"That's It?...1...2...3...Goodbye."

We played 'Mask Musical Chairs' with Nicole today. A bit harder when you can't see! Very funny when somebody get's so close to an empty chair and then goes somewhere else completely missing it! If you didn't find a chair then you had to try and save your life - in anyway possible. And if we don't love you, then you'd hear: "That's it?...1...2...3...Goodbye."

"When I count, it's to make you change. Try something else. Change your rhythm."

• You have to listen to the audience. Find out what we like and what we don't. Do the stuff we like! Explore. Play. Discover.

• Interesting to notice that when masks react directly to Nicole it starts to be good.

"It's strange. When people have to leave the stage they become good."

"Often when you have a problem and you're in big shit you discover something."

"When you try to explain stuff to us you start to be fucking boring...it doesn't give life to the mask."

When I went up I was having a good time dancing to all the different genres - being quite free and playful with the mask on. I missed out on a chair, but didn't realise immediately, so I kept on dancing around (without the music playing) trying to find a chair as I danced). Nicole said "do you want the music again?" and I nodded - and then kept dancing. Then Nicole got me to enter and come and flirt with another female mask that was sitting down. So I grooved over and did various dance moves to try and catch the female masks attention. Stopping after each one and looking to the mask, then the audience, and back to the mask. I was slightly concerned that I was flopping big time because I couldn't hear much laughter from the audience, but they were with me. "You have saved yourself Guy, well done."

Then the next time the music stopped I missed out on a chair again! This time it was a bit harder - I got into a situation like so many others where the audience are waiting for you to do something, and whatever you do makes no impact. But in watching others, I noticed that it's not what you do that makes us love you but rather how you react after you've done something. e.g. I did a little break dance on the ground and then struck a pose (fixed point) and looked at the audience = Laughter. Eventually I died, but I stayed on for a long time essentially because I had good spirit. I was having fun, playing, being a bit silly and not caring too much. And this comes across. Of course I was working on technicals too but as I learnt on the auditions for Greek Tragedy - you need both!

"You start to understand something."

It's become clear that there are hard rules to make a mask come alive on stage. It depends on lots of things. The mask, the actor, the body, the clothing, the gestures, the movement, the rhythms, impulses, spirit...

"It depends with which spirit you move the mask."

We started to see how some masks demand a certain kind of movement (for example, the sharp pointy nose mask works well with sharp pointy movement) but it still depends. Some masks/actors (like Vicky) were better with smaller movements and others (like Andre) with bigger ones.

• Don't show the mask strap.

• Don't come too close to the audience.

• Don't hide the mask with gestures in front of the face. Keep them low or wide.

Again, you have to give a lot. More life. More fun. More spirit.

One Thing At A Time

Families

Today we started off in groups of seven with our favourite mask on and Philippe moved us around in different pairs, matching masks and bodies with each other to see who goes well together. I was paired with Rocio. The body effects things - how we read the mask. Similar or complementary faces seem to help, but for Rocio and I, our difference in height and body shape is also key factors in making us a good mask-match.

Going To The Opera

We then in our families did a scene in which one character enters the stage, checks their ticket, finds their seat (in the middle of the stage) and then sits and watches the opera. A little bit later, the second character of the family, who is running late, enters and goes to the other seat. In some cases, if there were 3 in a family, then the third person noticed his/her seat was taken and approached the person in their seat.

I went up with Rocio, but she entered first and Philippe demanded that she change her horrible costume (in loo-loo break we had to get dressed up for the opera), and so we moved on to other families and we never ended up getting our go again. Hardly anyone did today actually. Philippe spent a long time with just a few families - I guess to try and teach us all core things.

And those things were:

• Take your time - 2633 fixed points from A to B is good!

• Isolation - Don't move everything at once, and when you move make it small, clear and simple.

