,” I feel it was an interesting account and exploration into the theme of war and conflict. The production included many typical elements of the company’s work, the most noticeable being the actors’ communication with the audience. This was unique from the very beginning of the piece as due to its traditional element of in completion, outside aspects were permitted to be adapted into the performance to increase the humour. For example, there was a golden moment where someone’s mobile went off and Lee Simpson said to his fellow actor, “Did you hear that? There was a funny sort of ‘bllbllb’ sound when you entered.” A prime example of the company’s technique of bouncing of, not only each other, but all elements of the theatre for inspiration in forming effective improvisation. This idea, in fact, cleverly covered the production’s first idea on the topic of conflict, that being an actor’s conflict with the audience.
As Improbable’s principles revolve around the idea of improvisation, their productions are very vulnerable to different obstacles and possible conflicts that come with a live audience. However, this particular incident with the mobile phone is a prime example of the company’s attitude that nothing is a mistake, it is merely incorporated into the show. Another example of conflict the performance covered was perhaps the most obvious choice, that being the case of war. The actors depicted a story of three bakers, who were brothers, and the effects it had when the youngest went off to war and was killed. The story then developed into a generalisation of war with the use of puppet soldiers fighting each other and aeroplanes bombing cities with the use of chilling deathly sounds of dramatic music, and loud humming which almost portrayed the planes as a swarm of bees. Interestingly however, once the young baker form the actors’ story had died, they developed this into another form of conflict: a physical one whereby the other actors manipulated Phelim McDermott’s “dead” body, reflecting on the strains and physical limits of theatre. This was, although very funny for the audience to see, also at times quite disturbing as it was very strange to see the technique the company usually apply to newspaper and inanimate objects, on a human. The final form of conflict though, which again really emphasised some of Improbable’s traditional methods, was brought about when McDermott came out of character and turned to Lee Simpson saying, “You’re rubbish. You know I don’t think I’ve seen you act once in the past seven years.” This triggered a full scale argument between the actors, which proved hilarious for the audience to watch and at the same time sticking to the ongoing theme. What also seemed quite striking was the way this argument seemed so realistic when in actual fact, like most other Improbable productions, it was an example of highly commendable improvisation.
Posted by Laurence Brasted
I have to be honest, on seeing the opening of Improbable's 'Spirit', where performers Guy Dartnell, Phelim McDermott, Lee Simpson appear through holes in a wooden raked platform I expected a completely rehearsed and admittedly pretentious piece of dialogue. However, thankfully, this was not the case. By breaking the moment with a completely unrehearsed, lighthearted and improvised conversation it gave the piece a refreshing feel that set the standard for the rest of the piece to be unpredictable and theatrically exciting. Progressing from this, the performers used the flexible structure of the piece to its advantage by being able to accept accidents and mistakes that happened during the performance. For example, when a sack, acting as a pillow, fell off the top of the racked platform Guy Dartnell accepted this moment, and instead of ignoring it and carrying on as you would expect in perhaps a naturalistic play, he went to pick it up and this provided a very comical moment in the piece. I also enjoyed the way they mixed a playful and childlike attitude to using puppets and props to present their concept of war and conflict. This raised many poignant images in the performance, and these images were special as they were fresh and not contrived through rehearsal, so the piece was much more open for the audience to take what they personally found in the production.
Posted by Helen Hudson
2)
I just got back from watching spirit. Have very mixed views of the video. Loved the set and what they did with it. I especially enjoyed how tight their movements were in relation to it and some of the ideas they had around it were really creative. Only problem i did have with it was i thought some of the context and talking was verging on being pretentious. I find sometimes that when they talk it feels like they are talking down to the audience a lot, almost patronising in a way, i mainly feel this more from Phelim rather than the others. This could just be a personal thing though, i don't in any way think his work is bad i just maybe do not click on the same wave length as him. I did find quite funny though the way they used him as a puppet because when we did the devised peaces in our groups that was the original idea we came up with, people as puppets. cool that's about all i have to say really.
