Lecoq: Full Masks

 We bring all our crazy masks in, what fun shapes!!

Monday:

Autocour this week is our masks in a situation (and an event). Our group is exploring first each mask's personnage, before dictating situations. I like working like this.

With Frederick in movement, we paired up and stood opposite each other with the other's mask in our hand. We get to watch our masks be moved by someone else's hand - slow movements, quick, circular ones, angular ones, big movements or little. How do we move a form, how do we move a mask? Next we put the masks on and tasted how it felt by walking around the room with it. For the length we were to move quicker, and the breadth we were to move more relaxedly. Not forgetting to look with the mask before going. We then began to test how it feels to move by leading with different parts of the body. We could lead with the nose, which is really fun for plenty of masks since there were a lot with big noses. We could also lead with the chest, or the plexus, and also the hips. Add the quality of movements in, and we had a multitude of characters.

Improv with Eric started off dandy - he told me I should throw my mask in the poubelle. Which I agreed with wholeheartedly. I had no idea why I painted my mask so stupidly. We are interested in form, so Eric suggested I simply repaint the whole mask. After comments on various masks, we laid all of them on the bench, and had someone go up and try a mask. First, there was the entry, which most people get - the features of the mask are fresh in the performer's mind as they enter the space. Eric had us do all the details slowly: first the mask looks up slowly, and then down, and to the sides. Departing from the horizontal line of sight for the mask, we find different angles where the expressive masks give a different vibe. When situations arise (a cute girl comes in), we look and react (or not, perhaps we're married), and perhaps we share our reaction with the audience. Some masks with set shapes look quite 'jus' with the same shape embodied by the body. Popular mentions are Agat's pig-faced mask, and Justina's old dame mask. We also worked with emotions, whether the mask gets happy easily, or timid, or angry. Then we find the countermask - the emotions that might be hard for the mask to demonstrate. Can we impose the emotion on the mask? Can a mask predominantly in anger look happy?

In LEM, we got a head start with the larval masks!! As we uncover the 22 beautiful masks, you could practically hear a pin drop in the grande salle. That, and the drools dropping. We each picked up a mask, and moved it like a form, or a structure. Instead of a face, we saw lines; instead of a forehead, we saw a round form; instead of a nose, we saw a triangular form. What is the rhythm of this structure, does it move fast? Does it curve in its motion? How does it advance, or back away? The same way we discover fixed points and movement in structure, we transpose it onto the larval mask. Then slowly, we wear the mask on our hand and move it. Is the mask so angular that it moves quickly to the directions? Or is it so round and takes up so much space, it makes a huge circle as it moves. In an interesting turn of events, Frederick gave us formless cardboards and got us to wear them as costumes. Again, we move them as structures would, but this time, we wear them on the body. Last but not least, we combine the mask on the face and the cardboard form on the body. How do we disassociate them? Think opposites. Body first, then mask, then body. Perhaps a curve on the body, and a sharp movement with the head. Or perhaps the mask descends as the body ascends. This is a little too advanced right now.

Tuesday:

In movement with Francois, we rediscovered our masks again. First, we walked around with them, and tasted how they stopped, turned, what shape they take on. Then we swapped it with a partner, and watched them move our masks. They're at a bus-stop, and they're late. The bus comes and goes. It's the last bus. How do the masks react? How do they move when they're angry? Or frustrated? Or dejected? Next, we find a seat. How do our masks sit? How do we choose another seat? If we don't like the seat, we can always change it. We're now satisfied with the seat, but it's the wrong location. How do we move it? Higher or lower? There's always something with the mask - it's always curious. There is a motor, and it's always wanting / doing something. Lastly, the mask gets ready. A petit demonstration by Anna and Ivet, where we see too many actions is too much. A just emphasis on each movement, less of the speech with the hands, but enough of a mini expression of a reaction when an action is done.

With Yasuyo, we explored the larval masks. There is a buzz of excitement in the air as everyone got into groups and discovered each other's movements of the formless characters. They are categorised into: Geometrical, Animal, Humans and Fantastical. The first scene we explored was how a mask enters, discovers the space, the bench, possibly each other, and how it sleeps. We went up in trios. Jonas's bird was memorable, feet first, and the beak poking forward to follow, then a change in height and a glance at the audience. Complicated to write, but a delight to watch. The scene ended with Jonas and Joon together on the ground. The second and last scene of the day had us playing 2 scientists herding a flock of nameless larval creatures into a cage. Massively fun.

Wednesday was food poisoning for me, and we shall never eat fried chicken again.

Thursday:

Movement with Eric was short and sweet - we discovered shovelling, raking and cutting firewood with an axe.

La vie, la mort, et moi

Paola stays as stern as ever. We're doing theatre here! She cuts us of if we enter wrong, sit wrong, look wrong. There is a jus-ness we're discovering. We explored each of our masks again to see if it functions or pas. The scene was basically 3 (or 4) people are here for an interview with their dossier, when the manager arrives.

Friday:

Juggling!

We destroyed the autocour in the worst way possible. 12 teams went up, only 1 got any real laughter and comments. The rest of us were in our heads, and nothing nothing nothing. Theater's really sad when done like this. Paola looks at each of us in the eye while saying that. There is a cleansing feeling as she wipes us off. I feel really sorry as I look at the judges bench. It wasn't my best week I'm sure, but it's my autocour, and this was what we worked on all week and came up with. I suck. But it's ok. There's always a next time. I have to try harder.