• One Thing At A Time - As an audience we have to understand every single moment of the mask's action. e.g. Look at the ticket (FIXED POINT!) Look at the seat (FIXED POINT!) Look at the ticket (FIXED POINT!) Look at the seat (FIXED POINT!) Take the ticket to your pocket (FIXED POINT!) Put it in your pocket (FIXED POINT!) Step towards the seat (FIXED POINT!) etc etc.

Tomorrow with Nicole for Mask which will be new and fun. I'm really enjoying her movement classes. On Friday we have to present a 7 minute scene with the masks. I'm going to do something with Rocio. We're going to work it out tomorrow. Eeek!

"If He Had Sex With Rocio, Should She Take The Pill On The Day After?"

Imitate An Animal (Uh Oh):

• Remember to always show the mask, and fixed point ("when the actor doesn't move, but still keeps the pleasure of the game in his body")

I played a cat.

Simple, just walking about slowly then stretching, and lying down for a while.

"Guy...we like him." I was so surprised because I really thought I was going to be killed for being absolutely boring. I thought this mostly because there was very little laughter in the audience. But I suppose that's not always the only indicator. It's strange because because I can't see what the audience reads I'm not that clear on what I look like. But I did focus on being still, having fixed points, and not moving to much - and when I do keep it simple. That worked.

(I also need to remember to BREATHE! I realised I was holding my breath whilst coming out as a cat and a minute in I was gasping for breath inside.)

(I also need to get over the idea that I'm bad at animals, because it disables me. Instead, I need to think of them as an opportunity to play with rhythm - which I enjoy!)

• "We saw more the [insert animal] than the mask" was a common comment in this exercise.

Grandma's Ladder:

To try and teach us the importance of fixed points (as Philippe was getting fed up...) we played a version of Grandma's Keys. This time with a ladder.

One actor enters from the wings at a time and tries to get to the third step of the ladder without being caught by Grandma more than three times. (You don't have to go back when you get caught for moving, but you only get three chances.)

"There are two ways to be alive - the way of the mask, or the opposite."

~

"It's better if you bring a light spirit to the mask...it's better for everybody."

~

"You have to have a fantasy." (bring your fun, spirit and imagination)

Philippe stressed that it's okay to take twenty minutes to get from the wings to the ladder. 3652 fixed points. Most of us rushed. Or no fun. When I went there was latin music in the background so I tried to do latin dancing as I went, but I was doing the idea of 'spirit' without really having real fun. It was just the idea of fun and so it was bad. What I did wasn't for the mask. And so for my punishment came a brand new insult: "If He Had Sex With Rocio [who was bad before me], Should She Take The Pill On The Day After?"

Model Dressed Like A Human:

"Here we see the how the masks can enter the human world a bit."

At the end of class Philippe got us to go and find a costume so we all ran off. I stuffed a knitted jumper to make me look fat, rolled my trackpants up into little black stubbies, held a big brushy broom, and wore boots - like a NZ Speights farmer.

We then got into groups of about six at the back of the stage and walked towards the audience like models on a catwalk. The simpler ones were better. Not too much movement - and when there is movement it's isolated and small. I got in trouble for a bad fixed point. And then got asked why I was so poof? (I was walking a bit effeminately, turning and posing with my hips out).

For me: "A bit...but push too much." It's a fine line I guess. But simplicity is definitely key. Let the audience see the mask.

Back To School: Mask Play

Back to school today! Both classes have been joined together for the MASK PLAY workshop. So there's roughly 30 of us, and class with Philippe is being extended for an extra hour to compensate for the bigger numbers.

We have a new movement teacher, Nicole, from Germany, who looks like a super fit personal trainer, and she teaches a bit like one too! She's been teaching at École Philippe Gaulier for thirteen years now so she definitely knows the spirit of the school and teaches in it too. Great. :)

In this course we're going to work with Larval Masks, then move on to Commedia dell'arte, and finally work with half-masks that we have created ourselves. I've never really done anything like this before so it is very exciting!

This week: Larval Masks

They are carnival masks from the city of Basel, Switzerland.

