Bread and Puppet Theater

Bread and Puppet Presentation Criteria

2009-11-22T17:12:00.002Z

Bread and Puppet Criteria for Matthew Cohen's group

(This is an initial draft of criteria prepared by Nat Horne. To be revised by the group via comments on the blog and via facebook.)

Use of puppets and masks and other props –did we use these in the style of Bread and Puppet, and did we make them with recyclables as B&P do?

Working as an ensemble – does it look like everyone is involved, and do we complement each other on stage?

Communicating our message – is the script relevant, is it well structured, satirical but still serious?

Choreography – do we use movement effectively? Non-verbal communication is important with B&P.

Staging – do we fill and use the stage well? Is our presentation appropriate to the space we are performing in?

Bread and Puppet blog: week 5 (group D)

2009-11-05T22:57:00.003Z

Bread and Puppet blog: week 5

This week consisted of three student run workshops; one on Dramaturgy; one on Choreography and the other on Scenography.

The first workshop on Dramaturgy was run by myself (Jade), Miranda and Yong and started with and introduction to Bread and Puppet Dramaturgy and how it will be relevant in our Bread and Puppet style piece.

We discussed things like:
What is Dramaturgy? It is defined as ‘The craft or the techniques of dramatic composition. Basically how you go about structuring something.

-The Basics:
Bankelsang- The best B&P example of this is ‘The Foot’
Episodes- Such as ‘Fire’ or ‘Joan of Arc’ (video from last week)
Ringmaster- Again like in ‘The Foot’ the ringmaster conducts/narrates the goings on.
Sideshows- During the ‘Domestic Resurrection Circus’ there were often sideshows running at the same time as the main piece.
-Which path? Allegory or a protest/celebration
-Puppets first talking later!
-Language needs to be kept simple as not to over complicate-
‘He dispenses almost entirely with language’
(An Existing Better World. Notes on the Bread and Puppet Theater. George Dennsion)

Miranda then talked about what techniques we could use in our piece e.g. different episodes to show different topics. Using an underlying theme, such as the hidden curriculum in schools.

Yong then split the class into 4 groups and gave them different tasks:

Group 1: Using Bankelsang, explore the BNP’s views on immigration.
Group 2: Create an episode based on a quote from the BNP that justifies rape, saying it’s like force feeding a woman chocolate cake
Group 3: Using a ringmaster, explore the idea that the BNP deny the Holocaust.
Group 4: Using parody, explore the ideas of racism.

They had 15 minutes to devise something in the style of Bread and Puppet and then had to show their work to the rest of the class. It was entertaining to see what each group had come up with and I feel the exercise helped show the group thinking on your feet rather than sitting and planning forever can be very effective. It also allowed us to look at different styles and see how we can incorporate them.

The next workshop was run by … (?) a large group and was about Choreography. First we did the ‘Hokey Kokey’ as a warm up and afterwards everyone was…very warmed up.

Then we played cat and mouse, one person is the cat, the other the mouse and everyone else stands in rows turning when told, to make moving around more difficult for the cat and mouse. After playing the game, the group told us that they chose it as it requires most of the group to move as one thinking like an ensemble.

The group then showed and taught us the ‘Who is a terrorist?’ cheerleading dance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtZWl_bRJts). After learning the Bread and Puppet cheer we split into two groups and had to create our own cheer using BNP topics relevant to our devised piece.

As well as being fun, we discussed how the cheers could be an effective opening for our piece. The Choreography group explained that use of Cheerleaders for a political statements not only parodies American culture (Dumb blondes + Politics= huge mess), but could also help show the ridiculousness of the ideas we are showing.

We discussed how Bread and Puppet entrances and exits are often very big and so it may be appropriate to start and finish with a dance. A cheer or perhaps a folkdance and Rebecca suggested which is indeed very traditional.

The third and final workshop was run by Nat and Mina and was about Scenography.

Sceneography is where the theatre takes place, locations and spaces.

“When you go to the theatre you put the audience on the stage, and you play on the seats, or you put them against the wall and your action is on the seat, or you don’t go into the theatre, you leave it empty and you play in front of the theatre, or you abandon that area altogether and you play in the street.” - Peter Schumann

They started their workshop with the above quote heading an info sheet. The quote made us think about the different places we might perform.

Mina and Nat then gave us a shortened version of ‘The Foot’, which we have performed as a group before. After having a go at the new version we were told we were exploring scenography at the next level and went to perform it outside the Windsor building.

By doing this we were experiencing what Bread and Puppet performers may experience when performing on the street; funny looks; abandonment and intrigued yet altogether confused faces.

We then went to the south quad at Founders to look at the space as it would be good to perform there as there are always lots of people. We then performed ‘The Foot’ at Founders and it was worthwhile doing as we discovered people sort of have to watch/listen because the acoustics are so good.

Finally all tired out from our workshops we elected different people to be in charge of specific areas (e.g. Art directors) and created a contact list so that organising during the devising project is easier.

Week 5 Notes From Group A

2009-10-27T16:02:00.000Z

Monday the 26th of October

Today we had the final two of our series of presentations/workshops to the class. The topics were Space and Sceneography and Dramatugy.
The session was mainly practical, and we all were up and active, which was a lot of fun, and I felt that we had a productive day.

SPACE AND SCENOGRAPHY
The group gave a short and interesting introduction into the different spaces used by Bread and Puppet. These included Barns, woods, fields and streets. There were some great videos of Bread and Puppet performing out of doors, a concept which highlights their cheap art ethos, as well as bringing in natural elements, and backs up their environmental messages. When theatre is performed outside, whether in the street or in a forest it becomes instantly more accessible to the audience, as the traditional fourth wall in a proscenium arch theatre is broken, and they begin to feel more involved. We thought about how the atmosphere could be made light and joyful in an open space, in contrast to the more sinister feel to performing in the woods, which give the piece a darker, claustrophobic feel.

We then moved on to playing one my favourite childhood games, stuck in the mud. Needless to say we were all transformed, and became about eight again, running about, screaming and laughing. We played it inside, and the group giving the presentation stood round the edges of the playing space, gradually closing up the space, to demonstrate how we adapted to the space as it changed.

Musical instruments were then dished out, those who didn’t have them were instructed to clap a rhythm, or hold recycled bits of the puppets we made in the previous session. We began by forming a line, three by three, and processed round the room, improvising a musical accompaniment. We did this with much laughter and all feeling a little silly, but enjoying ourselves. However, this exercise was merely a warm up, as we soon discovered. The group leading the workshop then had us process up, over the bridge to the main campus, through Founders north quad and back again. The stares and alarmed glances we received were hilarious, but we all soon got quite into it, counting the rhythm and marching in time. Again, we adapted to the space around us, the column was fluid as we moved to let people pass, and then expanded into the more open spaces. Once we reached the safety of the classroom, some words were thrown about as to how we felt about the exercise. Words such as funny, refreshed, enlivened, embarrassed, strange and liberated were the general consensus. All in all, we really enjoyed this activity, and it felt good to be part of a procession, however clumsy and makeshift, and all moving as one, with one common marching rhythm.

DRAMATURGY
The final group to give their presentation and workshop were focused on the topic of Dramaturgy. I don’t know about my classmates, but dramaturgy is not a concept I’d ever really encountered before, so it was interesting to finally have some questions answered. The general definition of Dramaturgy is ‘the art of playmaking’. Matthew Maw told us that the best way to look at it was as if a finished performance was a tapestry, into which many different threads of information, music, movement and image were woven. Bread and Puppet devise their performances in this style, bringing many different elements into a finished production. Another example of dramaturgy in performance is the play Enron, which most of us had seen for the Writing and Performance module. This play brings in facts from real life events and combines it with stylised metaphors and fictional plot lines. The group then went on to talk about the process Bread and Puppet go through when devising a production. The begin with a concept, go on to storyboard it, to visualise how it might look practically, then script it. We were shown a lovely handmade storyboard of the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty. Then the class was split into two, to come up with our own very short performance using the idea of storyboarding in the planning process. One group’s theme was ‘body image’ the other worked on ‘consumerism’. I was in the latter of the two groups, and we had so many different images of how we wanted to structure our performance that a distinct storyboard was difficult to settle on, and our cardboard soon became crowded with doodles and sketches (mainly of possums). Our general idea in the end was a perfect landscape which then gets devoured by brand names and advertising. We then adapted this into a Garden of Eden idea, in which Adam and Eve are tempted to destroy their beautiful natural environment by the snake, which represented advertising corporations. Adam and Eve are tempted by Macdonalds burgers, cheap clothes, cars, houses, and electronic gadgets, and they slowly consume their paradise, until all they are left with is a land of waste. We used our bodies first to represent the trees and the sun, then to represent the companies selling the consumerist items. Gradually the snake (played by two puppeteers and a long piece of material) wound round all the rest of the actors, and suffocating the central tree (played by yours truly). We felt that had we had more time, the garden of Eden idea was something we would love to come back to, as it is a recognisable story to everyone.

The other group had the idea of ‘The BodyShop’ in which unhappy girls could purchase the bodyparts they feel they need to make them beautiful. This group made excellent use of the idea of a refrain, chanting ‘I want’, then the body part. Jack represented the voice of reason, and he would ask of the girls why they wanted to change. Matthew, as the narrator and owner of ‘The BodyShop’ would insist each time “Because it will make her happy!” This too was effective, as it gave the message that the girls could not think for themselves.

To conclude we came together and discussed any ideas we were having to our final performance, to be given in five weeks time. It was generally agreed that we would steer clear of the idea of ‘body image’ as a theme, as we felt we couldn’t get much out of it, and the idea of consumerism was a lot more relevant and serious an issue. We also agreed that we could work the idea of body image into the overall theme of consumerism, as we all buy things that we think will; make us beautiful. We decided to arrange our first over meeting over facebook, to take place sometime in the first half of reading week.

Central School of Speech and Drama Event on Social/Political Theatre

2009-10-27T08:13:00.002Z

Hello,

I received notice about this upcoming event at Central that may be of interest -

The Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London

Presentation and Round Table: The On Theatre project and social / political theatres

Tuesday 3 November 5.30pm - 7.00pm, Staff Room

Visitors are very welcome to all free events but booking is essential

To reserve a place, please RSVP to the CETT Office:

cett@cssd.ac.uk or Tel: 020 7449 1571

Confirmed participants:
Mick Gordon - Director, On Theatre
On Theatre was created by award-winning artistic director Mick Gordon to explore the fundamental preoccupations of modern life through bold experimental theatre. On Theatre works with experts like the celebrated neuropsychologist, Dr. Paul Broks and best-selling philosopher A.C. Grayling using an innovative creative process to dramatise complex debates. Visit www.on-theatre.org.uk for more information.

