This is a photo of the “corn cob” building in downtown Chicago. It’s an architectural revolution because it has parking on the bottom floors, then residential and a marina in the basement. It was one of the first “whole life” residential complexes in the downtown area (built for some city workers originally). It features in an action movie with someone like Bruce Willis or similar. One of you will know it – he drives the car off the side of the corn cob into the river.
The most important thing today is that I moved into a new hotel!! It has air con, a bath, and most importantly, kind and proactive staff. It’s 15m walk from the theatre, and I will be there at the Majestic till Saturday when I leave!! It also has toilet paper in the bathroom, carpet on the stairs, daily room servicing all kinds of things I have grown to value and which were absent for the past 4 weeks.
I feel like I’ve already written up this afternoon, but I can’t find it, so I’ll do it again.
Exercises building to a Harold:
– word association round the circle, avoiding opposites, avoiding pop culture references, avoiding “lists” (if we have 2 things from a circus move on), and avoiding word continuations (“super”, “man” is out); then pull out the themes
– do it again, going around a finite number – the last 3 people setting it up so that the last person can get to the original word (or the emerging theme)
– move to half circle on stage, same game (begin initiating – tell us your opening line)
– now any order, same game, ending on the same word (preferably said in unison), follow up with opening lines.. (or scenes)
We did this opening and scenes from it all afternoon.
Jason’s clever ideas:
– all connections show up. If they don’t, ignore them
– In a large cast, initiate a scene by talking and moving at the same time
– impro trick – say exactly how you feel (emote too!) – it’s bad writing, but makes for good improv – gets us faster to the emotional heart of the scene
– retarded people and children have no opinions or power, so they make for short, transactional scenes, not long interesting ones
– in “Game” scenes, it’s good to play the game, leave it to play the emotions, return to game
– when something forces your emotion to change, stay changed or have a good reason to revert
– argument is good for the scene (heated emotional exchange) but debate is bad for the scene – an argument has to be something other than an exchange of insults – it’s about the two of you
– walk-ons into a 2 person scene are to add or edit, not to “save” the scene
– 2 types of initiations – hard (I have an idea) and soft (no idea). If you have no idea, say nothing (but do something!)
– point of the form is deconstruction of a source material
– someone did a show where the audience painted onto a canvas on arrival – then players “deconstructed” the work as the source material for the show
– behind closed doors rank dissolves and it’s 2 people (drop the sergeant, mother superior, father and use first names)
