Theatre Independent Portfolio Project (I.P.P)

I wrote my proposal for my IPP for my drama teacher to see, 2 months ago but I didn’t post it on my blog. So here it is 🙂

Research Proposal:- In this project I will take on the role of a director as well as an actress. I will write my own play and consequently direct it and perform in it. The theatre practices I will use will be a fusion of Theatre of Cruelty, Brechtian Epic Theatre, Symbolic Theatre, Physicalization and Stanislvaski’s Method Acting. The play will be experimental theatre and will have a social and political message message to the audience; more specifically it will make the audience reflect upon how humans are so cruel, barbaric and how we kill one another for meaningless reasons and in the most monstrous ways. The play will be based on events from the Armenian Genocide and it will have a certain plot.

I want to the show the relationship and tension between various characters, the political and social message and portray the tragedy in the barbarous behavior of mankind. I will bring up ideas and example of how this is repeatedly occurring in our world even today, in the 21^st century where a good fraction of the world is very civilized and has a set of morals. I will utilize Theatre of Cruelty to appeal to the audience’s senses and convey the cruelty, blood and monstrousness (there will be blood, use of voice to convey noises, screaming and so on). Stanislavski’s &/or Lee Strasberg’s Method Acting will be necessary for actors to use in the impersonation of their character to fully convey the thoughts, movements and emotions of that particular character in order to ultimately convey the message of the play.

Some scenes will not have much dialogue in them; they will be more of the actors telling a story through the use of their voice (e.g. chanting or mourning), facial expressions, movement and other dramatic conventions. Thus there will be a lot of physicalization employed in such scenes as well.

 

The play will not take place conventionally and solely in the theatre. My play will be a promenade theatre and the scenes will take place in different locations, therefore the audience will be led to these various locations, by the actors themselves.

The actors that will be acting in my play will definitely have to be committed and understanding. The play will be very experimental and challenging especially for the actors because the context of the play is something that the actors may not understand or emotionally connect to it, but this will also challenge them as actors to grow, develop and have the skill to impersonate different characters and to connect with the character’s soul and portray their behavior.

The staging will be very unique and very symbolic; I’ll use projections and music in order to make scenes more effective, provoking and emotional.

My key focus will be doing workshops to get the actors to emotionally connect with their character and try to understand and feel the pain of the Armenian people that suffered in the past. This will be a very challenging task for them as they’re not Armenian and have not been educated and taught about these tragic events and the tragic history of Armenians for generations as an Armenian has. Considering this factor I will not have a very big cast, I will cast just a few people who have the skills and commitment for the role and who can convey emotions and make their character come to life and be as believable and natural as possible.

I’m VERY excited for this project and it will my dream come true to successfully produce and act in my play that touches upon the Armenian Genocide and the current political tension and problems between Armenia & Turkey till the present day. The play will not attack a certain country however it will make the audience deeply consider what is really happening in the world around them and it will teach the audience a very important message! 😀

Practice PPP

Pitch

 

The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world. It is an unsurpassed beauty of architecture, a precious diamond in the desert and a symbol of progress, innovation, unity, and international cooperation. Burj Khalifa is an emblem of a dynamic, innovative and prosperous UAE. In less than 30 years Dubai has grown from a desert into a flourished and modern city; it has transformed from a small regional country to a global center, where Arabia meets the rest of the world. The architectural structure of the Burj Khalifa; the exterior cladding of the different lengths of vertical steel spandrel panels and stainless steel tubular fins standing on top of one another to grow taller and taller inspired me of the theme for the play “The Strength in Unity”. Thus the stacking of the steel panels on top of one another symbolizes how UAE locals, expatriates and others from all around the world came together and helped one another reach higher aspirations to ultimately achieve something grand and spectacular; one of the most famous and innovative cities in the world. With unity and cooperation did they achieve something remarkable and it is with unity and togetherness that humans can overcome any obstacle and achieve anything desired.