Chris Megson - Senior Lecturer in the Dept. of Drama and Theatre, Royal Holloway, University of London
Chris's research has focused on post-1968 British playwriting and contemporary ‘verbatim’ and documentary performance. His PhD project brought together two related fields of interest: the negotiation of political critique in a range of theatre forms and, more specifically, the representation of topical political events and living parliamentarians on the British stage from 1968. Over the past decade, he's been involved in two actors’ companies that specialise in the application of role-play techniques in professional training contexts including, most recently, in prisons. He is a company director and trustee of Love&Madness. Visit http://www.rhul.ac.uk/Drama/staff/Megson_chris/index.html for a short biography and list of publications.

Nina Steiger - Director, Writers’ Centre, Soho Theatre
The Writers’ Centre discovers and nurtures new writers. It does this through a broad range of activity designed to identify the best new writers and to develop their work towards production. Other theatres read scripts, consider them for production and, to varying degrees, work with writers but no other offers such a comprehensive programme to as many writers and at such an early stage in their career. Visit http://www.sohotheatre.com/

Gareth White (chair) - Lecturer in Applied Theatre, CSSD

Please can we remind all staff and students that booking is essential. Please RSVP to cett@cssd.ac.uk to ensure a place.

The Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, Embassy Theatre, Eton Avenue, London NW3 3HY.

For directions to the School see: http://www.cssd.ac.uk/pages/location3.html

Notes on Week 4 Morning Session

2009-10-20T15:39:00.002+01:00

Bread and Puppet Blog, Group A, Week 4!

This week’s session started with a discussion about ideas for our final performance piece now that we have chosen the theme “What makes you happy?” Alissa suggested the possibility of thinking along the lines of ‘Keeping up with the Jones’’ and using the idea of Adam and Eve in the Garden on Eden being seduced by advertising, making their ‘perfect paradise’, not so perfect as they keep acquiring new things to make themselves ‘happy’. Matthew also informed us of a link that could be useful to the Guardian website which looks at the highs and lows of the last decade, which will be put up on our facebook group (Bread and Puppet, Group A – RHUL)

We then began this week’s workshop, which was puppet making, held by Jasmine, Rebecca, K/Cez (?...sorry!)Maria, Dom, Ana and Valeria…I think that’s everyone! The workshop started with a presentation, we were told of the ethos of Cheap Art, and Jasmine read out Peter Schuman’s manifesto, which was written out in a style very true to Bread and Puppet! We were also given an idea of how Bread and Puppet make their puppet making accessible to the public, through running workshops, and also the museum in Vermont which shows a range of their masks and puppets. We were told about the different types of puppets they make, what materials are used (strictly recyclable) and how exactly they are made, complete with images! Finally, the last part of the presentation gave us a small history of masks and how they can be used as ritual objects, and sometime people see them as a joke, but they are also used to hide behind real issues.

Once the presentation was over were split into three groups for the three activities that were to take up the rest of the session. One group started with watching a video, one with a discussion about readings we’d done, and the other started making a puppet. We did this in rotating fashion so everyone could partake in each activity.

The video we watched was Bread and Puppet’s take on Joan of Arc, and we were told to pay particular attention to the use of music and the puppets now that we were better informed on those two aspects of Bread and Puppet’s performance, and it was interesting to see a different take on a well known story.

The readings that we had to discuss were Uprising of the Beast: An Interview with Peter Schuman ¬– John Bell and Peter Schuman and ‘The End of “Our Domestic Resurrection Circus” also by John Bell. In particular, the groups seemed to pick up most on the second text, talking about the reasons why the Circus ended, and my group also ended up discussing whether or not Bread and Puppet are as relevant in today’s society as they were in the 60’s when they were first established, a discussion that resulted in the idea that perhaps they are relevant in different ways now than they were back in the 60’s.

The more practical activity was puppet making, each group made a different type of puppet from the recyclable material that we had all brought in, all to do with perfect body image and what makes us happy. The first group created a puppet that was meant to portray ‘the perfect body’ but she was made purposefully too skinny, with protruding sticks to portray her ribs, and her facial expression was unhappy, certain parts of her features were also exaggerated to show that she had had plastic surgery.
The second group made a mask of an ‘ugly’ woman, all her features were made to look almost grotesque, and we left the cutting lines on her face to portray her want for surgery, showing the mindset that surgery can make you feel better.
The last group made a large puppet, made of separate body parts, and she was the direct opposite of the first puppet, fat rather than skinny, and she was made with unhealthy food around her, showing what makes her happy.

This was a fun week, where getting to create the puppets was not only an entertaining, but informative for the final performance!

Next week!

Space and Scenography and Dramaturgy Workshops!

Remember to bring a musical instrument of some sort and a flat piece of cardboard!

Naomi Lawson

Week 3 Blog

2009-10-15T19:56:00.003+01:00

Week three saw the beginning of a range of workshops held by fellow students in class, allowing their peers to delve deeper into the key conventions and themes within the Bread and Puppet Theater Company.

The first workshop, which was held by Jo and Miranda, gave us an insight into the creative music ideas of the Bread and Puppet theatre, which included the explanations of the instruments used and the way in which the music of the “Sacred Harp” is performed in terms of staging, singing and locations.

Jo and Miranda firstly stimulated the groups vocal chords with a singing warm-up involving the forwards and backwards flow of the numbers 1-8, “1 1 2 1 1 2 3 2 1...” This was followed by a group rendition of The Sound of Music’s “Doe a dear...” Although not everyone know the song, Jo and Miranda incorporated this into the exercise by dividing the group up into melody and repetition of lyrics, giving the group basic experience of harmonies and groupings before challenging the group with a sacred harp song.

Once the group had experienced a sense of communal singing, it was time to learn a sacred harp song, taught by Jo (who also led the song on piano, taken over later by Matthew) and Miranda. Placing the group in a seated square formation, the group were divided into four harmonies, bass, tenor, soprano and alto. Learning the song “he leadth me”, was then the focus of the group’s attention, gradually but confidently, the group slowly became a vocally-pleasing community choir. With our new found skills and talent for learning harmonies, we then incorporated instruments (some being sticks or small metal bowls) into the piece. Each harmony section then had to manipulate the sound of the instruments to fit with their section. Upon returning to the main group, we then sang once again to perfect the noise, before taking our newly-made Bread and Puppet choir to the bridge of Wettons, to the delight of traffic and passers-by. This experience was not only extremely exciting and enjoyable, but the group’s unity and enthusiasm also generated the feeling of a community, as if we were part of a Bread and Puppet protest, to which the general public were taking an interest in. The outdoors also impacted on the piece itself, the group became louder and appeared to have more of a purpose in performing the piece, once passers’ by started to take notice of the group.

Following on from this we then discussed the idea of a “poor theatre”, to which the group contributed points such as “Can the Bread and Puppet really be a poor theatre if the puppets are so visually spectacular?” This then developed into the idea of “voluntary poverty” to which the performers are devoting their lives to the company, knowing they may not earn money, but are satisfied knowing they are influencing and making a difference to the lives of those, they perform to.

Moving on from this, we discussed the key readings, including “Sacral Theatre”, to which ideas included “the strong element of political protest within the theme of the Vietnam war”. We then discussed the possible reasons for why the Bread and Puppet theatre would hold a strong influence over Stefan Brecht, resulting in suggestions such as “both types of theatre are similar in terms of political values and aims”, “both use similar objects such as placards”, “radical movement was a key theme of the time”, “the use of puppets was completely out of the ordinary” and the lack of fear by performers to try and influence society”. The discussion generated various key themes within the Bread and Puppet theatre, such as the central theme of war in many plays.

Being three weeks into the project, the workshop groups then divided up so that a representative from each group could give feedback on the progress they have made, relating to their upcoming workshops. All groups appeared to have many creative ideas for the workshops and seemed keen to discuss their research into their topic.

Next workshop! BRING BOOTS!!! ( will need them for the workshop making)...

List of Materials:
• Cardboard
• Black marker pen
• Scissors
• Toilet roll, newspaper
• Pva glue
• Old fabric/children’s clothes
• A balloon

-Daisy Jervis

Notes on Week 3

2009-10-15T14:24:00.003+01:00

Group A workshop: Sacred Harp. Photo by Matthew Maw

Part 1
We began the session by making a group decision of what we would like to be our key issue in our Bread and Puppet theatre style performance later on in the term. Sat in a circle, we went round everybody who had about 30 seconds to pitch their idea to the rest of the group. The following are all the different ideas that people had:
Westboro Baptist Church (Fred Phelps)
Picket funerals of soldiers that have died in Iraq
State that the soldiers deserved to die as America has allowed homosexuality to exist in America.
Documentary made on the Church by Louis Theroux.

Abortion
Rights over our own body
Religion controlling Politics

Gordon Brown

Zapatista Movement
Peasant’s rights
War on the State

British National Party Rallies
Skits

Climate Change
Is it Government control propaganda?
Gap between science and governing the planet

Whaling/ Over-sea fishing
Green Peace protestations to these activities

Body image
Perfect Body = Happiness

Factory farming vs. Local villagers
Friends of the Earth protestation

Global Warming in Developing Countries

MP’s expenses scandal

Ecological Issues
Land Fill sites

Lack of support for Veterans
Soldier suicide rates at an all time high

With all the ideas pitched, Alissa generalised the issues into smaller groups and votes were cast for each as follows:
Brown/MP Expenses Scandal/BNP – 7 Votes

Ecological Issues – 0 Votes

Religious Views (Westboro Baptist Church/Abortion) – 3 Votes

Zapatista Movement- 0 Votes

What makes you Happy- 8 Votes

Veteran Soldiers- 0 Votes

With a majority vote for the issue “What makes you Happy”, this is the issue we have decided to use in our group performance. We went on to discuss various topics that could be included in this particular issue. Body image was a primary topic, with issues such as body image and photo shopping being suggested and what limits there are to these topics. The current Ralph Lauren photo scandal was also an item brought to our attention in regards to this topic which we can go on to research. We also discussed how consumerism and money issues can be seen as important to some people in the debate of “What makes you Happy.”

