3rd Rehearsal > character focus

Hello lads and ladies, This is what we got up to this afternoon:

• Walking round the space, listening to the rhythm of the footfalls of the group and eventually all walking with the same rhythm. On top of that I sent a clap round the group, with one clap to send and one to receive. I tried to add another clap but it all got rather confusing.
  
• Walking round the space, at any time someone can start falling and the rest of the group have to run and catch them. An additional instruction is that at any time someone can stop and make a sound, everyone else has to stop, listen to the sound and then stand behind the original person and add to the sound, let it build then bring it to an end.
  
• Elements work > I talked the group through an exploration of water, earth, air and fire.
• We used a scale from 1-10 whereby 10 is the most extreme you can make the element and 1 is the most subtle. We found some adjectives that described the feeling of being that element, although these lists are by no means exhaustive.

• Fire = Sharp, Fast, Dynamic, Energetic, Passionate, Painful, Hot, Angry, Calculating.
  
• Air = Care free, Calm, Uncontrollable, Vast, Graceful, Tender, Free, Accepting, Forgetful.
• Earth = Rigid, Rooted, Stiff, Definite, Trapped, Methodic, Slow, Steady, Cracked, Deep, Old, Burdened, Persuasive, Final, Absolute, Sinister, Motivated, Intense, Unyielding.
• Water = Rhythmic, Open, Malleable, Free, Fluid, Unbounded, Fierce, Powerful, Accepting, Waiting, Calm, Ready, Grounded, Engulfing.

• We then changed the scale so that 10 is the extreme element and 1 is a human with the essence of the element. I introduced some scenarios and the group improvised little scenes with the elemental characters they had created.
  
• We talked about the characters in the play and discussed which elements suited them best. Zeus was EARTH and AIR, Epimetheus was FIRE and WATER, Prometheus was EARTH and FIRE, Pandora was AIR and WATER. Although we all agreed that these were likely to change and develop.
  
• We then devised two scenes one was where Zeus introduces temptation to Pandora which was very intense and clearly showed the power balance in the relationship. And the other was the scene where Prometheus warns Epimetheus about Pandora which showed Epimetheus as being quite Romeo-like and Prometheus being far more cynical.

I'm afraid I didn't take any pictures but I thought I'd add images to liven up the entry.
Until the next time amigos xx