 

In “The Strength in Unity” several UAE locals and international expats will come together to build a modern, strong and innovative country: Dubai. Conflict will threaten these people when an ambitious and greedy man tries to takeover tyrannically. The audience will leave the theatre with the central message that in order for humans to achieve greatness or overcome any obstacle they must be united together. Symbolic theatre will be used to symbolize how the unity and the standing of the steel spandrels on top of one another represents how UAE locals and expats unite together to create a unique and famous city. Realist theatre will be used thus Stanislavsky’s method acting to successfully portray the true inner emotions and actions of the characters as this will aid the plot and in conveying the theme of the play. Some Physicalization will be employed such as when the actors and the audience will be involved in physically standing on various platforms, helping one another to recreate the structure of Burj Khalifa. Some elements of modernist theatre will also be infused to convey the contemporary mindset of the 21^st century globally and the mindset change in UAE nationals. Since the acting will be realist, the make and costume will be realist as well, with UAE locals wearing the abaya or kondura whereas other characters wearing normal business clothes. The set design will be quite elaborate which will portray how Dubai has gradually grown into an international and contemporary business center in the world. Thus it will entail the Dubai skyline, skyscrapers, however there will be a change in the set, as Dubai will progressively grow and flourish so will the set. Lighting will also be crucial to highlight important dramatic tensions during the play. The lighting will also increase in its intensity as the play progresses since Dubai will grow, flourish and become successful. All these production elements will fuse together to ultimately convey the theme of the play that humans’ unitedness is one of the most powerful things and can achieve anything imaginable.          

Basel Mask Workshops

Workshop #1:

 

In this workshop we were both put into groups of 3 where 1 person was the director and the rest acted in it. Mr. D put me, Cedric &Philip into a group. Philip was the director, and for the scene the idea was that: I was a physical education teacher (wearing a neutral mask-not speaking), Cedric was Sloth &Philip was Idiot. The scenario was that as the sports teacher I was teaching one of my students, (Sloth) how to play baseball (shooting the ball with the bat).

 

 In the beginning I started off by some warm up exercises, like stretching and running; I demonstrated them &expected Sloth to follow whatever I did but he simply did nothing he was too lazy, uninterested and tired. At first when I noticed he didn’t do anything I went up to him and showed him the exercise again and forced him to do it, then he didn’t do any of the exercises yet again. This time I got very angry and exerted more force onto him so that he would do the exercises; it was hard because he had a large and strong figure which was hard to move so I had to exaggerate my movements to show the audience the difficulty I had in moving lazy Sloth as well as the anger frustration I had in myself that he was such a lazy & uninterested student. Only with a bit of my pushing &shoving him around did he then move a little bit. After this, I demonstrated Sloth how to shoot the ball with a bat. This involved a lot of body movement as I had to imagine as if I was holding a baseball bat and shooting a ball with it taking the right body angle and really imagining &putting myself in that scenario in order to effectively and realistically portray my movement and make it believable to the audience. Again, Sloth wasn’t bothered to do anything and when he finally did he was very lousy and hit the ball completely wrong. I was mad and annoyed at him and I expressed this with my exaggerated body language (e.g. throwing my hands into the air and wavering them in the air &putting my hand on my forehead &shaking my head side wards).

 

Finally the 3^rd time Sloth hit the ball with the bat although instead of hitting the ball he swung the bat really backwards &hit his head with it and fainted on the ground. I got shocked and frightened of what had just happened to Sloth &I conveyed this through my exaggerated and very quick motions fused with worry; I tried to do something with him, moving him and slapping his cheeks but nothing helped. So I called the doctor, who was Philip acting as Idiot. He came in with his 1^st Aid Kit put it on the ground, he had steady motions and was quite calm, which made my character (Neutral) think that he had everything under control but… he didn’t because he was dumb. He started doing something completely dumb and unhelpful; hen did CPU to Sloth who was bleeding from his head. This part also created humor for the audience. This made me mad again, but Idiot persuaded me to help him by instructing me to put my hands on Sloth’s &press on it with a lot of pressure; then he turned to the audience &shrugged his shoulders in a confused manner (communicating to them that he didn’t know what to do with the patient). Then he simply left Sloth &me alone wandering off somewhere else. I couldn’t leave Sloth alone so after he left I was very angry at Idiot &anxious about Sloth’s situation. So I expressed this with my exaggerated body language, my arms wavering in the air after Idiot &putting both my hands on my head and moving it sidewards.

