Children's Theatre My Journal - Children's Theatre (2005) Week Eleven

‘When I work...I try and work from the inside out...its all about revealing the internal life of a character’ [i]

‘You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don’t alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their view’ [ii]

Today the ‘Dutch’ group had a private meeting (secretly we’re going to take over the production!) Until then, over a cup of coffee, we discussed the internal aspects of the Dutch characters. We talked about how each role features within the play and what individual status each character possesses. The main reason for the meeting was to discuss how our characters communicate the play’s moral, therefore establishing what it is and how we can communicate it for the audience. By doing this, we are decoding the meaning created in the script and constructing a way to present it for the audience to decode.

I feel it was a great activity as it gave our group the opportunity to speculate on the importance of each character. For instance, we talked about Bree’s character Marilda’s presence in the play. It may seem minimal, but without Marilda, Jan has no reason to assist Katzenellenbogen, and Katzenellenbogen has no reason to develop any respect for Jan. All characters were not created to perform alone, but to interact with each other ‘to obtain from them a complicity which assures the uninterrupted exchange of codes’ (Burns, 1990:227). It is clear to say that every role is vital to communicate the message to the audience. Every role also assists in presenting the moral, or personifying the moral itself through their actions and attitude, as ‘the actor’s body in the most general sense – absolutely predominates over the immaterial meaning’ (Burns, 1990:213).

We presented a clear case for each character’s relationship with the suggested moral, ‘we are strong together’. [iii] Katzenellenbogen demonstrates this by independently trying to find his bullion, yet only succeeding with a group. Van Dyke communicates the moral through his change in art and personal attitude; he’s firstly presented as angry and bitter (artistically in the past) and then enjoys the friendship of the island (changing through periods of art). Jan is presented as a heroic mouse who belies he can take on the world and win by himself, this is also communicated by Jan and Marilda’s exclusion of all others when entering their ‘lovey-dovey’ state. Consistently fearful of Katzenellenbogen’s control, their love is finally accepted only when the group successfully works as one, therefore giving Jan and Marilda permission to be together. Although these are basic plot ideas, how are they communicated to the audience?

Non-verbal gestures are the aspects we discussed most today, mainly establishing the status and power struggles that exist within the text. I hope in my journal so far I have made it obvious how I respond to people I don’t like so far, however I have noticed a lack in approaches to communicate with characters that I admire or fear; namely Captain Quokka, Bluebeard and Octavia. The two movements I have tried so far have been the buckling of my knees and the use of a frown (including the loss of the gammy eye!) My hope is that these various changes in movement can communicate my character’s change in attitude. As far as the Dutch group goes, my interaction with Van Dyke is minimal; I see him as annoying (and as the script suggests, inadequate), however I’ve employed him for a reason. I believe Van Dyke gains status power when he asks me to pose for a portrait, thus suppling Katzenellenbogen with a service that he cannot provide himself, therefore highlighting his ‘dematerialised human presence’ (Burns, 1990:205). With his vanity and lust for gold, I believe that Katzenellenbogen’s external perception of himself is important within the cutthroat world of spice traders.

Jan and Marilda offer a physical way of communicating their love for each other, compared with their attitude towards Katzenellenbogen. We discussed today how Jan and Marilda could embrace on stage connoting their love and release from the stresses of the world. Jan’s shoulders could be low connoting comfort and relaxation, compared to Marilda who could stand high to communicate a dream like romance as well as her captivation with Jan. These scenes are instantly destroyed by Katzenellenbogen’s constant need to demand attention so he can tell everyone ‘he wants his gold’ and ‘all will be ruined’ (therefore consistently reiterating his purpose, and indeed the group’s focus throughout the play). Upon entering the scene, Jan could stand tall and heroic in response to my presence, and Marilda could drop her shoulders or sink low into her body connoting a submissive response to her father’s frequent tyrant rages and self-imposed (assumed) domination upon the group. These are only brief ideas; however having the time to talk freely about our characters was an important and crucial experience. Such a discussion allowed us to share thoughts and promote new ways of viewing your own characters and each other.

[i] Cate Blanchett talks about her approach to acting on Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, interviewed by Andrew Denton, on the Australian Broadcast Corporation, on the 2 May 2005.

[ii] Tom Baker as the Doctor, in Doctor Who, The Face of Evil, Part Four, broadcast on the Australian Broadcast Corporation, broadcast date unknown.

[iii] Music by Nick Choo, Lyrics by Jenny de Reuck and Nick Choo.

