working with limitations

Description:

This week we talk to work upon what we have. To build a character for example we had to see what the actor could give to it and then choose how the character must be.

Analysis:

It’s already a challenge to think how would you like things to be, you imagine for the set design, the structure and the acting certain things and then you have to face that somethings are not possible.  For the acting for example in the play we want the eyes to be wide open but when I asked and tried to do this with the form 2 actors many couldn’t do it. I had to spend a lot of time just to fix this because is one of the important aspects of the acting, but then there where one or two actors who just couldn’t do it… what will happen with this actor? What happens when an actor can’t follow a convention?

Then for the set design I’m doing lighting, and i have many ideas of what can be done, the shadows, the effects, etc. But then when I think on the theatre we have I just realize this is not possible. The stage gives a lot of limitations on this, but I think that hopefully with the projections this would work better… anyway the shape of our theatre its already a challenge. We have to work with what we have, but sometimes these limitations don’t let you follow conventions. So what will happen if you have to break a convention because it’s just not possible to follow it? Is it acceptable? I know that for the school play we are doing an adaptation of german expressionism and using projections rather than shadows will not be negative for the play as the effect created is similar, but in other occasions? Can the limitations of the stage break with conventions?

Connections:
In Hebras for example we can see that in the floor there are lines, but what would happen if that is performed in a theatre as the one in school, where the stage is higher than the audience level. The audience will not be able to see those lines, the “convention” will have to be broken.

Reflexion:

I know that in the beginning we must work with what we got, but what happens later, when the play needs to adapt to another stage or the conventions for acting can’t be accomplished by an actor? Are we supposed to ignore this? To what extent limitations will change the effect created in the audience?