Last Day Of School

Wow. The last day of the school year has been and gone.

Today we showed the opening ten minutes of the stories we've been working on for the last month in Writing & Directing.

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I showed the opening of STEPH: The Musical which over the past few days I made several writing tweaks to, and which I directed too. I ended up having nine actors in my showing. Steph, the mother, and seven airport/plane dancing extras. Plus a pianist. So it was a big little project! I learned a lot about directing. The importance of clarity, and of making decisions. To be a good leader you have to choose a way to go. We were still putting it together on Friday morning as it had been difficult to get everyone together at one time (Scheduling is hard! And it's horrible when people are late!) so today my resolution was to stay calm and just do what we could in the time we had. Katy, who played Steph, was nervous about forgetting her lines in the song, so I was careful not to put any pressure on her - to keep her in a happy relaxed-as-possible state. I went from one group to the next - different elements of the showing - and then half an hour before class we put it all together. Because everybody knew their own roles it came together really nicely...thankfully!

We showed first, and it went really well. I was really happy with it. People were laughing - they enjoyed themselves. I was happy with the writing - with the structure and the rhythms. And I was especially happy with the direction. I think the scene built in a really pleasing way - all the plane passengers standing and singing and dancing with Steph at the end, and then the plane taking off, was very satisfying. A good way to say 'Hey audience! Come with us!'

At the end of our showing Philippe said "I stay" - meaning as an audience member he wants to see more. He said it's a good start to the show. Which was great. A really nice way to end the year for me.

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I'm also happy with how STEPH: The Musical is looking now as a whole piece. I'm going to keep it simple and just focus on Steph finding herself in NZ for now, and over time I might address the other two stories I'm interested in. I say "I'm going to" because even though the course is now over I still want to keep working on this project. I want to submit it for a young playwriting competition, and I want to submit another too. Not surprisingly, this course has left me feeling very inspired (a recurring side-effect from all the workshops).

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There were another 8 showings from others' work in the class too. A highlight for me was Andre's direction of Vanessa's writing of Christine's story. It was physical and quirky (all the characters appeared and disappeared from behind a moving chair) and it had several little moments of magic. It was also the closest work I've seen at this school to the kind of work people like me are making back home - at BATS for example. I think as a class we have shied away from work like this because it's not particularly to Philippe's more classic/traditional taste. But what Andre showed today was exciting. It helped me realise the importance of making our work how we want it to be.

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Then after class Philippe spoke to each of us individually, but all together. He asked people to say if they felt they were blocked (I didn't) and he addressed them first. "Yes, but you've improved a lot." "You need to explode." "You need to stop pretending to be so tough." "You need to stop being so nice." He then addressed others. He looked at Andre and said "You're good...You have fun" and then looked at me and said "You too...You have fun." And this is true. I'm having a lot of fun now. I feel much freer. Much more playful and willing to risk and flop, to show myself, to be silly or serious, or whatever. It's been an incredible learning journey for me this year. Up and down everyday! I feel like a different actor now. And I feel like I've developed just as much as a writer, director and dramaturg. And as a person too. But this has taken a long time, and only now do I feel ready to really get rolling. Which is why I'm so happy to be returning for a second year of study: to do Clown, Vaudeville, and Bouffon! How exciting!

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After class I went and met Amanda at Sceaux train station, and we went joined everybody for a picnic at the park. We ran into Vicky on the way, and took the opportunity to say thank you and goodbye to the staff at Chiquito's and the local Alimentation Generale, as we won't be returning to Sceaux next year! Then after the picnic we went and watched the second year's showing of Shakespeare & Chekhov & Vaudeville. It was special for me to show Amanda my school and for her to meet my friends, Philippe, and see what we do here. The showing had some great moments. Everything was alive in some way. I particularly liked Steve Terrorist's Iago monologue in the style of a western film actor. And I really liked the Vaudeville numbers too. The speed and energy is thrilling!

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THINGS I'VE LEARNT FROM WRITING & DIRECTING:

• Tell just one story at a time. Not two or three.

• Writing is delicate business! Linger too long with certain characters and an audience starts to think the show is about somebody else.

• Rhythm is so important! For characters, for scenes, for a play. Think musically...

• Don't underline. Say something that means something else.

• Audience's are happy to follow with their imaginations, but they are very sensitive! They need logic, time, and care...and surprise!

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So that's a whole year of theatre training at École Philippe Gaulier completed. A year that will undoubtedly stay with me forever, and fundamentally influence my work as an artist. I have been incredibly lucky to have had this experience - to live and train in Paris with a real master of Theatre - and many people have helped me achieve this. I must thank The Todd Trust and Heritage Incorporated for their generous support; my family - Mum; Dad ; Gina; Pop - for their support; my friends - particularly Tim, Aaron and Christian; and my beautiful girlfriend Amanda (who is sleeping right now under the shade of a tree at Bois de Vincennes with a copy of George Orwell's 1984 by her head) who has been a huge support for me this year. And thank you to everybody else who has made this year so special for me. Philippe Gaulier, my classmates, my French family: Jean-Luc and Axelle (who have been incredibly generous) and many others.

