Theatre Studies Retreat

The first day of the retreat was much more theory focused. We first learnt about R.E.M.V.Co.Co, the essential conventions of theatre. This includes rhythm, emphasis, movement, variation, contrast, and cohesion. We then broke into groups to display a tableau using one of the conventions, my group’s convention was ’emphasis’, so for example, we would go into positions where one member of the group would stand up, while the rest of the members sat on the floor and pointed to the one person standing, adding emphasis on that person.

Rinski Ginsberg, one of our teachers was an expert at VCA and taught us about body movement in acting, and improvising without speaking. In this class, we learnt about how small actions can make big differences, and can replace dialogue sometimes.

Later in the day, we had VCA graduates arrive to teach us stage combat, and Josh, a professional fight director, taught us how to stage a fight scene. They showed us simple tips and tricks that give big effects.

Later that night, we watched a live performance of Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Night. This show was really eye-opening, and it was nice to see a professional production now working on one ourselves. The show was an example of how props/sets can be used in different ways, and had lots of different comedic and musical segments.

The next morning, we focused on the ‘birth scene’ in Frankenstein, starting off with an exercise to get into The Creature’s character and try to act out what it would feel like to ‘come alive’. This included feeling the body and its movements, looking around, picking up items, eventually learning how to stand and walk. It felt foreign and strange, but help us be put into a new perspective.

We later began working on the Planning/Research stage of our Production I See Monsters. My group was given the script of Salome by Oscar Wilde to read through and annotate. Much of the language in the play was dated and at times difficult to understand, however, we were able to cut out large, unnecessary parts of the play, and make it easier to understand for the future group performing Salome.

Later in the day, we focused on the script of Frankenstein (one of the plays featured in I See Monsters), and broke off into small groups to choreograph the opening scene of the Play. With was crucial for teaching us how body movement was vital in theatre, and could tell stories with little to no dialogue.