 

The scene was fun to do yet in order to make the scene come to live and to portray the actions &emotions of my character, a lot of physicalization was required for me to perform.        

Basel Masks by Jacques Le Coq

After an amazing summer, we returned back to school for our last year of high school and our last year of IB Theatre! We started off learning about, experimenting and acting with Basel Masks, which were created by Jacques Le Coq, who was a famous French actor, mime and acting instructor. Quite interestingly, Le Coq pursued acting as a result of his interest in sports. At 17, he did gymnastics and later went to a physical theatre college in 1941, where his fascination blossomed in the relationship of movement to theatre &the expression of emotions and traits. Thus he became a physical education instructor then developed his interest in acting. He was strongly affected by the rhythms of athletics, which was like “physical poetry” to him. In 1956, he opened his school acting school; L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, where he taught acting, mime and physical theatre till his death. Influenced by Commedia Dell’Arte Le Coq also developed Basel masks, with each mask portraying a different character as well as some common human traits.

 

The different masks/ characters are below including details of their description &movement:

 

1)   Neutral (speaking): This Basel mask is a neutral mask however as opposed to the rest of the masks, the mouth area is open and the actor may speak. Although this closes the other half of the face for facial expression, the mouth is available to use for expressions (e.g. open mouth to show shock or fright). Thus, this mask focuses on dialogue, voice however the actor must also not forget to maintain movement. This mask moves according to what or who is in their environment at a particular moment (which ever surrounds this character, affects its movements). E.g. if this neutral speaking character was with Idiot they could react to Idiot in any way they liked.

 

2)   Neutral (not speaking): This mask resembles a neutral, simple human-like face/ character. The actor wearing this mask can’t speak since the mouth is fully covered and thus the actor has to express him/herself through unexaggerated movements which makes the actor have a bit of a challenging role. This neutral mask can present a character with whatever expression that’s chosen. The movement of these neutral characters is highly important in portraying their character &emotions. Once again this neutral character can act any way according to whichever other characters there are in that scene.

 

3)   Idiot: The “Idiot” Basel mask has a fat nose, droopy eyes, a pouty lip and an overall sad and confused complexion. These features of the mask itself evoke immediate sympathy from the audience in addition to a few small movements of confusion (like scratching the head and putting both arms up as confused if to say “I don’t know”, “what do I do?”). This character is usually the one who messes up everything, is always confused and does the wrong things. There are actually 2 ways in which “Idiot” can be portrayed. One way is to portray it through body language, with its stomach out, lazy walk &back hunched over with shoulders shadowing over their body. Another way is to portray it as a character, which has medium to quick movements, like duck waddling quickly, with medium quick steps and then pauses to show the confusion.      

 

4)   Sloth: As the name indicates the “Sloth” character is one, which is extremely slow in its movements, very lazy and expressionless. The ‘Sloth’ Basel mask has no expression with only 2 small circles as eyes; it’s long and oval shaped, symbolic of the sluggishness of its character. “Sloth” must move slowly, lazily (with little or no movement) &be uninterested in things happening around him. This character must drag his/ her feet with shoulders slouched.

 

5)   Fatty: As indicated by its name, this character is very fat, lazy and loves food. “Fatty” is very similar to “Sloth” due to the fact that they’re both lazy, have slow movements and may have similar body language. The “Fatty” Basel mask has a fat face, a large nose and small eyes, which stick out. “Fatty” is also a funny character who can also be goofy. ‘Fatty’ must move in a lazy manner, slightly hunching his shoulder and sticking out his stomach/hips to portray the fat stomach of the character. When Fatty falls to the ground, he/she cannot get back up; so when acting it out we ended up on our backs with legs waggling around in the air and struggling to get back up.

