Devising Workshop #5 - Finishing The Hat
“They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance…” - Equal Rites, Terry Pratchett (1987).
The value of knowledge in the arts is both overwhelming and undervalued. There’s so much to learn: Technique, proportion, restraint, tension, experimentation… The journey of every chef, painter, dancer, writer - from apprentice to master - spans a lifetime.
Watch out, he’s behind you!! (Yes, we’re not above an easy gag.)
And a lot of stock is put in the implicit ability of humans to create; that artists make art out of something unknowable and instinctive - an elusive sixth sense, a communion with the spheres, a favouring of the muses. How does a sculptor see the statue in the lump of clay? Why does the writer know to put those words in that sequence? When does the painter know that the painting is finished?
“Ah,” they say. “The artist just knows. That’s why they’re an artist…”
Many artists (you’d be surprised just how many) actively resist any attempt to understand how they do the things they do. They believe - rightly or wrongly - that to be too conscious of how they make their art is to risk losing their ability to do it. To scrutinise “the magic”, so to speak, is to demystify a great mystery, and then… poof! It is gone, like a cat out a door left ajar.
This is a really common perception, held by both artists and people who like to appreciate art. Maybe you even think this is true of yourself! And look, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this idea - honestly, whatever gets the work done is the right thing for the work. But by thinking this way, by placing your artistry outside of yourself, it becomes something instinctive, bestowed - as unknowable, and ephemeral, as the wind.
But the gaining of knowledge is an important step along the road to understanding. In fact… it’s essential. The more you seek out knowledge, information, reasons for why things are the way things are… the more you understand them - even if the thing you discover is something you don’t fully understand about yourself.
And isn’t that what creating something - the process of making art - is all about? What does an artist do, if not transform something in the world (a canvas and pigment, a chunk of stone, a blank piece of paper) to learn more about it, and themselves?
At Scintilla, we try to keep it simple. We believe that if you can name a thing, you can know a thing. Knowledge is power; the more you understand why you do something, and how you do it, the better you can be at… well… doing it!
That’s why we call our shows Performance Programs, and not just shows or plays. We don’t just rehearse and present; we dedicate equal time to learning and experiencing.
Rarnee leads the School of Fish, a focus and movement exercise designed to see who falls over easily.
We begin each “rehearsal” session with a lesson. Early in each program, we discuss the historical background and context of the play we’re presenting, understanding the playwright’s intentions, considering how the time period the play was written in influences the themes and ideas, and learning about the conventions of the play’s theatrical style. Once we understand where we’re coming from, we can look ahead to where we’re going; we learn about acting techniques, styles of performance, conventions of modern theatre, directing and stagecraft, and characterisation skills.
Our aim isn’t merely to “put on a show”, but to help our participants grow as performers (and designers, and writers, and musicians, and directors) by giving them the skills and knowledge to make good theatre, but good art!
If you can’t tell that these are two representations of the Titanic, then you need to get your eyes checked.
This is why, this year, we’ve split THE DREAM into three parts: Devising & Creative Development (Part 1), Creation, Design & Fabrication (Part 2), and Performance Production (Part 3). THE DREAM draws on Greek theatre, Japanese theatre, Commedia Dell’Arte, myth and legend, Shakespeare and Euripides, puppet and mask. Moreover, it’s devised - our team of young creatives have a direct hand in the shape, form, and content of the finished piece. There’d be no way to do justice to the wide range of theatrical styles, concepts, and design elements we want to explore in a single, traditional, 10 week program. (We’re good, but not that good!) So we’ve extended the format to allow us more - more time to learn, more time to play, and more time to fully immerse ourselves in all things THE DREAM.
“Oh, look, another glorious morning. Makes me sick!” Sam and Antuon channel their inner Weird Sister.
So it was only fitting that our final workshop of Part 1, “Finishing The Hat”, was about giving our devising team the time and space to explore, create, and - most importantly! - play with the tools and techniques we’ve looked at over the past four weeks. Our mantra throughout this time has been “possibilities, not perfection”, and it’s one our team has fully embraced, focusing on the act of creation - of making art, all art - as a process, not a goal. What is “perfection” if not something, by definition, you can never really have? Better, then, to prioritise the possibilities - the mistakes that become happy accidents that become the most pitch-perfect line, the funniest improv, the most masterfully realised mask.
And if there’s anything Part 1 of our 2024 Performance Program has shown us, it’s that the possibilities of making something - a character, a poem, a play, a pavlova - are the most exciting thing of all. What will THE DREAM be, come lights up in October? We’re not sure. But by Zeus’s beard, absolutely anything is possible!
Reflection from Genelle | Scintilla Facilitator
Genelle demonstrates the double-pointer directing technique.
The last five workshops have been some of the most inspiring and exciting sessions I’ve seen in a rehearsal room in a long time. As a teacher myself, there’s always the constraints of an exam or a curriculum that means authentic “playmaking” has limitations in a classroom setting. Even working with a script as a starting point means we are bound by a text in some way. And I guess that’s what has made our Part 1 devising workshops really rewarding. Yes, Jack, Tom, and I have a vision. We have an idea on the characters and the story we want to tell. But the method in which we tell these stories, the words we give them, the visual poetry… that’s all up for grabs.
