Day Eight - "Do You Get Many Zeros Back Home In New Zealand, Guy?"

Today I got up and headed to Place de Clichy to try and find the other Guerisol I have been told about. I couldn't find it to save myself (this is a recurring theme for me in Paris), so I asked for directions and was sent off down a long road that had no Guerisol but eventually led me to a beautiful area called Trinité. I went into the local Pharmacie to try and find some dark foundation to complement the indian look my current costume has. It's a bit difficult trying to ask for woman's makeup in another language without getting a funny look, but oh well. It was a bit expensive at the store I went to but I was directed to the local supermarket which had better prices. I ended up getting Bronzer which when applied made me look overly tanned and kind of ethnic. With a turban and a moustache I definitely looked ethnic!

In class today Philippe asked us all the stand up on stage in groups of ten for him to check up on our costumes. Today he said to mine "Not so bad" which was such a relief! I'm really sick of going costume hunting every morning! The costume is successful though because I am fairly unrecognisable (Ingaborg said to me she sees me very much as a 'white boy' so I've tried to work away from that image) and because I feel a bit silly in the outfit. 

We then went into an improvisation in which there were five chairs set up in a row on the stage, and there was one dentist, and five patients that came in one by one. When it came to my turn I came on stage whilst there were sounds of horror coming from offstage. I kind of reacted to these sounds but it was hard for me to do anything. I really should have just left the stage (which would have been fine). After this scene Philippe said that he would like to see me again as he didn't feel he really got to 'see' me. So I did another scene in which I came onstage with a shakey swagger kind of as if I was listening to rock music. A bit of a weak offer really. I guess I was looking for something that made me have a relaxed and 'cool' quality which I thought might be a contrast to what you might imagine my character to be like from the way he looks. I got the feedback that I looked like I had Parkinsons and that there were no fixed points.

I've been getting confused by the idea that we shouldn't come on stage with an idea, rather we should come out and discover what happens and who the character is with the audience. But then Philippe says we need to do something that ignites the audience's imagination as soon as we come on stage. After speaking with Lib afterwards she said you should come on with a proposition, an offer, but that through listening to the audience iut will become clear whether this offer should be further explored, or dropped completely. 

Anyway, after my failed second attempt Philippe started working with me personally. He got the chairs in front of me to be moved, and then he wanted to make some changes to my costume. He got Jane, an attractive Canadian girl, to come up to me and take off my suit jacket (I was wearing a brown patterned suit jacket with black collared shirt underneith) as she would if she was taking off the clothing of her lover. This made both of us laugh - pleasure in my eyes and body. He then got her to put on a silky scarf over my shoulders. This went better with the shiny gold turban and shiny pink pants I was wearing. During this time he was very strict with me. He didn't want any extra movement. So whenever I tried to help with the taking off and passing of clothes I got in trouble. 

He then got me to stand tall and place my hands together in a prayer position and walk in a straight line forwards and backwards slowly. I had a bit of a bob and a sway going on (which I wasn't really aware of) and he was very strict with me everytime they appeared. He got me to say a poem out loud in an indian accent whilst doing this - I recited 'Incey Wincey Spider' and found some nice vocal rhythms that got some audience reaction. He also put on some indian music in the background, but I wasn't asked to dance. He got me to say to the audience 'Do you have money give me?' (or something like that) leading me perhaps towards a conman indian character. After this he got me to slowly lower my hands to my side, then slowly take off my turban (revealing my blonde hair) and say in my own accent "fuck you". This brought out a darker menacing side to me that Philippe later suggested might be interesting as a side to my indian conman character. 

Afterwards Philippe asked me a few questions in a strict manner. "You are from New Zealand?" I answered "yes" but got in trouble and had to answer "yes monsier Gaulier". I had seen him do this with others earlier in the week, and it is difficult to know whether he is joking or being serious. He then said "this one is difficult to work with" and then asked "Do you get many zeros back in New Zealand?" ...I think he's onto the fact that I am a bit of a goody-good (a bit!?) and take myself very seriously... I said "no". He said "well today you get zero. Double zero".

So this experience left me feeling a bit vulnerable and confused. The biggest thing I got from it, which Monsieur Gaulier reiterated at the end, is that I need to stand tall - all the time - and open out my chest and shoulders. I also need to shed away all unnecessary movement.

I found myself feeling bad after being given so much time alone on stage. I have experienced this back at Toi as well. I guess I feel like I haven't had the miraculous burst of discovery I feel I'm expected to find and so I've wasted the classes time. However Lib made me feel a little bit better when she said that Philippe is generous with you if you are generous with yourself. And as Gaulier said last week, crisis is a necessary part of the journey at his school, and that we need crisis to fight against in order to be loved. So that makes me feel less worried about the fact that I'm not suddenly a superstar.

I liked it today when Philippe said that as an actor you don't have to believe in your character. But you do have to enjoy 'playing' your character. Truth vs Game.

After class a group of us went for dinner at a Tibetian restaurant in Luxemborg. I had Marmite (not the spreadable Marmite) Beef. 

This is a drawing I did of Marieke whilst we were on the RER train. Anna also drew one and we compared.

The Tibetian Restaurant with Renko (from Amsterdam), Fauv, Anna (from England) and Marieke out front. The image is a bit dark but they are there.

Inside the restaurant.

A big candle with a lot of wax!

Looking forward to seeing Kate (http://mcgill-does-the-world.blogspot.com/) from my Toi Whakaari class when she arrives in Paris tomorrow morning!