Posted by Fiona Allison
3)
My initial thoughts of the play was that it had quite a slow start, but potential to have an interesting concept. I was particularly impressed by the wooden set and the imaginative ways in which they used this, however, i feel there were more possibilities that could have been explored with the trap doors. I was particularly impressed with the 'dream' scene and how they managed to use the set, sound and lighting quite harmoniously in order to create the effect of a dream. Something i hadn't seen from improbable before was an affective use of sound scaping; this was used very well in the aeroplane kit scene and the buildings coming out of the wooden set created an affective image from the audiences viewing angle. I didn't however like the intertwining of the 'war' between improbable and the actual 'war'. I feel these two ideas did not complement each other and that they should have gone with one concept or the other as both had more potential than what was performed. I found the human puppetry very effective and would like to do something similar in my own devised piece, this linked nicely into the one man show scene where one actor played both characters, however it seemed unclear as to why this had to happen. It was also refreshing that the actors acknowledged the audience and included reactions from the audience in their performance such as a phone going off and someone sneezing. This did add another dynamic to the performance, however the overall product certainly maintained the classical 'unpolished' attitude that improbable are known for. However, this time it did not have the same positive effect as it has done in previous productions.
Posted by Emma Bilton
4)
This week I’d like to add a few comments about the video ‘Spirit’. The first thing that struck me about the performance was the acting space. I spent a long time trying to work out how the stage worked and I am still slightly unsure about how it worked. It seemed a very exposing space to work in. When the actors weren’t off stage or sliding through the grid holes they were directly in front of their audience. This made the interaction between the actors and the audience seem more pronounced than it has been in other Improbable shows. An example being when one of the performers says ‘bless you’ in response to an audience member sneezing. I was able to see links between the ways in which the actors allowed themselves to be exposed in a comic way to the workshop I participated in with Lee Simpson. The actors let themselves be spontaneous and even discuss it at the end, whereupon you find out that one of them dislikes the fact that he is usually spontaneous.
I would like to mention the use of the human puppet during the performance. One of the actors becomes limp for an extensive period of time. One of the other performers is able to use his limb frame like a puppet. I found this quite alarming to watch and think that it could be a useful tool to consider using in our final pieces on fear. During the performance I found myself enjoying certain moments. There were lots of details like the mobile phone sound (being described as magic), the way in which the pillows slid to their owners and when the actors had conversations that were unrelated to the actual story they were telling. For instance the discussion about the sneeze. I think the reason these moments worked so well for me was that they seemed so unexpected and surprised me.
I have heard so many war stories but none with instances of magic or a break where the storytellers argue about how good they are at telling the story.
Posted by Sylvie Barlow
5)
On watching a production of Improbable “Spirit,” I feel it was an interesting account and exploration into the theme of war and conflict. The production included many typical elements of the company’s work, the most noticeable being the actors’ communication with the audience. This was unique from the very beginning of the piece as due to its traditional element of in completion, outside aspects were permitted to be adapted into the performance to increase the humour. For example, there was a golden moment where someone’s mobile went off and Lee Simpson said to his fellow actor, “Did you hear that? There was a funny sort of ‘bllbllb’ sound when you entered.” A prime example of the company’s technique of bouncing of, not only each other, but all elements of the theatre for inspiration in forming effective improvisation. This idea, in fact, cleverly covered the production’s first idea on the topic of conflict, that being an actor’s conflict with the audience.