For the next three months I won't be writing in this blog very much - or at all. It will be nice to have a break actually - as this has been a seven-day-per-week job! Amanda and I are going to spend a month in France and then come home to New Zealand together, where I am going to work as much as possible in order to save for Gaulier Year 2; I'm going to try and write, or at least pitch, two plays; and I'm going to try out some street performance during the rugby world cup! So merci et au revoir! Jusqu'à l'année prochaine!

“It’s Not Possible To Stay Alive Without Fun.”

At the beginning of class Philippe offered another answer to the question I asked him yesterday about whether plays need to have a moral or a message. His answer is still no. In Les Assiettes, a show Philippe did in the 70s with Pierre Byland, in which over two hours they smashed two hundred plates, their goal was “just to be idiots. Nothing more.” People shouldn’t go home thinking about the meaning of the play. They should just go home thinking ‘what idiots.’

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Ric and Tom (Australia) presented the opening scene from Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot.

The first time they showed it they “did a show for primary school teachers…you explain too much.”

“The first image is an idiot who tries to take his shoes off.” Estragon’s foot isn’t sore. He just can’t get his shoes off. Keep it simple.

Philippe led Tom to play Estragon heavy and to avoid Vladimir. “The less you look at him the better the conflict is.” And got Ric to play Vladimir light, getting him to imitate Fred Astaire, and to whisper to himself how great an actor he is, and then to say the text in this way.

“If you are on the same level we think the stage is flat.” = Use depth on the stage.

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Today we paused class after an hour so that we (and the second years) could do a little showing of what we’ve been doing in Movement for Philippe. Claude played some music and people could get up when they want to and do some moves! I got up and did the few moves I’ve mastered…

1. climbing up and sliding down the silks

2. hanging by the hips

3. flipping upside down and then hanging from the shoulders

…but I’m really average. Some people can do a whole bunch of awesome stuff!

It was a fun little moment. Claude did a little something at the end which was incredible. You’d pay a lot of money to see what he just did for us (e.g. Cirque du Soleil…). And for me, it was a moment where I realised I have gotten fitter and stronger whilst having fun and learning a new skill I can really use in performance.

~

Sophia led a quick improvisation of Mia’s story. One in which the mother (Sara) gets together with the father (David) for the first time. It was set in a dance club, and she got five of us guys (the ones who had played the Australians, plus David) to come out to Frank Sinatra music, clicking and looking at Sara.

“Six men enter. One woman. Boff! We have an image.” Unfortunately that image had sexual elements that weren’t intended by the director. So there needs to be a change.

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At the end of class Philippe spoke about how tomorrow he wants to speak to us all individually – to speak in general about the whole year. Which I’m looking forward to! (Typical me getting excited for ‘feedback’ or ‘report’ time…but I know how much I’ve grown. I’d just like to hear what he has to say). And he spoke about how he always tries to bring fun into the class. He said it’s the least he can do as a teacher.

“If you have no fun in a theatre school you go to a catastrophe.”

“It’s not possible to stay alive without fun.”

WRITER & PAPER + DIRECTOR & THEATRE = AUDIENCE & HEART

Today in movement I ended up chatting on the side to Vanessa for most of the class! She had some feedback for me on my writing for Steph: The Musical, particularly around what Philippe had been saying about how I'm trying to tell three stories, not one. She said stories always pose a question for the audience, e.g. in The Lord of the Rings the question is 'will Frodo destroy the ring?'

And throughout the entire story the audience are held by this question. And then once the question is answered the story is finished. (Unfortunately in LOTR: The Return of the King we find out Frodo destroys the ring half an hour before the end, and so the last half hour feels really long and drawn out - because we have nothing to answer anymore.) There can be lots of little questions along the way...

e.g. 'Will Frodo get away from the Ringwraiths?'

...but overall we are held by one core question.

But my problem with Steph: The Musical is I would be posing three different questions:

1. Will New Zealand change her?
2. Will she meet her father? Or will he accept her?
3. Will her and her mother be friends again?

So that made things clearer for me.

She also spoke about how the protagonist always changes, but the central character doesn't necessarily. E.g. In The Shawshank Redemption Tim Robbin's Andy is the central character, but he doesn't change. From the get go he says he's innocent, and he always wants to get out of prison. Whereas Morgan Freeman's Red always wants to get out of prison but by the end of the film he doesn't want to leave. However the protagonist and the central character can be the same person - as is my case with Steph.

She also suggested this book called Story by Robert McKee. So I'll put this on my reading list!

~

Andre and Sophia presented a scene as Ned and Nell from Samuel Beckett's Endgame.

“Do we dream they were a beautiful couple?” No... “We like them but we don’t think they were in love.”

“Good work as actors. We love you. But we don’t love the couple so much.”

