On the 20th of February 2015, I came into Forefront’s rehearsal with the idea of wanting to produce a physical theatre scene that explores somebody trying to break into or out of adulthood. After some great physical exercises ran by Mia Kaur (Forefront’s Choreographer), I had our performers create some chair duets, similar to those Frantic Assembly create. As seen in the video below (franticassembly, 2008).
I gave each duet, and one group of three, a theme or scenario of what they were doing and then allowed them the freedom to create a physical theatre piece using their bodies and the chairs they were on. The themes were all linked to adulthood and growing up, such as being on a date and drinking at a pub with a friend. These simple ideas opened the imagination of the performers and enabled them to create simple yet effective chair duets, as can be seen in the photographs below.
Love story from Webley (2015)
Love Triangle from Webley (2015)
Once all the performers showed their work back it became apparent to Emmie Kearns (Forefront’s assistant director) and I that we could put the seperate pieces of work together to create a timeline of relationships. This work opened the minds of our performers to the world of physical theatre.
Tamsyn.
Work Cited:
franticassembly (2008) Chair Duets by Frantic Assembly. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYPC-KjLRj0 [Accessed 25 May 2015]
Webley, T. (2015) Love story
Webley, T. (2015) Love Triangle