‘The key to a great character is that the character is thinking what the audience is thinking...they’re saying the same thing and you work through it together’ [i]

(Jane and Brittany's characterisations will develop even further in their new environment)

The move to Nexus is always interesting, as instant character development becomes highlighted. Such an example is Brittany who has consistently produced great characterisation and verbal development all semester. She nailed her first read through of the script, obtaining an instant voice and clever manipulation of tone. This was then improved with a read through with Darren one day when both actors responded to the energy of each other to produce an intensive and entertaining presentation of characters. Today, Brittany once again improved her characterisation by adapting to her new surroundings, as well as incorporating clear aspects of her rat’s character. Why is any of this important?

Strong characterisation, and indeed leadership, qualities are crucial at this time in the production. As Brittany’s characterisation develops even more, the characters around her improve in response. For me, last week was a defining moment as obtaining a clear character voice also completed the major aspects of Katzenellenbogen’s presence. By now developing control of my scenes (if required), I can clearly communicate the status and power I possess in relation to other characters. This is not to say that I am the most important person in the production, I would never say that (…out loud!?!) My character is only one piece of a puzzle; he controls many scenes and the search for his gold guides most of the plot. My presence must be obvious, however that’s not to say that a strong personality must have a dominant presence.

Ai Ling Yeo’s character Sequin is a seahorse; she does not speak and is frightened of the audience. Her role reflects members of the audience, communicating the fear and innocence of her surroundings and others. Eventually Sequin becomes more confident in her environment, thus communicating to the audience the notion, once again, of working with friends to achieve personal goals and happiness. Ai Ling’s presence on stage is significant as it connotes the audience’s presence (i.e. children) upon the stage, and as Jenny suggests, will possibly be the most popular character drawn by the school children during the performance week.

As for myself, I always find the bump into Nexus important as it improves any movement and characterisation problems that I have. My projection always develops as I can now hear how it sounds bouncing around in the auditorium. My movement becomes firmer, as I tend to present a lot more clearly towards the auditorium, even though it is essentially empty. Most of all it reiterates that this is a performance; re-introducing the concepts of an expected audience, backstage protocol and the inclusion of backdrops, flats and curtains to frame the scenes. These seemingly minor aspects help establish an environment for our characters to act within.

[i] Whoopi Goldberg interview on Bravo Profiles, broadcast on the Australian Broadcast Corporation, broadcast date unknown.

Oswald - 'It's almost as good as new car smell! Hey...you know...if we put a new baby in a new car that would be the best smell ever!' [i]

'While Eeyore frets and Piglet hesitates and Owl pontificates...Pooh just is' [ii]

Once again this week I sought help, no… not from a psychiatrist! I asked my son, Hayden, to draw some pictures for me. I found this activity worked really well for a number of reasons; firstly I spent time with my son in an all too busy semester. Secondly, as a prospective audience member, I feel it is vital to see how he responds to the characters presented in the play. Finally, communicating through pictures is quite normal for young children; their texts are normally picture books and they normally ‘read’ television. Different from my time with Bella and Thomas, I sat down with Hayden and asked him to draw opposite feelings to see what was important to him when differentiating between characters. The focus from my point-of-view was to provide opposing personalities, attitudes and emotions for each character, therefore giving Hayden the opportunity to speculate upon their defining characteristics.

Firstly, I asked Hayden to draw two seahorses, one shy and one confident. His choose to draw the shy one with its head down and the confident one with its head up. This small variation in stature, from his point of view, communicated the change in feelings. Then I asked him to draw two penguins, namely excited and bored. The multiple facets Hayden choose to focus upon included one penguin jumping in the air, fins up and mouth open (excited) in contrast to the other penguin standing still, looking down, fins down and not even smiling (bored). Hayden has focused upon the animal’s external presentation of their body including gestures, emotions and stance to communicate their feelings. Hayden even focused upon the colours of the animals as well; colouring the seahorses yellow and the penguins black with traces of white coloured pencil markings for spots.

Next I chose some abstract ideas, changing focus to positions of power. When asked to draw two lobsters (one teacher and one student), Hayden focused primarily on the size of the animals. The teacher was big with glasses (possibly connoting knowledge), and the student was only a smaller lobster in comparison. Next (when asked to draw a cat), the concepts of arrogant and modest made no sense to Hayden, so I changed the idea to control and lack of control. Here, Hayden took it upon him self to include a picture of a mouse being held down by a cat. In this picture the cat is bent over and the mouse is looking up at the cat feeling anxious and scared. The lack of control shows both animals normal and seemingly unaware of the other's presence. Once again, colour plays a part in these drawings connoting a lobster as orange, a cat as orange (ginger cat I was told) and a mouse as brown. Hayden seems to have communicated his cultural understanding of not only the colour of these animals, but also their relationship with others. For the rest of the pictures, however, Hayden chose to not draw in colour; later explaining that he was enjoying drawing the different animals and found that colouring took to long.