Philippe spoke briefly about Beckett’s two most famous works: Endgame or Waiting For Godot, concluding with saying: “Me – I prefer Godot…they hope…Godot is optimistic. This one [Endgame] is not at all. But the couple in the bin is beautiful.”

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David and Maria presented a scene from ¡Ay, Carmela! again, this time taking on board Philippe's feedback from the previous time they presented.

“First, I don’t understand anything.” = It's all in Spanish, and the Spanish speak really fast...

“You have to think the audience comes to see you.” Not to see the play or the character. But you.

“We don’t see the humanity of these people…or the actors.”


"Too much postcard from Spain."

Philippe got Vicky and Ric to swap costumes with Maria and David and to imitate Flamenco dancing.

This showed how important it is for us to first and foremost love the actors. We loved Vicky."We like her. We want to go for a drink with her after the show."

~

I asked Philippe the question: 'Should a play have a message or a moral in it?'

Philippe said simply, "No". In a way, every play does. But you don't have to think about it.

'Should an audience leave thinking about the meaning of the play?'

“For sure when a good show is finished it doesn’t stay immediately like a moral in your head. A good show…everything is so fantastic that you applaud…you leave the theatre…and you drink with friends…and we don’t know how to breathe.”

“A good show…we can’t speak after.”

He spoke about a writer has to have fun using the magic of words, which he gifts to a director who has fun using the magic of theatre to then give to the hearts of the audience.

"It has to be through the paper for a writer." 

WRITER & PAPER + DIRECTOR & THEATRE = AUDIENCE & HEART

~

Claire showed her direction of Tim's script of Steph's story. The scene showed Steph dreaming of two different possible fathers, who both came out behind her whilst she did this, in a dream like state. Tom (Australia) played one, and he was made up to look strange. However Akron who played the other, looked relatively normal, so the image didn't work.

"Give something magic to this guy!"

~

Steph also led an improvisation of an idea she had in her head, in which random characters from our 'Characters' workshop meet and interact. It was very strange. But interesting and surprising. I guess that's one way of finding a story: to put different characters in a room and see what happens...

A Girlfriend In Paris?

Amanda is here! Yahoo!!!

I was so nervous waiting at the airport! Sweaty hands and all...

We settled in at my apartment, met my Parisian family, then went and had a picnic of wine and cheese and bread and pastries on the steps in front of the Sacré Coeur whilst being entertained by a charismatic Italian singer and an incredible shirtless soccer player who climbed up a lamppost whilst still kicking the ball!

Then went and met some friends in Saint-Germain-des-Prés to watch Mia perform for the Fête de la Musique...but we couldn't find her. But on our metro home we were entertained by a bunch of guys freestyle rapping in French. A great day!

Also had a revelation about the opening song to Steph: The Musical. I've gone back what I initially began with, but changed the chorus from "I'm Going To New Zealand" to "Get Me Outta Here!":

So get me outta here!

Take me as far away as I can go.

Just get me outta here!

Step on it pilot! Don’t go so slow!

I’ve been waiting so long to escape this place,

I need independence. I need my own space.

So leave me alone and give me some air!

Get me outta here!

I'm just going to use the song to get her from Canada to NZ. Not try and do the whole NZ trip in one song. It's too hard for now And I like it. It has a funky rebellious flare...and hopefully it's less 'Boy Scout'.

Process, Not Product: A Writer's Crisis

Sophia showed her direction of Mia' story. Philippe critiqued the lack of clarity around who the story is about. Is it the mother? Is it the father? Is it the whole family? It was unclear. He worked with Sara to play her character with fear and beauty (in the first version we lacked the fear we needed). And he advised her to cut the four Aussies (I was one of them) singing Waltzing Matilda loudly. Instead - just have one - with four "we see too much the idea."

He also spoke about how important it is for us to care about the protagonist. "We have to love somebody." He said this was Sacha Baron Cohen's mistake with Bruno - we didn't love him - so the film wasn't fantastic. But we loved Borat - and so the film was a hit.

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Andre presented a draft of his film script of Tim's story. It was the first film script we've had, and as it involved a lot of descriptions of images and scenes without dialogue (such as long walks through the outback) we had to listen in a different way - trying to follow with our imagination.

Andre was proposing to jump between 1978 and 2007, scene by scene, but the jumps were a bit too quick and thus confusing for the audience. Philippe talked about how it's important to get the rhythm of the images and the rhythm of the scenes right. There was also the issue of mystery at the beginning of his script. For the first few ten minutes or so, who is who in the story is a mystery. Philippe said it's okay to play the mystery game, but it can't be too fast, or for too long. I suppose if it's the right pace, and it's not dragged out forever, then an audience is happy to go along with the story even if they are missing details.

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Mike read a script from Mia's story set in an immigration office in Australia. It was a way to include more of Australia in his story, which is otherwise set in Chile. It was a good scene - with humour and punch.

~

I hopped up at the end of class and presented the changes I'd made on Sunday to my opening song. At the start of class I'd told myself not to get up as my work would be better illustrated if I had the piano accompaniment and an actor who'd had some direction. But I decided to read what I had done anyway as I didn't want to work on something that wasn't ready to be worked on yet.