 

6)   Lizard: The ‘Lizard’ Basel mask can be worn either on one’s head or face (traditional way). The Lizard has a large chin, which includes the mouth and nose. The nose has 2 circles with rectangular eyes. Lizard is more of a strange, animal like character, who’s obedient and very curious about things &people; he/she’s usually paired with Charlie or Military and is their pet. Lizard moves in a fast yet steady motion; it moves in spurs of sprints/ small quick steps &examines everything around him/ her (can also act like a dog).

 

7)   Military: The ‘Military’ Basel mask has a rectangular nose with squared nostrils &a dimpled mouth. Using 4 sided shapes, the ‘Military’ mask has a very structured, rigid face, which symbolizes his rigidness and strictness in character.  This character is rather frightening, as he is militaristic, commanding, strict, stubborn &tough. He mostly gives out orders to other character or his pet (Lizard) &is harsh by nature. Military must move with a straight back, head high, shoulders parallel with the rest of body. And their arms could be crossed with a very structured/ militaristic walk (stiff straight strides like walking in the army &the actor must have rigid/ sharp movements).

 

Charlie: The ‘Charlie’ Basel mask portrays a snobby, self-obsessed character who doesn’t care about anyone around them but themselves. Charlie has a big, long, pointy nose &a big ego, who’s stubborn &proud &views him/herself as above everyone else. The actor portraying this character must have his/her held up high to characterize his superiority &attitude. Charlie moves with his/ her own pace & doesn’t really care about others around him/her.                

REALIST THEATRE- Hedda Gabler

We began investigating Realist Theatre, through Henrik Ibsen’s most famous and controversial play, “Hedda Gabbler”. “Hedda Gabler” was a play that first was published in 1890. We watched the film in class to gain a deeper understanding of the conventions and elements of realist theatre.

 

Some critics acknowledge Hedda’s character as 1 of the great and most controversial dramatic roles in theatre. According to different interpretations of Hedda, she can be regarded as “an idealistic heroine fighting society”, a victim of the situation, a typical feminist or a manipulative villain.

 

Is Hedda Gabler a victim or an architect of her own disaster?

 

In fact, Hedda Gabbler was very dissatisfied with her life, as she was bored and found no pleasure and happiness in the life she was living. She had just married to Tesman, but didn’t love him & was unhappy about her marriage, even though Tesman did everything to please her. Therefore, Hedda made the decisions in her life, by marrying Tesman i.e. she had free will. But this is true to an extent, as Hedda was forced by the rules of society to marry someone, as she was getting old and has missed the boat. If she didn’t marry a man, she would have no significant status and profile in society.    

 

However, Hedda did enjoy gossiping and gained amusement from seeing people suffer. She also gained pleasure from manipulating people and creating conflicts between them. She wanted to have absolute freedom and control over people (like Tesman, Lovborg & Judge Brack). These were therefore strange things to be amused of. Hedda was a victim of circumstance as, she didn’t have the freedom she craved for due to the norms of society.  

 

Although she had inner ambitions and craved for freedom, Hedda was afraid of scandal. As a woman in the 19^th century, she was put into a box of society’s expectations, which limited her to act the way she desired to.  Thus, she was frightened of being judged by society. So this pressure also caused her to be rebellious &fight against the expectations of society (e.g. she was controlling in their marriage, she wanted freedom, she wanted control over men &she played with pistols which is symbolic of the strong, “hard” type of woman Hedda is). In this sense she may be regarded as a fighter against society’s expectations & a feminist. Hedda was also envious of a person who had freedom, like Mrs. Elvsted.

 

Thus, to a certain extent Hedda was a victim and she couldn’t go against the values & expectations of society. But in my opinion, she was the architect of her own disaster as she had the free will of making decisions and she chose to do mean, selfish and evil things to people and gained amusement &excitement from it and this was a distraction for her from her boring/ unhappy life. Hedda manipulated and plotted against Mrs. Elvsted (her friend &Lovborg’s lover) & Lovborg (her previous lover & Mrs. Elvsted’s current mistress), to ruin their relationship; this is her choice which led to conflict between them.