In class, Philippe got groups of 5-6 to grab a mask and then enter on stage individually and be with the audience for a bit, trying to make the mask come alive. He said "everything is for the mask". No other advice! I love that. Over time we as a class through trial and error will discover what is needed to give life to the mask - a very experiential kind of learning.

Some masks were adorable and funny. Others were dead for us - usually because the actor was doing way too much - ideas. But sometimes it was because the mask was "no good". For a mask to be good it has to have clear features - eyes, nose and mouth - and when shown from different angles it should show different expressions. We should read it differently. But a few masks weren't so clear which made it really difficult for the actor behind it. So we put a few 'bad masks' to the side.

Going up with no idea about what are the 'rules' of this mask is scary! But it's also freeing. I was quite nervous when I went up (which was 2nd) which I was surprised by because I like to tell myself at the start of workshops it's okay to be bad because I know nothing about what we're learning about...so how could I be good? But I think a desire to be good got to me a bit. But the nerves also would have come from the fact that it was the first day, there were lots of new actors I'm not used to, it was just me on stage, AND you can't bloody see in the masks! They have tiny tiny eye holes which are not in ideal places - especially when you have to keep the nose of the mask up. But they are absolutely joyous to watch!

Some things I observed that are important about the masks today:

• Fixed Point - We need stillness to see the mask. A game of Grandma's Keys at the end of class illustrated this well.

• Isolation - As actors we need to be clear about which part of the body we're playing with. The head, shoulders, arms, pelvis, or legs? All at the same time is too much. Philippe got us to dance in groups after we'd gone up individually, and he said to dance just with your legs, and then just with your shoulders. I got caught for my head moving as well as my legs - a no no... got to keep all the parts separate. Rocio was great dancing with a big ugly greedy kind of mask on. She just put one foot forward then one foot backwards but it was hilarious!

• Small/subtle/simple - Philippe would often mock students..."ohhh wonderful...so subtle..." He'd often get gestures/movements to be smaller.

• Light on feet - Sometimes Philippe would get people to move really quickly also.

• Be tall

• Horizon line - Keep the nose up...the same concept as for neutral mask.

• Don't show the strap! - When you do the magic of the mask disappears. It's good then to wear something like a beanie or a scarf or a hood to cover up the back

• Not human - These masks aren't human. They are something else. So naturalistic movement may not work so well, I'm not sure yet. But little moments like a body still with just the fingers twiddling were fantastic. Philippe also said it's good to cover up the skin (wear gloves etc) to keep out of the human realm.

Exciting!

Éonnagata

When I was on my Air France flight to India I read in the in-flight magazine that Robert Le Page was performing in a show in Paris, and it ends on the 9th of January. So today I went and stood outside the theatre with a shitty little sign I scribbled on the back of a receipt (a lot of people frowned at this) saying "Je Cherche 2 Billets" - one for me and one for Andre. Unfortunately only one at the price we were looking for (15€) was offered, so Andre kindly let me take it.

The show was called Éonnagata, performed at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, by Sylvie Guillem, Robert Lepage and Russell Maliphant.

It had a Japanese aesthetic to it. Lots of samurai.

Really cool bony costumes.

Nice very simple moments - some dance, some theatre, some a bit of both.

I was surprised by just how simple a lot of it was - in a really good way. It was clear that the work had come from play. e.g. With a table. We can slide on it like this, this and this... We can slide under it like this... We can slide at the same time on it like this... etc.

It was visually spectacular. Great bold, clear lighting, that moved in blocks with the performers.

Two simple things I liked:

• The moment of horse riding when the two men held wooden sticks on their shoulders, one behind each other, and then the woman hopped up and sat on the sticks. The men walked forwards and in sync and we heard the sound of horse hooves. Fun and clear.

• A song - a little ditty - sung with just the accompaniment of a long single chord of a bag pipe. The performer can sing all around it, and still be heard very clearly. And the feeling of it takes me into Britain/Scotland - an almost Medieval time - which I'm really interested in the moment. Slowly collecting lots of ideas and images for a show I want to make eventually... I liked the ridiculous big puffy velvet King outfits too. And the hooded figures.