Before I started, Philippe warned me that people are sick of my 'boy scout' song. I actually thought he was a real dick today. He's being biased because he's heard the song too many times now and he's sick of it (but I'm asking the class to pretend they haven't heard it before, which I think is perfectly reasonable). And he is letting his personal distaste for Musical Theatre get in the way of what I'm trying to do. Maybe that's harsh. But it really felt like he's not listening to what I want to do. I'm not getting a fair chance. And to make jokes about my work - a negative disclaimer - before I present, just screws what I'm about to do. The audience are listening with biased ears too. It's different when he warns you about your track record of being bad as an actor about to perform. In that situation you can change. You can react. But as a writer, with a pre-written text, all I can do is read what I've done! 

Anyway. I sang a new intro I'd written. I sang the first verse and chorus (which is pretty much the same as before...another joke from Philippe) then read the new direct-to-audience text I'd written. I asked if it works. Philippe said he didn't like it - but it could. But he veered off again talking about how he wants to see Steph grow and change. How New Zealand should be longer. And I fought against him and said that's not the story I want to tell. I want to tell NZ as a prelude to the story of Steph meeting her father for the first time. Because meeting her father is what interests me as a writer.

He also said he didn't like how I had lines about Steph finding herself and breaking free:

But now is the time, A time just for me,

To find my true self, and be finally free

So tell the pilot to fly as fast as he can,

And tell the other side of the world to get ready, here I come, to New Zealand!

...It's underlining the point, and he'd rather see it than hear about it. And I understand that. But I said this is musical theatre. In this form characters sing about their issues...and they figure it out by singing! 

I don't want to show her growing up in several NZ scenes. I want to do it in one song. And I think that is possible.

And then he asked me what my plan is for the whole story (which he hasn't done for others - perhaps he's pushing me harder because it'll be good for me) and I spoke said that after NZ she returns to Canada and meets her father, and once her relationship with her father becomes great, her relationship with her mother starts to deteriorate - specifically with alcoholism. And he said what I'm doing is effectively telling three stories in my play. When really I should be telling one. Too many stories. He said a second story can eat the first one. And that's dangerous. I can see that they are different stories:

1. Steph discovers herself in NZ
2. Steph meets her father
3. Steph loses then rediscovers her mother

But I don't see that as a problem. I see them as all leading into each other. Steph finds herself - which leads her to want to meet her father - and Steph meeting her father leads her mother into alcoholism which Steph then naturally has to deal with. 

But I'm new at writing, and stubborn, and cocky, so I'm probably (undoubtedly) wrong! I'm making things more complicated than they need to be. Keep it simple Guy.

Afterwards I had a grumpy beer and a cookie and sat down and tried to dissect what I'm trying to do, and I made a few realisations. Basically, Steph shouldn't be singing about "Going to New Zealand" - she should be singing about what the song is really about. And that's either about wanting to find herself (if I try and do all of NZ in one song), or about wanting to get away from life in Canada (if I tell NZ as a bigger story). So now I'm trying to make the decision of which way I want to go. I feel like in a way I've already done a lot of work on a fuller NZ story so maybe I should go in this direction. Although it's not really what I want to do - it's what Philippe would do...so I dunno. It is going to be much harder to fit NZ into one song, but I'd like to try it. I might have a go at both.

I feel like time is running out and it's not going to be possible to do all the writing I'd like to do by Friday (actually earlier as I need to work with actors too), mostly because I won't be at school tomorrow as tomorrow is the day my girlfriend arrives (!!!) but as Philippe said to me after class when I expressed this worry to him, this kind of crisis is what powers writers to sit down and bust out a new script all in one night.

We'll see. I'm just trying to take the pressure off myself to present something incredible on the last day of school, and instead just keep on learning and testing and trying and failing. Right now, it's the process, not the product, that matters.

~

Oh! And I got some AMAZING news this morning! I found out my application to the New Zealand France Friendship Fund was successful! So that has taken a huge weight off my shoulder. Financially a second year at Gaulier is totally possible now. How lucky am I? Fantastique!

I'm so happy I think I'm going to hang upside down...!

Soaked Bike Ride, Another Draft, & The Collaborative Habit

This weekend I went for a big long bike ride in which I followed the canal north...and just kept on riding. 

It was great! I went through three little music festivals (Féte de la Musique is coming up!) and then stopped and wrote my friend Rosie a letter...before a giant black rain cloud caught up to me and absolutely SOAKED me on the way home!