As Improbable’s principles revolve around the idea of improvisation, their productions are very vulnerable to different obstacles and possible conflicts that come with a live audience. However, this particular incident with the mobile phone is a prime example of the company’s attitude that nothing is a mistake, it is merely incorporated into the show. Another example of conflict the performance covered was perhaps the most obvious choice, that being the case of war. The actors depicted a story of three bakers, who were brothers, and the effects it had when the youngest went off to war and was killed. The story then developed into a generalisation of war with the use of puppet soldiers fighting each other and aeroplanes bombing cities with the use of chilling deathly sounds of dramatic music, and loud humming which almost portrayed the planes as a swarm of bees. Interestingly however, once the young baker form the actors’ story had died, they developed this into another form of conflict: a physical one whereby the other actors manipulated Phelim McDermott’s “dead” body, reflecting on the strains and physical limits of theatre. This was, although very funny for the audience to see, also at times quite disturbing as it was very strange to see the technique the company usually apply to newspaper and inanimate objects, on a human. The final form of conflict though, which again really emphasised some of Improbable’s traditional methods, was brought about when McDermott came out of character and turned to Lee Simpson saying, “You’re rubbish. You know I don’t think I’ve seen you act once in the past seven years.” This triggered a full scale argument between the actors, which proved hilarious for the audience to watch and at the same time sticking to the ongoing theme. What also seemed quite striking was the way this argument seemed so realistic when in actual fact, like most other Improbable productions, it was an example of highly commendable improvisation.
Posted by Laurence Brasted
Saturday, 3 November 2007
Friday, 2 November 2007
Monday, 29 October 2007
5 RECURRENT CONCEPTS IN IMPROBABLE'S WORK
1) Mood change e.g. excitement to melancholy, relating to the elements.
2) Death as a common theme/focus.
3) The performers and their personal lives coming through in performance.
4) Bringing new dimensions to inanimate objects, and not relying on traditional set and staging.
5) Accepting 'mistakes' and letting theme become part of the performance.
Posted by Chloe Gosling
1) They use ideas and themes concerning themselves – for example in 70Hill Lane, the story was based on Phelim McDermott.
2) They work as an ensemble; all of Improbable members are equal, there are no hierarchies.
3) They often create the set and decide on design elements before the performance has been fully created. They use set design as a stimulus for the narrative of their piece.
4) They welcome mistakes, as they believe mistakes produce creative decisions and ideas.
5) They use objects in order to tell the story; they believe that the object or puppet is as important as the actor.
Posted by Charlotte Harvey
There are many recurrent elements in the work of Improbable, however, I have decided to draw on the points that have had most impact on me through my studies on the theatre company.
1) Ensemble- working together, having awareness for one another, concentrating on the group as oppose to the individual. Seeing the bigger picture.
2) Spontaneity- Trying new things without pre-conceiving ideas. Not being afraid to jump off a cliff with the hope that the audience is there to catch them. Not worrying if what they are doing is right or wrong by learning from their mistakes. Taking the risk!
3) Creativity- working in an artistic environment with like minded people. Being open-minded to new ideas that can come from anywhere. Developing their work through the use of original materials.
4) Authenticity- (this leads on from the last) creating original pieces of work which are refreshing. Not 'thinking up' new ideas, but instead working through experimentation.
5) Incorporating the audience- producing a unique performance every time by reacting and adapting to the individual audience.
Posted by Faith Brandon-Blatch
1) The use of everyday items such as newspaper or sticky tape
2) Storytelling
3) Puppetry
4) Use of light and sound to help build up scenes where they, maybe, don't have the props to aid the storytelling
5) Responding to the audience and their reactions, leaving room for mistakes. e.g If someone's phone goes off in the audience they are able to incorporate it into their piece as they are not following a specific text (improvisation)
Posted by Louisa Hagan
1) improvisation
2) unconventional use of objects
3) newspaper into puppets
4) unfinished or left open for audience interpretation
5) creating piece around basis of set i.e. creating set first then devising show around what is in the set.
Posted by Emily Cookson
1) Ensemble- ensemble is clearly an important element in performance, but for improbable it is essential. Without the team work of being able to understand one another thoughts through a phase, gesture or movement would create a disjointed and random piece. If they did not 'accept' one another's 'offers' the story would soon end and become illogical, as we discovered through exercise in our classes.
2) Imagination/ using objects- Another element improbable entails is the imagination to use and create a object into something else which is not commonly associated with. For example turning paper into a living person and then turning it into a performance on stage, furthermore treating it as a equal to a human performer on stage.
3) 'Offering'- This element originates from Keith Johnstone's book 'Impro', meaning to give a gesture, movement and sentence that the other actor's on stage can respond and react to.
