Theme Project Work : Making Sense of Nonsense

'Nonsense' in theatre, drama, and music is of course a subjective premise, and often what first appears to be nonsensical can in time and with familiarity become 'sensible'. However, if we allow ourselves to be persuaded by the following Oxford English Dictionary definitions: 'NONSENSE' = ABSURD, ABSURD = UNREASONABLE, UNREASONABLE = IRRATIONAL we can proceed to explore a host of different possibilities. In the 20th century, 'Irrational' theatre is recognized as being found in the theatre of Symbolism to Surrealism and from Dada to the Absurd. An icon of the Theatre of the Absurd is Beckett's Waiting for Godot, once described as a play where nothing happens....twice! We will be looking at writers whose plays have no recognizable plots or back to front plots such as Pinter's Betrayal or Jason Robert Brown's musical The Last Five Years. We will seek to unravel and decode and celebrate the mysteries of N.F Simpson and Ionesco's 'Absurd theatre'. We will explore the 'nonsense' words in Shakespeare – words he clearly made up! – and will look at the medieval gibberish language called 'Grammelot'. We will try to make sense of Gilbert & Sullivan's nonsense storytelling where entire villages are transformed by a magic potion. We will look at unconventional musical scores that rely on cartoons and graphics as inspiration for playing or singing. Our attempt will be to make chaos cohesive or at least have some fun in exploring how chaos, nonsense and absurdity might be fulfilled theatrically.

THEME PROJECTS

Graeme Du Fresne : Singing and acting –What's the Score?

This year's singing option offers an extremely varied range of work. We will have an opportunity to sing some Comic Opera, some classic 1970's pop music and some unusual modern 'classical' music.

Conventional musical scores consist of a common international language understood by those who have learnt to read music. Choral leaders often issue scores in rehearsals regardless of the participant's musical literacy. At least everyone can follow the vertical relationship musical notes have with text and it's pretty easy to see whether the melody is going up, down or staying at the same musical pitch. What happens then if we are confronted with unconventional scores consisting of graphics, symbols, images, text but little or nothing in the way of musical notes? We will attempt to interpret such 'nonsense' with an emphasis placed on individual and ensemble creativity stimulated by working on exercises and techniques appropriate to this 'avant garde' approach to music making.

Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody contains non sequiturs which are lyrically and musically seemingly random as well as rambling, disconnected ideas, but what a glorious, outrageous song! We will attempt to recreate some of the group's famous harmonies.

Gilbert & Sullivan's The Sorcerer – like much of their output – relies on magic 'nonsense' as an integral element of the narrative. In the section of the Opera we'll be looking at, the villagers, on awakening from their drugged sleep, fall in love with the first person they see. We will investigate the satire behind this 'nonsense'. Backing vocals in pop and choral music often consist of aahs, oohs and do-be-doos rather than words. We will attach specific meaning to this 'oohey' language derived from the lyrics that surround them.

Aofie Smyth: Acting – Making sense of Shakespeare

As we move further and further away from the language of Shakespeare, the actor and director may ask how a modern audience can relate to what at times sounds or seems nonsensical and archaic. As a primary inventor of the English language, Shakespeare expanded and adapted our vocabulary to fit the context and the form of the action. The most important step to understanding Shakespeare is to remember that it was invented to be spoken and not studied.

Through analyzing key scenes and monologues from different plays and by looking at the form of the verse, the rhetorical devices and the images, the true meaning can be revealed. If the form is observed, text makes sense to the audience – and if not, the audience strays. We will apply some Stanislavski-based techniques to Shakespeare (wants, needs, objectives and tactics, why's and what's) and learn that, though Shakespeare answers the 'what?', it's the actor's job to answer 'why?'.

We will work both physically and vocally to enable us to communicate the physical life, action and atmosphere of the character. Working to train the voice and the body as well as the imagination can give the actor confidence and control when making sense of Shakespeare.

Mike McCormack : Acting – An Absurd World

Following the devastation in Europe in the 1940s, the theatre unsurprisingly turned in the 1950s to expressions of the absurdity of life. Comic, strange, often bleak, sometimes hilarious, this wide variety of 'absurdist' material offers a rich melange of theatrical material from writers as varied as Ionesco, N.F. Simpson, Beckett and Pinter. More recently, the American playwright, Christopher Durang, has provided wildly comic absurdist pieces. We will explore this strange and exciting territory in all its imaginative diversity.