Next Hayden drew two octopi. The first (shy) has curled tentacles compared to the other one (confident) whose tentacles are straight and firm. From Hayden’s point-of-view, this seemingly minor variation in gestures is enough to communicate differences in the animal’s characteristics. He also drew some crabs communicating the emotions of proud and scared. He chose a slight smile and firm, straight claws to communicate a proud crab and a timid crab who hides behind his claws to represent scared. Ironically these two stances reflect the presentation of my character Ares from last year, and consciously or unconsciously, Hayden may have reproduced these characteristics knowing this activity was for Children’s Theatre again. I also asked Hayden to draw two seagulls, namely exited and bored. Like the penguins, he has chosen to draw a similar style in their presentation. The excited one is in the air, mouth open wide and wings expanded, compared to the bored one who is standing still, wings down and not even smiling. What is interesting to note here is Hayden acknowledges the importance of a seagull’s beak, yet also finds it important to focus on the animal’s mouth as well. This anthropomorphising of human characteristics is what appears on a stage as well. Our actors can have both a beak and a mouth, and still appear realistic.

The next two pictures focus on the concepts of heroes and villains. What was interesting with these pictures, was Hayden’s tendency to be clouded by the established concepts that he has constructed. With the first quokka (hero), although he has kangaroo like paws, Hayden has communicated the concept of the hero as apposed to the animal. The quokka has wings and is flying (while yelling Super Quokka, as you do) and the villain’s stature is uptight and displays pointy ears and ferocious, sharp teeth. Hayden also drew a similar picture after being asked to differentiate between a mouse as a hero and a villain. Once again the hero has wings and is flying, compared to the mouse that has pointed ears and gnarly teeth. In addition, Hayden then described the picture to his mum, describing the two animals, not as hero and villain, but as superhero and the devil. Hayden’s cultural construction relies heavily upon what he experiences, and in this household, his learning is rather heavily influenced by his uncle’s obsession with comics and ‘Transformers’…not that there is anything wrong with that!

I then asked Hayden to draw a regular turtle, and then a ninja turtle, thus communicating the change of Melissa’s character Theresa. Hayden chose to firstly draw an animal on all fours and then a turtle on its hind legs, brandishing two weapons, a white belt and a smile. Again, the anthropomorphising of animals is quite regular in Hayden’s world, with regular cartoons and books on such animals; it could be fair to say it is accepted. Finally, Hayden drew two rats, one as a pirate and the other as an actress. His focus was upon their environment to connote their position opting for a ship displaying a pirate flag and a rat drawn with whiskers and a skull and crossbones hat. The actress, also with whiskers, stands on a stage, thus communicating her connection with her environment. This is actually one of my fears for this production, we have six rats, four crabs, three cats and a partridge in a pear tree (well… maybe not the last one), how will we all demonstrate characteristics of our given animal without copying each other or relying upon the environment constructed?

I think that the emotion of the character is where the secret lies. I think it is important to discover the main emotions of your character (all be it angry to sad) and try to map out their path within the play. As mentioned in the Monday Dutch meeting, we discussed and planned how to present three different cats; all with a variety of different character traits. Marilda is bouncy and affectionate, Van Dyke is unhappy and negative (then comfortable and accepting) and Katzenellenbogen is arrogant and controlling (consistently patting his belly) and then slowly becoming modest and welcoming. What I believe Hayden has demonstrated is that each emotion, position or attitude can be communicated and ‘read’ in different ways; even his drawings have been decoded by me. My subjective could interpret these pictures to support any theory I construct, and this is one of the problems I’m finding in constructing a believable character.

An audience will interpret your performance however they want to; subjectivity ensures their right to construct whatever meaning they wish; right or wrong. The trick is to limit this interpretation, while contrastingly adding depth and subtext to your character. A smiling character may not always be happy; it is therefore crucial that additional gestures and clues assist with decoding. As I believe Hayden has demonstrated in his drawings that simple gestures can communicate deep and complex emotions. It seems to me at the moment, a consistently easy to ‘read’ character is unachievable. A character must be layered and distinctive, therefore communicating various subtexts to appear believable.

[i] The Drew Carrey Show, broadcast on Network Nine, 11 April 2005

[ii] Benjamin Hoff (1982) The Tao of Pooh, Mandarin: Great Britain, back cover.

Good rehearsal today, especially because we are all beginning to use the performance space effectively. I find it great to experiment with various levels on stage; however, I am currently finding it a problem as I feel it is inappropriate for Katzenellenbogen to get low to the ground. He is proud and arrogant, and therefore not submissive to other characters on the stage. As previously mentioned, I am currently buckling my knees as a submissive gesture towards Octavia and Bluebeard. Is that enough?

As Salmiyah mentioned today, every movement that each character produces on stage can be (and is) interpreted by the audience. A seemingly minor movement of the hand can communicate so many messages to the audience. I feel the trick is to deliberately construct your movements to limit the audience’s interpretation. Although an audience could interpret a number of different meanings from your gestures, I believe clearer and planned movement will develop and create greater audience communication.