4) 'Accepting'--Once again, the idea develops from Keith Johnstone, and meaning to retaliate to a gesture, movement or sentence has been given previously.
5) Mistakes do not matter- this element means that unlike other forms of theatre where a mistake such as misinterpreting a fellow actor would be incorrect, Improbable believe it develops in to a new path of a narrative. They believe that a mistake is not wrong but a new creative element to their play.
Posted by Olivia Pointing
1) Improvisation
2) Ensemble
3) Every day items used to make something bigger e.g. newspaper puppets
4) Use of set
5) Open to change
Posted by Emma Berge
1) Ensemble-members: the main members of the ensemble are always the same. Therefore it is some sort of recurrency as they know each other and are then able to repeat (maybe intuitively) things that have been working quite well before.
2) 'Death' as a main-theme
3) Working with simple every day objects such as newspaper or sellotape
4) Naivety: this means that they always try to see the world from a childlike position; They are always open to explore and create new or unexpected things on stage, during rehearsals and during shows.
5) Puppetry: improbable is quite attached to puppets; They come in any shape and size and are used in order to support the 'real' actors, not just as a 'nice accessory'. Of course, one can see the every day objects which I've mentioned before also as puppetry. But here I mean puppets in term of creatures (human or animal like).
Posted by Mirjam Frank
1) Death
2) Being afraid sometimes is a good thing
3) Audience participation in the creation of the story
4) Not having pre-conceived ideas about what they are creating
5) Giving life to ordinary objects
Posted by Fiona Allison
1) The way in which they devise as a company in terms of their philosophy of 'spontaneity' and 'play'. This structure or non-structure is how nearly all of Improbable's performances are created, whether the final product is scripted or not.
2) The use of light is something I also feel Improbable use as an instrumental element in their performances, particularly in 70 Hill Lane, Sticky and Lifegame, even is it just symbolised an ending of a scene, this was very effective particularly in their improvised performances.
3) Puppetry seems to be another strong element in Improbable's work. In 70 Hill Lane they used both sellotape and newspaper to create puppets, and also used the element of light to create a more enhanced visual effect for the audience. This was also done on a larger scale for Sticky.
4) Improbable have also used the element of song in some of their productions, both scripted and unscripted! This requires very close work as an ensemble, which was shown very clearly in Lifegame, where they managed to sing songs together on the spot.
5) In terms of Improbable's philosophy on improvisation, it would seem that one of their other main elements would be the idea of accepting everything, and not thinking. This is considered to Improbable the only way to create a successful improvisation scene by where each actor is accepting the idea without trying to make the scene meet their own pre-conceived ideas. This is also a way to prevent yourself from trying to think of something funny or original rather than just 'doing'.
Posted by Emma Bilton
1) Storytelling- Many of Improbable's pieces encompass storytelling. Lifegame was fundamentally a new life story every night and 70 Hill Lane was a story about Phelim when he was younger. The start of any devised piece must come from our perceived ideas and these only come from our experiences in life; so the element of storytelling seems like one of the most prominent ones to me.
2) Truth - Linked with the first this is also part of what, to me, seems like a good formula for devising as it draws on our own lives to create something. I think this connection must exist in order to create a good piece as it creates a degree of passion and love for the work you are producing which i think is incredibly important and seeing as Improbable create some very original work i hope this applies to them.
3) Emotions - Again this links in with the previous two. Creating an interesting piece means that the truth must somewhere lie in the emotions portrayed and seeing as storytelling is also a big element, the mixture of these could insinuate that some of the emotions in Improbable's work could be seen as quite raw and thus relate to the group, then again they might not...
4) Death - I think this mainly because Improbable say this element keeps recurring in their pieces and i think i agree. I might be tempted to say 'the circle of life' or something less specific would be more accurate than simply 'death'. However, as i believe their pieces concentrate more on life as a whole where death just happens to be a very common end. Sticky is a good example of this whole idea of life; from my vague memory of the piece some sort of angel descends and all the strange bug and clock light show ensue where many 'eggs' are released followed by the exit of the 'angel' (This may be a slightly pretentious way to look at it but i think there is some truth in there).
