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!