Declan Donnellan

His rules:

• Always a target
• The target already exists and at a measurable distance
• The target exists before you need it
• The target is always specific
• The target is always transforming
• The target is always active

The target always can be split into two; a better or worst outcome. It is seen as a quest and the emotional stakes have to be high to create tension on stage regarding the characters and the situation. When the emotional stakes are higher the action becomes quicker. Each moment has to be played like it is the first time it is happening and that you don’t know what the outcome could be. This has to be played throughout the scene and the element of quest should be present at all times. The focus in the scenes has to be not on what I am doing but on what the target is doing and what is the target making me do. The attention should always be on the target and not on you.

We did an exercise where we had to think about the moments in our characters lives where there could be different outcomes. By acknowledging the existence of these moments allows us as actors to be able to play them on stage, creating a watchable performance as the tension is higher.

• The Convicts might be good today or they might not
• I might have to sentence someone today or I might not
• I might have to enforce the law in the new colony or not
• I might shot a bird today or I might not
• I might discover something new about the colony or not
• I might get the play put on today or not

6 th November

In this session we looked at Michael Chekov, Mike Alfreds and Declan Donnellan and the differences between their theatrical ideologies. This was really useful for me as it allowed me to differentiate between them and find what works best for me personally as an actor.

Unlike Stanislavski, Michael Chekov doesn’t rely on emotional memory; he believes that characters and situations can be created through the imagination not from your own experiences. He also thinks that characters can be created out of three stock characters; the thinker, the doer and the emoter. We explored these three characters and the “houses” that their personality lives in. For the thinker the “house” was a stick and we took this into our physicality and started to move around as our choice of stick, for example mine was a ruler. We then developed this into a character and saw how the thinker and different types of sticks can make a verity of characters. For example when I was taking my ruler movement into a character I felt very restricted in my body and that when I walked I was very stiff within my body. Consequently I found that internally I was a shyer, more awkward person and that I wasn’t very confident or comfortable within my body. This also related to the vertical movement we did in a previous lesson as my character felt very upright and vertical in them. On reflection I think that the thinker stock character could be something that I could use to base my character of Collins on. As Collins is in the military I think that the upright nature of the thinker and the stick would be just right for the physicality of my character.

The second stock character was the doer who’s “house” is a ball, I choose to use tumbleweed as the ball to base my character on. This felt a lot like the horizontal character as I felt freer and that I could be open and consequently more exploratory with my movement. I also felt a lot younger and playful in my movements and that it create a high spirited character to play with. The third and final character that we looked at was the emoter whose house is a “veil”. I used a curtain of the haunted house to work as the emoter, and this created a more creepy character; however I think that the “veil” character can be the most varied one as it could be a wedding veil which would create a beautiful, elegant character, unlike the one I created. These stock characters are really useful to help to find the core/base of your character with the physicality and then individualise them. It also allows you to see the difference between you and the character and to use your imagination to develop the character.

We then did a Mike Alfreds exercise where we applied Michael Chekov’s use of the imagination to continue to build our characters. In this exercise we focused on the actions that our characters play and how we can visualise that and then take it into us. We had to say the action that we could our character doing then become our character and do that action. This was good because it allowed you to distance yourself form the character so that you could see them as an individual in their own right, highlighting what you need to do to become the character. It also brought the given circumstances of the play to life and made the world of the play come of the page, this was helpful because when rehearsing a play you can forget some circumstances such as the heat and the whether. One observation that I thought was really beneficial to us was that all the convicts’ actions seemed to happen on the floor and earthy area where as the guards actions were higher up and standing. I think that this could symbolically show the status differences that are so crucial in the play and that it really emphasises that this is a play of two worlds.

Declan Donnellan

                                                                                 

• Wrote “Actor and the Target” – book about helping the actors remove the targets that stop them from being their character
• Don’t look for the answers inside yourself but outside at a target à not in the brain but outside of self – visualise the target
• In the last exercise we used a bit of Donnellan as we had to see the action that they were doing
• Instead of “want” use the word “see” and “need”

1. Always a target – real or imaginary à all “doing” has to be done to something/one. The actor can do nothing without a target.

Targets can be objectives/action - can do targets to you but have to be an outside view of it.