1) 'The devising process challenges every group member to confront their work, engage with it individually at different levels, as well as developing a sense of group co-operation, affiliation and unity at the same time' (Oddey, p24, 1996) This sense of co-operation and unity was visible during one of the first tasks we took part in. A strategy that was used within the ensemble to devise sections of Porto is by a member of the group clapping to demonstrate a particular movement or gesture. This is built upon until a handle of individuals have created more actions resulting in there being a small sequence of different mannerisms whether it be pedestrian or stylised, in which the ensemble copy and perform in unison with each other. This effectively creates and signifies to the audience the group as a community united as one. Although as a group we have something in common with each other, the fact that we are all part of Porto, we also have individuality and uniqueness which is then portrayed through our own individual sequences that were created after the group ensemble task. This task of creating individual sequences has contributed to the development of characters and fuelled ideas and ways forward for myself.
2) '...whether your starting point is a style of performance or an idea about content, the process begins with generating visual material: characters, actions, images, all from physical improvisation' (D, Callery, 2001, p172) Porto's stating point has been the creation of strong characters and relationships. There has been a strong evolution of my character although during the beginning of the process I had no visions or ideas of how my character should be, but my object - a digital camera, has always been the driving force to many decisions that I have made physically and emotionally. The photograph scene enabled me to explore a side to myself that I am very familiar with, taking photos as a record of memories. When working on this scene and creating relationships within the small ensemble, I believed that I was fully aware of my character. This changed as Nicola's character was introduced during the opening as I held back from taking a photo of her, something I would have usually done but she seemed to express a form of sadness and distress and I felt that my character would not want to interfere with this. Also during a play session, a contrasting side of my character emerged as I began to feel shy and vulnerable when working with Sarah which is something I aim to explore further.
3) My character's physical movement is somewhat snake like at times. I travel around using the floor and crawling so that I cannot be seen especially during the photograph scene where I surprise people with my camera flash and my character seems to be more comfortable travelling using lower levels. My character explores a range of levels and when standing I lead with my legs and tend to tip-toe about making as little noise as possible. With reference to working with Sarah, my body language and positioning totally changed to how it was during the photograph ensemble piece. I began to portray negativity and become annoyed by Sarah's character by ignoring her and moving away from her. During a chair sequence there was repetition of hand gestures, twiddling thumbs and tapping thighs which was then copied by Sarah and resulted in a build up of tension in which I finally give in to her annoyance and begin to positively interact with her. 'Beauty lies in the ability of the performer to be emotionally vulnerable and honest with the audience' [http://pushtheatre.org/philosophy.htm] I feel as though I am exploring an emotional vulnerability as different emotions are emerging in the result of interacting with different characters and I aim to take more physical risks to develop the physicality of my character.
Bibliography
Callery, D (2001). Through The Body - A Practical Guide to Physical Theatre. k: Nick Hern Books.
Oddey, A (1996). Devising Theatre: A Practical and Theoretical Handbook. Routlegde.
Other Sources
Anon. A Case For Physical Theatre. Available: http://pushtheatre.org/philosophy.htm. Last accessed 10 March 2009
Leyna Bansal
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