The production was really slick and playful and clear. I really enjoyed it. Admittedly, I went for the Robert Le Page factor.

Robert Le Page

And so the production was exciting for me just because a very famous and incredible theatre maker was performing (the other two dancers are also well respected, although I didn't know about them). Regardless, it was a great production.

A Kiwi In India

Namaste!

I've just got back from a 3 week trip in India travelling with my girlfriend Amanda, who's currently volunteering in Jaipur. And WOAH. What an experience. Quite difficult to put it in a words. Three weeks with Amanda was wonderful. We saw lots of different places, met lots of different people, and ate lots of different food. Difference is a key word here. India is really different from what I - a westerner from New Zealand living in Paris - would call 'normal'. Coming home I definitely appreciate just how lucky I am. Just the idea of going home from the airport in a train which is reliable, fast, and clean is actually an incredible thing! Something I take for granted. But it's a difficult thing to make work. And the intense poverty, social, cultural and political restrictions, the pollution, and massive population all make a lot of things difficult for the people of India. It causes a kind of all-for-themselves mentality, a constant fight. And this at times causes desperate behaviour. Nevertheless, there is a lot of joy in the country. People in general are very friendly and generous and despite the difficulties, India is totally alive and absolutely full of energy.

THE TRIP

Our itinerary (anti-clockwise starting at Jaipur)

FLIGHT

Flight from Paris to Delhi was a few hours delayed due to snow and fog (the plane got sprayed with this 'Ghostbusters 2' pink goo) but eventually we took off. Arrived in Delhi, went to get my Visa on Arrival (feeling the pressure to get to my connecting flight to Jaipur) and had my first experience of the much slower pace that India is famous for. I was one of two people who were at the desk to go through a process that really should take about 5 minutes, but due to chatting, and a chai break, little distractions and a general slow place it took a good hour. But that was okay. Then went through customs to find out all the bags on my flight didn't make it to Delhi, fought my way through a large bustling angry crowd politely yelling "excuse me I have a flight to catch!" in order to get the documentation I needed to get my bags back (FYI: I didn't get them until I checked in to fly back to Paris on the last day of my trip...terrible...never flying with Air France again!!)

I was actually surprised by how cool I was about all of these disruptions. I took Emma from Gaulier's advice: 'Shanti Shanti'. Go with the flow. There's no point fighting against it or you'll just burn out in frustration.

THEN went to the domestic airport to discover my flight had been cancelled and I had to buy another much more expensive flight (here I got my first taste of the lack of communication and coordination in India) but eventually got on another flight where I arrived in Jaipur! Only 20 minutes later than scheduled! Phew!

JAIPUR

Reunited with Amanda. It's been nearly three months. Which was a bit strange at first, but lovely. Then straight into the chaos. Rickshaws swerving and beeping (you beep to let obstacles know you're coming)...cows strolling on their own free will...monkeys on rooftops...painted elephants...camels pulling carts...beggars...street performers...touts...everybody wanting you to come into their shop...the pollution...the sounds...the smells...the colours...

We went to Amanda's workplace: RNP+ (Rajasthan Network For People Living With HIV/AIDS),

had my first cup of chai, strolled the streets, visited some forts and temples

Amber Fort

And bought myself a few items of clothing - a muslim long shirt and pants, some Ali Baba's, and undies - which I ended up wearing for the next three weeks. Oh! And got a haircut which cost me 40 rupees ($1.20NZ)!

OVERNIGHT TRAIN TO UDAIPUR

Really cold (you go through the Rajasthan desert at night). Met a cool guy from Australia.

UDAIPUR

We instantly fell in love with this place!

The streets are really cute - small and windy - quite European - and it's surrounded by beautiful lakes. They call it 'The City of Lakes'. It's also the setting of 007: Octopussy, thus, we stayed in the hotel's special 007 room (which had a spa) and watched the movie on a rooftop restaurant.