Part 3
In the 3rd part of the class we decided to set up a group on Facebook so that people would be able to post some of their ideas as to what we could include in our performance of “What makes you Happy.”
Afterwards, we went on to discuss the social context of the 1970’s which was when the Bread and Puppet theatre began. Some of the important issues we discussed, in relation to theatre at this time, were mass censorship in theatre and also the social issues of violence in this era. We also mentioned about how theatre was very particular and restricted as only the public that could afford to go to the theatre would go, and in this way was less open than it is in this day and age.
We then split into different groups to discuss the articles that we had been instructed to read in preparation for the lesson. These articles included “TDR Comment” by Erika Munk which gave a detailed description of the Bread and Puppet show “The Tragedy in Mississippi” and an article by Peter Schumann discussing the use of bread in the company.
When we returned as a group to discuss the articles, we spoke about what techniques in the plays seemed to be effective. Some techniques mentioned were the use of sounds rather than verbal speech created a haunting effect in some of the plays, which was supported by the notion that actions speak louder than words. We also discussed how the use of colours in the performances can be seen to be symbolic, and how the repetition of the same scene at the beginning and end of a play can be effective.
We also discussed how Bread and Puppet theatre can be viewed in relation to children. One issue that arose was that giant puppets could be a scary thing for a child to witness. However, it was also argued that it is necessary for children to view Bread and Puppet plays as they are being exposed to political and social issues early on in life. Furthermore it was argued that, by using puppets, it allows the company to state their causes less aggressively and it is able to present the issues without demanding a decision to be made on the issue having viewed the piece of theatre. The shows were also admired for displaying to children how power can be seen as corruptive.

By Tommy Adamson

PART TWO- SACRED HARP MUSIC.

For the second part of the lecture the first workshop was introduced.
This workshop gave us an insight into the musical ideas of the Bread
and Puppet theatre, which included the explanations of the instruments
used and the way in which the music of the “Sacred Harp” is performed
in terms of staging, singing and locations.

Firstly we learnt that Sacred Harp Music is written differently to
Western Music. Instead of the traditional ‘DO, RAY, MI, FA, SO, LA, TI,
DO’ Sacred Harp Music uses ‘FA, SOL, LA, MI’ These are represented by
different shapes signifying the degree of the scale as oppose to the
traditional pitch of a scale. FA is represented as a triangle, SOL an
oval, LA a square and MI a diamond shape. For example the first note of
the scale would always be FA, whether it be a Major or Minor scale. FA
is the first degree of any scale. By having music written in such
simple terms it makes the music easy to read and it is therefore
accessible to anyone. This complies with the idea’s that Bread and
Puppet have, bringing the community together and proving that ‘Art is
for everyone.’ Once this was understood the group did a small
performance of Sacred Harp Music for everyone to hear; they stood in a
square formation with the Alto opposite the Tenor and the Soprano
opposite the Bass. This is the formation in which Sacred Harp Music is
sung,( there would usually be a conductor in the middle.)

Secondly the group continued explaining the use of Sacred Harp Music
within Bread and Puppet theatre. Highlighting the fact that the music
is traditionally Protestant Christian but in Bread and Puppet it is
used in all sorts of ways. Whether it be to convey a message or to
create an atmosphere. The music is played without any accompaniment
focusing on the idea of music as music- using the instrument that you
were blessed with at birth. Sacred Harp Music is never rehearsed so
each song that is performed is unique, each singer has to improvise and
listen to each other so a different interpretation of a song is created
each time. This adds authenticity to bread and puppet theatre and
underlines the huge sense of community within the company. Like all
Schumann’s work, Sacred Harp Music is used to create a message that
will effect the audience- make them rethink the issues that have been
broadcasted in the theatre.

The idea of ‘Cheap-Art’ was focused on in the 3rd part of the workshop.
The group explained about Junk Instruments and how you can make music
out of anything, from old jars to bits of plastic. They then passed
around some musical instruments to each member of the group, some were
junk instruments other non harmonic instruments such as drums. People
without instruments used their bodies as instruments by clapping their
hands or stamping their feet. They then introduced a small practical
exercise to highlight the communal idea of music making and help the
group understand how Sacred Harp Music works. They began with a simple
beat and then each person added to this beat. This is very similar to
the ‘Music Machine’ in week one only each person goes in turn,
listening to each other and adding to the creation of Music. It was
interesting to hear the Music build as each person added their
contribution, it became Music instead of just instruments being played
together. It was unique and couldn’t have been played in the same way
twice, highlighting the authenticity of Sacred Harp Music and helping
the group understand how it works.

Once the group understood the idea the workshop was then ended with the
creation of some Sacred Harp Music. The group had created a round using
lines from ‘The Foot’ by Peter Schumann and performed it to show the
group what they were trying to achieve.
They then split the group up into Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass.
Soprano’s sang, “mushroom, barley, salt and pepper, chicken liver,
chicken heart” once, before the Alto’s came in with a different melody
line and rhythm singing, “potatoes, potatoes, and carrots and carrots.”
Then the Tenor’s and Basses made staggered entries as well, the Tenors
singing, “Protest and Survive” whilst the Basses sang “Don’t let the
big foot crush you” in a loud monotonic voice. The melodies were all
being sung together, the soprano’s light melody contrasted with the
brashness of the Basses ‘Don’t let the big foot crush you.’ Each part
then stopped singing in turn and the message ‘Don’t let the big foot
crush you’ was repeated at the end with everyone singing different
notes and increasing the volume to underline the message. By doing this
the group then understood the effectiveness of Sacred-Harp-Music and
had become involved in the communal experience of Music and “Cheap-Art”
giving the group a better grasp of what Bread and Puppet theatre
creates.

PART FOUR- DANCE

To end the lecture we had a second workshop on Dance. This workshop
gave us an insight into the dance ideas of the Bread and Puppet
theatre, which included the explanations of the different styles used
and the way in which the dancing is performed in terms of staging,
space and locations.

Firstly the group began by talking about ‘Folk-Dancing' explaining
that this type of Dance is not tightly choreographed. We learnt that
the dancers do not move exactly at the same time, the do not have
crisp, articulate movements such as a dance like Ballet. However, there
dancing has more abstract movement and the dancers move on
impulse/feelings as oppose to a direct, strict structure. They parade a
lot and interweave with each other, standing in circles, holding hands
etc. This is a clear example of the rural life that Bread and Puppet
leads and shows a lot of community spirit. There is always a sense of
community within Bread and Puppet whether it be in puppet-making,
Music, Theatre or Dance.

Secondly the group focused on ‘Ensemble movement’, highlighting the
fact that Bread and Puppet always performs in different locations and
different spaces, they may be in a street, a field or a small room. As
an Ensemble they have to adapt to this and not be confined by the space
that they are given. The performers are untrained dancers and have to
adapt and have versatile movements, this is why the Dance style is
mainly folk as it is basic and communal. Everyone can join in. When it
comes to dancing Space is very important and Schumann does try to cover
the entire space that he has to use.

We also discussed ‘Representational Dancing’ for example ‘Blackbirds’
The dancing consisted of a lot of bird movements, there was a strong
relationship between the message and the Dance. The dancing in Bread
and Puppet always reflects what the narrator is saying. All the
movements for the dancing are dictated by the narrator, the narrator is
usually Schumann and he is best described as the conductor of the dance
(in this case.) This shows the relationship between the performer and
Schumann, again indicating a strong community and ‘Art for everyone.’
By dancing in this way as oppose to a strict structure you can see the
community as a whole, working together and moving on their impulses. In
a lot of dance movements the dances are practiced and choreographed to
impress, Bread and Puppet are trying to change an opinion not impress
an audience.

Finally to allow everyone to grasp how dance is used within Bread and
Puppet we had a practical session. To begin with the practical session
started off as a ‘Movement machine’ reflecting what makes you happy.
However, this didn’t seem to work as it was hard to work together when
different things make different people happy. So we changed tactics.
The group split into two lines and ran forward into a circle. The left
line would cross over to the right and make the circle from that side,
so that each person was interweaving with each other. We then all held
hands and danced together. Mainly around in a circle for four steps and
then around in the opposite direction. We also moved in and out as a
circle and all cheered and clapped. This was a much more effective way
of dancing as everyone was working together. It looked good and we all
felt a sense of community, we were not asked to cheer but it seemed to
come automatically. The practical session helped us all understand the
type of dancing that is in Bread and Puppet and now that we had
experienced it we can now incorporate it into our own performance of
‘What makes you happy?’

JESSICA HUGHES

BLOG- Week Two (05/10/09)

2009-10-12T12:54:00.000+01:00

At the start of the session we broke into groups and spoke about the articles we were asked to read i.e. “What, At the End of This Century, Is the Situation of Puppets & Performing Objects”, “The Radicality of the Puppet Theatre” and “The Foot”, all by Peter Schumann.

After the discussions, everyone was given one slide of The Foot to copy onto a piece of paper, copying the words and pictures. These were then put into order on the table and most members of the group ‘auditioned’ to be the narrator using the line “Ladies and Gentlemen- The Foot!” and gauging their success on the rest of the group’s applause.

The Foot was then re-enacted. The pieces of paper were held up in the middle of the performance space with the narrator in front and males and females on either side respectively. The pieces of paper were held up and discarded with reference to what the narrator said. The style was call and response and very rough and not rehearsed in keeping with Bread and Puppet style performance.

Everyone then sat in a circle and small groups told the rest of the group their ideas for the upcoming performance:

Group 1- expenses scandal with Jacqui Smith etc
Group 2- Lisbon Treaty
Group 3- BNP/FNP Party. B+P stock character useful i.e. peasants, black and white evil. Klu Klux Klan re-union. Racism, white supremisis, Nick Griffin (criminal record). Hope not hate.
Group 4- Eating disorders, obesity, media spin, advertisements, London fashion week
Group 5- Nuclear bombs, radiation

A silent, anonymous vote was then cast and it the top decided on was the BNP because of its capacity for satire and the depth of the topic.

By Jo Hutchings and Nat Horne

Indigenous Communities and Puppetry: A Talk and a Workshop by Sandy McKendrick

2009-10-07T17:52:00.002+01:00

Students in Bread and Puppet Theater CTM are invited to register for a FREE talk and puppet workshop delivererd by visiting Australian practitioner Sandy McKendrick on 29 October. Details are at www.rhul.ac.uk/Drama/News-and-Events/mcKendrick.htm

BLOG – Week One (31/09/09)

2009-10-05T08:04:00.002+01:00

First half of the session was spent doing group bonding exercises.