~

I rewrote the opening song to Steph: The Musical. Andre and Katy came over and we rehearsed it a bit, but I hadn't finished it at that point (left it too late - didn't start working on it till a few hours before they arrived) and so we could only do so much. I really like the beginning now. But I'm having trouble giving a sense of a meaningful journey in NZ and showing her really changing - as opposed to just talking about it - in the length of one song. My current solution is for her to speak directly to the audience:

Hi! My name’s Steph, and this is a story from my life. When I was twenty years old, I went to New Zealand, and I had the most incredible time! I made awesome friends, I bungie jumped, I fell in love with a Maori boy called Tama, and I nearly got molested by a super dodgy farmer I was working for. But I got away! So don’t worry. Anyway! During my trip to New Zealand something special happened. You see – all my life I’d felt like there was something missing inside me. But I could never pinpoint what it was…

I kind of like it. But it also feels like I'm cheating. We'll see how it works in practice I guess.

I'm starting to stress about it now, because there is only one week left of school, and Amanda arrives here this Tuesday, and I still have a lot of work to do as a director (and possibly as a writer). I would really love for this song to be a part of our showing on Friday, if we have one, but I also know that it doesn't matter how much I want it ("Your will is good but it's boring...") - it just works or it doesn't. And I'm not sure that I will be able to make it work with the time I have next week. So in a way I need to just go with the flow, try and shake of this hopeful 'winning mentality' I have and just continue to work.

~

I also finished Twyla Tharp's The Collaborative Habit.

Another blunt, bossy, interesting and practical book from Twyla. 

I really like the way she writes! The ideas in this book (how to collaborate) are particularly relevant to me. I often try and do everything myself (e.g. Steph: The Musical!), and I'm slowly realising that I need to work with others. That I can't do everything alone. And actually, what I can do with others is better than what I can do just by myself. So this is going to be one of my goals from now on. To collaborate more often. To reach out and work with other people. Share my passion and ideas and see what comes of it.

"We Have To Follow With Our Imaginations."

Over the last few days I've worked with actors and directed scenes from STEPH: The Musical into a rough shape. Today I got up first and showed everything we've worked on so far...which was about 45 mins worth! It was really useful to show everything - to test it with an audience. I learned many things:

• How the text worked (e.g. cut this line, this joke isn't funny etc).
• About the logic of the order of scenes (e.g. I didn't make enough sense of getting from Tama's place to a road trip with friends - "we have to follow with our imaginations").
• About the length of scenes (e.g. If I stay with the molesting WWOOF farmers too long we start to think this show is actually about them and we forget about Steph).
• About keeping the story moving forwards (e.g. having Steph call her mother stops the action - it takes us back to the beginning instead of moving us forward - so it's better to go to the next turn).
• We need different music - we get sick of the same song/melody after a while. 
• That one scene I'd written - the road trip scene - just doesn't work. It's boring, "boy scout", and painful. I have to "find another way".

I felt quite defensive and on edge showing these scenes today though. It took longer than I intended and I started to feel like everybody was saying 'get off the stage' underneath their breath. Every time I caught a glimpse of people talking amongst themselves I would think they were talking about me. I was talking to Andre about it after class and he reminded me that the original exercise was to write/direct the first 15 minutes of a show. So this is why people might have been fed up with me. To be honest I had forgotten about this. The way Philippe had been working with me on this story lead me to keep writing the next scene. To try and write the full story of her journey in New Zealand. Not just the first scene.

I also learnt a lesson about doing what I want as a writer - what I'm interested in. Because when I initially pitched my idea, the trip to New Zealand was all in just one song - ending with Steph arriving home in Canada and saying "Mom, I wanna meet my Dad." To me, the story of meeting her father is much more exciting and interesting than her time in New Zealand. And after Steph asked me the question in class - why am I trying to get through the story of New Zealand so quickly - I articulated this point to Philippe. That I'm telling the story of New Zealand in this long form way because Philippe had led me to do so. But I really I don't want to tell that story. I want to condense it into one exciting show opening song, and then get to the real story I want to tell. In a similar way to the opening of Up! in which we get the whole life relationship of a couple in 5 minutes...and then the real story begins.

And when I said this Philippe said "Oh yes, you could do that." Which was FRUSTRATING because I'd wanted to do that from day one. And I'd pitched to do that but had been led somewhere else!

I don't mean to blame. It's fine. I'm happy I've gone through the process I have because I've learnt a lot about story telling and scene writing and structure etc. And what I have done will feed into what I really want to do. Which is to write this fantastic fun "Breaking Free in New Zealand" song. So I'm going to go back and try to do that for this final week of the course...and the year! Which is good in a way, because I was dealing with much more than I could handle with all my 45mins worth of scenes. It's better to stick with just one - and make it really good - than have several average.

So yes I felt embarrassed and frustrated. But I also felt great about all the work I had done. And I feel positive about where to go next.

~

Afterwards Franck told a story about his grandfather in WWI and then Philippe proposed another way to write. Kind of a long-form improvisation with guidance. He got Franck to set a scene, and ask for actors, and then let them improvise. And if Franck liked something he would say 'follow that', or he might suggest something for the actors to do if he felt the story needed something, and then when he was happy with the scene we would move on to the next. Another improvisation. 

The scene we did was a nine year old Italian boy lost and alone in Gare de Lyon, Paris.