We also went to some random festival which we initially thought was a total let down but it got better and better. This is because of rickshaw driver dropped us off at the end gate as opposed to the start... And finally, we did a cooking lesson with a woman called Shushma.

Shushma making stuffed Paratha.

OVERNIGHT TRAIN BACK TO JAIPUR

My worst fear came true: We're not sure exactly what it was (maybe festival food, maybe cooking class food, maybe water), but I was sick on the train all the way back to Jaipur.

DAY IN JAIPUR

A day in bed - slightly delirious. At one point I alerted Amanda that we need to hang up the paper dresses on the washing line, before falling hard to sleep.

FLIGHT TO MUMBAI

MUMBAI

I was still fairly sick during our four days in Mumbai so we slowed down a bit. We actually stayed in our hotel room a lot (undoubtedly because there was a TV and room service...) but we did explore too!

Had Christmas day together strolling along the waterfront with ice cream, we watched the thousands of Cricketers at The Oval on Sunday, we had lunch at Leopolds (which is features heavily in the book Shantaram) and we went and saw a Bollywood movie!

'Tees Maar Kaan'

Really cool music. Featuring big Indian stars. It was fantastic! When they appeared for the first time, or sang a song, the audience would hoot, cheer, and whistle. These stars are huge. They're like what I imagine stars were like in America in the 50s. They are in all the movies, they act, dance and sing (or they at least lip-sync), they endorse every product imaginable, they're constantly on talk shows... The movie itself was fun. A kind of Robin Hood secret identity love story. Long, with an interval. But very immature. It seems like a lot of Indian movies are stuck in their teen years. They're like the movies and TV I watched when I was 14. I was told by one Indian guy that the movie was a mega flop - still, we had lots of fun.

OVERNIGHT BUS TO GOA

Bumpy bumpy bumpy. Lucky my sickness was mostly under control!

GOA

We liked Goa a lot! Undoubtedly because we literally lay on sun beds on the beach drinking cocktails, eating fresh fruit, going for swims, and reading books for four days straight.

We also met up with Amanda's good friends Emerald and Ben!

On New Year's Eve there was music pumping from all the shacks (restaurants/bars) along the beach. We planted ourselves at a candle lit table in the sand and drank cocktails and ate various meals whilst meeting curious and friendly visitors throughout the night. At midnight there were fireworks and bonfires. We got up to dance but unfortunately the ratio of men to woman (a major issue in India - inequality between genders) was overwhelming. I'd say for every one woman there would have been two hundred men. In other words, 'Too Many Dicks On The Dancefloor'. So we got out of there pretty quickly as being that one woman in the crowd is not so fun.

I also read three books whilst in India! That's a record for me! One a week! I've totally caught the reading bug now. It's fantastic. I especially like it because it engages the imagination so much.

I read three Malcolm Gladwell books: The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers.

The Tipping Point - about social epidemics and mass change - got me thinking about how to apply the idea of making a subtle change to marketing to 'tip' the popularity of Theatre.

Blink - about snap judgements and decisions - got me thinking about trusting my instincts, about the relationship between my conscious and subconscious mind (as an artist), and the preparation and practise I need to be able to make smart decisions in a 'blink'.

Outliers - about success and successful people - got me thinking about how lucky I am to have the advantages and opportunities open to me in this world. How lucky I am to be white, male, tall, relatively handsome, relatively wealthy, to have had a safe and happy upbringing, and a good education. These features (arguably) make the world a whole lot easier to operate in. They effect my world view, my confidence, and others' judgements of me. I'm not trying to say I'm perfect. I'm saying that traditionally people that have the features that I have tend to have an easier path in the world. So I'm fucking lucky. And I need to really take the advantages I've been given and do something good in the world.

OVERNIGHT BUS BACK TO MUMBAI

This time Amanda was sick. Bumpy bumpy. There was a big TV on the train showing another very similar and predictable Bollywood movie. Forced to watch as they refused to turn on the reading lights!

