CreatingCharacters

Thedevelopmentofacharacterissomethingwhichoccursovertime.Thereisnosetapproachforanactor
whoisattemptingtodiscoveracharacterhoweverifgoodcircumstancesarecreatedfortheworkinvolved
thenthesearchislikelytobefruitful.

Characterworkisoftenstimulatedbytext:clearlyhavingsomeoneelse'swordsinyourmouthwillleadyou
directlytohowsomeonewillthinkandbehave.Butwhathappenswhenyoudon'thaveasettextorwhen
charactersinthetexthaveverylittletosay?

Hereweareobligedtoimproviseactions,situationsandrelationshipsinordertounearthwhothecharacters
areandwheretheybelongintheworld.Tothisendclothes,shoes,hatsandallkindsofpersonalobjects
thatarepotentiallysignificantareconstantlyavailableduringCompliciterehearsals.Thiswouldalsobethe
casewhensomeonehasconsiderabletexttocarry.AsBerylReidalwayssaid"IfindmycharacterwhenI
havetheshoes".Improvisationawayfrom,andaroundthecharacterwillprovidethereservoirofideaswhich
anactorcancallontobringacharacteraliveinanysituation.

Oftenstudentsareateasewithcreatingacharacterpsychologically.Sowhiletheyrespondtohotseating
questionsandareintunewiththeircharacter'sthoughtsandattitudestheyarelesssecureabouttheir
physicalbeing.Theyendupwalking,movingandtalkinglikethemselves.

ThefollowingexercisecomesfromtheLecoqSchool,inParis,wherecharactersareexploredprimarily
throughthewaytheymove.Ifacharacterisreallyworkingtheycanbereceivedandunderstoodbyan
audiencewithouttheneedforspokentext.

>Exercises:

Thepreparationforthisexercisecanbegivenashomeworkasittakessometime,thoughitshouldbefun.

1.Getyourstudentstothinkofthename,ageandoccupationofacharacter.Acharacterwhocouldexistin
thepresentdayandinthiscountry.Also,askthemtothinkofthreeadjectivesthatdescribetheircharacter,
forexamplescary,practicalandinsecure.

2.Askthestudentstofindacostumefortheircharacterseitherbyraidingtheirfriends'andfamily's
wardrobesorbyvisitingjumblesales.

3.Arrangeasessionwhereyourstudentscanarriveincostumeandincharacter.Standinacircleand
introduceallthecharacterstoeachother.Thenbeginworkontheirphysicalityasawaytofindoutmore.

4.Askyourstudentstowalkasneutrallyaspossibleinthespace.Itmaybethatthecostumetheyhave
chosenalreadyinfluencesthemaboutthewaytheircharactermoves.


5.Thenstartingwiththefeetandworkinguptothehead,leadyourstudentsthroughanexplorationofhow
theircharactercouldmove.

Somethingstoconsidercouldbe:

>Thedistancebetweentheirfeet.
>Thelengthoftheirstride.
>Whethertheirfeetareparallelorturnedinorout.
>Iftheywalkwiththeweightonthefrontorbackoftheirfeet?
>Whichpartoftheirbodytheyleadwith?Head,stomach,chest.
>Iftheygivetheimpressionofbeingpushed/pulledfromthebackorfront?
>Whethertheyrolltheirhips.
>Iftheyseemtodefygravityorarepreytoit.
>Iftheyresembleaparticularanimal.

Getyourstudentstoexploreandexperiencealloftheoptionsbutespeciallythesensationofchangingthe
usualwaytheymovetheirbody.Getthemtoexploreandthentodecideontheparticularwaythattheir
charactermoves.

Urgethestudentstobeboldanddefinitewiththeirphysicalisations.Thesecanalwaysbetoneddownlater
butit'simportanttofeelaphysicaltransformation.

>Developingdevisingskills

1.Usethesecharactersinsimpleimprovisations.

2.Setupasimplesituationwhichcouldbe'waitingatthedoctor'ssurgery'or'arrivingatthecinemaand
findingaseat'.Thesearegoodsituationsbecausetheyareoftensilentandinvolvesimpleinteractionswith
othercharacters.Theyprovideawayoflookingatthecreationofaphysicaltext.

3.Setupasimplespacewithchairsandperhapssimplepropsandgetagroupofstudentstoimprovisethe
situation.

Askthestudentswatchingtheseimprovisationstodiscussthedifferentcharacterstheyhaveseen.How
doesthephysicalityofacharacterinformanaudienceabouttheiremotionalstate,occupationorstatus?

Workingfromtext

Complicitehaveusedawidevarietyofinspirationsfortheirdevisedshows.
PutitonYourHead
,anearly
showabouttheBritishattheseaside,wasinspiredbyacacheofflowerybathinghatsfoundatBrickLane

market.However,morerecentlytheCompanyhasusedsubstantialtextstodevisefrom:BrunoSchulz's
shortstories,DaniilKharms'spoems,playsandstories,andnovelsbyJohnBergerandTorgnyLindgren.

Howdoyoubegintotransposethesetextsintoimages,sequencesorscenes?

