Discuss the differences in devising practices between Frantic
assembly and Grotowski's work.
There are a numerous amount of differences between Frantic assembly and Grotowski's devising practices. However both are based around using the concept of 'Experimental Theatre'. Frantic assembly based there works around a more contemporary field where as Grotowski developed the idea of 'Poor Theatre'.
Frantic assembly are a Physical Theatre Company that produce effective and engaging pieces of Theatre through creating meaning to every moment in a scene, to accompany this they will use all elements of arts and technology possible to accomplish this. Such as using lighting to bewilder an audience, or sound to assist a scenes familiarity with the audience members. They will also use Physical Theatre and text that can be used to experiment with the audiences reactions. They are not as Physical as the other well known Physical Theatre Company 'Complicitate' and prefer to waver along A line in between Physical Theatre and Verbal Theatre.
On the other hand Grotowski was a Director of Theatre that believed in the actor themselves, and not the spectacles surrounding it, for example lighting,sound, costume etc. He was the creator of 'Poor Theatre' which was an evolved form of this ideology he chose to hold on to. He was more concerned about the actor being the centre of attention and saw it as something necessary to create great Theatre. He was a very prestigious director and for that reason when directing a play his view on how a scene should be played out people tended not to question his decision, but rather abide by it.
"This is surely because we make work that reflects topics we are currently talking about, and are of interest to us. As we are inspired by the people and the world around us it is no surprise that the work is contemporary" - Frantic assembly Resource pack
From this quote we can see why Frantic assembly choose to stick towards Contemporary more than anything else. As without not being inspired by something the motive to do/create a piece of art can become dull, boring and seem unnecessary. Because of this broad stimulus they are able to work creatively with this and design a piece of Theatre they seem to be fit. For example, the idea for Stockholm came from one of the members witnessing an argument, and from this their masterpiece was born. This primary stimulus was very powerful to them because not only did it help develop there minds to think about Stockholm Syndrome. But because it was contemporary, it seems to be only a coincidence that a lot of there pieces are contemporary. One could say that it was whatever caught their eye or attention that they chose to work on, so Frantic Assembly can be seen as a Physical Theatre Company that work in the moment and tend to neglect the past unless in need of references towards the play. For example their play 'Stockholm' links to the event of the Stockholm hostage situation and later on Stockholm Syndrome. This event happened a few decades before the play 'Stockholm' was made. When devising something Frantic assembly build off of smaller things to create a much bigger spectacle than expected. They use all means necessary to achieve this, most times through incorporating physical theatre into their pieces and other theatrical devices, as like most Theatre Companies in this current time we're living in.
"Theatre in general became very elaborate and relied heavily on theatrical devices such as light, sound, costume and decor sets to add spectacle to the performance. The skills of the actors were overshadowed and became of less importance." - http://www.helium.com/items/1527718-what-is-poor-theatre
Grotowski saw theatrical devices as a nuisance and chose not to work with them for the sake of not stealing the limelight of the actor themselves. Poor theatre was very powerful as it gave a chance for the actor to emit their emotions on a somewhat blank canvas, to then show to the audience without having to be assisted by light, sound, costume etc. Unlike Stanislavsky whom he admired, Grotowski didn't use theatrical devices to deviate the audiences attention to make them realise the genuine meaning behind the scene that was happening. But rather didn't use anything to show the true potential of an actor and therefore make them the only thing on stage that could acquire any attention whatsoever. So because of this when he devised Theatre he knew that theatrical devices would not be of use, or would not be used to help the audience realise the significance of that scene. This meant that not only would the actors have to be pushing themselves to the limits, but the director, Grotowski himself would have to deal with keeping the energy up for let alone a singular scene. But the whole play itself. From this the actors could not afford to be 'half-assed' on stage and rely on sound, light etc. to carry them through the rest of the scene via audience attention. This was a grueling and very hard process, however when done well was powerful and held great importance.
Grotowski and Frantic assembly both have different methods of how to go about doing exercises. While Frantic assembly works on creating a story, Grotowski works on building an actors skill and character development.
Frantic assembly have an exercise called 'Chair Duets'. In this, you sit with a partner, both next to each other. With this you then begin a type of contact improvisation, but you stay seated. During this period of time it is necessary to go with your instincts to create a genuine response. This is so that it can be seen as interesting to others of how you go about doing something. With this exercise Frantic assembly are able to build off of seeing someone experiment with this exercise, and create a story-line through adapting a particular move with a set of emotions or daily task. Perhaps even a task that can be seen as not common for an average person. Nonetheless they can create something that has meaning through building off of one movement and therefore linking it to creating a scene.
On the other hand Grotowski has an exercise method that focuses on the actor themselves. For example one of his exercise was an actual form of physical exercise. He made his cast run for hours through the forest, sometimes naked. This was used to embrace everything around them to build themselves as a human. Not only that, but to also keep themselves in touch with there emotional side and let there emotions surface. As when you are tired you are much more in tune with them. So when doing a scene you are able to call upon those emotions with ease and therefore create a much more genuine character through the emotions they are portraying. As those emotions are true to the actor. As they are able to summon these feelings they are able to engage the audience as truth can excite an audience member. This can help an actors skill ascend as this process of linking to ones emotional side is a much quicker process and carries a lot of benefits on developing a character. If that character carries one evident emotion at one point/all points in that play.