1. NAME GAME – each person said their name and performed an action which said something about them. This was then repeated by the rest of the group. Each time a new name was said the whole group repeated it and the action, and then also repeated the previous names and actions that had been said. In a group of about 40 this was a long process but proved effective!

2. BOMB/SHIELD GAME – one member of the group was made the ‘bomb’. Each member of the group then picked someone else in the group to be their ‘shield’. The aim was to always to have your shield standing between you and the ‘bomb’. Whoever was left without a shield between them and the ‘bomb’ was out. As the group got smaller this game got more difficult and more violent!

3. MUSIC MACHINE – the aim of this game was for the group to create a machine using just themselves. Someone came up with an idea for a machine and they had to create the first piece of it; one at a time the rest of the group then joined the shape until there was a ‘machine’. A) CHITTY BANG BANG EXPERIMENTAL MACHINE B) EVERLASTING BUBBLEGUM MACHINE C) TREE-FELLING MACHINE D) MACHINE THAT EMITS BANKERS/LAWYERS – as this game went on we had to start experimenting more with levels, and with using our bodies and with the sounds we made. By the time we made the last machine we had started working a lot more effectively as a group and were much more thoughtful in the way we created our ‘machines’.

4. SONG GAME – this game was similar to Music Machine as it also involved really working together as a group, starting off in smaller groups we each had to pick a note or a phrase of music, which fitted together with the others in the group to make a song. Gradually the smaller groups had to join together, fitting the different tunes into each other until we had made a complete song comprising all our notes and phrases. For this game we all had to be really focussed with our listening, and be really aware of what everyone else was doing, so that the song was harmonious. We did this game 3 different times, and by the third time it was noticeable that everyone was a lot more concentrated and really aware of each other. Generally one person started and then everyone joined in in turn, sometimes in little groups, not just using their voices, but also using clapping/clicking/stamping feet etc.

After our practical games session we began work on analysing the Bread and Puppet Theatre, since they are to be the inspiration and drive behind our forthcoming theatre piece this term.

In class we split into groups of 5 and began to discuss articles written by Baz Kershaw (The Routledge Reader in Politics and Performance) and James Roose-Evans (Experimental Theatre), which were assigned for us to read before class. In our groups we began to draw comparisons between Kershaw’s political analysis of radical theatre as cultural intervention and Peter Schumann’s Bread and Puppet Theatre. After discussing our ideas we re-grouped as a class and shared our thoughts to the other groups. Topics of discussion included the use of humour (that had almost sinister undertones), themes, the collective mentality of B&P, the relationship between the actors and the audience, the use of diverse theatrical techniques and space.

Next we divided up into our Seminar Groups to discuss the areas in Contemporary Theatre we would be specializing in and teaching the rest of the class in the coming weeks. Areas of production included; sacred harp and music, choreography, puppet and mask making, script and dramaturgy and space and design.

For next week we have been asked to recycle some cardboard and bring it to class (Everything in our performance needs to be used from recycled, cost free materials!!!) and research a social/political topic we would like to base our performance on.

Today’s class has been fascinating. As a group, the games we played during the first half of the class helped us gain a sense of community and collaboration. Bread and Puppet is a company that extends past the conventions of the modern theatre, I think, during the next few months we will be faced with multiple challenges that will strengthen our work ethic, open our minds and push us physically. Can’t wait for us to pick a topic for our group and get the ball rolling! J

-Yazmin Vigus and Miranda Marvin

Welcome

2009-08-30T06:56:00.004+01:00

Welcome to the blog for the Contemporary Theatremaking option on Bread and Puppet Theater for 2009.

This space is an opportunity for us to document the process of the project we are undertaking together. Documentation is a key concern for contemporary practitioners and scholars and part of your study during this course will involve reflecting upon the documentation of the company and developing documentation of your own work.

Each week group members will be allocated to the process of documentation - although you are all invited to post reports and comments. If you are unsure how to do any of these things, you can email me (matthew.cohen@rhul.ac.uk) and we'll try to talk you through it. You will receive feedback on your documentation work.

By the end of the course we hope that this blog will be a rich account of the ideas and images we have explored during the term which should prove very useful to you as you write your reflective essays.

Readings and viewings

This course has a course pack containing readings on Bread and Puppet that you are required to purchase from the departmental office. You will also be expected to view a number of videos.

Before the first class please view a generous selection (at least 30 minutes) of Bread and Puppet videos on youtube (http://www.youtube.com) as well as do the assigned readings in the course pack (only about 12 pages).

You are also encouraged to view Biting the Hand that Leads Us, an online video about theatre companies (primarily American) that use performance for political impact, including a three minute excerpt from the documentary Bread and Puppet Theatre: A Song for Nicaragua. See http://www.archive.org/details/ddtv_17_biting_the_hand_that_leads_us. The Bread and Puppet segment is at 47.42 -50.55.

GOOD LUCK!

2007-12-09T11:33:00.001Z

You all worked hard throughout the term. So good luck on Monday.The main thing is to enjoy it and to have a good time in the process. And always remember that what you have learned (and still learning) is the main objective.
I'll be looking forward to it.

BREAK A LEG!

Nesreen

Last Making Session

2007-12-07T21:46:00.000Z

We had our final making session today (Friday 07/12/07). We spent the day trying to finish off all the props/flags/signs/masks etc... for the performance on Monday. All in all I think we've pretty much got everything done now. It would have helped if there had been a few more people to help out, but we managed pretty well with under 10 people. Although at times the whole making process has been very demanding, our session today was really fun. It was very relaxed and productive and overall highly enjoyable. It has probably been the most 'bread and puppet' style session of the creative process and we have managed to make use of free materials and re-use whatever we could find. I believe we have truly lived up to the cheap art ethic, that bread and puppet embraces so fully. With our first dress rehearsal tomorrow and our last rehearsal before Monday, I think we're well prepared. I have added some photos from today's making session below.

CTM Showings' Running Order - December 10, 2007

2007-11-27T13:00:00.001Z

Morning
10 am Studio Theatre – Tara Arts
10.30 am Sutherland House to Boilerhouse – Shunt
11. 00 Boilerhouse – Bread and Puppet

Afternoon – all in Boilerhouse
2pm Forced Entertainment
2.30 Improbable
3.00 Trestle

Second Rehearsal

2007-11-26T04:45:00.000Z

Our Second rehearsal was even more successful than the first. Most of the music group were present so we were able to rehearse with music, and choreograph the movement accordingly. We manages to tackle the 'Whack a Terrorist' scene by experimenting with a human grid formation which was hugely successful. We perfected the fish mongering scene and started working on the brain washing scene. There were many limitations as we still don't have any puppets or masks. Also only half of the group was present which also created some difficulties. We took some pictures and videos to show the people who were absent what we did and also to keep record of what we have been doing.

2007-11-26T04:27:00.000Z

Our first rehearsal was held in the Kingswood Hall, common/TV room. The room was surprisingly big and we were able to have the space all to ourselves without any interruptions. We started the rehearsal by discussing various issues, including the making aspect of the performance and the venue. After a short discussion we got down to work. There were only thirteen of us, so we found it difficult to rehearse some of the scenes that required the whole, or a large number of the cast. We started by rehearsing the opening scene after the parade. Emily, who has been cast as the narrator did a brilliant, bread and puppet style opening and we worked form there. We were working from a script based on the plan. but with some speech added for the narrator's part. Very quickly we began to change and develop our original plan. We added various details, new lines and lots of movement. It was like placing movement to the words on the paper. After working on the opening scene we tackled the 'brainwashing' scene. We rehearsed for around an hour. After the rehearsal we had divided the whole group - 24 members into various roles:

Narrator: Emily
Terrorist: Rob
Soldier: Marcus
Terror Brigade: Annie, Catrin, Freya
Iraqi Women: Laura, Carmen, Kerry
Band: Lou, Lia, Alice, Emily, Rosana. Emma
Main body of cast: Jolie, Jessica, Marika, Diana, Nia, Charlie, Georgia, Sheryl, Charlotte

All in all it was a really successful session and was also very productive, its amazing how quickly ideas can be establishes practically and also how well the group is working together.

2007-11-26T04:23:00.000Z

After discussing the theme as a group, the plan for the piece was written up and will be used as the basis for our work.

Parade
Entrance with flags and banners, accompanied by ‘parade’ music and vocal shouts, chants etc…Leads into Narrator’s opening speech as ‘circus’ semi circle performance space is established.

Fish/War Monger
Market scene, a fish monger is selling ‘cardboard’ fish to people. The ‘corporate/government’ puppets enter and ‘scare’ the people with large representation of Media/Threat of terrorism (Large TV with headlines across it?). The Fish are turned around and become guns.

Brain Washing
One member of the ‘people’ comes forward; he is wearing a puppet head which sets him apart from the rest. The corporate/government men proceed to brainwash him – Remove Brain, wash in bath etc… He becomes an armed soldier.

Whack a Terrorist
He is handed a large comical hammer and ‘game show’ scene begins. It is instigated or hosted by the Narrator. A Terrorist is brought in and the ‘soldier’ attempts to ‘whack’ him as he avoids the hammer – all done in very comical style. When unsuccessful, the crowd begins to chase him, this leads us into…

Witch Hunt
Terrorist is chased around, while ‘Bear Hunt’ song is incorporated into scene. As this is happening, the white banner is advancing and dividing the space slowly. The terrorist finally escapes behind the white ‘screen’.

Missile
A missile is handed to the people by the corporate/government; it is slowly transferred from person to person, possibly through an array of large puppet hands. The Missile is tossed or placed over the other side of the banner.

Mourning Iraqi women
Shift in mood from festivity to somberness. Strange violin music begins and ‘Iraqi women’ complete with puppet heads emerge into the destruction caused by the missile. They proceed to covey slow, sad mourning through silent movement.

Brainwashing Two
Their movement gradually builds up and the terrorist enters. He is surrounded by the women who appear to plead with him and suffer at his feet. He then moves forward, at the same time the ‘Western soldier also comes forward on the other side of the banner. Both stand as if ready to fight. Violin music possibly carries on, maybe gets louder and builds up.

End
The banner is brought over the two men and held in front of them. The banner contains a quote or the chosen title to reinforce meaning in the performance. For example: For the profit of few, at the cost of many.

