Saturday 24 September 2011

Saturday 24th September Of Ships and Status

With Tanushka away on holiday, Ben's wife, Jane Lesley came in to cover. It was Jane's first time with these kids and she had a great time, commenting that they were a fantastically professional group. Jane also works with Ben in their husband and wife business, 'Home Acting Tuition'.

21 students attended this week - that's over 90 percent of the 'trialers' from the previous week, signing up for the full term. We also had three more 'trialists' during this session and they threw themselves into it with great endeavour.

With so many new faces we felt it was time to start to get to know each other a bit more so we began with some name games. Although these are usually difficult and sometimes embarrassing if we forget names, it is vital to keep a good sense of ensemble. It's also interesting and extremely encouraging to see the more experienced acting club members making the newbies feel so welcome. That's true professional ensemble.

We then introduced a possible theme for this year's performance work. More on this to follow but suffice to say that we've begun looking at the theme of the sea and...ghost ships!

We talked about what characters you might find on a ship, from The Captain, to the crew, rich guests, poor guests and even slaves. We then gave each character a level of 'status' from 1-10. If your character had a status of 10 then they were the most important person on the ship. If the status was 1 then the character was insignificant and poor. Rather black and white but useful for an introduction into characters.

The whole group showed a fantastic level of focus throughout and we were particularly inspired by some work they did as 'ghosts' (who had a status of 8!).

After the break the real work began and in smaller groups the students began to create stories using the characters that we'd established through the status work. We began by creating three tableaux - a beginning, middle and end - that set up the story. That gave them a good structure to work a fully devised improvisation around their characters. From murderous ghosts to petrified stowaways, there was some fantastic moments.

All of this has inspired some brilliant ideas to move towards performance. Watch this space.

Thursday 22 September 2011

Bringing Acting Home - Listening

In Marc Forster’s 2004 film, ‘Finding Neverland’, starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, the character J.M.Barrie (Depp) arranges for the stars of his new play ‘Peter Pan’ to perform a private home performance for bed-bound Sylvia Davies (Winslet). Now, even though some of us might be quite keen on having Johnny Depp or Kate Winslet in our lounge, the likelihood of them appearing dressed in Edwardian costume in a room where the walls fly to the ceiling and there’s a man dressed as a dog (Angus Barnett as Nana), isn’t particularly high. So what do I mean if I say that it’s time to bring acting home?

This is the first in a series of articles on how we can use acting skills in everyday life.

Have you ever sat with a group of people, a colleague or even someone that you consider a friend and elaborately outlined a worry or concern, an idea or a passion and then sat back dejectedly as they completely miss the point? I do quite a bit of roleplay acting as a patient for medical students and it is shocking how many times the following might occur:

MEDICAL STUDENT
So, Mr Palmer, what’s brought you in today?
PATIENT
I’ve been suffering with this really bad cough at night.
MEDICAL STUDENT
Really bad cough? Ok. And how long has this been going on?
PATIENT
About a week, along with a bit of a tight chest.
MEDICAL STUDENT
Ok. And when does this cough come on?
PATIENT
Err. Like I said, at night.
MEDICAL STUDENT
At night. Okay. And have you had any other problems? (associated symptoms)
PATIENT
Well, I said, I have a tight chest.

On paper it looks a bit ridiculous but I can assure that in end of year exams, this or something similar is extremely common. The student has a list of questions that they need to get through in order to pass and yet they miss the vitals in the response. They forget to listen. Now, this isn’t a failure of the teaching institution but rather it is an endemic problem throughout our culture. We are much more concerned with our own agenda, what is going on in our life, our next question, our next answer. In so doing, we tend to miss so many moments of great interaction. We don’t hear what somebody is really saying. Ideas lie discarded before they are thought through, creativity is stubbed out and relationships stay locked in a cycle of surface based frivolity.

Why do we feel that we can talk deeply with some people and not with others? Why is it that our best friends are often people that we would describe as ‘great listeners’? It is because such a person has learnt to value other people and their thoughts, words and opinions through earnest listening. It is in feeling valued that we feel safe to give deeply of ourselves – our dreams, our visions and our life plans. As actors we are trained to listen in the truest sense of the word. Listening on stage is both active and exciting to watch. Good stage actors won’t simply wait around for their line - rather they will ‘breathe in’ what is happening around them. They will listen to the dialogue and react truthfully to what is being said and in so doing create believable and entrancing relationships.

So why are we so bad at listening and how do we get better?

When was the last time you stood still and listened? I mean, really listened? Try it now. I can hear music playing on my laptop (Sibelius Symphony no. 7 for those that care!). I can hear the bathroom fan (three rooms away!). I can hear a few people chatting outside the window and the constant hum of passing buses and cars. Then when I type, the keyboard clicks back at me. Simply put, there is no silence, no peace. It is virtually impossible to stand anywhere in England and not hear the sound of passing traffic or an airplane overhead. The plain facts are that we are bombarded on all sides by useless sound to the point where we get used to siphoning it out, ignoring it and not paying attention to it. We are subconsciously training ourselves not to listen. I was lucky enough to be brought up being taken to classical music concerts and I remember my father telling me that ‘listening is hard work’. We do indeed need to concentrate when listening to a complex piece of music like a fugue or symphony. We need to give it our full attention - our full antennae - and actually give something of ourselves. It is in this giving that we receive the very best of what is to be received in music, relationships and also in acting.

