Lecoq - Commedia dell'arte

 Some quick notes. Because I love commedia. And because there is little literature on this beautiful art form.

Monday:

In the Grande Salle with Anne we began our exploration in different corners with the various characters. Capitano and the Sergeant. Capitano has a massive body and an even bigger voice. The sergeant, kind of like a dog, a little person in search of power. Next was Tartaglio, who stammers. Who had a drippy body, sad eyes, a mouth that cries, a body that shakes maybe, with his inability to express. There was then Doctore, who is an intellectual class, but who steals ideas and is a little pretentious. Tall body, a slow walk but a little unsure. Circular movements work with him. Then there was Bhrigella, a servant from the mountains, quite a Zanny, loyal but given to the drink. A heavy body used to the earth. Then of course, Pantalone, who is old, on the brink of death when discussing money, and also who is young when he speaks of love. All the characters are extremes in their own rights. If they talk of thirst, they can die of thirst. If they're hungry, they could die from it. Or die from a heartache. Beautifully tragic.

Harlequin with Jos. Bob opened the space to tidy the room on command from the master, but then begins playing with the mess. Play the situation, don't think, play with the first thing we see. Relationship with the inanimate objects seem to always be a win. Play with emotions was another thing we can keep. Be aware of what happens, more articulation, and don't force the play (keep trying to force a certain game when the audience have moved beyond it, or when it has dropped). If the broom follows, the broom FOLLOWS, and the play has changed. The second situation was where the parent locks the child in, and asks Harlequin to babysit. Harlequin never changes. He is smart, but not quite smart enough. He is a hustler, always looking for a chance to make a buck, a slacker, always trying to slack off. He's the same through the ages and that's why we love him for it. His body is light, maybe down in servitude, and there is a folly to his movements that is extremely enjoyable to watch as he brings us into his crazy world.

Tuesday

With Eric in the grande salle with moved the bodies of Commedia. Nothing short of delightful to rediscover the grand attitude of the Harlequin, and find his rhythms as he introduces himself: 'Ladies and gentlemen, the parody of the Harlequin, it's me.' He turns, he sits and thinks, and he jumps and settles and thinks. He tries to advance in the space, but not really, and walks like a chicken when he thinks nobody is watching, and runs like a chicken when someone is. He is a jester. We found the attitude of Brighella also, the sideways vertical mountain climber we know too well. 

With Anne we explored the power of the women. It is great to watch the girls let loose and yell about vulgar topics in the female space. Anne is right, in Commedia, there is little space for women; the empowerment exercise was definitely a good one. There is so much wit and jest and irony and female rights in Commedia/comedy space in New York, that I forget some of the girls still need the encouragement in discovering power in their feminity. This is their journey.

Wednesday

With Paola we investigated Pantalone, the younger version (albeit still pretty old), at his most comfort zone, at his place, counting money. It is cold, but he has to count money, but yet he is cold. There's something about the shawl wrapped around his frail body and his hat. His rhythm is off, slow, quick, suddenly young, suddenly old, capable of a handstand to look under the table. He is suspicious of everybody, loves his pouch, and knows his coins by touch (name?). Is there a game he plays when he enters the room to tell people that he's tired and going to sleep? And definitely not counting money? Does he check the closet for Harlequin? What games does he play when counting money. One for Pantalone, another for Pantalone, one for... nope, Pantalone. 'Who owns the stars?' 'Can I buy them?'

With Eric we warmed up the space with the drill sergeants, then explored Capitano and Sergeant. DON'T DROP OBJECTS - they drop le jeu. Capitano has a massive body, an even bigger ego, and is afraid of sound, and very susceptible to women. He is heavy, not pretentiously light, has a big stride, and is so pompous that he falls on his ego. But that is also part of the game - how he recovers from the fall. He is eloquent. Sometimes even takes out his sword to make intricate gestures in the air. He never takes out his sword though, especially not in front of other men, because he doesn't want to duel. Maybe sometimes he wants to take out his sword, but his sword doesn't want to. 

Sergeant is doglike, proud, happy to serve, and scampers around. He has acrobatic moves too, as he hops from one gestures to the next, much like how a dog hops around. He admires Capitano to a fault, perhaps the reason the Capitano keeps him around. 

Thursday

With Yasuyo, we articulated the masks in actions. We got into groups of three, and worked together under the demi-masks. Action, reaction, reaction of the others, which leads to another action, and another reaction. So on. Keep doing, keep articulating.

With Paola, we discovered Pantalone, and how Harlequin and Tartaglia might try to steal from him. 'On est tous bete, et tous intelligente.' Tartaglia isn't a timid mask, he stammers. Perhaps, he is timid because he stammers? But he doesn't stammer because he is timid. Doctore knows all and knows nothing. Harlequin is smart but doesn't learn. Capitano fears nothing and fears everything. Pantalone is rich but owes everyone. He is rich because he owes everyone? The humanity of theatre (these days?) lie in the duality of human nature, and how we can get away with showing both.