DATES TO REMEMBER

2007-11-23T13:41:00.000Z

- 30 November: Rehearsal at Boilerhouse (12.30-2.00 pm)

- 08 December: Run-through at Boilerhouse (10-11.30 am)

- 10 December: Final showing at Boilerhouse (11 am)

New performance assessment criteria

2007-11-13T08:20:00.000Z

As agreed in class on Monday, the three criteria for assessing your performance on 10 December will be:

Did you present a clear message about a topic of global significance?
Did you convincingly use the methods and techniques of Bread and Puppet? Did you maintain a balance between festivity and sombreness?

Matthew

Joan of Arc

2007-11-12T13:15:00.000Z

Irene Bittles writes to say that the video of Bread and Puppet's “Joan of Arc” is now available for loan from the Founder’s Library. We watched parts of this during week 4, and it is well worth seeing in whole.

Even more important if you haven't already do look at How to Turn Distress into Success (http://blip.tv/file/300997) - it will be very useful for the work you are doing on your piece in thinking about dramatic structure, use of music and the physical objects (masks, puppets, props etc) that go into Bread and Puppet's work.

Matthew

68 Ways to Make Really Big Puppets

2007-11-06T20:31:00.000Z

In a web search I ran into a bibliography of Bread and Puppet sources that included the following excellent making resource:

Peattie, Sara and the Puppeteer’s Cooperative. 68 Ways to Make Really Big Puppets.Glover, VT: Bread and Puppet Press; St. Johnsbury, VT: Troll Press, 1997. 10 pp., ill.Instructions for simple puppets, animals, dragons, giant puppets, hoop and cloth puppets.

This booklet is available online at http://www.gis.net/~puppetco/

I've added this as a link to the side of the webpage. Well worth looking at as preparation

Matthew

Group Discussion - Choosing a Topic

2007-11-05T17:27:00.000Z

During our last session (week five) which was the final session before rehearsals begin, we spent approximately the last hour discussing what topic we were going to base our final performance on. The discussion also led on to the various issues surrounding the creative process, when it comes to devising the final piece: the division of roles, timing, the order of the creative process etc… Before we began this discussion, Matthew suggested we follow a certain structure, as laid out in the ‘Wise Fool’s Handbook’ which has been our constant companion throughout this course. Various roles were given out, Time-keeper (Rob), Vibe-reader (Charlotte), note-taker (Carmen) and Cheryl took on the role of the ‘Organiser’ (to be honest I can’t remember the actual title of her role, sorry!) she was in charge of who would speak and when. Initially this plan wasn’t received very well, with most of us taking a very cynical attitude towards this very controlled form of discussion, but towards the end of the ‘conference’ style talk, it was clearly successful as everyone got a chance to speak their mind and a general consensus was reached in a very democratic and intelligent way. As I was assigned the role of ‘Note-taker’, I will now try my best to write up the notes I took of during the session. I tried my best to write down what everyone said and apologise in advance if I leave anything or anyone out but we’ll just have to put in down to human error! I wasn’t sure what form to present the notes in, but as I just wrote down what everyone said, I will simply recount the conversation that took place and the conclusions we reached.

To begin with Cheryl announced we had 10 minutes to discuss or put forward our own views on what topic we wanted to base our performance on. We were given a choice of three current affairs: Globalisation, Climate change and The War and Terror. The discussion was opened by Lou who expressed her reservations about choosing ‘The war on terror’. She felt it was a topic that we didn’t know enough about, and was a subject that may require research into the whole history of the Middle East. This statement was more or less the core of our ‘debate’. Laura then told the class that she had studied this ‘issue’ at A-level and was therefore fairly knowledgeable already and this would be of great value to the production. Alice then admitted that it would be easier to take on Climate change but that the war on terror was currently more relevant. Nia then made a very important point, she reminded the group that the war on terror was an extremely broad topic and it would be better if we specified or focused on a certain aspect of this broad theme. Examples were given such as ‘Guantanamo Bay’ and the theme of torture as a product of the war on terror. I feel that even though many of us may not know a lot about the war on terror as Georgia commented, we should take this opportunity to educate ourselves about such an important issue. This reminded me of the whole concept of bread and puppet – educating and informing people about the important issues in our world today. Matthew then voiced his preference and interest in focusing on globalisation. He made it much more relevant to our current community by connecting it to Egham and the corporate food industry’s (e.g. Dominos) monopoly of the food market, which made smaller businesses suffer. This topic was discussed further but the conversation was eventually brought back to the theme of the war on terror. Laura suggested that we use our performance to inform people about what’s going on. Or maybe use it as a form of protest against the general ignorance found in our society. Rob also gave some ideas about the style of the performance, which signalled the move to more concrete ideas. He suggested we create something comical and satirical, maybe highlighting the media’s stereotypical presentation of this topic. Cheryl then brought the conversation to a close, and gave those who hadn’t spoken a chance to voice their opinions. Lou then expressed that even though she would rather do climate change, she was willing to accept the topic of ‘war on terror’ without any reservations. Cheryl then suggested a vote through a show of hands and it was decided that we would base out final performance on ‘The War on Terror’. The discussion carried on from there with ideas surrounding ‘The War on Terror’ expressed. One of the main ideas was that the whole concept of ‘The War on Terror’ is very recent, only beginning after 9/11. This makes it all the more relevant and immediate, which is an essential quality in the Bread and Puppet ideology.

The Next fifteen minutes were dedicated to discussing the creative process we are going to undertake as a group. We were basically trying to decide the next step after choosing our theme. Emily started out by highlighting the advantages of working in smaller groups: it can be more comfortable to share ideas and then these ideas can then be presented to the group as a whole. Laura supported this by commenting that smaller groups are better for focusing on the various aspects of the performance such as puppets, script, music etc… Cheryl also expressed reservations about the disadvantages of an ensemble piece, with the strong possibilities of conflicts arising easily. However Rob then reminded the group that the final piece was an ensemble piece and we needed to stay true to the ‘theatre group’ we were trying to recreate, including the creative process. Matthew then reminded the group of the ‘Nicaragua model’ of group work which had been discussing earlier. In the Bread and Puppet’s work in Nicaragua, various groups had formed naturally during the creative process, with each focusing on a different area. This was generally agreed on by the group to be the way forward. We also discussed whether a ‘director’ or as we put it a ‘Schumann’ type role should be allocated. After a lot of discussion we decided it would be better to have 3 or 4 people assigned to that role and also to depend on our ability to function as a group more. Matthew reminded as that it was too early to decide at this stage and we came to the general consensus to wait till after we had decided on a concrete idea to choose people to take this position. Jollie suggested that we go away and do some research over reading week and then come back and present it to the group as a ‘pitch’. After a lot of discussion we also felt that each member of the group should conduct their own research and also come back with some sort of practical vision as well as knowledge surrounding the issue. This information could then be developed as a group. So we finally decided that reading week should be used to gather general stimulus and develop personal ideas rather than rehearsal as we all would feel more comfortable beginning the creative process around a concrete idea. The group was also asked to think about various aspects: The audience, the performance space, images, puppets, words, songs etc… The 15 minutes was then brought to a close and a further 5 minutes given in order for people to express any reservations or concerns.
Some members expressed concerns about the smaller groups being fixed and would rather gain experience in all the various creative areas rather than be restricted to one. Concerns were raised about the location of the performance being outdoors during December, and the need for a back up plan if it rains etc… Although most people wanted to perform outdoors we decided we had to create a performance that would be adaptable indoors and keep in mind the limitations this creates. We also discussed the ‘Bread’ aspect of the performance which raised many issues concerning the ‘ethos’ of bread making within Bread and Puppet’s ideology. Many practical concerns about the bread making were also raised. The session was concluded with the unanimous decision to use reading week to research and develop ideas, the present them to the class next week and begin the ‘group’ creative process from there.
Personally I felt that the discussion was very successful and the group has become much more comfortable with each other as a result. I am really looking forward to what is to come.

Making masks and puppets

2007-10-27T20:29:00.000+01:00

The photographs on Carmen’s look amazing and I think it is quite fascinating how something that is merely cardboard can look so intimidating. I wonder if anyone else agrees? Or
disagrees maybe?

I also wanted to post my research as part of the puppet and mask making
group from the lesson on Monday.

Obviously the main criteria of the Bread and Puppet theatre is the
ethic of "cheap art". Their creations made from recyclable rubbish or
natural products that they come across.

Another main ethos of Bread and Puppet is that "from death comes life"
which reinforces the importance of the recycled materials they use. It
is also worth noting that many people have likened Peter Schumann’s
creative process to that of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster as he
makes them from raw elements. The puppets themselves are meant to be
very human in appearance or be reflective of human qualities which is
why sometimes only an ear or a nose will be used.

Bread and Puppet create many different types of characters as well as
using different styles and in a single summer can make hundreds of
puppets. They can include "gorgeous Vietnamese women masks, repulsive
butchers or suits, giant historical figures or gods, tiny table
puppets, cardboard cutouts, prophets, disciples, green men and gray
ladies" (Rehearsing With Gods, 82). They also make use of huge
processional puppets that will often take on a character role
explicitly linked directly to the themes of their piece of theatre.
They will also have "population puppets" which never stand alone yet
are used in conjunction with many others to create a defenceless and
faceless weak mass.

The making process itself is very simple. To begin, clay will be dug
from the riverbanks which will then have straw added to it. Following
on from that, sculptures will be created with plastic covering it on
top. They will then paper mache on top of that before being allowed to
dry. When dry they will be taken out of their moulds and painted with
an overcoat of white.

In our own making process during the lesson we adopted a similar
technique but instead of clay used a stuffed plastic bag as the means
of creating our sculpture before covering it in newspaper and paper
macheing the facial features onto the shapes to create specific facial
expressions.

It is worth noting that in terms of deciding on the puppets we will
want to use during our own performance that we will first want to
consider the message and themes we want to address. From that discovery
we will then need to create puppets that act as visual (not conceptual)
metaphors for the piece and then work in groups to create and bring
these puppets to life.

-Sheryl Hill

Our First Rehearsal

2007-10-26T22:56:00.000+01:00

About an hour into the session we split into two groups; one went to the workshop with Nesreen to explore the practicalities of puppet making and the other group stayed with Mathew and disussed the various issues arising from the Bread and Puppet theatre's ideology - its strengths and its shortcomings. We also watched a section of a Bread and Puppet performance entitled 'Joan of Arc' and then discussed our various reactions to it and the issues it raised.