It's a good way to get the play writing itself, and for a writer to be surprised by where actors take the story. Also more inclusive and collaborative than sitting writing all by yourself...

"I'll Go Everywhere With You...But You Have To Take Care Of My Curiosity...My Sensitivity."

Tim presented a scene from his version of Steph's story, which starts way before mine: when Steph is young at primary school having to write father's day card to her father.

"It's funny to direct. It's not easy. It's a challenge. But it's good fun."

~

Amy's version of Christine's story was also shown. In the scene an ambulance comes to pick up Christine who has mysterious bruises on her body. They doctors asked the mother if she hit her daughter - which the answer was a quick and horrified "no". But it plants immediately in our head a suspicion of the mother. This could be good - to plant various options in the audience's head - but it also may not be what the writer wants us to think. It shows how particular a writer has to be with what his characters say and do.

"Everything...every second is important...for us to have time to imagine in this way...or in this way..."

Philippe also got various actors to play the role of Christine. Steph, Vicky, Sara and then Sophia as her snob character from 'Characters'. 

"They bring another world. When an actor enters - POFF! - We have another world in our head."

~

Philippe then spoke about casting: "You have to choose an actor who has a good fun. He can't be boring. If he is boring the show will be boring. And he has to work well with the other actors."

Be aware of "what they world they bring and which one we have more fun with."

"Of course you have to calculate the fun for two hours." = We need many different qualities - many different kinds of fun - over two hours.

"To audition is really difficult. If you are an actor - you come - you have to bring something special. Otherwise goodbye."

This is awful...

~

And as a director and theatre maker: 

"If you do a show you have to think you do something new." Make people say "we never saw that in my country."

~

And on the subject of blackouts (which along with flashbacks, Philippe hates):

"It's really tiring the blackout. It's not good for the show."

"The writer has to know every time he writes 'blackout' the audience comes back to the theatre."

"It's really really tiring for the spectators this blackout."

"After half an hour is okay...but after ten minutes...you kill your show with that."

~

Briefly: A thought on marketing and the power of word of mouth...

Recently, there have been two theatre shows I had been interested in and was planning to go to - but then I heard that they were bad - and so I didn't go to either. Whereas in the past when I've been told something is very good, then I make an effort to go.

Show's how important word of mouth really is influencing our consumer decisions!

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Mike worked on his version of Mia's story. "You are precise. It's good to be precise." His work had good differences in rhythm from scene to scene. Different musics is important! The issue with his script was that we stay too short in Australia. The characters "go to Australia - Uhhhp! Me - I go to Australia" = audience's travel in their imagination, but they don't want to leave straight away - they just got there!

"I'll go everywhere with you...but you have to take care of my curiosity...my sensitivity."

"I don't give a shit about the idea of the writer. I give a shit about my pleasure to go to Australia."

"To write is for the pleasure to tell a beautiful story to the spectators."

~

In the last five minutes of class I jumped up and asked if I could test some writing I had done yesterday. It was of a road trip scene, in which Steph and her friends travel throughout New Zealand pointing at all the different landmarks and tourist spots in a deliberately 'hammy' kind of way. I got some actors to read it for the first time - which was a bad idea, because I'd written it with certain rhythms in mind to make it work - and it's hard to know that on a cold read. Anyway - it was a big flop. People were laughing - but because it was so bad! Lesson learned: Don't present something that needs to be worked, as a cold read. And don't rush and do something in five minutes at the end of class, when really you need more time! It's my impatience coming out. I wanted to get up throughout the whole class, and so when there was five minutes left I took the opportunity. But it was a dumb idea. I should have just waited until tomorrow.

But today before class, as I was making photocopies of new scripts I had written, Philippe said to me "You like it? You have a good eye for writing and directing." And I do. I really like the process of making theatre. The idea, the writing, the realisation, and then the performance. I love it all.

"If You Are The Writer You Have To Say Something. It Works Or It Doesn't Work, But You Have To Say Something."

Today started with David and Maria performing a fully rehearsed and realised scene from Spanish a play called ¡Ay, Carmela!. 

In the play two left-wing artists are forced to perform in front of an audience full of right-wing military, and all the left-wing people who tomorrow are going to be killed by Francisco Franco.

I was really proud of Maria and David. They put a lot of work into what they showed - a big step up from everything else we've seen this course (which has been pretty lazy to be frank).

"We don't see the deep point of the play." i.e. We need to see them uncomfortable and pissed off - all the emotions they would be going through - whilst performing for people they despise.

Philippe led them towards being more simple and letting images (with fixed point, stillness, and silence) do a lot of the work for them. e.g. David: Look at her! Look at the audience! Rise your arm slowly! Maria: Lower your nose! David: Text! Pause! Text! etc.

"We start to have a relationship between the actor and the atmosphere."

"Every millimetre...changes totally the play...totally."

"You have to put the beautiful human things in this."

"You can't escape. You have to be human...If it is not human, you leave."

When a character 'reads' a text on stage "you have to know by heart and you pretend to read it."