We elongate the time of the masks, take a bigger momentum to stop someone from doing something, so that they can intervene. Tartaglia comes into Pantalone's chamber, 'je ve-veux pay-pay-payer!' Enough time for Harlequin to sneak in, and then Pantalone realizes, 'I need to close the door! Harlequin will come in!' 

Friday

We discovered the two Pantalone together with Paola. The first Pantalone is counting money when an unmasked Zanny announces the arrival of the second Pantalone (Brigand). All Zanny has to do is to describe Brigand, and we all know why he is here. Brigand finally makes it into the chamber (either Zanny lets him in, or by cunning and trickery he sneaks in), and begins to ask Pantalone for... Everytime he almost arrives, Pantalone cuts him off. Until Brigand can take it no more and asks directly for the money. Pantalone has a heart attack, which leads Brigand off to find Doctore, after which Pantalone closes the door and locks it.

Keep searching, and when we find it, we push it to the profunder - can we play with la vie et la mort? It is interesting to see death on stage and then see it switch from a sneak peak back to an outrageous death. 

Paola's note to me was the same - it's you, Eugene. So I had a chat with her, and this time, she was motherly: 'It's okay, Eugene, you are inexperienced in theatre, so it will take time for you to find it. But keep working on the body of the mask, especially the masks of Sartori, they're strong. Change the body, and every time you don't have it, I will remind you.'

The next Monday:

With Eric we did acrobatics and explored how Harlequin sleeps (basically a shoulder stand), and then acrobatics of emotions.

With Jos we explored the gag. Exercises:
- Harlequin discovering his body. Different places to pop
- Follow the butterfly (with the head)
- (pop) Head, shoulder shoulder, plexus, basin basin, knee knee, foot foot, then walk
- Same exercise in pairs
- Standing up from cross-legged seated position
- Yawning, then coming down - wrist wrist, elbow elbow, close close, shoulder shoulder, head, plexus down onto the floor
- In pairs to have someone puppet you 
- From sitting on heel to samurai stance
- Too cold to pick anything up
- Too afraid to be first (w partner)
- One is too loud, the other wants to keep him quiet
- One doesn't understand, the other wants him to
- One gives instructions, the other pretends to understand
- One gives instructions, the other understands, but keeps coming back (or pulled back)

And delightfully, we explored Harlequin, Tartaglia and Brighella with Jos. Again, we talked about the humanity of the masks - how they are extreme. If we have courage, we must have fear (Capitano). Harlequin is sneaky, and suspicious. Brighella is nice, and is moved to fight at times. Tartaglia is smart, and dumb. Tartaglia's mind is always running, tripping over himself, perhaps that is why he stammers? Too much going on in there. He reacts a beat too late always, and one is never clear whether he gets it or he doesn't. Articulate everything, that's how we can find each beat. Commedia is immediate - we play straight away, everything gives us a chance to play.

The next Tuesday:

With Yasuyo we explored Doctore. Less of the form, and more of the game of intellect and charm. He can be quite the charming fellow, perhaps due to his eloquence in speech? In the space we first saw Doctore alone, speaking on a topic he knows, when his assistant arrives and ushers him off. Gesture, speech, gesture, speech, reaction. How does he cover up his embarrassment at needing to relinquish the space? The next exercise was Doctore with a client. He does not understand the client's malady, but he pretends to, since he wants the money. Does he charm his client if he finds her beautiful?

With Eric we discovered a sergeant recruiting people. Gesture, reaction, justify, game. Don't forget to advance the scene even if we're caught on the game. Articulate the moments. When the sergeant pleads for his life, and the recruits look at him, what are his beats to come back to his senses? Articulate standing up and separating his hands.

The next Weds: (Last commedia class)

With Anne, the topic was Cruelty. In the trenches, 3 starving soldiers look over the battlefield laced with dead bodies and mines, and find a banana. Their hunger drives them to go for it. The first game is who goes, who convinces who, and the second game is their strategy for circumventing the mines. We are able to use the mines to help us delay getting to the banana. Or even use dead bodies to cover the mines. A nice touch was searching the dead bodies for useful stuff.

As Anne puts - a statement improvisers are well acquainted with - Don't look for laughter. Look for the humanity. The laughter for a gag is very similar, but not quite, to the laughter that a person emanates when he discovers the truth. As actors, we need to be sensitive to that. We have to look for situations that are humane and truthful, and perhaps laced with cruelty, because that is human nature, and then we can use the timing of the gag to advance. The timing of the mask and the gag is what aids us in keeping rhythm when delivering our stories of humanity.