The last few sessions have been more practical based than theoretical, so we took some time to focus more on the ideolgy of Bread and Puppet as a movement and think about it in critical terms, exploring its strengths and weaknesses. We started with the idea of the contradictions and limitations of the Bread and Puppet movement - Is its ideology and manifesto reflected rightfully through its performances over the years?

Firstly we discussed its relevance today - can we get beyond the nostalgia of the 60's 'movement'? Mathew asked the class wether we as a generation who never personally experienced the 60's had any nostalgic attachments to that era - what does that time represent to us? After many contributions, we reached some form of general consensus that we all had some form of sentimentality attached to the 60's but also felt that we could relate it to the world we lived in today. We talked about how to many of us the 60s represents a time of strong political change and upheaval, and the emergance of 'people power' in the form of protests, demonstarations etc... It was also a time of freedom and experimenting in art of all forms - of which bread and puppet is a product. We also disscussed how the Vietnam war was predominant in Bread and Puppet's work at that time and were able to link it to the Iraq war today. We were left with the question - Is the 'capability of change' experiened in the 60's and embraced by Bread and puppet still applicable today?

Photos from Bread and Puppet mask and puppet Session

2007-10-26T19:54:00.000+01:00

I took some photos during one of our sessions. It was the first time we worked with puppets and masks as a group. We used flat cardboard masks and two full length puppets providedby Nisreen. After putting together some short pieces using the various masks and also making our own, I realised how important and challenging movement is to this type of theatre. Above are a few photos from the session.

Music in the Bread and Puppet Theatre

2007-10-22T21:10:00.000+01:00

Notes by Rosana Danielian Siereky

Introduction:

- music is a very important element in B and P theatre. P.Schuman uses marching bands, rumbas, brass bands, gongs, horns, plainsongs and sacred harp singing.
- We know that in B & P theatre, there is a real sense of community spirit as he ruses local volunteers as part of the singers andbrassband.
- Therefore, P.S. uses very simple material and sounds to create hisinstruments, commun to us all so we can relate to them.

Plainsongs:

Plainsongs, also known as plainchant, is a term that describes a style of singing of the church, liturgy in Europe, developed during the first millenium. Plainsong is monophonic (1 melody, no accompanying chords orinstruments). The principal types of plainsongs in the western part of Europe are of roman and gregorian styles.

Sacred harp singing:

SHS is part of the larger tradition of Shape note music: the notes are printed in special shapes that help the reader to identify them on the musical scale. Each forshape is connected to a particular syllable: fa,sol, la and mi. Each syllable exept for mi is assigned to two distinctnotes.

Source of information on Plainsong:
http://www.dovesong.com/positive_music/archives/plainsong/about_plainsong.asp

Music in the Bread and Puppet Theatre: Sacred Harp and Others

2007-10-21T13:24:00.000+01:00

Notes by Marika Nordquist

Music (Sacred Harp Song, plainsong, jazz) ties to the ideas of:

-community –emphasis on music as music, not just careless background sounds
Authenticity of “experience”, live
-cheap art –production is an important factor
Recycling
Junk instruments

Sacred Harp Song
(refers to human voice = instrument given at birth)
-many songs based on these American traditional hymns and anthems
-4 part harmony
-spiritual, although not bound to any religion as such
-main book used: “The Sacred Harp”, updated since 1844, 500+ 4-part hymn repertory
-sung a cappella
- “Singings” = not performances!!

Procedure of a singing:
No rehearsals
No separate seats for audiences
Each singing is unique, stands for itself, always a new group coming together

FORMATION:
- hollow square
-1 voice part on each side (soprano, alto, tenor, bass)
-All face inwards
- see and hear each other
-visitors able to sit anywhere: no boundary to separate
-ideological: COMMUNAL, as is Bread and Puppet

Notation:
-“shape note singing”
-note heads in 4 shapes
-helps in sight-reading
Jazz Music (eg. New Orleans Dixieland)

IMPROVISATION
-common folk music elements, eg call-and-response
-individual interpretation every time!! (experience,live)
Influenced by:
Mood
Personal experience of player
Interaction eg WITH AUDIENCE

Wikipedia: “product of democratic creativity” – whoever put it this way, makes us aware of connection with Bread and Puppet ideology of importance of community, unique experience.

Sources
Sacred Harp Song: http://fasola.org
“He Leadeth Me”, example of Sacred Harp song type of hymn, found at:
http://www.bethel.edu/~rhomar/TunePages/HeLeadethMe.html

On youtube, several Sacred Harp singings’ videos.

Reading in Study Pack, especially “Christmas Story, 1962”

-German hymn in this found at:
http://www.kprkpr.de/Weihnachten/Weihnachtslieder/Es-ist-Zeit-gekommen.htm
www.breadandpuppet.org

Wikipedia: for New Orlean Dixieland jazz

Week Two Session - 08 Oct 2007

2007-10-12T00:15:00.000+01:00

Working indoors

Monday’s session opened with a mirror game. Initially split into pairs, it made us aware of each other and the space around us. One person would lead, creating shapes and using a variation in speed of their movements to induce and challenge the other partner to imitate them correctly. I enjoyed this exercise as it was quite an intimate one, which involved studying the other constantly to maintain a correct imitation, and therefore became a minor form of a trust exercise. Awareness and understanding was required in order for movements to be physically possible for the other to copy, for example, appreciating that your partner may not be able to imitate a split!
Then Nesreen asked us to mirror each other as a group of four, this posed as a challenge, but I believe this helped develop the idea of collective thought, which is vital in the process of theatre making.
This idea was then taken a step further as we were set a task of mirroring each other as a class. We relied heavily on one another to lead an action, and then to mirror that person collectively. I believe this was a valuable experience because there was no one leading figure, everyone took turns in creating an action. We relied heavily on our hearing and spatial awareness to achieve what we had set out to do; especially as we were lying on the floor for this task. For example, if someone sat up, you had to be aware of a distortion in the space you were in to recognise a changed position . Interestingly enough, I observed how people gained more confidence in creating an action independently, once we all had to close our eyes, while still performing the task. I believe this is because some people in our group feel intimidated by the dominating minority, and feel their creative contribution would'nt be appreciated. With everyone unaware of who was making the contribution, each idea was confidently introduced, heard and imitated.

After a lengthy discussion, which evaluated and discussed the previous exercise, Matthew then asked us to draw out our folder and look at ‘Guest Editorial: The Foot’ and gave us numbers, which corresponded to a picture in the cartoon strip on the first page, marked as page five in the booklet. We were given marker pens and paper, and were set to work copying a picture allocated to us. We pinned this to a flip chart, and then were given the option of auditioning for the part of the narrator, who is the main driving force and focal point in a script, which appears on page six. All played the part very well and we finally settled for a narrator, who led a chorus of men and women, in a short Bread and Puppet piece. As the majority of the words were sung, we were split into a chorus of altos and sopranos. I believe this was a valuable part of the session as it allowed us, as a group, to communicate to each other our vocal range, which then allowed us to segregate into smaller groups and discuss how to harmonise and vocally co-ordinate with the other groups in our class; once we were given certain words to sing. The Process was one of trial and error, with the group exploring different levels in volume, and the development of the music itself. Musically, everything was improvised by the narrator, to which the chorus, depending on the group you were in, would then imitate, exploring the different harmonies available which were most suited to the notes the narrator was singing. We then rehearsed the whole play together twice before we were then handed banners to take outside with us.