Last night, I asked my son’s friend Thomas to also draw two pictures of a mouse just as I had asked Hayden previously, namely hero and villain. Similar to Hayden’s drawings, Thomas chose to draw a mouse with a cape and a mask, and a villain with sharp teeth and sloping eyebrows. It quite funny, as it would seem to me that both kids have constructed a picture based on their culture knowledge and the expectations of the ‘interviewer’; that’s me. ‘Children do not say what they think about television to adults, they tend more often to say what they have heard adults say about it and repeat it for the adult interviewer’ (Hodge & Tripp, 1986). In that case, it could be fair to say interpretation and decoding of information is based on a range of varying elements. As the quote says, ‘knowledge and experience do not necessarily speak the same language’.

With that in mind, again I sought help; …NOT that help! I had a chat to Jenny about the progress of my study contract, just checking I was on course. Just because I am confident in writing journals does not mean I am breezing thought this unit. I have found writing this journal extremely hard; not just keeping up with the weekly entries, but also posting them after only a brief edit on the web. As a result, I read back though my entries and see giant grammatical errors; look their’s one hear?!? As I have mentioned previously, the reason I write so much is because I am not confident in my writing. By pushing myself, I find my writing improving all the time, however my spelling and grammar will always be of lesser quality. Thank goodness journals are colloquial!

[i] Benjamin Hoff (1982) The Tao of Pooh, Mandarin: Great Britain, p. 29

I been so busy this semester, that I was unable to see any productions or performances of any kind; with the exception of Shakespeare in the Park, brilliant! As a prospective Drama teacher it is crucial that I regularly see productions to be aware of what is happening, and to experience events and tasks that I could request my future students to engage with. In saying that, I am proud to announce I was invited by Lauren to view the Learning Through the Arts production today. The class boasted a number of current Children’s Theatre faces such as Lauren, Jenny (Lees) and Nicole; and even the lovely smiling face of Hazel, the dingo from Athena last year.

The main theme of the tutorial’s production was the distorted images that the media produces of individuals and events. The notion of the entire group’s collaborative performance dealt with the message of not believing everything you see or read in the news; suggesting the manipulation of facts to construct culturally compliant ideals. This (obviously ‘fictitious’ based) production showcased a number of great ideas and highlighted a variety of methods to communicate them. I truly felt that Lauren’s group was brilliant because I loved the way they communicated to the audience, I am completely biased in regards to my university-based ‘wife’ and she paid me to say nice things.

The group chose not to introduce any spoken words into their scene. It was completely reliant on all things exterior of verbal communication. The group used props such as speech bubbles, effigy and the literal framing of the audience’s vision. The scene was therefore ultimately reliant on the technology of the computer slides and the movements of group members. To me, this is reflective of what Salmiyah mentioned yesterday about movement. It is clear to suggest that every movement can communicate to the audience, but how is this helpful? It occurs to me that my movement will develop further if I experiment by removing the spoken word. When I walk around on stage, what specific movements communicate my feelings more clearly to the spectators? This could be a great activity to improve my movement, as it should allow me to change my focus from the spoken word, to physical communication. Too much emphasis is placed upon the written text, obviously! Movement, however, is equally important as the generation of audience members viewing our production will be visual learners and may not understand the full meaning the spoken text.

Looking back through my journal from last year, I noticed my choice to only briefly critic each rehearsal from this point out. What I primarily transcribed was three main headings, what went well, what did not and how can it be improved? This worked well for me last year as it focused my attention and limited my babbling. Yeeesss…even I notice I babble! The main difference I will try to focus on is the interpretive semiotics of the performance, however, only in brief detail. With this in mind, the major thing I noticed today was my lack of vocal characterisation.

I’m delivering my lines well, but the vocal use of a cat’s voice is slowly disappearing. I find that the meows are crucial to not only the identification of my animal, but also my villainous aspects. The vocal work should be more prevalent and focus upon the manipulation of different noises to communicate a variety of emotions. It is also crucial that I work on my cat movement, as this characterisation is equally an identifiable element to the construction of my character.

All week I been thinking about how to incorporate cat movement on the stage, however I have found no appropriate times for Katzenellenbogen to, I guess, ‘crawl’ on the stage like a cat. I have developed a moment to introduce into my second scene, namely when I shoo away Sol. As Kate was unavailable for rehearsals tonight, it will debut tomorrow, and hopefully it will work well as a further definition of not only Katzenellenbogen’s cat features, but also his contempt for other characters. What else is he going to do to a bird…sorry Kate…but a cat’s gotta eat what a cat’s gotta eat!

[i] Tom Baker as the Doctor talking to K-9, in Doctor Who, The Invasion of Time, Part Two, broadcast on the Australian Broadcast Corporation, broadcast date unknown.

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