Hebras

so, this friday we went to the school's theatre to see Hebras, the new play from our very own Robbie ray (and his theatre group cuer2).

upon entering the stage (yes, the stage, not sitting on the chairs in the audience) there were chairs set up in a circle and the two lead and only actors were already in still picture. this image was very striking to me, they were intertwined and contorted, wearing masks and girdles with two beams of warm light on them. this is a very effective first impression since it strikes the audience, sets the mood and creates the atmosphere it was wonderful because the pose they were in seemed very complicated, thus we are able to recognize the body language and work hence the effort put in is perceivable. so we return to think about a play's first impression, if we want to captivate the audience and have them interested on what's to come then we must be able to make a very strong first impression, giving enough to keep them interested but not too much so that we are able to keep up with this first impression as the play goes on. so can a play succeed if it starts with a weak first impression? and then again what is a good first impression? since too much shock can disgust/frighten and sometimes even offend an audience.so this is where a play's "reality" meets the artifice of theatre, we can do whatever we want but it somewhat has to go according to our audience so that we do not lose them along the way whereas in real life, since we are not presenting anything to an audience, we do not care about what the audience thinks.
in this first pose, a man and a woman were shown, this is key because, had they been two men or two women it would change the overall meaning of the play, this reminds us that the process we put into a play has to go according to our overall message and purpose.

there were no words however the sound of the violins were perfect for the play nevertheless i enjoyed it most when the characters were moving and the sounds came just from their breathing hitting with the mask, this heightened the overall effect for me because the sound variated, when the characters moved most and they became most agitated the breathing sounded like muffled cries and quiet suffering, this was fantastic because it gave the play more tension and made us feel the characters emotions. (when they were on the floor trying to escape from each other their breathing got heavier, when they were calm the sound was almost quiet.) this makes me think about props and masks, they aren't just there to make the play pretty, these are tools an actor and a director can use to elevate a performance to the next level and for me the masks hence the breathing sounds did this, it leads me to wonder if this was done on purpose, i think yes because otherwise the masks would've had a hole on the mouth, or maybe not, hmmmm), overall i am lead to wonder about acting itself and what a fantastic craft it is, we, as actors can portray and evoke the whole range of human emotion with something as small as a sigh, a whisper or a breath so sometimes it is best to keep things subtle (rather than scream out loud this play just breathed.) the masks were also useful because they rid the actors of a face hence we as audience are able to put any face we want on the character and any emotion we want, however this emotion is influenced by the action of a play so figuring out which one to put helps us to understand the message, plot and play better.

as the play progressed the story became clear to me, it was a couple who was in love and they had a troublesome relationship: there was abuse from the man (evident in the "puppeteer" part when he controls her to clean etc.) and these sort of threads that joined them into a never-ending circle were evident as well, when they were laying down and their fingers started to travel along sinuously and when they had each other's hearts on their hands are a perfect example of how things don't have to be there to make a message and an overall performance come through, in fact it's better for an actor to be able to represent these things with their body (one of the reason's why our supermarket performance was successful) and better for an audience because, if done properly, the audience is, well, in awe. so back to props, yes they are very useful but, how do we know when to put them in and when to take them out? doesn't it depend on the kind of play we do? (let's be honest here, this play is not for everyone, the oh-so-fabulous pitucas from lima aren't going to go crazy for this play because their idea of theatre is, i don't know, something ,more like cocina y zona de servicio, something more "real", well i'm sorry to break it to you PTA, theatre is NOT REAL, it is theatre and yes it can be a representation of life but is never real life. so how do we find that balance between what i call a commercial play and an interpretative or more artsy kind of play? so that we don't limit ourselves when putting a play together.

i think rehearsal was key in this play because of the intricate choreography it had, and, well, having no deadline to present the play, cuer2 were able to present this play when they knew it was ready, ripe. but, how do we know it is? because upon watching the play along with the audience, don't directors always get the feeling that something could've been changed or added or removed? and if this is the case for people with no deadline where do people with a, i don't know, from march to june 21,22,23, deadline stand? because the case here isn't that the play is ripe then so it can be shown, it's a matter of the play HAVING to be ready for that time so a director is never going to be free from "what if" feelings/thoughts.

having a play with such simple production elements as this one is great because it allows the audience to focus on the characters and their story and also on the details from the overall atmosphere, ever notice the little particles floating in the air? well when you put a warm beam of light such as the one this play had you create magic for maniacs such as myself, i found myself drifting off watching the particles and seeing the actions from a different perspective, like if i were outside from the action and hence i reflected on the message, because finding myself detached (in a good way) i reflected upon these threads that we sometimes ignore and cease to care for hence they are broken or overgrown so we are stuck (like the couple here) and when not looking into the light i felt more of a part of the action, on an emotional level and technical level because i was part of the stage, i was the fourth wall, so it was this circle that also trapped the characters into, well, their circle of "love" so to speak and this is great because it makes you think about the different stages you can put a play in and their overall effect on the audience and the performance itself. this play was purely atmospheric as well, little things like the breeze the characters gave off when "hugging" the audience brought this play up a notch and enhanced the overall relationship and effect on the audience.

when the play ended the characters were in the same position that they were on in the beginning thus completing this idea of the circle, then we had a q&a session with roberto and the actors, i found this particularly useful (even though i didn't ask anything) to understand the different perspectives and overall understanding of a play from the audience, i found myself listening to questions i knew the answers to (because they were confirmed by roberto) and some i had no idea of, so, when it comes to the message and effectiveness of a performance how do we know an audience (the whole VARIED audience) is able to grasp it? understand it? reflect upon it? and if there were no message how can we be sure that an audience will enjoy a play? (again the whole audience) so therefore what is a GOOD play? because not everybody thinks the same way, so this leads me to think about the once annoying resolution that plays have to have a message and reflect on culture and society, this becomes useful because when applied we are able to narrow the scope of what we can do in a performance and helps us reach our audience in a more efficient way, or does it?