~

André led an improvisation of Tim's story about his father. André didn't have a clear idea in his head of what exactly he wanted - but he knew it was a film - and he proposed a few things, but wasn't as definite as Philippe wanted him to be, so Philippe pushed him to be!

"If you are the writer you have to say something. It works or it doesn't work, but you have to say something."

"You have to say 'it's like this' so the actor knows."

I played Tim's father (with a not so bad Australian accent I might add!) in a scene in which he and Tim's mother meet for the first time, just after they have both attended a Satsang together. I played slow, simple, subtle. Smoking a cigarette. Looking at the moon. A bit of dialogue here and there. But really taking my time. Steph played Tim's mother. "Not too bad the actors." Philippe asked afterwards whether the audience thinks we will be lovers, or just good friends, and people were indecisive. And this was a good thing. He said the mystery is nice. And actually to have a story in which the lead man and woman don't become partners, but just love each other as friends could be something new and wonderful.

~

Tim and Claire presented a scene from Endgame. "Is it boring?" ... "We don't like the couple because there is no love."

Ned: He is happy in the morning! 5am... We have to see him think "If I don't do something soon I'm going to be bored." This leads to him knocking on Nell's bin. But seeing him build up to the knock can/should be delightful!

"You have always to find a contrast. Contrast is always a good game...a good answer."

~

I got up and asked some questions, and for peoples opinions, about potential plots for my story. 

...A bit like a TV focus group.

"So. Did you like the latest episode of Blue's Clues?

Is it better for A) Steph and Tama (the Mãori love interest) to meet, fall in love, and spend the whole holiday together? Or B) for them to meet, Steph goes away, then they bump into each other again and then fall in love?

B won.

Philippe said what I want to do "depends on the rhythm".  

And C) should Steph grow up by having this love?

Or D) grow up because Tama actually had a girlfriend the whole time and their love has been a lie = heartbreak.

C won. Nobody wanted D.

When I asked whether what happens in my story will be enough for the audience to see she has changed Philippe said we only have to see "she changes one millimetre." So I'm dealing with something small here. Something subtle. And that's a bit of a relief actually. Because it's a mission to write a story that turns a girl into a woman. Although a great challenge!

Philippe also said we may never know or hear about the love with Tama again in the story. "This love has to be the secret of something beautiful...a secret that helps her walk."

And he said the love between Tama and Steph doesn't have to be for long. They can have a "one week love". He said the greatest loves of people's lives are just for one week. So that has freed me a bit too - and given me a good idea for a song.

~

I did a bit of writing last night, and then worked with actors before and after class today. So far it's going really well! The text is holding up - although you realise quickly what lines don't work, or should be cut - often because without them we get to the action clearer. I found myself as a director today going around and setting tasks for different actors whilst I worked with some one else (this project is an ambitious one - I'm now feeling the push to get it up and a live - and the writing finished - very soon!), and when I did work with actors the time flew by! As a director I found myself showing what I want a few times, instead of using words to get it naturally from another actor. I'm not sure I like that approach. I mean I do - it's much easier for me. But it takes the power and ownership away from the actor. It's no fun just to copy how someone else (me) does it. It's best for them to find their own way. Surprise me! But I'm getting there. My secret plan is to work the scenes we worked on tonight in class tomorrow. So Philippe can jazz them up and give me guidance...without him knowing it! HAHA! 

"Theatre Is Beautiful, But It Has To Be Absolutely Clear."

Mia presented a scene from Sophia's story she had written and directed. At first he said the rhythm of the actors is bad and the style of acting (naturalistic) is bad. But after a few adjustments and discussion he said "not extremely bad - but a director has to put a bit his balls in this story - it's a bit slow."

When asked about getting older actors to play children - which is always horrible - Philippe said he wouldn't do it. Instead he would go to a young person's drama school and pick 2 or 3 (because they can't play every night) of the most intelligent little actors - and the ones happiest to be onstage. But not too happy! He said whenever a child or dog is onstage everybody looks at them. And this is shitty for actors.

~

I got up and lead some improvisations of an action sequence I want to put in my show in which Steph nearly gets molested by this creepy WWOOF man - but she escapes in a frantic hurry. At first I had lots of little scenes - before the event (Steph and friends walking together and then Steph being confronted to go with the creepy man.), the event (the molest attempt and chase), and after the event (Steph running into her friends' room - grabbing her bags and saying goodbye and then exiting quickly)...but I learned today that it's better to condense the action. 

"When she is scared and starts to run, I run in my head." Me putting a little scene with Steph talking to her friends as she grabs her bags gets in the way of the audience running in their heads.

I got Thomas to play the role of the creepy molester man, and later I got Mia to play his freaky wife (I replaced her with Steph's friends so that when Steph runs in to get her bag we get one more fright - it was great!!). Philippe got them both to dress scary like a Bouffon, with the make up and all.

