One of the joys of working with kids is that you are able to introduce lots of different techniques into their training. They haven't yet formed a full working practice or 'method' of working. Therefore, we try to cover as large a variety of forms and performance studies as possible in Windmill Young Actors.
This week we looked at two very particular forms, in Meisner and Mask.
As I'm writing this, Wikipedia is currently down so I'm unable to get their wonderful definition of a mask. But hey, as I'm sure most of the journalists around the country are finding today, they actually write because they used to enjoy being original! So here goes:-
Mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment (okay I'm cheating, you can still get that much on the google search page!). But I'm going to branch out. A mask can either be figurative or literal. People can be regarded as 'hiding behind a mask', mask here representing a 'front' or 'fake personality'. In performance mask has a rich history, from ancient tradition through to Shakespeare and more recently as a teaching method to help us forget about 'us' - Ben the performer with all of his physical and facial defects! The mask is able to portray possibility in performance. With such a set expression, from neutral to extreme, the mask takes over. The performance becomes hugely physical and every slightest adjustment becomes significant and takes on meaning. Okay, enough for now!
There are a number of rules with mask, and if I can persuade Tanushka to ever read this blog, then maybe she'll get round to telling you about them. Alas, having never trained fully in mask, I found myself learning alongside the kids. Tanushka is a great teacher and always makes classes fascinating.
But there's an important point to make about her directing. She always always always encourages discussion. She allows an individual or small group to experiment in front of the class in performance and then encourages feedback afterwards. I am learning as a director that sometimes you get more from the discussion than the performance itself. I guess, it's similar to telling your child off. You can either shout at them or you can sit them down quietly and explain why what they did was wrong and why they shouldn't do it again. You can champion what works and what is good and right whilst also beginning to explain the importance and of boundaries and discipline.
As adults we have the opportunity to learn everyday but those lessons are often affected or tainted by what has gone before. With kids, the sooner they understand a method, the sooner they can find the unique value in it for themselves.
We did a very quick Meisner exercise of repetition. Meisner is designed to make us forget about what is going on in our own heads and focus purely on the moment or the relationships on stage, right at that second. There will be more on this is future weeks so I'll talk more about it then.
Good stuff.
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