A Clockwork Orange reviews

https://www.aclockworkorangeplay.com/ - video clip of the production.


'Burgess’s book and iconic film are here condensed into 90-minutes of sweating, pulsating, frenzied, barbarism that is gracefully and elegantly executed by a cast of nine who are as light on their feet as they are quick with their fists.'


'Davies makes an exemplary Alex, not only creating a physically engaging monster but also giving the audiences glimpses of the troubled boy within. It’s a nuanced, multi-layered performance considering its physicality.'


'The language takes a while to assimilate but it’s spoken with confidence and a certain poetic elegance by Alex and his droogs.'


'Director Alexandra Spencer-Jones has created a turbo-charged, grotesque, darkly comic and menacing masterpiece for the 21st century.' - http://www.stagereview.co.uk/theatre-review/a-clockwork-orange-review/




'The volume to which we are treated with music here is, like the story, violent and in your face but it is necessary'


'The inspired dance and fight choreography is at once balletic, acrobatic, and athletic, robotic, homoerotic, and theatrical (with a nod to the rival gangs of West Side Story). Performed by the perfectly sculpted Davies and the muscular men of the ensemble, we are deluded into seeing beauty in the shocking ferocity and sexual cruelty enacted on stage'


'(they) deliver the stylizations of language and movement with flawless precision.'


http://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2017/09/28/review-a-clockwork-orange-at-new-world-stages/

As You Like It ISP week 9

As You Like It

What to expect from Shared experience?

From the clips and reviews I’ve read of Shared Experience’s ‘As You Like It’ I’m expecting a completely unique and ‘never done before’ take on Shakespeare’s work. I’m also expecting them to communicate some type of meaning through their modern and political interpretation to the audience, these meanings could be about gender roles or romance, which are themes in the play itself or possibly something political and current. Shared Experience seem to have chosen bright colours in both their setting and costume, this may have something to do with communicating a message to the audience or it could possibly reflect or contrast with a theme or something in the play.

Physical movement and dance styled sequences seem to occur in the play which adds to the dramatic atmosphere in the production as well as being a way to communicate emotions and events. Shared experience is described as being ‘unpredictable’ and are known to keep up constant high energy throughout their productions which holds audience’s attention well.  Shared experience claim they like to use audience participation in their work so there’s a possibility that this could be apart of As You Like It.

The set design seems to be an interesting aspect of this production. A reviewer described the set to have deer trots around the stage, birds flying overhead and a telephone box filled with books and a water cooler among the trees. I’m not entirely sure if these things relate to the story in any way but I’ll find out for sure when I go to watch the production. It will be interesting to see how well Shared Experience pair Shakespeare’s language along with a modern take on one of his classics as the two greatly contrast.

Improvisation Techniques

Improvisation Techniques

We’ve looked into two types of improvisation in our lessons, spontaneous improvisation and prepared improvisation. Spontaneous improvisation is performed without a particular stimulus and without any background. Prepared improvisation is performed with a stimulus and background information of place, character, story ect…

 I personally found spontaneous improvisation very challenging because creating an entire scene without any background or set facts about any characters or storyline is hard to do on the spot and to keep the flow of the scene and ensure that there aren’t any silences which is awkward to be in and also to watch. The accept and add concept made it slightly easier in some ways as it gives you no option but to accept what the other person has said which encourages the flow of the scene.

I found prepared improvisation a lot easier as you have the comfort that you have already committed to a character which you should have given some background too which you should be able to develop quite quickly. You also have an agreed environment between actors and also agreed given circumstances.

In general, old and young characters are given more freedom and options in improv activities as they can get away with saying or doing things that aren’t necessarily normal for a teenager or adult to do or say. Also, I found that whole group improvisation activities are a lot easier as there are more characters to interact with so if something isn’t working between certain characters, you could turn to another character and try something with them, so basically it gives you options. Silences are also more accepted in whole group improvisations as they generally come across as less awkward. 

Theatre company research

THEATRE COMPANY RESEARCH

DV8

-They are a theatre company based in London which was founded by Lloyd Newson, Michelle Richecoeur and Nigel Charnock. The company focuses on political issues through the desire to communicate feelings and emotion. They use dance and movement to get their ideas and points across to the audience. Lloyd founded the company when he became frustrated with contemporary dance and the lack of subject matter within it. Subjects they explored include freedom of speech, human rights, multiculturalism, tolerance/intolerance, gender roles, sexual identity and social class, as well as personal issues. DV8 are known to take risks in their work and they strive to make the audience question their own beliefs and attitudes. They work towards breaking the barrier between dance and theatre.

FRANTIC ASSEMBLY

-Frantic Assembly was founded in 1994 by Scott Graham, Steven Hoggett, and Vicki Middleton. None of the founders had studied the arts previously but were interested and wanted to create their own theatre company. They wanted to create non-naturalistic theatre through movement and music. They say that the movement and music shouldn’t take the focus away from the storyline. Their work can either be ‘brutal and dynamic’ and at other times ‘tender and fragile’. Frantic assembly is about collaboration, empowerment and the ‘constant desire to improve’

COMPLICITE

-Complicite was founded in 1983 by Simon McBurney, Annabel Arden, and Marcello Magni. They use extreme movement to present their work. Their work often involves major technology such as projection screens and cameras and also visually rich stage language. They have devised some of their work from classic texts and adapted them to fit their criteria.

KNEEHIGH

-Kneehigh was founded by Mike Shepard and it’s based in Cornwall. The company is based in barns on the Cornish coast. Their work is often based around mythical tales. Emma Rice was their artistic director. They have performed their work in outside locations such as the Eden Project and the Minack Theatre. They use elements such as puppetry, live music and visual imagery. Kneehigh have taken their work and productions worldwide which shows just how successful they are. Although they are a touring company, they have their own home performance space named the ‘Asylum’.