Working Outdoors

After looking over ‘The Foot’ in class and briefly performing it indoors, we decided to go outside on to the grass area in order to vary our use of performance space and see how the dynamics and atmosphere would change by altering the space in which we worked.
Before starting to put together an outdoor performance of ‘The Foot’, we played some brief games to motivate us in our new acting space and to inspire us with ideas for our performance. For the first game we separated into two equal length lines, and from parallel starting points we jogged forward and then around in a circular pattern with one line forming the outer circle and the other forming the inner circle, both lines running in opposite directions and completing one full circle before jogging back to our original line positions. This first attempt was rather unsuccessful and from this we decided that the line forming the outer circle should be longer than the line forming the inner circle, and so we repeated the game but with a difference in line lengths. This proved slightly more successful but problems did occur when the inner circle line tried to jog back to their original line position. So we then added another variation to the game which was for the outer circle to jog for three complete circles and then jog back to their original position, and the leader of the inner circle line would then lead their group to join on to the back of the outer circle line to form one single line. This added variation made the game much more successful and prevented the two lines from bumping into each other and causing each other to change the rhythm of the jogging. As we’d now completed the game successfully, we brought in the use of the sticks and repeated the game but this time whilst each holding a stick in the air and waving it like a flag.
I think this was a good initial game to play outside because it was firstly a fun way of getting us used to working in different surroundings, as there were several holes and hilly areas in the place in which we were working. I feel that it also helped to improve our communication skills as a group because together we had to discuss how we would adapt the game in order to make it more successful based on the circumstances under which we were working. We had to universally agree on each idea that was used and then put the ideas to the test to see if they would work or not. We also needed to evaluate each idea after putting it to the test and decide whether it had increased the success of the game, and if not how we could improve our ideas. It was also quite an inspirational game because as a group it seemed to give us several ideas which we could adapt and use in our outdoor performance of ‘The Foot’ and it also primarily got the group used to working with the poles and banners, which are used copiously in Bread and Puppet theatre.
The second game we played was similar to the first in that we still participated in two lines, but this time we returned to lines of equal length. The aim of the game was to run forwards with the two lines crossing diagonally, and so as a group we had to decide how we would carry out this task successfully. We decided that each person should be crossing in between two consecutive people from the other line and so put this theory to the test. Unfortunately people began to bump into each other and the proposed idea didn’t quite go to plan, so we changed the speed at which we ran, and decided to jog instead. This made the task a little easier, but still having problems we decided to start walking instead of jogging which turned out to be easier as it created a much better rhythm and pattern to the game and dramatically decreased the amount of times the lines bumped into each other. We then decided to vary the point at which the two lines crossed and so we repeated the game in the same way but instead we crossed at a point which was further away from our initial starting points. We found this made the task much easier and so were able to quicken our pace and rhythm at which we were travelling, and we also were able to repeat the game several times without stopping by having each line loop around one of the trees and then jogging back to the initial starting point and repeating the pattern again. Once feeling confident in the task, we again brought in the use of sticks and waved them above our heads as flags.
I feel that this game was good at increasing our spatial awareness and encouraged us to use our peripheral vision in order to keep a reasonable distance away from each other so that we didn’t bump into each other, but also to stay close enough together that we still resembled two lines and didn’t break the pattern or lose the rhythm of the game. Like the first game we played, it was also good at improving our communication skills and increasing our awareness of our surroundings, and again it was an inspirational game as we were able to adapt the game and use it in our performance of ‘The Foot’.
The use of sticks at the end of the second game inspired us to come up with a more creative ending to the game using the sticks, which consequently led to this being the way in which we decided to start our performance of ‘The Foot’. So to start our performance, we began in our original starting positions for the diagonal crossing game, except for two people who each held one side of the large banner and stood at the ‘crossing’ position at which both lines began to intercept each other. The two lines would now represent the chorus of men and women in the production; one line being the men, and the other the women. The leader of each line then led their line around one of the two trees at the front of the performance space and then back up towards our initial starting positions, but stopping half away so that the group formed two parallel lines facing each other. Each person was to be exactly facing someone from the opposite line so that they could hold their stick high in the air and cross it with the other person, forming a long archway, with the banner at the front. This created an interesting pathway which the narrator would use to enter the performance space, and so as the narrator walked past each pair, they would turn do a half turn, turning towards the audience, and bring the stick over their head to touch the floor, forming a Mexican wave effect.
I think this was an effective and creative use of choreography and props and was fitting to the genre of Bread and Puppet theatre, as Schumann’s artistic pedigree is often described as “a mixture of dance and visual art” and I think this entrance is visually attractive and compelling to watch rather than just entering the stage in a boring, uninventive manner. The way in which we moved in canon with each other and how we all moved in the same direction also added a dance-like quality to the piece which I think would make it more appealing to watch.
After the entrance of the narrator, each line grouped together on one side of the stage forming a large V shape fanning out towards the audience, with the banner situated centrally at the back and the men and women making up the sides and the narrator commanding the space in the middle. This seemed to be a good shape to form because it meant that everybody would be visible to the audience, and it also centralised the main large banner bringing focus onto it, and it also brought focus onto the narrator who is an important part of the production and is like the ringleader.
We then continued to act out ‘The Foot’ as we had done in class in doors, but we soon realised that there were some alterations we needed to make in order to adapt to our new surroundings and performance space. The main issue was that we needed to project the dialogue much more and so needed to increase the volume and strength of our voices. We also found that we needed to make our actions much bigger so that they were easily visible to everyone and so that each action could be understood clearly.
When we were working indoors we had a very limited amount of space and so were quite closely huddled together, but when we went outside this limit of space was no longer a big issue. We had a much larger performance space to work with and so could adapt our performance to this. This meant we could spread out much more which complimented the need to increase the size of our actions to make them easily visible as we had more space to do this, so avoiding the danger of hitting and injuring anyone. Working outside also meant that we had to be more aware of the space we were working in though, as when we were inside the performance space was very predictable i.e. square room and flat concrete floor. There were lots of pot holes and hilly areas outside as well as nettles and sticks which we needed to be constantly aware of so that we did not injure ourselves or anyone else. Although this also meant that the space was less controlled and so we could be freer in the space we were in, and so be more creative as we had a larger, more interesting space to work in and adapt to.
Working outdoors had many other advantages too. It allowed us to include much of the natural surroundings such as the use of the trees in the opening of our performance. I think an audience member would find it more appealing to watch a production which made interesting use of an outdoor performance space than one which takes place in a traditional performance space. Working outdoors also creates a less intense environment to work in for both the actor and the audience. From evaluating working both outdoors and indoors I found that I was personally much more relaxed when performing outdoors. I felt that I could be more creative whilst also being more aware of my surroundings, and working in a large outdoor space was much more inspiring and enjoyable to work in.

Posted by Nia Statham

A Message from Ian Thal

2007-10-10T07:18:00.000+01:00

From: Ian Thal [mailto:ianmthal@gmail.com]
Sent: 10 October 2007 05:40
To: n.hussein@rhul.ac.uk; matthew.cohen@rhul.ac.uk
Subject: Your class on Bread and Puppet

I was pleasantly surprised to find my blog on your class' reading list.
Though I did have my reasons for parting company with B&P and Peter Schumann, it seems the investigations you are encouraging your students to engage in could be of great value in their development as theatrical artists (it was for me.)
I hope to hear some of your students' reactions.
Best,
Ian Thal
--
Ian Thal
http://ianthal.blogspot.com
http://authorsden.com/ianthal

Contemporary Theatremaking Blogs

2007-10-09T10:43:00.000+01:00

You may be interested to read the other Contemporary Theatremaking groups’ blogs. They are:

Bread and Puppet Theatre: http://breadandpuppet.blogspot.com/
Shunt: http://shunttheatre.blogspot.com/
Trestle: http://trestletheatrecompany.blogspot.com/
Improbable: http://improbable-theatre.blogspot.com/
Tara Arts: http://tara-arts.blogspot.com/
Forced Entertainment: http://forcedentertainment.wordpress.com/

Week One Seminar: 1st October 2007

2007-10-03T23:35:00.000+01:00

“Documenting devised work is just as critical as scripted” aptly seems to sum up the notion of the class blog.

As a preliminary to the main body of the Contemporary Theatre Making class, our class tutors Matthew Cohen and Nesreen Hussein began by asking for three volunteers to document and provide a full account of today’s class as well as citing the most relevant and interesting points that came up in our group discussions and practical work. Following on from this further, the blog writers would need to earmark the most useful things that could then be taken and developed along the way helping to create our final piece based on Bread and Puppet Theater.

Before we started our work the register was taken and as everyone’s name was called we were asked to say something about ourselves. Ranging from Emily’s “I’ve been told I smile a lot,” to Rob’s (prior to Marcus’ arrival in a female dominated class) “I’m a boy,” it was a fun and light way to break the ice and put pre-class nerves at ease quite quickly.

Matthew Cohen then proceeded to turn our attention towards our term focus; that of the theatre group Bread and Puppet. Asking if anyone had heard of them prior to the pre-reading we had to complete the general answer was no… Matthew and Nesreen told us their various reasons for being inspired to have Bread and Puppet as the group’s main stimulus.

Bread and Puppet is one of the most important theatre groups of the 20th century and have been running for over 45 years. They have had a huge influence not only in the USA but also the rest of the world and have a wide significance. Headed by Peter Schumann, the group deals highly with the different types of pictures theatre can create as well as the different modes of communal engagement.

In terms of their lasting impact there is an account of a seminal visit to England in which radicalisation of popular arts resulted. Elements of Bread and Puppet have also seeped into other elements of life such as protests where very often there will be large scale dolls symbolically carried down the procession.

Bread and Puppet itself is quite a traditional process where puppets are used to “political advocacy” to make direct statements about political states such as poverty, climate change etc.

Nesreen added further her own reasons for being a fan of the group citing the fact that to them “theatre is not treated as a commodity”. They do not perform for the selling of tickets or gaining of profit yet are more concerned with reaching those to whom theatre would not normally be accessible. They highlight global issues of concern whilst challenging modes of perception and how the audience views their work. By involving the audience they also encourage them to go to new spaces than they would normally choose.

Nesreen’s own interest was furthered by the notion of how can puppets and everyday objects can be animated and used to create a narrative. The idea that the puppets are not made to be beautiful and that the focus is more on the how and why of their creative process also came into discussion.

The talk was then opened to the group as we were asked to express our own initial feelings concerning Bread and Puppet.

Marieke commented that the approach seemed very idealistic and because of that it came across quite naïve in the process. Rob stated that the idea whilst being simplistic and at times silly also held a certain amount of power within it. Referring to “Plastic Surga-tron” the consensus was that despite it important meanings, it was portrayed in a fun and child-like manner.

Lou expressed some confusion however over the point of “The Diggers,” questioning whether it was there to make a point or to educate people. Charlotte picked up on what would appear to be a key theme when she said that a lot of the plays had a very “carnivalesque” theme to it using the 2005 production “The National Passion Play of the Correct Movement” as her specific example.

“By the people for the people,” was Emily’s addition as she stated that there was a sense of it being available to all people of all ages and leading on from this Catriona stated that it could appeal to all audience members yet allowing them to interpret the productions in their own ways.

Carmen added that the whole feel to it was very much like a hippy commune and that although portrayed in a fun way it did feel like there might be a sinister side to it. Annie added further that the messages of the piece do stay with you long after you have watched it. Alice picked up on the notion of giving bread. It being as simple as bread is to life as everybody needs to eat food.

Although at the time I didn’t mention it in class – the idea of giving out bread to the audience was an interesting one as the Bread and Puppet theatre make a point of highlighting issues such as poverty. Maybe this was an attempt at feeding someone even if they could not feed the whole world. However, on the flip side I do think it may be quite ironic that the people they feed are those in a position to feed themselves. Perhaps this would take away from their supposed messages? .

We then discussed what skills we would learn as part of this course and how they could then help us in later life. The two main groups of skills we will learn are those which are physical and those that are analytical. The physical concentrating on how the B&P actors move and their use of banners and masks, the analytical skills coming to the fore when we learn why this theatre group performs the way it does and how their efforts make a mark on the world of contemporary theatre. We then discussed how these skills are transferable to every day life, for instance how a movement can change a person’s perspective or approach to a certain topic or issue that they perhaps once found distressing. We also discussed how as part of this module we will be exposed to one of the B&P’s main theories, that of cheap art and how we will learn the process of recycling and learn to appreciate our surroundings and what we can take from them, along with a further understanding of the issue of Globalisation.

Learning about what skills we would learn helped us to think about which skills we could bring to our final performance, such as with the physical aspect how to move, perform and use the space provided for us, along with how to make certain banners and the types of props we could use.

Matthew and Nesreen then discussed how our initial stimulus is split into three sections:

CLIMATE CHANGE
GLOBALISATION
WAR ON TERROR

We then moved on as a group to discuss our two assessments for this term: The Theatre Project and The Essay.

