WHAT IS EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE

WEEK ONE - AN INTRODUCTION TO 'EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE'

In week one, we gained an insight into what experimental theatre is as a form within theatre through exploration in our first session (with our director Jack) and also through our visit to the Tate Modern, a starting point for gathering inspiration and stimulus for our devised experimental piece taking place later in the term.

What is experimental theatre?

From what I understand initially, experimental theatre or 'avant-garde' theatre subverts all the norms of theatre and has been moved forward as an art form by specific practitioners such as Peter Brook and Antonin Artaud. 

It was significant in very much moving away from naturalism and the typical conventions of the theatre, and more so used as a way of responding to the monotony of the cultural landscape at the time which corresponded with the structure of the lives of people indulging in that culture - allowing them to engage in these art forms and continue their structured lives but not be challenged or provoked in any way that might affect this structured life. Experimental theatre went against this accepted form: it aimed to tackle themes and ideas that weren't usually ideas tackled in a theatrical setting, however surreal or grotesque (for example, dreams and the subconscious) in non conventional ways, such as the use of sound and technicality as a living component within the performance.  As it came about in the 1900s, it was arguably very radical as an art form and hasn't been fully embraced until modern day today.

As a group in our exploration of experimental theatre this term, we will be focusing primarily on the idea of dreams and the sub-conscious as stimulus for our final piece. This is a very exciting prospect to me as I find dreams extremely fascinating, whether it is my own or my friends dreams and it is often a topic of conversation. I think they're very bizarre, but are so important as a form in our everyday reality as dreaming is part of the human experience and perhaps exploring dreams as well as our subconscious which is often suppressed anyway will be a really great and exciting way to focus on the ideas of experimental theatre.

We primarily focused on these ideas of experimental theatre within our first session through creating sound effects with our voices - but also exploring the boundaries of possibility through making almost inhumane and unearthly noises within this, as well as exploring new and exciting noises which allowed to extend our reach as actors. As a class, we engaged as an ensemble by making various soundscapes that echoed water dripping and the sound of a baby crying. This was rewarding and surprising to me as an actor because when all of us worked as an ensemble it was actually quite effective, and again accentuated the experimental idea of 'achieving the impossible'. As well as this, we also made a soundscape with our individual unearthly sounds and that in itself was very organic and different to something conventional and or recognisable, it was quite nonsensical and almost disturbing, connoting for me ideas of the underworld and nightmares. This profound effect encapsulates the overall aim of practitioners such as Artaud who developed the prospect of experimental theatre. 

Again, influenced by the idea of the effect of sound and sound scapes, we listened to a piece of music by György Ligeti which for me really exaggerated the potential potency of music as a component within a piece. The piece is interesting as it is evocative through musicality - for me, it was particularly evocative of the particular sensation of being lost in a massive crowd, being claustrophobic or being chased, somewhat apt for this unit because this sensation is often familiar in a nightmare like dream. The way in which the piece was structured through the layering of sound effects created by singers and the instruments created an ominous, insidious and foreboding atmosphere.

What I also took from this first session was again the idea of 'achieving the impossible' as an ensemble and through this experimental theatre form. As a group we played a piece of music and tried to achieve the impossible through touching the ceiling, pushing the walls, navigating the world upside down, falling through the centre of the earth, crawling through the centre of the earth as well as going through on a slide through the earth. This was quite bizarre initially, but I think as an ensemble the essence of this was very empowering and it effectively introduced us to the prospects of experimental theatre in an insightful way. I feel like I gained a lot from this, and found it really liberating in terms of the fact that there were literally no limits in 'achieving the impossible'. 

To embark more on the idea of dreams, we also got into groups and created dream sequence pieces. We selected one dream, Shifa's dream and represented it quite literally through Anna and Liv acting it out very simply, meanwhile myself, Liv and Stash created sound effects with our voice as a collective three to accompany the emotions of the dream and to accentuate how it turns from virtually calm to very dark and grotesque, very much a nightmare. As we conducted this as a sequence of dreams taking place in a dark room in spotlights, there was a very sinister and foreboding feel to it: creating sound effects with our voices to encapsulate the emotions associated with a nightmare was challenging, but practically demonstrated to me the power of just the individuals involved. The technical aspects of the lighting and the darkness too added to this sinister atmosphere. 

We also explored this quote from Peter Brook, one of the leading experimental practitioners, in understanding and exploring the premise of experimental: 

"I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space, whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged."

-Peter Brook

Peter Brook believes that the theatre is not an orchestra, and that the strength of the individual in creating and awakening vivid themes through experimental is the most powerful tool - this was transpired through the exercises we did as a group/ensemble.  When we all committed, this idea of the simple power of the individual was very evident. 

Within the first week of experimental term, we explored the boundaries of what constitutes art and what constitutes theatre and where this line is blurred through a trip to the Tate Modern.