5) Life - I say this for the reasons above in death but in reference the other way. Life is an important part of death, funnily enough, and it seems blatantly obvious to have them both in here!
Posted by George Calderwood
1) Working as an ensemble- all equal
2) Show deliberately made unfinished
3) Create design elements before the rehearsal/ devising process
4) They welcome mistakes- and often use them in their work
5) Fear should be present in each show- feeling scared helps you perform best
Posted by Fran Smith
1) Puppetry with different materials
2) The theme of Death
3) Changes of space - being experimental and not using the same space twice
4) Uses of different Media - theatre, outdoors, structures
5) Sellotape!
Posted by Emma Fielding
1) The theme of death: Improbable often deal with death in their work; it is a universal theme which obviously applies to us all. They use this theme in a tasteful and sometimes humorous way, which makes it an easier subject to cope with for the audience.
2) An enhanced feeling of ensemble: In improbable’s work, the audience can plainly see that their sense of ensemble is very deeply developed.
This is why they can improvise so easily on the spot, and the reason some people don’t believe they improvise live on-stage, which they actually do.
3) Use of everyday objects: Many people find it strange that Improbable use such common objects as Newspaper and Sellotape within their work.
However in Sticky and 70 Hill Lane Sellotape is used to great effect, they use the qualities which the tape already possesses to create objects and even sets.
4) Live Improvisation: Improbable are possibly best known for their use of improvisation live on-stage. They believe the scariness of doing this creates good, lively theatre. This technique also ensures a show is different every night, emphasising the liveness and changeability of theatre.
5) Abstract Notions: Most of Improbable’s shows have an unfinished feel about them. This is intentional, and allows the audience to ’fill the gaps’ with their own imagination, and arguably have a deeper and more formed experience than if they had seen a truly polished show. The audience have an active, rather than passive role within Improbable’s shows.
Posted by Eleanor Rhodes
Obviously this is quite difficult to pin down but so far I have gathered these to be the five main elements of Improbable's work:
1) Ensemble,
Each production I have seen so far clearly lacks either a lead character as some traditional productions, of has any lead writing/directorial of production credits. In productions such as "Sticky" the cast does not even "Act" but prefers to come together to create a work of spectacle.
2) Audience
In all the production's I have seen so far the audience has either a key part to play in "finishing" the production, or, as in Sticky the needs of the actor's involved to display their craft as "performers" is pushed aside for the desire to please and entertain with a display of pure spectacle which is designed I feel, to simply connect them with an Aesthetic engagement.
3) "Unfinished" works:
Each improbable production leaves from for either surprises (Lifegame) or simply development on stage, often Improbable's productions will never be alike and change greatly during a single run, or other many years as in "Shockhead Peter"
4) Play
Each production really seems to suggest that aside from everything else, the performers involved simply enjoy producing theatre. In Lifegame a real sense of playfulness was embodied through the portrayal of childhood events, and in Sticky I could almost imagine the gleefulness with which the actor's simply decided to play with sticky tape and fireworks and simply have some fun.
5) Objects
In key performances Objects are used to great effect and are often the starting point for improvisations, such as the trap door ramp in Spirit, and the amusing horns and table/interview set up of Lifegame.
Posted by Gemma Moran
1) spontaneity for authenticity
2) lack of structure and freedom in performance
3) acceptance of all offers, even accidents
4) taking everyday objects, eg selotape/newspapers, and giving them anew use and voice
5) Telling personal stories and anicdotes without having to resort to a naturalistic style, but constantly involving the audience and using props, puppets, lighting, sound to make the storytelling come to life.
Posted by Helen Hudson
1) The involvement of the audience- the audience always play an important part in the development of Improbable's work.
2) The use of improvisation.
3) Death seems to be a recurring theme in Improbable's work suggesting that the element of the 'shock factor' is recurrent, e.g. The Hanging Man.
4) Storytelling is a major recurring element in Improbable's work.
