Today we played with paper, pens, scissors, cardboard, renewable bamboo skewers, selotape and butterfly fasteners- to start imagining the shadowy story worlds. These ideas will be used to inform the aesthetic of the final puppet cut-outs and are very much based on student interpretation and imagination…
As you can see, there are loads of changes of location and story in our text… though thankfully far fewer than the 1000+ stories in the whole ‘Arabian Nights’ collection! One of the many challenges we face is working out how to successfully move between ‘worlds’ whilst allowing the audience to easily follow what’s going on and enjoy the ‘storytelling’ style. Staging is key to this and we are currently exploring how: different styles of performance; use of the actual performance space available; lighting; music and digital projections can all be used to help achieve a good pace!
You could be forgiven for approaching a script rehearsal with a fair dose of reluctance. Drama is primarily about performing, so sitting down and reading a script for two hours may not seem like an attractive proposition to those who enjoy the limelight.
Reluctant or not, when 18 cast members walked through the Drama Studio doors at 3:00, nobody appeared as if they would rather be anywhere else. Gazing across the room, everyone displayed a distinct enthusiasm for their roles and their words, conveying them in such a way that could only be described as a passion for not only their performance, but the production in general. Although sitting put obvious restrictions on physical action, this was more than made up for in the variety of voices that were passed across the Studio; no native accent was left untouched, providing the script with an additional injection of comedy which appeared to be appreciated by the rest of the cast.
The script was recited word for word, with other attendees filling in for cast absences. As 5:00 gradually grew nearer, the cast were left to speed through the last couple of pages and this inevitably led to unintentional comedy gold. Whole conversations were converted into five second bursts of speech, and by the Epilogue proceedings had descended into a state of madness; this only added to the sense of community that was prevalent throughout the whole rehearsal.
Whatever the talent, a production cannot succeed if a community fails to form. Thankfully, this doesn’t seem to be a problem; even at this very early stage, 1001 Nights is shaping up to be very exciting indeed.
Despite the glorious 26 degrees of sunny heat outside, our intrepid Sixth Formers gave up their evening to play around learning mask-making techniques. They will be creating their own masks to perform in. Each character will therefore not only look unique but will- helpfully- also become a perfectly-individualised fit, ideal for wearing for long periods under bright stage lamps…
Bods who are currently involved in the production ensemble (in no particular order). These guys are building on the work of the KS3 ‘Bird Bonanza’ artists:
More and more people are kindly supporting this venture with their skills and expertise and we want to say thanks so much for so far- and please keep it coming!!!
You don’t have to own a swanky Kindle to be able to enjoy lots of free reading without leaving your room. Check with whoever owns the machine that it’s okay to do this first, but if you have a computer (PC or Mac), an iPhone/ iPad or Android Phone… you can add the Kindle App and start downloading books to read on it within mere minutes! See this orange link to choose your version of the app: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_157068407_9?ie=UTF8&docId=1000425503&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=left-2&pf_rd_r=13DGXGSAPH9XFD4YG4N9&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=252509807&pf_rd_i=341677031
My tip of the day: Go here for a copy of ‘The Arabian Nights Their Best-known Tales’ (it’s quite old-fashioned, but it’s something to be getting on with whilst we rehearse our version- and it’s free!) :
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arabian-Nights-Their-Best-known-ebook/dp/B004TR9TDY/ref=pd_sim_kinc2
(Please be aware that not all Kindle books are free to download, but hundreds are, so why not start with these?!)
Happy Reading Folks!
If you like these things you might like what we’re doing:
THIS MINI-PROJECT WAS DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO THINK ABOUT THE AGE-OLD DIRECTORS’ QUESTION: WHY THIS PLAY NOW?
Context:
The collection of stories in ‘The Arabian Nights’ has a diverse lineage and many of the tales most famous to British audiences do not, in fact, originate just from the Middle East as often assumed: they were collected by authors, translators and scholars via Arabic; Persian; Indian; Egyptian and Mesopotamian folklore and literature. For centuries they survived/ evolved through word-of-mouth storytelling tradition.