She chose to not tell to Lovborg that his manuscript is safe with her and chose to not give it to him. This left him in desolation and she was the one who offered Lovborg a pistol so that he could have a beautiful death. After he leaves, Hedda choses to burn the manuscript out of envy and evilness as she regards it as the child (or a strong bond) of Ejlert and Mrs. Elvsted. After discovering of the accidental death of Lovborg, Hedda leaves the room &plays the piano (which symbolizes her desire to be free).

Lastly, she sees no purpose in her life and she chooses to shoot herself with her pistol (symbolic of her wanting to be in power over people; she no longer had power over Judge Brack as he stated that she would be in trouble for giving Lovborg her pistol, therefore she decided to kill herself as her life was meaningless to her & perhaps she felt bad that she led Lovborg to his grave). Therefore, all these decisions were made by Hedda which led to her unhappiness, boredom and creating chaos in people’s lives.     

August Strindberg

• August Strindberg, in full Johan August Strindberg was born in, 1849, Stockholm, Swed.—died in 1912, Stockholm). 
• Swedish playwright, novelist, and short-story writer, poet, essayist & painter.
•  Strindberg combined psychology and Naturalism in a new kind of European drama that evolved into Expressionist drama. His chief works include The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), Creditors (1888), A Dream Play (1902), and The Ghost Sonata (1907).
• Strindberg describes his childhood affected by “emotional insecurity, poverty, religious fanaticism and neglect.”
• He attended a harsh school in Klara for 4 years, this experience haunted him in his adult life.
• Strindberg’s mother resented her son’s intelligence and he hated her. He was 13, when she died. Though his grief lasted for only 3 months, he felt a sense of loss and longing for an idealised maternal figure later in life. This is the reason for his misogynist attitude towards women portrayed in his works. 
• He was a productive and creative writer. He composed works, which were mostly drawn from his personal experiences.
• His career lasted 4 decades; during his lifespan he wrote over 60 plays &more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis & politics.
• Strindberg was a daring experimenter & iconoclast (attacked cherished beliefs/ institutions). He examined a wide range of dramatic methods & purposes from naturalist tragedy, monodrama, history plays to his expressionist & surrealist dramatic techniques.
• From his early works, Strindberg created unique and innovative forms of dramatic action, language &visual composition, which would only be possible to stage with the development of film.    
• Strindberg is known as the “father” of modern Swedish literature. The Red Room (1879) is known as the 1^st modern Swedish novel.
• His 1^st major play, Master Olof, was rejected by the Royal Theatre in 1872. Only in 1881 did the play premiere at the New Theatre & gave him a huge theatrical success.
• In his plays The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), & Creditors (1889), Strindberg created naturalist dramas, which built on Henrik Ibsen’s established accomplishments of prose problem plays (movement of realism; deals with controversial social issues through debates between the characters on stage, who represent conflicting points of view in a realistic social context). Though, he rejected the structure of a well-made play (involving a very tight plot &climax that takes place close to the end of the action; most of the story takes place before the action of the play; much of the information regarding such previous action would be revealed through thinly veiled exposition. Following that would be a series of causally-related plot complications).
• In Miss Julie, instead of the plot being the main dramatic element, Strindberg replaced it with characterization & he explored the role of heredity &the social environment on the characters  
• Strindberg displayed his short-lived Scandinavian Experimental Theatre (1889) in Copenhagen on Antoine’s theatre & investigated the theory of Naturalism in his essays “On Psychic Murder” (1887), “On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre” (1889), and an introduction to Miss Julie, which is the best-known statement of the principles of the theatrical movement (of realism/ naturalism).
• Strindberg spent a large amount of time abroad in the 1980s, where he was involved in scientific experiments & studied the occult (“knowledge of the paranormal “/ knowledge that “is meant only for certain people” or that “must be kept hidden”, but for most occultists it’s the study of a deeper spiritual reality that extends beyond pure reason &the physical sciences)
• From 1894 to 1896 Strindberg experiences a series of psychotic attacks, thereafter he was hospitalized & sent to Sweden.
• He was influenced by Emmanuel Swedenborg (a Swedish “Christian mystic”). This made him determined to become the Head or “Zola of the Occult”.  
• In 1898 he returned to playwriting. He wrote To Damascus, which was like The Great Highway (1909) a dream-play of spiritual pilgrimage.
• A Dream Play (1902) was a very significant precursor of expressionism &surrealism
• From 1907, Strindberg, helped run the Intimate Theatre, a small-scale theatre, that staged his chamber plays like The Ghost Sonata
• In 1911, Strindberg became sick with pneumonia & never recovered completely. He also started to suffer from a stomach disease, presumably cancer. He died on 14 May 1912 at the age of 63.