5) The use of props and objects/making props and objects- newspaper, selotape.
Posted by Hazel Darlington
1) Issues surrounding life and death.
2) Storytelling- throughout their performances they usually tell a story. Any story from fairytale to a real life story.
3) Narrative- within the storytelling they often use a narrator.
4) Music - Although the music that Improbable use during their performances may be chosen late on it nevertheless plays a role in creating mood.
5) Comedy- Comedy is used in many different ways. It is never forced and is often experienced alongside more serious issues such as death.
Posted by Sylvie Barlow
2) Death as a common theme/focus.
3) The performers and their personal lives coming through in performance.
4) Bringing new dimensions to inanimate objects, and not relying on traditional set and staging.
5) Accepting 'mistakes' and letting theme become part of the performance.
Posted by Chloe Gosling
1) They use ideas and themes concerning themselves – for example in 70Hill Lane, the story was based on Phelim McDermott.
2) They work as an ensemble; all of Improbable members are equal, there are no hierarchies.
3) They often create the set and decide on design elements before the performance has been fully created. They use set design as a stimulus for the narrative of their piece.
4) They welcome mistakes, as they believe mistakes produce creative decisions and ideas.
5) They use objects in order to tell the story; they believe that the object or puppet is as important as the actor.
Posted by Charlotte Harvey
There are many recurrent elements in the work of Improbable, however, I have decided to draw on the points that have had most impact on me through my studies on the theatre company.
1) Ensemble- working together, having awareness for one another, concentrating on the group as oppose to the individual. Seeing the bigger picture.
2) Spontaneity- Trying new things without pre-conceiving ideas. Not being afraid to jump off a cliff with the hope that the audience is there to catch them. Not worrying if what they are doing is right or wrong by learning from their mistakes. Taking the risk!
3) Creativity- working in an artistic environment with like minded people. Being open-minded to new ideas that can come from anywhere. Developing their work through the use of original materials.
4) Authenticity- (this leads on from the last) creating original pieces of work which are refreshing. Not 'thinking up' new ideas, but instead working through experimentation.
5) Incorporating the audience- producing a unique performance every time by reacting and adapting to the individual audience.
Posted by Faith Brandon-Blatch
1) The use of everyday items such as newspaper or sticky tape
2) Storytelling
3) Puppetry
4) Use of light and sound to help build up scenes where they, maybe, don't have the props to aid the storytelling
5) Responding to the audience and their reactions, leaving room for mistakes. e.g If someone's phone goes off in the audience they are able to incorporate it into their piece as they are not following a specific text (improvisation)
Posted by Louisa Hagan
1) improvisation
2) unconventional use of objects
3) newspaper into puppets
4) unfinished or left open for audience interpretation
5) creating piece around basis of set i.e. creating set first then devising show around what is in the set.
Posted by Emily Cookson
1) Ensemble- ensemble is clearly an important element in performance, but for improbable it is essential. Without the team work of being able to understand one another thoughts through a phase, gesture or movement would create a disjointed and random piece. If they did not 'accept' one another's 'offers' the story would soon end and become illogical, as we discovered through exercise in our classes.
2) Imagination/ using objects- Another element improbable entails is the imagination to use and create a object into something else which is not commonly associated with. For example turning paper into a living person and then turning it into a performance on stage, furthermore treating it as a equal to a human performer on stage.
3) 'Offering'- This element originates from Keith Johnstone's book 'Impro', meaning to give a gesture, movement and sentence that the other actor's on stage can respond and react to.
4) 'Accepting'--Once again, the idea develops from Keith Johnstone, and meaning to retaliate to a gesture, movement or sentence has been given previously.
5) Mistakes do not matter- this element means that unlike other forms of theatre where a mistake such as misinterpreting a fellow actor would be incorrect, Improbable believe it develops in to a new path of a narrative. They believe that a mistake is not wrong but a new creative element to their play.