They looked really scary, and were really great! We loved them. And Philippe got them to do a little scene together after Steph runs away (he suggested they can be racist against Mãori's here). "Two characters like this could kill all the other characters...If they do too much and we love them, it's a catastrophe for the show." Because then we wouldn't give a shit about Steph and her story. We just want to see the nasty's again.

I told Philippe I was writing this musical with the resources of a big budget Broadway theatre production in mind. That's how I see it being realised. So I asked how I could stage it in the space we have at school. And he said "Every place you can do something" and that it's the job of the director to find a way to stage it. 

Feeling more and more confident as a writer. And as a director - although I haven't done too much of that yet. But my ideas seem to work well theatrically, and I'm good at being clear about what I want. Though I need to work on communicating it in far less words than what I'm jabbering out now.

Although I do find myself being protective of my ideas and what I've written...

"When you speak to a writer you have to put on white gloves...they don't like to change one word of the text."

~

Mike lead an improvisation from Mia's story about her family fleeing Chile to Australia to escape Pinochet.

Mike was using the opportunity to work with actors in front of an audience to test out ideas - not just to see how a scene works or what dialogue might be - and I thought this was a good method. What a luxury to be able to test risk-free in front of a live audience!

~

After class Philippe was asked what he thinks the differences are between theatre and film. 

"If you do a movie you can be more subtle...With close-ups we understand...dialogue can be subtle...But theatre is more in the whole body...rhythm..."

"In a movie we can understand with of the movement of the camera...In theatre we have to understand with the movement of the actors."

Plus movies have music to let us know something is coming...

...An actor's rhythm does this job in theatre.

"If you are a good actor for theatre you could be good for film. But not always."

"You can be a wonderful actor for theatre but you don't exist for movies." He said for film you need to be attractive for the light. And in theatre you need to be fantastic: have fun with a game, complicité, humour..."a lot of qualities." He also spoke about the importance of 'the face' in determining whether an actor is better for theatre or film.

"Theatre is beautiful, but it has to be absolutely clear."

"For me, theatre is the best job in the world. You are always with people having fun with something."

~

Whilst having dinner I watched this TED Talk by Shea Hembrey.

What he's done is super clever and really fun! I especially liked how he talked about art and the 3 H's: Head, Heart and Hand. 

1. Head: Interesting intellectual ideas and concepts. 
2. Heart: Passion and soul. 
3. Hand: Greatly crafted.

Sounds like a good mix to me!

"You As A Writer - You Have To Be Better Than What We Imagine."

A scene from Sophia's story (written by Thomas and directed by Steph) was shown. "Many ideas but no games." Philippe then worked to simplify the scene.

~

Amy (Melbourne) led some improvisations of her version of Christine's story. Amy offered some different ways to start her story, but was unsure of which option would be best. "We will see. We start and we will see." Amy's ideas were rather abstract, and Philippe kind of steered her away from things that weren't essential to telling the story.

~

I took the opportunity to work some more scenes from Steph: The Musical which have been floating in my head since I got feedback on Friday. So I tried a few scenes between Steph and the love interest 'Tama' - a local Mãori boy - who I have created for the purposes of good story telling! The new scenes included the first meeting: 

1. Steph being picked up by Tama on his motorbike as a hitchhiker. 
2. Steph being cared for at Tama's place, calling her mother in Canada, and staying the night as she has nowhere else to go.
3. A love scene in which Steph and Tama sneak into the Waitomo Caves on New Years Eve, and share their first kiss. 

Philippe said as soon as we see Steph get saved by a guy on a motorbike we think they are going to fall in love. My job as a writer then is to surprise the audience by how they fall in love. Or if in my story they in fact do not fall in love (which isn't actually the case) then as a writer I have to offer something extraordinary instead of a love story. Maybe he's an alien?...Or an elf?...

I had Katy and Ric play Steph and Tama. Katy - because she's a strong singer. And Ric, because I think he looks the most Mãori in the class. But Ric was actually a pop star back in Singapore. 

Ric is the one in a blue shirt (0:18)!!!

So perfect choice! They were really good together too. They both play well in the musical theatre 'bigger' style. And I definitely want to cast them for the performance of this beast!

~

"It's important we imagine."

"You as a writer - you have to be better than what we imagine." ...If you are not the audience will undoubtedly ask for their money back.

~

Mike led an improvisation of a scene from Mia's story. Philippe told the actors that if they feel loved by the audience they can stay on stage, and whenever they feel that they were not loved, they should leave the stage (and then return later, with something new). This gave an extra energy to the improvisation! One great moment was when Andre had just yelled at his children for mucking around when they were packing frantically trying to make a quick escape: "What are you doing?!?" And then he turned to look at his wife (Claire - who was a bit lost on stage at the time), and yelled "What are YOU doing?!?"

~

I spoke to Philippe briefly at the end of class, and mentioned I may direct my writing too, and he advised me to give the actors a good impulse and to avoid naturalism. He talked about how 'natural' is boring, and actually doesn't exist (what is 'natural?'). It's better to give something alive - that helps us dream.