Actor's Research Project 2012 {Post 1.0}

How can I radiate through the space with a sense of stillness and simplicity?

“Parvathy (Baul) is stronger than me, because she has no weapons.” Eugenio Barba, at Tantidhatri Festival.

As an actor I have a tendency to close down and internalise when confronted by a significant emotional response and/or direct audience connection. I also have an inner energy that flicks about at 1000 miles an hour which limits my capacity for communion with my audience. While away I witnessed that 99% of the actors and performers I saw contained a greater sense of inner stillness and a consistency or how that energy was directed to their audience. The artists who worked very physically also maintained this. All artists worked with the qualities of simplicity and precision while radiating out openly and easefully to their scene partners and audience.

“Deborah, your spirit is like the moon, you must move like a sunset” Keiin Yoshimura to me during my Noh training.

I know that an audience prefers me when my work is very focused and when I slow right down. I know that the audience can read a lot by my doing little. Currently when I do manage to slow right down I become vulnerable and disengage with my audience, my performance becomes internal and only for me.

“Whatever that is right there in this moment you have to stay and face it, get closer, don’t run away, go to it” Drew Der Kinderen (Principal Instructor of Zen Zen Zo Theatre Company) to me during my Suzuki training.

My goal is to be able to sit comfortably in vulnerability, communing with my audience strongly and easefully.

To discover this I will continue to investigate and pull from different theatre forms and traditions to discover what they do in each moment which encourages connection, inner stillness and openness.
I will mostly be concentrating on the similarities between:

·         Noh Theatre (Kamigata-mai tradition)

·         Commedia Dell’arte

·         Topeng

·         Clown

·         Butoh

Using these forms as a vehicle, I will explore the similarities and cross-overs they share of methods to allow a strong audience connection through simplicity. I am interested to know how all of the training and knowledge of a performer can be delivered easefully in performance.

.......THEN said the teacher, Speak to us of teaching.

And he said: No man can reveal to you aught but that which

already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.

- Kahlil Gibran -

Research:

·         Investigation of artists performing successfully with openness, ease and audience connection from a variety of cultures and forms.

·         Exploration of vulnerability through Margi Brown Ash acting as a guide

·         Exploration of Suzuki Method

·         Primary interviews with artists

·         Study of Autobiographical books by artists

Testing:

·         Practise and investigation through Go Solo seeding

·         Testing work in different locations; e.g., the foyer at lunchtime, the middle of a busy pedestrian area, a quiet beach, etc.

·         Sharing my creative process and discoveries through a public blog

·         Filming myself in stillness for 5 minutes at a time and reflection of emotional response and physical viewing. Repeated throughout the year.

Projects:

·         Our Country’s Good (Arthur Phillip): Performance and creative process

·         IPP: Networking, Voice Over/Radio, casting

·          Go Solo: Performance and creative process.

During these projects I will be working with the following sub questions to aid in the exploration from my working question:

(i)             How can I open up and be vulnerable within process (how to commit in times of fear/lightness in times of struggle).

(ii)            How can I trust and to allow myself to be held by my company and my director.

(iii)           How can I become savvy to when the work is hot/on and why it's working?

(iv)           How can I investigate and stretch moments that work?