Posted by Olivia Pointing
1) Improvisation
2) Ensemble
3) Every day items used to make something bigger e.g. newspaper puppets
4) Use of set
5) Open to change
Posted by Emma Berge
1) Ensemble-members: the main members of the ensemble are always the same. Therefore it is some sort of recurrency as they know each other and are then able to repeat (maybe intuitively) things that have been working quite well before.
2) 'Death' as a main-theme
3) Working with simple every day objects such as newspaper or sellotape
4) Naivety: this means that they always try to see the world from a childlike position; They are always open to explore and create new or unexpected things on stage, during rehearsals and during shows.
5) Puppetry: improbable is quite attached to puppets; They come in any shape and size and are used in order to support the 'real' actors, not just as a 'nice accessory'. Of course, one can see the every day objects which I've mentioned before also as puppetry. But here I mean puppets in term of creatures (human or animal like).
Posted by Mirjam Frank
1) Death
2) Being afraid sometimes is a good thing
3) Audience participation in the creation of the story
4) Not having pre-conceived ideas about what they are creating
5) Giving life to ordinary objects
Posted by Fiona Allison
1) The way in which they devise as a company in terms of their philosophy of 'spontaneity' and 'play'. This structure or non-structure is how nearly all of Improbable's performances are created, whether the final product is scripted or not.
2) The use of light is something I also feel Improbable use as an instrumental element in their performances, particularly in 70 Hill Lane, Sticky and Lifegame, even is it just symbolised an ending of a scene, this was very effective particularly in their improvised performances.
3) Puppetry seems to be another strong element in Improbable's work. In 70 Hill Lane they used both sellotape and newspaper to create puppets, and also used the element of light to create a more enhanced visual effect for the audience. This was also done on a larger scale for Sticky.
4) Improbable have also used the element of song in some of their productions, both scripted and unscripted! This requires very close work as an ensemble, which was shown very clearly in Lifegame, where they managed to sing songs together on the spot.
5) In terms of Improbable's philosophy on improvisation, it would seem that one of their other main elements would be the idea of accepting everything, and not thinking. This is considered to Improbable the only way to create a successful improvisation scene by where each actor is accepting the idea without trying to make the scene meet their own pre-conceived ideas. This is also a way to prevent yourself from trying to think of something funny or original rather than just 'doing'.
Posted by Emma Bilton
1) Storytelling- Many of Improbable's pieces encompass storytelling. Lifegame was fundamentally a new life story every night and 70 Hill Lane was a story about Phelim when he was younger. The start of any devised piece must come from our perceived ideas and these only come from our experiences in life; so the element of storytelling seems like one of the most prominent ones to me.
2) Truth - Linked with the first this is also part of what, to me, seems like a good formula for devising as it draws on our own lives to create something. I think this connection must exist in order to create a good piece as it creates a degree of passion and love for the work you are producing which i think is incredibly important and seeing as Improbable create some very original work i hope this applies to them.
3) Emotions - Again this links in with the previous two. Creating an interesting piece means that the truth must somewhere lie in the emotions portrayed and seeing as storytelling is also a big element, the mixture of these could insinuate that some of the emotions in Improbable's work could be seen as quite raw and thus relate to the group, then again they might not...
4) Death - I think this mainly because Improbable say this element keeps recurring in their pieces and i think i agree. I might be tempted to say 'the circle of life' or something less specific would be more accurate than simply 'death'. However, as i believe their pieces concentrate more on life as a whole where death just happens to be a very common end. Sticky is a good example of this whole idea of life; from my vague memory of the piece some sort of angel descends and all the strange bug and clock light show ensue where many 'eggs' are released followed by the exit of the 'angel' (This may be a slightly pretentious way to look at it but i think there is some truth in there).
5) Life - I say this for the reasons above in death but in reference the other way. Life is an important part of death, funnily enough, and it seems blatantly obvious to have them both in here!
Posted by George Calderwood
1) Working as an ensemble- all equal
2) Show deliberately made unfinished
3) Create design elements before the rehearsal/ devising process
4) They welcome mistakes- and often use them in their work
5) Fear should be present in each show- feeling scared helps you perform best
Posted by Fran Smith
1) Puppetry with different materials
2) The theme of Death
3) Changes of space - being experimental and not using the same space twice
4) Uses of different Media - theatre, outdoors, structures
5) Sellotape!