Theatre of Cruelty- Antonin Artaud

We spent a few classes studying about Theatre of Cruelty, which was established by Antonin Artaud.

 

“I am well aware that a language of gestures and postures, dance and music is less able to define character. But whoever said theatre was meant to define character?”

 

His Life & Background (1896-1948)

• Antonin Artaud was born in Marseilles in 1896.
• His family was Catholic and very strict and religious. This therefore suffocated and limited him.
• Artaud had a very difficult childhood, as he suffered from health issues such as meningitis and clinical depression, which gave him a nervous and irritable temperament. This consequently, led him to be an outcast of society as he was isolated at his school.
• Due to his condition and his nature, Artaud was an extremely strong willed person and very reluctant in conforming to the norms and expectations of society.
• As a consequence, Artaud’s parents arranged for him to be sent to a sanatorium in 1915, where he could be safely treated. He was prescribed to laundum and opium, in 1919, which resulted in his lifelong addiction to opium.  
• After he was released from the sanatorium, he moved to Paris to pursue his career as a writer, but instead he discovered his talent and passion for avant-garde theatre.
• Events in his life lead him to have acquaintances with some important figures at the time and he embarked on a journey full of fascinating experiences, which inspired him and gradually helped him establish his extreme and surrealist views of society and theatre. 
• In 1924, he became an active and influential member of the surrealist movement in France.
• Artaud &the other surrealists shared a set of extreme and avant-garde views of society and art. Their political viewpoints were founded on the basis of anarchy, freethinking, and a vision that theatre was not just means of entertainment for the bourgeoisie, but it was a means of art for ones’ emotional discoveries.
• Artaud worked with a theatre group, however he had a strained relationship with the members, so he was expelled after 2 yrs.
• He acted in several films and was renown for his non-realist style.   
• In 1931, Artaud viewed a performance of traditional Balinese Theatre (dancers) in Paris. The performance really struck a chord with Artaud and he was instantly inspired as the ritualistic nature of the dance captured him spiritually. This was his main catalyst in the development of his theatre.
• Balinese dance-drama is ritualistic and religious in nature. It involves the acting and story telling of Hindu legends in a very specific stylized manner, through the use of exaggerated and elaborate make up, symbolic masks as well as fascinating hand gestures and body movements.
• These conventions of Balinese Theatre as well its ritualistic, magical and spiritually inspiring nature struck Artaud.
• Artaud was especially appealed by the dancers’ dependence on gestures and stylized movements, facial expressions, visuals and music which all attracted one’s unconsciousness (there was no verbal communication).
• He argued that the elements of Balinese Theatre were a unique form of art, which conveyed emotions and affected ones unconsciousness, in a way which couldn’t be achieved through other means of art (novel, poem, etc.)
• Other significant influences on Artaud’d development of his ideas was:

1)   “The Daughters of Lot” by Leyden. The violent images in the painting had a theatrical quality to them and he considered the impact that such still image could have on stage

2)   A film, from the work of the Marx brothers. Artaud was fascinated by the manner in which they juxtaposed images to create humour.

 

THEATRE OF CRUELTY

 

• Based upon all these inspirations, Artaud created a manifesto called “The Theatre of Cruelty”.
• His ultimate goal was to reinvent the theatrical experience in a radical and unique manner. He wanted to eliminate the traditions of conventional realism, allowing design, performance skills of actors and other elements of drama to fuse together in a new way, which would maximize the sensory and psychological experience of the audience. 

My Mini TPP

The snapshots below was my presentation for my 1st mini TPP! 🙂

 

 

Kabuki Theatre

Kabuki (歌舞伎) is a classical Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.

