Physical theatre is denoted as “where the primary means of creation occurs through the body rather than through the mind.” (Callery, page 4, 2001). This is the basis of the devising process of physical theatre, it is supposed to be the body that leads the process rather than the performance maker’s own conscious. “Through listening to her body’s actions and reactions; a body which is constantly informed and transformed through this process of discovering.” (Murray and Keefe, 2007, p.15).This process of discovery was a breakthrough personally, in terms of how as a creator I learnt to think through my body, instead of leading through what my conscious is telling me. This is something very much out of my comfort zone and it caused a sense of vulnerability, of which was needed in order to progress. What develops through this method of devising and exploration of the body is creation of movement, “physical training is a process leading to creative freedom, rather than a prescriptive set of techniques.” (Callery, page 19, 2001). It is the physical training that allows the movement of the body to have no boundaries and to think ‘outside of the box’ in terms of how to portray something.
Physical theatre being described as a ‘hybrid’ suggests that physical theatre is a collaboration of dance theatre, an example being Pina Bausch and also conventional theatre. I am in agreement to this in the sense that a narrative can be used as a way of providing a structure for a physical theatre piece, for example in the process of ‘Four ways to speak out’ there is a narrative that holds great meaning in modern day society, domestic violence. In terms of dance theatre, it is preoccupied with the aesthetics of the body, “choreography is the art of guiding and assembling these energies in a way that enables them to be experienced and grasped by as many people as possible.” (Bausch, 2008, page 14). Although, physical theatre rejects this notion and is not obsessed with the aesthetics of the body, it is important to point out that the body is still being used as a tool, just like dance theatre. Another thing to mention, is the use of text and music, which are both implemented into ‘Four ways to speak out’, these are both conventional uses of portrayal in performance. The difference between the way in which the text and music is being used is that they are an extra layer to the piece. Unlike dance they are not being used to devise the movement, they are simply to aid the audience’s understanding of the piece. Therefore, it can be concluded that physical theatre is a ‘hybrid’ genre because it takes from both dance and drama and has no clear cut definition.
I have studied and attended a workshop with the Jasmin Vardimon Company, who provided an insight into the use of pedestrian and stylised work that can be devised through exploration of the body within the umbrella of physical theatre. As a company they eradicate any sort of spoken voice, unless a narrative is utterly inexplicable through movement. From watching the play ‘Yesterday’ it became apparent to me the freedom of movement and the array of techniques; moments of stillness, the use of abstract movement and pedestrian interweaved together and the minimal use of spoken text. “Throughout Vardimon segues between depicting the pitfalls of male-female relations and a wider social malaise.”(Hutera.D, 2008) Jasmin Vardimon addresses social issues, in a abstract way, the movement of the body is used to express an underlying social message. From the workshop, and the use of ensemble work it was fantastic to be able to be pushed to our limits in terms of styilised movement, but also accepting the use of pedestrian movement as equally important. The use of audio is also key, as we did an array of work in making noises using our own voice as a tool, creating abstract sounds and fragmented text.
Murray, S and Keefe, J. (2007) Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader. Oxon: Routledge.
Callery, D. (2001) Through The Body A Practical Guide To Physical Theatre.
London: Nick Hern Books.
Servos. N (2008) Pina Bausch Dance Theatre. K.Kieser Verlag
2008, Hutera D, The Times Online, ‘Yesterday at the Corn Exchange, Newbury’, November 6th 2008, viewed 27/02/2010
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