Posted by Emma Fielding
1) The theme of death: Improbable often deal with death in their work; it is a universal theme which obviously applies to us all. They use this theme in a tasteful and sometimes humorous way, which makes it an easier subject to cope with for the audience.
2) An enhanced feeling of ensemble: In improbable’s work, the audience can plainly see that their sense of ensemble is very deeply developed.
This is why they can improvise so easily on the spot, and the reason some people don’t believe they improvise live on-stage, which they actually do.
3) Use of everyday objects: Many people find it strange that Improbable use such common objects as Newspaper and Sellotape within their work.
However in Sticky and 70 Hill Lane Sellotape is used to great effect, they use the qualities which the tape already possesses to create objects and even sets.
4) Live Improvisation: Improbable are possibly best known for their use of improvisation live on-stage. They believe the scariness of doing this creates good, lively theatre. This technique also ensures a show is different every night, emphasising the liveness and changeability of theatre.
5) Abstract Notions: Most of Improbable’s shows have an unfinished feel about them. This is intentional, and allows the audience to ’fill the gaps’ with their own imagination, and arguably have a deeper and more formed experience than if they had seen a truly polished show. The audience have an active, rather than passive role within Improbable’s shows.
Posted by Eleanor Rhodes
Obviously this is quite difficult to pin down but so far I have gathered these to be the five main elements of Improbable's work:
1) Ensemble,
Each production I have seen so far clearly lacks either a lead character as some traditional productions, of has any lead writing/directorial of production credits. In productions such as "Sticky" the cast does not even "Act" but prefers to come together to create a work of spectacle.
2) Audience
In all the production's I have seen so far the audience has either a key part to play in "finishing" the production, or, as in Sticky the needs of the actor's involved to display their craft as "performers" is pushed aside for the desire to please and entertain with a display of pure spectacle which is designed I feel, to simply connect them with an Aesthetic engagement.
3) "Unfinished" works:
Each improbable production leaves from for either surprises (Lifegame) or simply development on stage, often Improbable's productions will never be alike and change greatly during a single run, or other many years as in "Shockhead Peter"
4) Play
Each production really seems to suggest that aside from everything else, the performers involved simply enjoy producing theatre. In Lifegame a real sense of playfulness was embodied through the portrayal of childhood events, and in Sticky I could almost imagine the gleefulness with which the actor's simply decided to play with sticky tape and fireworks and simply have some fun.
5) Objects
In key performances Objects are used to great effect and are often the starting point for improvisations, such as the trap door ramp in Spirit, and the amusing horns and table/interview set up of Lifegame.
Posted by Gemma Moran
1) spontaneity for authenticity
2) lack of structure and freedom in performance
3) acceptance of all offers, even accidents
4) taking everyday objects, eg selotape/newspapers, and giving them anew use and voice
5) Telling personal stories and anicdotes without having to resort to a naturalistic style, but constantly involving the audience and using props, puppets, lighting, sound to make the storytelling come to life.
Posted by Helen Hudson
1) The involvement of the audience- the audience always play an important part in the development of Improbable's work.
2) The use of improvisation.
3) Death seems to be a recurring theme in Improbable's work suggesting that the element of the 'shock factor' is recurrent, e.g. The Hanging Man.
4) Storytelling is a major recurring element in Improbable's work.
5) The use of props and objects/making props and objects- newspaper, selotape.
Posted by Hazel Darlington
1) Issues surrounding life and death.
2) Storytelling- throughout their performances they usually tell a story. Any story from fairytale to a real life story.
3) Narrative- within the storytelling they often use a narrator.
4) Music - Although the music that Improbable use during their performances may be chosen late on it nevertheless plays a role in creating mood.
5) Comedy- Comedy is used in many different ways. It is never forced and is often experienced alongside more serious issues such as death.
Posted by Sylvie Barlow
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