THE VOICES PROJECT:

BETWEEN BETWEEN BETWEEN BETWEEN

USUSUSUS

AFTER YOU SEE AFTER YOU SEE AFTER YOU SEE AFTER YOU SEE THE SHOWTHE SHOWTHE SHOWTHE SHOW

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

After seeing a performance it is always good to

note your (rst impressions of the piece. This

includes: things you liked or disliked, things that

met or didn’t meet your expectations and

anything unexpected.

YOU HAVE A GOYOU HAVE A GOYOU HAVE A GOYOU HAVE A GO

→ In small groups, discuss the responses you

had to the show. Try to recall the things that

stood out the most in your mind. Create a

tableau that depicts the essence essence essence essence of the

production you have selected.

→ Share your tableau with the class.

→ Discuss you tableau and thoughts of the

production.

EXPLORING THE THEME

We all have secrets: they are the whispered

confessions, the embarrassing stories shared

with friends, the guilty pleasures, the white lies,

the gossips and the unbelievable truths.

SecretsSecretsSecretsSecrets

Both our writers and our cast explored the

ideas around secrets. Through this process

they looked at four distinct phases:

Keeping a secret

Hiding a secret

Revealing a secret

Reacting to a secret

YOU HAVE A GOYOU HAVE A GOYOU HAVE A GOYOU HAVE A GO

→ In small groups, quickly improvise a tableau

to each of the four phases above. Try not to

think about it too much. Make a physical o8er

and respond to it.

→ Select one of your tableau and use this as

the starting point for improvising a short scene

around the idea of ’secrets’.

→ Present your improvisation to the class.

→ Discuss the elements that worked/didn’t

work, related well to the idea of secrets, or the

essence of the original production, what

surprised you etc.

→ meet the cast

www.atyp.com.au/

between-us

Photo: Tracey Schramm

FORM AND FORM AND FORM AND FORM AND

STYLESTYLESTYLESTYLE

PROMENADE THEATRE

Between Us is staged in an

unconventional promenade style. The

audience move around the theatre

space and the action occurs in various

spaces. Monologues are performed in

unexpected places and the audience

walk around the theatre accordingly.

Our Director, Sarah Parsons,

alongside Set and Prop designer

Melanie Liertz were

required to think of the

space at ATYP from a

bird’s eye view, to plan

the spaces in which

each monologue was to

be performed. You can

see the plan of the space in the image

above.

→ see another

example of

promenade theatre

on a large scale

www.atyp.com.au/

quay-the-city

YOU HAVE A GOYOU HAVE A GOYOU HAVE A GOYOU HAVE A GO

→ Using your improvisations from the

secrets activities on the previous

page, start to plan a piece of

promenade theatre.

→ Decide on a location for the class.

Will you be in the classroom, in a

theatre space, in the hall or in the

playground.

→ In your small groups decide on a

location for your improvised scenes.

→ Decide on the order that each

group will perform, which group goes

(rst second third etc. How will you

transition between each piece? You

may wish to draw a map for you

audience to follow.

→ Perform for another class. You may

wish to develop your scenes and turn

this into a larger performance for

parents, friends family.

Photo: Tracey Schramm

MOVING BEYOND THE MOVING BEYOND THE MOVING BEYOND THE MOVING BEYOND THE

WORDS : PHYSICALITYWORDS : PHYSICALITYWORDS : PHYSICALITYWORDS : PHYSICALITY

LE COQ

When rehearsing monologues it is

often the case that an actor starts

with the text as their (rst point of

reference. In the rehearsal room for

Between Us director Sarah Parsons

and Assistant Director Curtis

Fernandez decided to try and get the

actors to forget about their text. By

adapting the technique pioneered by

French artist Jacque Le Coq, the team

encouraged actors to get out of their

heads and into their bodies.

The Seven Stages of Tension

Fatigue

Casual

Neutral

Alert

Economic

Passionate

Catatonic

These should be used as a guide for

QUALITY of energy not quantity.

The cast used the

physicality of an air

guitar competition to

play with these stages of

tension. It is important

to note no dialogue or

words are used, only

vocal sound e8ects

→ see another

example of

approaches to text

http://issuu.com/

atyp/docs/

bite_me_resources

_inspiration

YOU HAVE A GOYOU HAVE A GOYOU HAVE A GOYOU HAVE A GO

→ Scatter yourselves around the

room. Begin in a classic air guitar

pose. Gradually move through the

stages of tension in order to get a feel

for each.

→ Prompted by a facilitator ?ip

between the stages of physical

tension that are not directly similar eg

from Fatigue to Alert. It is important

to note no dialogue or words are used,

only vocal sound e8ects.

EXTENSION:

→ Apply the stages of tension to a

character or piece of text. Can one

character move through all? Does he/

she like to wallow in one particular

stage of tension? How does the

physicality relate a sense of

character?

→ Discuss.

Photo: Tracey Schramm