As actors, we are trained to pick up and identify slight nuances of tone, of subtext beneath a word or phrase and also the tension in silence. If we fail at this then our reaction seems false and badly acted. But even as professionals, we have to remain in constant practice and it is only in taking the time to listen that we remember how.

But surely, in the Western world, there is no time or space for silence. Well, find it! I recently came across a fantastic new initiative called 'Quiet Mark'. This is a mark awarded to quiet appliances like the bathroom fan or lawnmower. Consumers will be able to tell if what they are buying or fitting is going to make such a racket that will be heard by the neighbour, keep you awake as it spin-drys or whether it will simply carry on its job without polluting the air with more useless noise. We are silently crying out for less noise!

It is in listening that we can begin to create deeper, trusting and more worthwhile relationships at home, school, work or social situations. As an actor, listening is a core skill that is honed and practiced and therefore, whether it is through one-on-one classes with 'Home Acting Tuition' (HAT) or group workshops with Windmill Young Actors, learning the skill of listening is absolutely vital.

Monday 19 September 2011

Saturday 17 September 2011

Saturday 17th September Of New Starts and Portraits

A fantastic start to the term.

We had an amazing 22 students today and it was so great to see the 'newbies' welcomed into what is fast becoming the best young actors ensemble in Sussex.

We began with some introduction games and warm up exercises. It's very important in a first session to start with focus and fun. Focus, so that we set up how we want to move things forward through the term and fun to recognise that learning to act and acting in itself involves a lot of playing. The best actors make it look so easy because they are having fun when they do it.

Tanushka and I tend to work quite spontaneously and so it was today. A two group exercise where each group had to create a 'portrait' of a moment turned into a most wonderful example of a full group tableaux. Within this artistic picture, relationships flourished and wonderful stories began to come alive. It inspired us to ask, what are these relationships? How did they get to this point where they have frozen?

And so the second half of the session focused on these very questions. Through use of text, devising and improvisation every member, new and old, performed a small snippet of a relationship or character that had been inspired by the tableaux.

It is always a privilege working with young performers but there's something special about Blatchington Mill Acting Club and I can't wait to see what we come up with this new term.

Thursday 15 September 2011

HATS off to Anna Simmonds

Anna, 11, is a member of Blatchington Mill Acting Club and was the first ever HAT student. Anna wanted to move forward to that next step and do more of what she loved. HAT worked with Anna and her Mum, Beccy, to build up a fantastic CV, cover letter and portfolio to send off to agents. HAT saved Beccy £250.00 on a photographer and recommended a number of good agencies in London. Anna was invited to audition with two agencies on the strength of her portfolio. HAT then provided and worked on a monologue for the audition. Anna was accepted and signed by the first agent who saw her and is now represented by CS Management.

Beccy, Anna's Mum, writes

"I can't recommend Ben highly enough. His work with my daughter to help her progress her acting has been fantastic. He has given her tuition that has enabled her to progress to a level where she has been accepted by the first professional agent that interviewed her. Ben is incredibly approachable and keen to help. He is also honest about ability and about acting as a career. As a complete novice we could not have done any of it without him."

Anna writes

"Ben is so supportive, helpful and kind. He has helped me and been there for me all the way. He makes lessons fun but educational and has taught me lots!"

Vision Statement for Windmill Young Actors

Windmill Young Actors celebrates collaborative and ensemble work in all its forms. Coming from extremely diverse backgrounds, professional director, writer and actor, Ben Murray-Watson and award winning theatre director and actor Tanushka Marah, bring to Acting Club a fantastic mixture of international physical and text based methods. We see everyone who comes to us as 'a young actor' and so aim to give a professional and creative experience to all. We believe that through structured rehearsal and team work, a young ensemble can create thought-provoking, exciting and passionate performance suitable for everyone. Whether it is to improve skills or to increase confidence, Windmill Young Actors will inspire wonderfully rounded, centred and focused young performers. Through the group experience of creating unique pieces of theatre we aim to equip the next generation of performers with the tools to express themselves both freely and imaginatively.

Thursday 8 September 2011

Home Acting Tuition

Inspired by a combined 26 years working in the industry with children and young people, husband and wife team, Ben Murray-Watson and Jane Lesley set up HAT in 2011. We aim to provide acting classes for children and students in Brighton who are aged 9 - 19 and who are passionate about acting and performance. We are dedicated to providing affordable and invaluable one-on-one and one-on-two (bring a friend) acting classes in your home. The HAT team have all spent years working in the acting profession and youth sector and specialise in bringing professional standard performances out of talented young actors. We can help with auditions, exams, scholarships and much more. Check out Home Acting Tuition for more information.

New Term Starts September 17th

The new term is about to start! On Saturday 17th Blatchington Mill Saturday Acting Club kicks off for a new term. Tanushka and Ben have huge plans for this year. More to follow.

Welcome to All

Bring Acting Home is a blog dedicated to the students and parents who have worked or would like to work with Tanushka Marah and Ben Murray-Watson. Discover all the latest news about what is being planned for Saturday Acting Club, Home Acting Tuition and more. You'll hear all about our classes, projects and passions and have a chance to comment on everything we're doing. We take your views seriously and are extremely grateful for any ideas or thoughts you may have.

Come and Post

You're young (under 20) and you love performing. Or you're old (over 20!) and might have an aspiring son, daughter, grandson, great grand daughter (maybe you're over 60!?) who simply loves being in the limelight, getting all the attention and playing around. If this applies to you then do post your thoughts, feelings, moans, links etc...Right here!