“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.

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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.”