FLIGHT TO DELHI

DELHI

It was cold here! Not the nice 30 degree temperatures of Goa and Mumbai. We caught the metro and explored a few areas. Had a day of western junk food which was a scandalous moment for us. Stayed in the Jain Book Depot for an hour or so collecting a bunch of good books to read. (They were super cheap too. In India, there is luxury tax on things like restaurants and movies, but no tax at all on things like books. So savings galore.) And we enjoyed our last few days together.

DAY TRIP TO AGRA

We paid 650 for a 'registered' taxi for the day who we told we just wanted to take it easy and not see all the sights but he ended up convincing us (we gave up) to at least visit three important shops (the ones he gets a commission from).

And of course saw the Taj Mahal. Such a beautiful big building with a wonderfully romantic (but slightly morbid) story behind it.

FLIGHT HOME

So after literally about 100 phone calls to Air France India Baggage Dept. I find out my bag has finally arrived in Delhi. So I get it when I check in for my flight home. Typical! At least I got it back though! Stink to say goodbye to Amanda now. It's 6 months till I'll see her next. But that's okay. We had an amazing holiday together with plenty of unforgettable moments.

Dhanyavaad India!

You taught me about patience and trust (the world will do what it needs to do and there's no need to get worried or pushy about it because you'll just burn yourself out), about difference, and about how lucky I am in this life.

Namaskar!

End Of Term One

So term one has come to an end. And what an incredible nine weeks it has been! Right now I am feeling so blessed to be here doing this thing that I love, with really wonderful people. I have some truly great friends here now, and back home. I'm very lucky.

In class today we spent the first hour prepping for the Greek Tragedy showing - Philippe reworked a few scenes (I thought he might work with me again, cause yesterday I thought he said he would, although I wasn't sure, but he didn't at that was fine) and we organised the running order to be presented by the thick deep accented Charles of Bristol. And two runners to change furniture around. I wasn't keen on volunteering for these roles out of pride. I really wanted to be in the showing, and being a runner...not today.

Quite gruelling to sit and watch the showing when really I wanted to be in it - a deliberate tactic of Philippe's I'm sure - but I was actually so proud and quite moved by the work of my peers. Andre and Daniele really presented something that took me somewhere else. It was beautiful. So neat to watch a show in English, Italian, Chinese and German too. What a treat!

Philippe spoke about how at the school they try to be as honest as possible, because it is best for us. i.e. They won't pat us on the back to make us feel better. It's a professional relationship.

"You need a crisis to discover something else."

"We try to be honest. If you are bad we will tell you. But it's friendly. Did you notice that? We are not nasty."

Things I learnt from Neutral Mask & Greek Tragedy:

• Be tall. Be beautiful.
• Head and eyes to the horizon line, above the audience
• Don't talk too much
• Follow impulses, don't stifle them
• Speak text through the elements - it's not you - it's you through the elements
• Give A LOT - but don't push
• Tension in the body - be engaged
• Have a good aura - fast unspecific movement doesn't help...stillness and slow specific movement does...(although you can move obviously)
• In the kingdom of the Gods! Destiny! Blood! Death! Honour!
• Pleasure
• Show something special of yourself every time you step on stage.

~

Watched the 2nd year Clown showing this evening too (before going to a never ending party).

Loved it! I always surprise myself when I laugh out loud. Because I hardly ever do it. But I did it a lot during tonight's show. Just people being idiots. Fantastic. I loved the opening gag in which one clown was trying to get Philippe to do the usual three drum beats. And then Philippe would just do one. Or then three, but a big gap before the third. And we see the frustration and awful attempt of this clown to explain exactly what he needs. Lots of fun. Then a little soiree at school afterwards to celebrate the end of term.

I now have three weeks off - in which "Got to have pleasure! Got to show something special! Got to risk! Got to say 'Watch out! I am coming! I will be amazing! So fuck you!' Got to present something worth presenting...every time!" - will be churning inside me. I'll also spend those three weeks in India, with my girlfriend. Christmas in Mumbai. New Years in Goa. Thinking of my friends and family. xxx

Joyeux Noël & Bonne Année!