Frantic assembly find there own stimulus and develop on it with the help of the writer, it is not an individual process. As both are required to work together to complete and efficient piece/script. Where as with Grotowski, he was given a script and only had the power to develop on the characters and the actors portrayal of that character. For that reason Grotowski's character work was much more in-depth than Frantic assembly's.
"This is surely because we make work that reflects topics we are currently talking about, and are of interest to us. As we are inspired by the people and the world around us it is no surprise that the work is contemporary" - Frantic assembly Resource pack
From this quote we can see why Frantic assembly choose to stick towards Contemporary more than anything else. As without not being inspired by something the motive to do/create a piece of art can become dull, boring and seem unnecessary. Because of this broad stimulus they are able to work creatively with this and design a piece of Theatre they seem to be fit. For example, the idea for Stockholm came from one of the members witnessing an argument, and from this their masterpiece was born. This primary stimulus was very powerful to them because not only did it help develop there minds to think about Stockholm Syndrome. But because it was contemporary, it seems to be only a coincidence that a lot of there pieces are contemporary. One could say that it was whatever caught their eye or attention that they chose to work on, so Frantic Assembly can be seen as a Physical Theatre Company that work in the moment and tend to neglect the past unless in need of references towards the play. For example their play 'Stockholm' links to the event of the Stockholm hostage situation and later on Stockholm Syndrome. This event happened a few decades before the play 'Stockholm' was made. When devising something Frantic assembly build off of smaller things to create a much bigger spectacle than expected. They use all means necessary to achieve this, most times through incorporating physical theatre into their pieces and other theatrical devices, as like most Theatre Companies in this current time we're living in.
"Theatre in general became very elaborate and relied heavily on theatrical devices such as light, sound, costume and decor sets to add spectacle to the performance. The skills of the actors were overshadowed and became of less importance." - http://www.helium.com/items/1527718-what-is-poor-theatre
Grotowski saw theatrical devices as a nuisance and chose not to work with them for the sake of not stealing the limelight of the actor themselves. Poor theatre was very powerful as it gave a chance for the actor to emit their emotions on a somewhat blank canvas, to then show to the audience without having to be assisted by light, sound, costume etc. Unlike Stanislavsky whom he admired, Grotowski didn't use theatrical devices to deviate the audiences attention to make them realise the genuine meaning behind the scene that was happening. But rather didn't use anything to show the true potential of an actor and therefore make them the only thing on stage that could acquire any attention whatsoever. So because of this when he devised Theatre he knew that theatrical devices would not be of use, or would not be used to help the audience realise the significance of that scene. This meant that not only would the actors have to be pushing themselves to the limits, but the director, Grotowski himself would have to deal with keeping the energy up for let alone a singular scene. But the whole play itself. From this the actors could not afford to be 'half-assed' on stage and rely on sound, light etc. to carry them through the rest of the scene via audience attention. This was a grueling and very hard process, however when done well was powerful and held great importance.
Grotowski and Frantic assembly both have different methods of how to go about doing exercises. While Frantic assembly works on creating a story, Grotowski works on building an actors skill and character development.
Frantic assembly have an exercise called 'Chair Duets'. In this, you sit with a partner, both next to each other. With this you then begin a type of contact improvisation, but you stay seated. During this period of time it is necessary to go with your instincts to create a genuine response. This is so that it can be seen as interesting to others of how you go about doing something. With this exercise Frantic assembly are able to build off of seeing someone experiment with this exercise, and create a story-line through adapting a particular move with a set of emotions or daily task. Perhaps even a task that can be seen as not common for an average person. Nonetheless they can create something that has meaning through building off of one movement and therefore linking it to creating a scene.
On the other hand Grotowski has an exercise method that focuses on the actor themselves. For example one of his exercise was an actual form of physical exercise. He made his cast run for hours through the forest, sometimes naked. This was used to embrace everything around them to build themselves as a human. Not only that, but to also keep themselves in touch with there emotional side and let there emotions surface. As when you are tired you are much more in tune with them. So when doing a scene you are able to call upon those emotions with ease and therefore create a much more genuine character through the emotions they are portraying. As those emotions are true to the actor. As they are able to summon these feelings they are able to engage the audience as truth can excite an audience member. This can help an actors skill ascend as this process of linking to ones emotional side is a much quicker process and carries a lot of benefits on developing a character. If that character carries one evident emotion at one point/all points in that play.
Frantic assembly find there own stimulus and develop on it with the help of the writer, it is not an individual process. As both are required to work together to complete and efficient piece/script. Where as with Grotowski, he was given a script and only had the power to develop on the characters and the actors portrayal of that character. For that reason Grotowski's character work was much more in-depth than Frantic assembly's.
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