Bringing the Bard to the ‘Bart
Posted: Sunday 11 November 2012 Filed under: 2012 | Tags: Tasmania, Team T, The Players Leave a comment »Team T have just returned from two weeks in Tasmania and we loved it! Having recently travelled to Julia Creek in outback Queensland we couldn’t get over how green Tasmania was in comparison. The wildlife was beautiful and the landscape stunning. We jammed as much touristy things in as we could – wineries, Mt Wellington, Mona, historic Richmond and Salamanca Markets to name a few.
Peacock!
An historic bridge in Richmond
We found an array of delicacies in Hobart, it seems that Tasmanians are kings of cuisine and what better way to stay motivated for our shows than with lots of Patisserie treats. Here is a shot of our favourite little cafe, so far, that we found on our travels to the Salamanca markets.
A lovely little cafe at Salamanca Markets in Hobart
Dessert with a view
We have received such a warm welcome from everyone down here, students, teachers and especially those chefs. Because the countryside is so beautiful everywhere we go, if it wasn’t so cold it would be great to do a performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream outside in one of the stunning parks! We were all raring to go for our shows at Ouse District High on the morning of Monday 5th November and then we popped into MONA to soak up some more culture in the afternoon.
A light installation at MONA
We caught some live music at the Republic and a big shout out goes to Sacred Heart College in New Town for showing the Melbourne Cup in their gym hall. Oh, and we even did some work. The audiences were awesome, super respectful, the Student Masterclasses were fun and we can’t wait to come back next year.
The beautiful view from Mount Wellington
We dropped a line to Charles and Camilla, and they changed their itinerary on our advice. Charles even wanted to catch the same flight back to Sydney with us, but we let him down gently. We just didn’t think Sydney Airport could cope with the hype. Now there is a love story Shakespeare would have had a field day with.
Same outbound flight as Charles and Camilla… coincidence or conspiracy?
Overall, thanks for having us Tasmania, we had a fantastic time and hope you cats we got to work with enjoyed yourselves too.
P.S. It has been said it’s best not to leave Team T with too much time on their hands. This is what happened when we were let loose in Hellyer College’s performance space in Burnie. Thanks for the loan of your props guys!
Back on the road with The Fairies: Re-finding our characters
Posted: Thursday 7 June 2012 Filed under: 2012 Leave a comment »Well, the Players are back on the road! After 4 weeks of performing Romeo And Juliet at the Sydney Opera House, the Fairies are back in the Kia Carnival, chowing down heart-stopping fast food and coming to a school near you (and hopefully to yours). We came back to our two touring shows (Macbeth: Undone and Midummer Madness) like Tin Man to a grease pot – groaning at first but now ready like a bat out of hell to rock our long way to the top down the long and winding yellow brick road that leads right to your door.
Ed trying to re-find his character
We have learnt a lot coming back to these plays we know so well. The biggest lesson for me has been how easy it is to simply “go through the motions” in a performance and not commit to the true needs of your character. By the end of the year we will have done each of these plays over two hundred times each, maybe more, so the temptation is for us to get complacent in our performances. This basically means we can say all the words and do all the moves, but not strive for the heart of the character – that part of them that fights for what they need and listens to the other characters. Without this heart, you get actors talking at each other, rather than to each other.
So, how do you avoid this? I’m discovering that this is where the work starts! It’s one thing to ‘solve’ your character and nut out their needs and objectives etc, but quite another to sustain it for a long run of a show. I am realizing that the answer lies in your other actors. If you can keep rediscovering the joy of playing the scene – revel in playing the stakes and daring each other to commit to them, you can find some real flexibility in your performance. The trick is to have the courage to leap down the road of new discovery and not cling to your safe, pre-discovered choices. That’s a fair bit of acting jargon, and I’m still figuring it out, but I hope you find it interesting.
See you cats soon,
Ed