The endless possibilities we saw emerge from our participants through discussion, play, and presentation has excited me to no end. What a dynamite group we’ve got! I’m continually impressed with our participant’s ability to accept offers, leave their egos at the door, and be willing to play. It’s so refreshing, especially when theatre and performance and character can sometimes be wrapped up in a weird competitive veil.
Not here. Not this show. Not this cast. I’m so proud of how Scintilla shifts and elevates year after year. And I’m so honoured that these participants have stepped up to the challenge of this show. Bring on Part 2!
Reflection from Jack | Scintilla Facilitator
I think what I’ve enjoyed most about this workshop series is seeing our participants reconnect with the best, most vital fundamentals of theatre: Themselves, each other, and the invisible things that exist between them. Theatre is about connection - between the character and the actor, the actor and their company, the company and their audience. It’s about sharing a world, a reality, that exists only for a short time, and only in our imaginations.
“It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.”
Every time an actor steps on stage, an entire universe is created; people who aren’t alive, who exist as words on a page, they speak, and feel, and live, and die. And it takes a collective effort - character and actor, actor and company, company and audience - to bring them into life. Theatre is a sustained act of conjuration; it is literal magic.
This week, our team of devisers spent the workshop collaborating, composing, and constructing scenes in duos and trios from a list of scene prompts: Three Weird Sisters recount the story of a feuding Fairy King and Queen; a lost hero is challenged to a game of riddles by a tricksy Greek God; Dryads attempt to cheer up a miserable monster with tales of ever worse woe; Hades meets a lovelorn Helena in the middle of an enchanted woods.
Each prompt was no more than a single sentence long… and yet, seemingly out of nothing, our devisers summoned pathos and mirth, song and symbolism, narrative and character and conflict and romance. Were they perfection? Of course not! What is? But they overflowed with the most exciting thing of all: Endless possibilities.
And I cannot wait to see what they do with them!
Reflection from Tom | Scintilla Theatre Technician
Every week, Tom (in strict collaboration with Archie), composes a haiku on his thoughts, feelings, and observations from that week’s workshop. They are GENIUS. Please enjoy his latest:
Ben demonstrates that sometimes all you need to do battle against trickster Gods is cardboard and masking tape.
Reflection from Jemma | Workshop Participant
Jemma spins a twisted tale while keeping cozy.
This week, I found it really interesting how our scaffolded knowledge from week one all synthesised into this week. In our experimentations, we used conventions explored in past weeks such as narration, stock characters, physicality, use of contrast and prop. This workshop, I felt really grateful for the whole devising process, specifically how open it's been. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the non-judgemental, no ego working space where we’ve had a chance to work with theatre nerds from a variety of ages, from all around Melbourne.
The past five weeks have been so crucial to the team bonding, theory refreshing, context and foundation building of ‘The Dream’. I have learnt, re-learnt and extended so much and I cannot wait to start creating and rehearsing and bringing ‘The Dream’ to life! I was obsessed with Ryan and Ben’s scene- notably the use of mask, costume, prop, lazzi- LOVED IT, it was a testament to the wonder of mask in transforming and enhancing character, still in this world but something entirely otherworldly at the same time.
Reflection from Antuon | Workshop Participant
Two thirds of a witchy trio consult the Oracle (Google).
This workshop was a lot of fun!! It was a good workshop to use the conventions we had learnt from the previous four workshops, like narration, masks, stock characters (and a lot more I can’t remember) to devise, play and create mini scenes, with prompts provided. I throughly enjoyed Ayesha, Rarnee and Lockie’s scene with impromptu songs and was curious and wanting more from Heather and Angus’s scene 😍
These devising sessions / workshops were educational, fun, and interesting!! I enjoyed creating, playing, and making a fool out of ourselves with this creative brunch of theatre nerds!! I’m so thankful to Genelle and Jack for keeping me on my toes every session with pop quizzes. Also, thanks to them I have found my love for theatre again!! Also everyone in the sessions are very amazing, talented and HILARIOUS people / individuals I have ever met, and I am thankful and honoured to create ‘The Dream’ with them!
This was sadly our last Saturday together as a group in the devising process; but we will work together again soon!
Hades and Helena don’t have a meet-cute so much as a verbal knife fight…
Key observations, reflections, take-aways:
“Possibilities, not perfection!” Honestly, the BEST advice for making anything. Believe it!
Trust the process! Nothing happens immediately or effortlessly (and if it does, it’s only because a LOT of practice went in to making it look easy). So, embrace the journey, and set your mind on enjoying the sights along the way as much as the destination.
The skills we use to create are muscles! They’re things we stretch, and things we improve the more we use them. And they’re something we all have! If you don’t think you’re a creative, imaginative, artistic person… come join a Scintilla show - we’ve got a jazzercise routine that will loosen you right up!
And so… that’s the end of Part 1 of THE DREAM! Does this mean it’s the end of the production blog, too?!? AS IF! Part 2 is right around the corner, and if you think Part 1 was something special… Folks, you aint’ seen nothing yet!
See you in THE DREAM soon!
G & J and THE DREAM Devising Team
