Just thought i'd do a post to note down a few points that were raised during the object theatre seminar the other week. First of all, I thoroughly enjoyed the 3 days with everyone. It was so interesting talking to such a vast range of people from a variety of different backgrounds. We had a different practitioner leading a seminar on each of the three days, each bringing a completely different approach. The first day, we took the approach of channeling object for what it was, rather that trying to anthropomorphise it, or projecting thoughts and feelings onto it. I found this really interesting, as it made me think about what Andy had said about really trying to bring out the "chairness" of a chair, meaning, dont try to make it human, or make it move or behave like a human would etc, let it move how it would, the way it would, why it would want to do this etc.
The second day was more of what i had considered object theatre, where we placed narrative, thoughts, feelings, emotions and intention onto objects, to transform them into more conventional characters. I had fun with this one as it really allowed me improvise with ideas and further highlight the importance of timing and pacing, especially in a live situation.
The final day i found really interesting. The use of random found objects, used to imply a completely different object. I found these performances absolutely incredible to watch, as it was completely different to anything I had seen before. I never thought a carrier bag could be used to represent the sea, a character, blood, clouds, hats, etc etc etc... all in one scene.
Each of the three days provided a completely different insight into what object theatre could be. I learnt to really push the boundaries of performance, to have confidence in the audience to be able to understand what is happening in a scene without having to spell it out for them, just because you are dealiing with objects rather than people, rigs or actors. In a strange way i learnt not to be so bloody self conscious too, if i make an arse out of myself who cares, because while i feel i look like an absolute tool, someone else might find it inspiring, or interesting or also a load of shit, but i dont really care :)