Task 3 - Lauren Walker

1) Within the devising process R represents the research/resource phase. The phase in which the process begins and the work starts off with a basic idea and then the actors take it on board and experiment with it. Once the experimenting has taken place and material has been produced we then move onto the score phase which is when the material is shaped and put into context within the piece. “Devising is a process of making theatre that enables a group of performers to be physically and practically creative and sharing and shaping of an original product…” (Oddey, 1994, p.1). Within Porto the transition from R to S has been quite smooth. As a group we have all grasped the idea of the piece and been able to play about with the movement we have created, from the beginning of the process where it was very minimal to now where were verging onto the S phase where it has completely come 360 and have produced some very meaningful material. Now were at the S phase, here is where we see whether the material fits all together and if there are problems and there have been, we rectify them by reverting back to the R phase and improve on the material we have already produced.

2) When given the word structure/narrative I immediately think of a story and it having a beginning, middle and an end. And when discussing Porto, I don’t see the stereotypical story. Of course there is a beginning, where we see each of our characters enter the stage some already being there but from then I see the piece as an observation of individual characters and how they interact with each other.

Within Porto our own individual characters and how they connect with one another in a way could be seen as a structure. The structure of diving into characters lives and experiencing what they are experiencing. “Readers want your characters to seem like real people. Whole and alive, believable and worth caring about. Readers want to get to know your characters as well as they know their own friends, their own family.” (Scott Card, 1988, p.4). Maybe the structure of the piece is not of the community as a whole but of the individual relationships and stories within it. “By the time they finish your story, readers want to know your character better than any human being ever knows any other human being.” (Scott Card, 1988, p.4).

3) My character has gone through a tremendous transition between the R and S phases. At the beginning of the research/resource phase my character was very inward and my movements were very limited because as my character I didn’t feel the need to express my self physically. But as the time has passed and my character has interacted with different and varied people my character has had a transformation. I feel now I am able to express myself physically and not be this shy, timid person. “What is movement? Are we concerned with electric impulses from the brain which trigger muscular responses and thus produce physical movement? Or do we anticipate the reply “Movement is life!?” (Hutchinson Guest, 1983, p.1). When it comes to my own character my movement is simply impulse driven, and only move when I feel necessary where as in the beginning of the process in some ways I forced myself to move. So not only has my character evolved but my knowledge of devising physical theatre has also.

Hutchinson Guest, A.( 1983) Your Move. A new approach to the study of movement and dance. The Netherlands: Gordon and Breach Publishers.

Oddey, A.(1994) Devising Theatre a practical and theoretical handbook. London: Routledge.

Scott Card, O.(1988) Characters & Viewpoint. United States of America: Writer’s Digest Books.

Scott Card, O.(1988) Characters & Viewpoint. United States of America: Writer’s Digest Books.

POSTED BY LAUREN WALKER.