THE TEMPEST Character Physicality & Song Interpretations (NEED TO FINISH)

Our aims for this lesson were to explore our characters/groupings (ie. royals, servants, magicals etc) physicality, to gain a further understanding of our characters and relationships, and to become accustomed to a physical approach to the rehearsal process without scripts in hand.

All of these points are important for our performance specifically due to it being performed at the Brighton Open Air Theatre, shown below. Because it is outside, it is easy for the wind to take away our voices, due to the lack of acoustics, usually provided by an inside auditorium. Due to the size of the space, potentially seating 425 audience members, Our physicality can be lost if it is not big and over exaggerated. This is important for our groupings, for example if one character group of a specific status has a motif or movement, the actors need to ensure all members are doing it in the same style, level of tension and in unison, to establish their relationship to the audience, even at the back row.

As part of our concept for the production, we are using Kneehigh and their stylised fashion of performance. The four main points that make a piece stylised are The 7 States of Tension, Pace, Repetition and Exaggeration.
We are pulling stylised inspiration from groups/practitioners such as DV8, Frantic Assembly, Complicite and obviously Kneehigh.