The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing (歌), dance (舞), and skill (伎). Kabuki is therefore sometimes translated as “the art of singing and dancing”. These are, however, ateji characters (ensemble, not main). The kanji of ‘skill’ generally refers to a performer in kabuki theatre. Since the word kabuki is believed to derive from the verb kabuku, meaning “to lean” or “to be out of the ordinary”, kabuki can be interpreted as “avant-garde” or “bizarre” theatre.

 

 

Kabuki (歌舞伎) is a traditional Japanese form of theater with roots tracing back to the Edo Period (1603- 1629). It is recognized as one of Japan’s three major classical theaters along with Noh & Bunraku, and has been named as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

 

Kabuki is an art form rich in displaying talented and highly skilled actors/ dancers/ singers. It involves elaborately designed costumes, eye-catching make-up, very weird wigs, and arguably most importantly, the exaggerated actions performed by the actors. The highly-stylized movements serve to convey meaning to the audience; this is especially important since an old-fashioned form of the Japanese language is traditionally used in Kabuki, which is even difficult for some Japanese people to understand.

In Kabuki there are dynamic stage sets such as revolving platforms and trapdoors that allow for the prompt changing of a scene or the appearance/disappearance of actors.

Another specialty of the kabuki stage is a footbridge (hanamichi) that leads through the audience (just as in the film Geisha, where the actress gracefully dances across this footbridge). The footbridge allows a dramatic entrance or exit for the performers. Ambiance is created through the live music that’s performed using traditional Japanese instruments. The elaborate and colorful costumes, the extravagant make up and the extremely specific and stylized movements and the dynamic and creative set are all the different and key elements which all combine together to create a visually stunning and captivating performance.

Plots are usually based on historical events, warm-hearted dramas, moral conflicts, love stories, tales of tragedy of conspiracy, or other well-known stories. A unique feature of a kabuki performance is that what is on show is often only part of an entire story (usually the best part). Therefore, to enhance the enjoyment from the performance, it would be good to read a little about the story before attending the show.

 

 

Kabuki conventions

When Kabuki was initially originated in the late 16^th century, it used to be acted out only by women, and was generally quite popular among common people. Later during the Edo Period, a restriction was placed by King Tokugawa Shogunate, that forbade women from performing theatre. Even today, Kabuki is performed, exclusively by men. Therefore, several male kabuki actors are specialists in playing female roles (onnagata).

One of the things that are seen in Kabuki are assistants dressed in black, that appear on stage. They serve the purpose of handing the actors props or assist them in various other ways, in order to make the performance smooth and elaborate. They are called “kurogo” &are regarded as non-existent (thus the reason they wear black).

During Kabuki theatre performances, you may see and hear people from the audience shouting out names at the actors on stage; this is normal and don’t mistake this as an act of disrespect. Some people do this as, all kabuki actors have a yago (hereditary stage name), which is associated to the theater troupe which he is from. In the world of kabuki, troupes are closely knit hierarchical organizations, usually continued through generations within families. It is an accepted practice for the audience to shout out the actors’ stage names as a sign of support.

Useful link: 

http://www.kabuki-bito.jp/eng/contents/whats/vol1_broad_range_of_acting_styles.html

World Theatre- Peking Theatre

Peking or Beijing Opera is a very unique form of traditional Chinese Theatre. Peking Opera is a combination of music, singing skills, mime, dance as well as acrobatics/ combat. Peking Opera evolved and grew during the late 18^th century, but it was completely developed and gained considerable recognition during the mid 19^th century. Peking Opera was immensely popular in the Qing Dynasty Court and it has prospered and gained much appreciation and is thus known as one of China’s great cultural treasures (in the field of theatre/ performing arts).

 

The largest performance troupes are mainly based in Beijing &Tianjin in the North & Shanghai in the South. This form of theatre is also prevalent in Taiwan & has become popular on other countries like the U.S & Japan.

 

Peking Opera is consisted of 4 main types of performers. Various performing troupes have different types of performers including a lot of secondary and tertiary actors (not all the opera involves main performers). The set of the play of Peking Opera’s are not so elaborate because the performer’s skills (singing, acting, physicalizing) are so elaborate  and unique as well as their detailed and colorful costumes, which compensate for the relatively empty set.