The Theatre Project involves putting on a devised collaborative piece of theatre in the B&P style. Our piece is not meant to be an imitation, but rather a reflection on the key themes and ideas of B&P. The performance should only be 10-20 minutes long and as such should attempt to include as many relevant and effective techniques as possible. We will be assessed on how we worked as an ensemble group and will be moderated with a 10% margin for the individual; this marking will be completed by Matthew, Nesreen and other members of the drama department. Several questions arose, such as Emily asking if there would be a director, the reply was that there would be a director, but they would also act along with the cast as Peter Schumann does (as director of the B&P theatre.) We are allowed to perform anywhere that we so wish as long as we ask permission from the University security team and keep Health and Safety at the forefront of our minds.
The Theatre Project is set with the following criteria:

The play must have a clear message
Must include B&P methods & Techniques
Must include a sense of play & Festivity

The essay has a maximum word limit of 2,000 words with a 10% margin either way, anymore than 2,200 words and you will be marked down. This essay will be set over the Christmas holiday and will be due on the first day back from Christmas break – the seventh of January. Although we are allowed to write informally on this blog (though it is not encouraged) this essay will be weighted in a similar style to an English essay, meaning that correct spelling, formal language and sensible grammar will be expected. We are allowed to email any questions that we might wish to ask to Nesreen or Matthew but it is unlikely that we will be able to submit a rough draft, as the time period we have to write this assessment is so short. The question will be set later on in the term.

Drama Games
We then played some drama games which came from the book “The Wise Fool Basics” as a group to get ourselves moving and to bond, also to explore some of the B&P ideas we had read about previously.

The first-game was a friendly ice-breaker which entailed each individual stepping out from the comforting circle, stating their name and teaming it with a specific action, for example I had to say “Charlie” and then my action was jazz hands as I thought this was a sufficiently drama-esque type action. Nia went first and after Nia came Annie who had to say Nia’s name and perform her action before saying “Annie” and then coming up with her own movement. This continued around the circle with every person saying all of the previous names and performing all their actions before adding their name and movement to the increasing list.

We felt this was a good way to break the ice and allowed everybody to relax and forget their nerves. This game also needed concentration, which after several names allowed us to focus clearly on the game and not our surroundings, helping us later on in the class when we played some of the other, slightly more stretching activities.

One game involved walking around the room in a random fashion until one of the lecturers shouted out an emotion or object such as “sad” where everyone had to pose instantly in a frozen image of that emotion or object. If the lecturer then said intensify is meant that everyone had to increase their acting and make the pose melodramatic. If the lecturer then said Transform everyone had to pose in the opposite manner to the original emotion or object so in this case everyone would pose in a “happy” manner. To go back to walking around the room randomly the lecturer had to say “Resume.” This was quite funny and everyone found it amusing when we were asked to pose as the opposite to Christmas, which left most of us confused as well and then the opposite of a chair, when most people posed as a table.

This game allowed us to notice how a small action or change in body shape could make a huge difference. For example when I (Sheryl) was “happy” I lifted my arms in a jubilant manner while smiling broadly. When Matthew shouted “Transform” I simply allowed my hands to drop, my neck to droop and wiped the smile off my face to create a realistic portrayal as a “sad” person. We felt this was helpful as when it comes to the final performance we can use small actions to differentiate ourselves from the surroundings and other characters to emphasize our points and emotions.

We then moved onto another game, this one called the “Music Machine” where everyone had to make a noise and action to correspond to a certain machine or group, for instance the first time everyone turned into a train, soon the lecturers shouted out different machines to transform ourselves into including Pollution where most people ended up coughing and Democracy which caused some confusion as it became very apparent as to how no one really understood the definition of the term.

We noticed within this game how interesting it was that one person could lead by starting a simple action and the rest of the group would follow suit. It was also interesting to see the different people’s reactions to the words, showing a different interpretation to the person next to them. This game also helped with team-work as we all had to work together, as a team, to create the one machine. This is one game we should develop as a group in relevance to our final piece as we could start the performance with the building of one machine, as research has found visual imagery to have a lasting effect than spoken word, thereby making our message stay in the heads of our audience.

The next game was called the “car game” it involved everyone splitting off into pairs, one person being the “car” the other the “driver”. The idea was for the “car” to close their eyes and allow themselves to be steered by their open-eyed “driver”. This game involved a lot of trust as the “car” could only move at the insistence of the “driver”, for example pressing the lower part of the back to go forwards, the left shoulder to turn left and the right to turn in the corresponding direction. There were also a few close shaves with this game where the “driver” would occasionally and accidentally direct their “car” into a traffic jam, closely avoiding injury by tapping their “cars” on their heads, allowing the person playing “car” to realize they had to stop and stop quickly. This game was then swapped, allowing the person who was the “car” to turn into the “driver” and vice-versa.

We felt this game was a good trust game as the car people had to be prepared to allow their bodies to be at the complete mercy of their drivers, however what was also good with this game was the way the car knew that if their driver was mean they would be able to be mean back when the roles were reversed, this then encouraged everyone to be nice to one another and again increased the “friendly-group” atmosphere that had been built up to this point. The driver also had to be aware of the surrounding space and people in order to prevent any crashes. The drivers all seemed to work together allowing certain people to move at certain times, while in the majority avoiding any collisions.

We then finished on the song game where the lecturers asked us to think about Global Warming, come up with a phrase, but that phrase to a tune and then make a group of four and share our little tunes, making one large song. Afterwards the group of four had to join with another group and adjust their song to include the other. The result was rather strange with a choir, beatbox and “You will die!” sound emerging. The lecturers then asked the three groups of eight to all join together, once again rejoining the whole class and to use those songs into one large one. It ended up starting with the choir group’s song then the “You will die!” group and finally ending with the beat box posse.

This game was brilliant in the sense that it seemed to encompass a key B & P theme of “cheap art”. The song was devised spontaneously and cost us nothing to produce or perform; it was also a good ensemble piece – putting our team-working skills to the test. Some individuals took the lead while others were submissive, however everyone was allowed their say and as a result the groups worked well and achieved a unique and intriguing final song. In terms of the final piece we would argue that a song would be a definite thing to include as not only does it remain true to the techniques of B&P but also is a good way of putting across a serious message in a light-hearted manner.

We then reformed a circle and started another discussion, this time discussing the games. Carmen thought that the style of B&P was relevant to today as we are dealing with the recent conflicts in Iraq along with the previous problems in Afghanistan and Korea, which can be seen to reflect the B&P focus of war. She also felt that this form of expression is more prominent today as people have less power than they have in previous years. Rob then stated that the B&P format of free performance was a really good idea as their plays would be able to reach more people and their message would be spread further than if they simply stayed in a normal, traditional theatre. He also felt that the free bread was a bonus. Kerry thought that the song game emphasized the message “strength against the evil of the world” and helped to show the important of being with others who also want to change the world in a similar way to yourself. Nia stated that the B&P was almost symbolic theatre as bread is a basic need and that by watching this style of theatre you gain something back from the performance. Charlotte then raised the point that B&P is interesting as it completely rejects normal theatre and that the machine game allowed everyone to join in, just like acting in the streets allows everyone to watch. Rob concluded that it was easy for the group to bond because the B&P style is fun and adaptable, making the exercises and lesson enjoyable.

We then selected our tasks for the following weeks:

“MUSIC” Research music as part of the B&P Theatre: Junk music, jazz band, sacred harp or shape note song. Diana, Alice, Emily, Rosanna, Marika.

“CHOREOGRAPHY”. Simple but effective aesthetic to Pick apart the B&P style. Use videos. Laura, Freya, Marcus, Fleur, Jessica.

“PUPPET & MASK MAKING” Research how they are made etc. Make prototypes from cardboard. Sheryll, Nia, Catrina, Lou, Georgia. [Recommended reading includes Wise Fool Basics and Engineers of the Imagination]

“SCRIPT” How the plays are put together as plays; how the different elements cohere; language and how performance is structured textually. Emily, Leah, Carmen, Kerry, Jolie [Recommended reading includes Stefan Brecht's book on Bread and Puppet and a script by Schumann in Puppetry International 20, 2006.]

“SPACE & SCENOGRAPHY” How do the performances fit into their surroundings. Explore how backgrounds & backdrops are used in the space. Charlie, Rob, Charlotte, Annie

Week One Blog Writers: Charlie, Nia, Sheryl

NEWS ITEM

2007-10-02T14:23:00.000+01:00

ON Wednesday, 14th November at 5:00pm in WIN104 there will be a
HARC/Drama seminar on “Explicating the Artwork” organised by Professor David Wiles.

This seminar will feature Professor Baz Kershaw from the University of Warwick in dialogue with Adam Ganz, lecturer in Media Arts, RHUL. Professor Kershaw, as you'll recall, is the author of numerous books and articles on popular radical theatre - we read an excerpt for one of them for Monday's class.

Welcome

2007-09-20T14:53:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the blog for the Contemporary Theatremaking option on Bread and Puppet Theater.

Bread and Puppet at Lincoln Center, New York, 8 August 2007,

Photograph by Matthew Cohen

This space is an opportunity for us to document the process of the project we are undertaking together. Documentation is a key concern for contemporary practitioners and scholars and part of your study during this course will involve reflecting upon the documentation of the company and developing documentation of your own work.

Each week group members will be allocated to the process of documentation - although you are all invited to post reports and comments. If you are unsure how to do any of these things, you can email Nesreen Hussein (n.hussein@rhul.ac.uk) or Matthew Cohen (matthew.cohen@rhul.ac.uk) and we'll try to talk you through it. You will receive feedback on your documentation work from both Nesreen and Matthew.

By the end of the course we hope that this blog will be a rich account of the ideas and images we have explored during the term which should prove very useful to you as you write your reflective essays.

Readings and viewings

This course has a course pack containing readings on Bread and Puppet that you are required to purchase from the departmental office. You will also be expected to view a number of videos.

Before the first class on Monday 1 October please view Bread and Puppet videos from 2004 to 2007 on youtube (http://uk.youtube.com/user/jpreeeter) as well as do the assigned readings in the course pack (only about 12 pages).

You are also encouraged to view Biting the Hand that Leads Us, an online video about theatre companies (primarily American) that use performance for political impact, including a three minute excerpt from the documentary Bread and Puppet Theatre: A Song for Nicaragua. See http://www.archive.org/details/ddtv_17_biting_the_hand_that_leads_us. The Bread and Puppet segment is at 47.42 -50.55.

By the Way...

A political theatre company based on Bread and Puppet features in Julie Taymor’s new film Across the Universe which will be in general release in the UK at the end of September. A trailer for this film can be viewed at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ6d3m-GFyw.

There has been some discussion among puppeteers about the (mis-)representation of Bread and Puppet's work in the film. (See, e.g., this posting at puptcrit.)You are encouraged to see the film before 15 October when will be discussing Bread and Puppet’s work in the 1960s.