Assesment 1 :- Due Wednesday 25th February

Question 1:

Physical theatre is usually considered as drama and in effect dance merged together as one, created by using a mixture of aspects and components. There are many forms of theatre that can be categorised as physical theatre, these include Commedia dell’Arte, Clowning, Mime, slap stick etc. Although there is no specified definition for physical theatre a simple expression to acquire understanding of the genre is to think of it as performance that pursues storytelling through primarily physical means. Any movement-motivated theatre can also be deemed Physical Theatre. “At its simplest, physical theatre is theatre where the primary means of the creation occurs through the body rather than through the mind.” (Callery, D (2001) p.4)

The foundation of a piece of physical theatre tends to draw from from lateral thinking and leaves no room for the conventional ideas. Each piece of physical theatre whether scripted or not habitually has an inimitable structure.

Physical theatre has evolved and adapted from a variety of origins and cultures. Practitioners John Wright and Steven Berkoff gained their skills and experience from L’Ecole Jaques Lecoq in Paris, a school specialising in mime and theatrical studies. Lecoq has had a major influence on the modern turn of phrase Physical theatre.


Question 2:

Ana Sanchez-Colberg discusses the term ‘hybrid-character’ when referring to physical theatre. She implies that physical theatre is indeed a clear identifiable fusion of dance and drama. Sanchez-Colberg uses the expression ‘double-current’ to describe the merge.“It is precisely this double current of influences which needs to be taken into consideration in any attempt to delineate specific parameters of the new genre” (Sanchez-Colberg in Keefe & Murray; 2007, p 21)

My understanding of physical theatre is that it is identified to combine both dance and drama using movement (dance) as substitution for dialogue that tends to be used more in plays. Frequently only very little dialogue if any at all, is spoken within a physical theatre performance. The performers communicate emotion through expressive movement rather than using words. I find this to be in effect more attention grabbing and entertaining as the audience is challenged to concentrate and use their mind's eye to comprehend the emotion, and the story being told within the piece.


Question 3:

An example of a British performance company that performs physical theatre is DV8. DV8, (established in1986) physical theatre work leans towards risk taking “physically and aesthetically”. Destroying any ideas of barriers between the merge of dance and drama. This allows the company to spotlight and deal with personal politics and commutating ideas and feelings clearly, allowing undemanding interpretation for the audience.

Although the company perform pieces that are deemed to be a combination of both dance and theatre, their website suggests that the company lean further towards defining their productions as being majority dance based rather than affiliated to theatre. “The company's reputation relies on pushing its own boundaries and on the constant re-examination of the roles and relationships of men and women in our society. Its policy insists on the importance of challenging our preconceptions of what dance can, and should, address.”


Bibliography

Keefe, J & S Murray (2007) Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader London: Routledge

DV8 physical theatre (2008) [Home page] [online] [February 20, 2009.]<>

Bausch, P. and Schmidt, J. (1978, 1984) Not How People Move But What Moves Them, Pina Bausch-Wuppertal Dance Theatre or The Art of Training a Goldfish, trans.

Callery, D (2001) Through the body. New York: Routledge

http://www.physicaltheatre.com/main/index.asp


Tonia Shepherd