 

Peking Opera band mainly consists of an orchestra and percussion band. The former frequently accompanies peaceful scenes while the latter provides the right atmosphere for battle scenes. The commonly used percussion instruments include castanets, drums, bells and cymbals. One person usually plays the castanets and drum simultaneously, which conduct the entire band. The orchestral instruments include the Erhu, Huqin, Yueqin, Sheng (reed pipe), Pipa (lute) and other instruments.

 

Facial Painting

It is said that this special art derived from Chinese opera has different origins. But no matter what its origin, facial painting is worth appreciating for its artistic value. The paintings are representations of the characters’ roles. For example, a red face usually depicts heroic bravery, uprightness and loyalty; a white face symbolizes a sinister, treacherous and guile character and a green face connotes surly stubbornness, impetuosity and lack of self-restraint. In addition, facial painting patterns reveal information about a character, as well. Essentially, the unique makeup allows characters on stage to reveal them voicelessly.

 

Changing Faces

Peking Opera performers mainly have two types of facial decorations: masks and facial painting. The frequent on-stage changing of masks or facial makeup (without the audience noticing) is a special technique known as changing faces.

 

Changing faces is a difficult technique in operatic performance. It is considered to be a stunt that can only be mastered after extensive training. Face changing is also a special technique used to exaggerate inner feelings of characters, portray their dispositions, set off the atmosphere and improve effects. Facial changes expressing sudden changes in a character’s feelings are done in four ways:

 

Blowing dust: The actor blows black dust hidden in his palm or close to his eyes, nose or beard, so that it blows back into his face.

 

Manipulating beard: Beard colors can be changed while the beard is being manipulated — from black to gray and finally to white — expressing anger or excitement.

 

Pulling-down masks: The actor can pull down a mask that has previously been hidden on top of his head, leaving his face red, green, blue or black to communicate happiness, hate, anger or sadness respectively.

 

Mop: The actor mops out the greasepaint hidden in his sideburns or eyebrows, around his eyes and nose, to change his facial appearance.

 

Xingtou

Peking Opera costumes are called Xingtou or, more popularly, Xifu in Chinese. The origins of Peking Opera costumes can be traced back to the mid-14th century when operatic precursors first began to experiment with large, ornate articles of clothing.

 

Since each dynasty in Chinese history had its own unique operatic costume, the number of costumes was too great for performers to master. Hence, artists and costume designers worked together to create costumes that would be unwieldy on stage and acceptable no matter when or where the action was supposed to take place. The stage image of some well-known historical figures, such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhang Liang, were already fixed in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

 

Lavish costumes include:

1.      Toukui, or opera headdress: crown, helmet, hat and scarf

2.      Costume (about 20 kinds): the ceremonial robe, or Mang; the informal robe, or Pei; and the armor, or Kao, for soldiers

3.      Opera shoes and boots, or Xue in Chinese

 

Audiences can distinguish a character’s sex and status at the first glance by the type of headdress, robes, shoes and baldrics associated with the role.

 

 

Main Roles in Peking Opera

 

Roles fall into four categories: Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou. The roles have the natural features of age and sex, as well as social status, and are artificially exaggerated by makeup, costume and gestures.

 

1. Male Role (Sheng): civil, military; Lao Sheng (old man with a beard: dignified, polished, official, scholar); Xiao Sheng (young man, shrill voice, young warrior, young man of society, stature, elaborate dress), Wu Sheng (acrobatic male, extremely agile and physically skilled).

 

2. Female Role (Dan): Qing Yi (modest, virtuous), Hua Dan (flirtatious, playful), Gui Men Dan (young, married girl), Dao Ma Dan (strong woman, female general), Wu Dan (female acrobat), Lao Dan (old woman).

 

3. Painted Face Male (Jing): Spectators are usually startled by the appearance of the Jing. His facial colors symbolize the type of character: red = good, white = treacherous, etc.

 

4. Comedy Actor or Clown (Chou): dim-witted, amusing, rascal, occasionally slightly wicked.