Peta Lily : Acting – You're talking sheer Gibberish

In this option we will open the door to a glorious world of nonsense, neologisms, gibberish, gobbledygook and Grammelot!

Grammelot is the name given to a nonsense or made-up language with a powerful theatrical history and a liberating potential for audiences and performers alike. Classic versions of Grammelot have Latin roots and are a mish-mash of different European languages. Cirque du Soleil invented new versions of 'cirquish' in a variety of languages to support the themes of their shows.

(Don't panic, there's no specific language to learn! We will be entering the world of vocal and physical sound linked to expressive body language and mimicry.)

We will explore communicating with sound to make our own 'languages'. We will enjoy playing with the narrative and comedic possibilities of 'speaking sense through nonsense' and we'll also create soundscapes and vocal inventions to explore tragic, shamanic and ritual atmospheres and stories – from the whispery mysterious and poetic through light and comic to the grotesque.

This course will extend any performer's or actor's range of vocal and physical expression. As well as stretching improvisation, storytelling, movement, vocal skills and textures, the work will help acting ability. We will include working from intentions, action and character.

We will take many things as our starting point. We'll use play texts and then distort and eliminate words. We'll experiment with rough puppetry, one-word improvisations, nonsense poems, and storytelling as our inspiration or jumping-off points.

Texts will include: Peter Handke's Kaspar, Dario Fo's Mistero Buffo, the music and lyrics of Sigur Rós, the writing of John Lennon, riddles, comedian Stanley Unwin, techno babble, legalese, business-speak and the slang languages of Polari and Verlan.

SKILLS PROJECTS

Graeme du Fresne and Aofie Smyth: Directing or Singing / acting – The Epic Musical

This option will be a combined project with two tutors, allowing for an in-depth collaboration between directing on the one hand and singing/acting on the other.

The term 'Epic Theatre' is synonymous with the playwright, director and theorist Bertolt Brecht. As a young man he had been influenced by Erwin Piscator's ideas and he later developed the form, structure, theatricality and content we would now recognize as Epic Theatre. We will be tackling two musical theatre pieces deeply influenced by and indebted to Brecht's work : The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein (1937) and Urine Town (2001) composed by Mark Hollman with book and lyrics by Greg Kotis. These are both American musicals, the former very much influenced by the musical style of Kurt Weill, whilst Urine Town is a satire drawing on various musical styles and forms including as it happens……Kurt Weill!

Participants will identify themselves as wishing to be either directors or singers for this course – not both. The singers will initially be working with Graeme whilst the directors will be with Aofie. The directing group will then be let loose on the singer/actors; closely scrutinised, supervised, supported and encouraged by both tutors.

This is the first time at summer school where we have formally timetabled a joint / two-groups-together option! The directors will be exploring the politics of 'Brechtian' theatre and the singers will be engaged in various 'acting through song' processes relevant to Brechtian musical theatre.

Mike McCormack : Acting – The Method of Physical Actions

Towards the end of his long career, and never satisfied that his work was complete, Russian actor-director-teacher-theorist Konstantin Stanislavski was working on a new area of 'The System'. This work was never completed, but the great Polish director and writer, Jerzy Grotowski picked up the baton and continued to experiment and develop the ideas. Is all expression psychologically generated or does the body itself express emotion? We will explore the possibilities and perhaps make some surprising discoveries!

Peta Lily : Acting / Devising / Writing – Comedy Toolbox

This course aims to do just what it says 'on the tin'!

Do you feel nervous at trying to get a crowd to laugh? Don't worry! ….we will start with the basics, building your confidence just to be with an audience, developing ease and audience rapport. We will start with simple story telling before moving on to comic storytelling. We will learn the skills of suspense and engagement, and understand the mechanics of getting, maintaining and managing audience laughter. We will practice speaking spontaneously and learn how to be comfortable holding a pause before an audience.

We will work from written comedy texts to learn and practice craft. We will learn how to make playing comedy more precise, truthful and hilarious. We will learn how to play well together : knowing whose turn it is to play and how to bounce good energy back to your fellow performers (understanding major and minor). We will devise comedy though improvisation and experiment, with and without words.

We will explore ways to write or generate: dialogues, monologues, comic poetry and scenes. We will learn a process of write, edit, rewrite, rehearse and perform.

This course will help you gain confidence in general, be more spontaneous, improve textual comedy skills and to even write and explore delivering your own comedy writing. Bring an open heart, some generosity and your laughing gear!