Regardless of the version, a single device has remained constant (albeit it in a highly sanitised form in the children’s version we are using). This is the framing story of how after (at least) a thousand nights, a woman- a bride- saves the lives of many others: by telling tales which are so entrancing to hear that she prevents the vengeful King from being able to kill her after their first night together (this has been his daily custom for the previous two and a half years… or a thousand-plus brides).
Aim:
To encourage students to participate in the actual design for the production; in a whole-school initiative linking not only to the requirement for all students to explore ‘drama from other cultures’, but also to our Visual Arts status, and to Citizenship, via an act of community cohesion. This directly builds on the success of a student-centred design approach, as has been attempted on a smaller scale, for previous productions in recent years. Essentially, students are engaging with the microcosmic experience of staging a play on differing levels: be they astute Sixth-Formers with an awareness of events contributing to the Arab Spring or KS3 students looking to build their skills in team work and make new friends.
How:
During one afternoon tutor time, in the week commencing Monday 7th March 2011, every KS3 student filled in a simple illustration of a bird with images/ words which represented what the word ‘woman’ means to them. Simple!
Each bird symbolically represents one of the 1000+ brides whose life has ended prior to the story beginning. These birds will be used en-masse as part of the design for the show in S Block Hall, probably to help form the Proscenium Arch of the stage, though we are still open to possibilities about their application at the moment…
Why:
Tuesday 8th March 2011 marked the centenary of International Women’s Day. ‘The Arabian Nights’ may have originated many hundreds of years ago, yet still in many parts of the world women are objectified; treated as second-class citizens; or subjected to oppressive, often-abusive, regimes on the basis of their gender. This was a suitable opportunity for students to gently reflect on the role which women play in their lives (prior to Mothers’ Day) whilst also an opportunity to raise awareness that there are still many places, such as Arabian countries, where being female results in suffering prejudice. It was a time for positive animated discussion…
‘Bird’ is obviously a slang term used to describe women, but the significance of the motif in relation to the production is that many of the tales in our children’s version feature birds. They are a thematic and symbolic link, also, to the Christian sign of the dove as a representation of the peace which will fall on the citizens of the play when their bride has successfully abated the King’s murders. This is ironic given that the play’s largely Islamic basis, and existence in popular culture today, has been so distorted via European Christian academic hegemony.
Result:
This was an important mini-project prior to the production process, because of the opportunity it presented for non-performers to be involved in the genesis of the show alongside creative performers: resulting in the generation of over 500 graphics by individual KS3 students (worthy as products in their own right), which have been photographed and scanned and will become the basic design templates and underlying aesthetic for the show itself… Check out the growing gallery of these images (accessed via the drop-down ‘Bird Bonanza Gallery’ page at the top of the home screen)…
The first bunch of performers is due to start designing their character masks in the Making Room 
this week, before wider rehearsals begin. These will be half-masks, which means that although the actors have to exaggerate their movements a lot, they will still be able to speak the lines of their characters easily (without sounding muffled!).
The Low Down: Using Masks…
All movement is magnified- be clear when you move. If you fidget it becomes a distraction. For example, if someone absent-mindedly picked their nose during a chat, you’d watch this rather than listen to what they were saying, wouldn’t you?! Try to stay really focussed.
Remember to face the front at all times. If the audience can’t see the face of the character full-on, masks look like boring bits of plastic just getting in the way.
Use scarves and other pieces of head costume to enhance the impact (to ‘break the line’ where the mask touches the performer’s forehead). Wigs are great fun, for example.
No talking if you’re wearing a full mask (one that covers your whole face)! Voices are muffled by the fabric of the mask and make the character unbelievable.
Always turn away from the audience to put on a mask: this allows for an effective transformation to what is basically an animated character.
Use your whole body to express emotions, like it is an extension of your facial features. Trying to express an emotion using just your normal face is useless if it’s stuck behind a sheet of plastic!
Know where the eyeline of the character is. Where should they be looking at all times? It’s really obvious when a masked performer isn’t ‘in character’ if their face is looking at the wrong place!
Don’t touch the face of the mask with your hands- it draws attention to the fact it’s not the actor’s own real face- and then the character is less believable.
Have fun and be playful! Masks allow performers to be bold and to act much BIGGER than they might just as regular actors. We can’t see your face, so go for it!