AnAlevelstudentspokeofnothavinganystimulus.Theirteacherloudlydisagreed:'Wegaveyousomuch
stimulus,somanybooksandsources'.ThestudentrepliedYes,butitwasalltoointellectual,wedidn'tget
whatyouwantedustodowithit'.

Soitseemsthattheabilitytoaccessthestimulus,tobeabletounderstandandbeinspiredbyitiscentralto
devising.

Thefirststepisforagrouptounderstandapieceoftext,thentoagreewhatitmeans,whattheimportant
eventsare,andwhatthingstheylikeaboutthetext.

FordevisedworkCompliciteusuallyemploysawriterwhowillworkonthetextbeforetherehearsalsbegin.
Thisworkofteninvolvesdividingatextupintoeventsthattheactorscanbegintoworkwith.Thewriteris
involvedateverystageoftherehearsalprocessandgraduallydevelopsascriptfromimprovisations.

TheCompanyoftenusesthefollowingexerciseinrehearsalstoattempttounravelandunderstandsections
oftext.Ifafewdifferentpairsorgroupsdotheexerciseitisinterestingtocomparehowdifferent
interpretationscanbe.

>Exercises:

1.Divideyourstudentsintopairsandaskthemtoreadcarefullythroughthechosentext.

2.Getthemtodescribethetextintendistinctmomentsorsentencesandtowritetheirtenmomentsdown.

3.Askthestudentstoreadouttheirmomentstotherestofthegroupandthencomparethedifferent
versionsofthestory.

Thiswasanexercisewedidinpairsduringtheexploratoryworkshopfor
TheChairs
in1997.Wechosea
particularlyconfusingpieceoftextfromtheplay,butyoucanapplytheexercisetothetextsthatyour
studentsareusing.

Thechoicesthatwemadeshowedslightlydifferentemphases.Onepairchosetotelltheemotionaljourney
throughthesection,whereasanotherchosetotellthephysicalstory.Thisvarianceisimportanttorecognise
becausestoriesexistondifferentlevelssimultaneously.Eachsectionoftexthasaphysicalorspatial
journey,arhythmicjourney,andanemotionaljourneyforeachofthecharacters.

Differentideasmayormaynotworkbutarealwaysworthexploring.Thecrucialthingisnottomake
decisionstooearlyon,buttoplaywithallthepossibilities.Bykeepinganopenmindwekeepthepieceas
openaspossible.Thiswillkeepitalive.

>Developingdevisingskills

1.Getthestudentstoprepareashortscenewhichusesthetenmomentstheyhaveprepared.

2.Bestrictaboutgettingthemtoshowexactlywhattheyhavewritten.

Thesemaybebaresketchesbutcanbeusedtocomparethedifferentwaysofapproachingthestory.

>Questions

>Whatarethedifferentemphases?
>Dosomeversionshaveagreatersenseofemotion?
>Dootherstellthephysicalstorymoreclearly?
>Doyoubegintogetagreatersenseofwhatisneededtotellthisstoryfully?

Consolidation

Inanydevisingprocessthereneedstobeanoverviewofthewholeprocessandwhatneedstobe
accomplishedateachstage.AsSteveCannywrites,thefinalstructuringofapieceoftheatreisdifficultto
pindownbutthecrucialelementisexperimentation.Tryingscenesinvariouswaysandorders.Thisis
impossibleifyouhaven'timprovisedandcreatedscenesintheearlystagesoftheprocess.Theworstthing
youcandowithdevisedtheatreistostructureeverythingbeforeyoustartplayingandimprovising.

>Exercises:

Thiswasanexerciseweusedfor
Outofahousewalkedaman...
totryandputashortcabaretstyle
sequenceof'sluchai'(storiesandsketches)intoanorder.Whenwehaddiscussedandcombinedour
choiceswewerereadytoimproviseourwaythroughwholesequencesandseewhatworked.

1.Geteachgroupofstudentstogiveeveryimageandscenethattheyhavecreatedatitle.

2.Dividethemintopairsorthrees,andaskthemtoputthesescenesintosomekindoforder.

3.Theymustdecidewhichscenesdonotfitintotheirversionandalsooutlinewheretheycanseeobvious
gaps.

4.Thenintheirgroupsoftwoorthreegetthemtopresenttheirproposaltootherstudentsinthegroup.

5.Wherearethepointsofcontactbetweenthevariousproposalsandwhatarethedifferences?Arethere
anyexcitingnewideas,orunusualwaysofapproachingthematerial?

6.Getthegrouptoimprovisetheirwaythroughsomeoftheproposals.Getthestudentswatchingtonote
whichsequencesworkandwhichdon't.Inthiswaythestudentswillbegintostructureandconsolidatethe
pieces.

Presentation

Whenyourstudentshaveapropositionafirstdraftoftheirpieceofdevisedtheatretheyarereadyto
attemptarunthroughinfrontofanaudience.Thisisreallywhereapieceoftheatreisborn:wherethereal
workbegins.Itisonlywhenthestudentsperformtheirpieceforrealthattheywillfeelwhatisfunctioning
andwhatisnot.Aftertheyhaveshowntheirworktheycanlistentothefeedbackandrespondby
restructuringandreshapingthework.Theymaydecidetoresurrectscenesthathadbeencut,orfeelthe
needtocreatenewscenes.