This workshop was presented as part of the Under Southern Skies Gathering held in Hobart, Australia. I presented an offer during an Open space format to share how I lead my company in weekly rehearsals/membership sessions. This was taken up, and I presented this workshop for the participants of the gathering.
Introduction session to Alpha Omega Playback Theatre Company over our time together. I would like to share, our favourite exercises and games, and share with you how I make playback accessible to this community and what has sustained them.
Theme: Embracing challenges and opening pathways of accessibility within a playback context (Place, purpose, practice)
Resources Required: Musical instruments, octopus ball.
Warm Up
Welcoming everyone. This will be a session of play, storytelling and diving into the forms, how we do it at Alpha Omega Playback Theatre Company. I wanted to share with you a regular session and how it works for us.
Blessing: Calling those that travel with us, those that have been before, those that will come after, we impart our energy of creativity in this place with the people and environment, we share energy with and knowledge within this place of exchange, with open hearts and generosity for each other.
Let's start...
Our group members love introducing themselves with their own unique flair, finding their voice to introduce themselves.
Name Sound and Movement Circle
Purpose: To introduce yourself to the group with Sound and Movement
Create a sound and movement that introduces your name.
Call and response: The group responds by copying the offer as closely as possible
Run around games Time to get out of the head and into the body, present in this moment.
Everybody's in Freeze Tag
Purpose: to get everyone out of their head and totally present in their body.
Note: the game will go really quickly so discussing safety at the start is really important. Footwear, dangerous parts of the room, people that need you to be careful of them, just creating in general and awareness that we're protect each other.
How we play the game is as the title suggests, everybody is in and has the capacity to tag or be tagged. Once tagged you freeze. Until there are only two players and eventually one player left.
If you tag at the same time the players must agree who succeeded or tag each other out.
The winner is the last person to remain untagged.
Game Duration can be 30 sec's to 2mins in length. Play as several rounds.
Octopus
Purpose: Play, engagement and introducing strategy
Resources Required: Soft ball, jersey or soft toy
Aim: To get from one side of the space to the other without being tagged by the ball or Octopus Arm. Last one to make it back to the wall after one final run wins.
The Rules: One Octopus: they are the ball thrower. They can only throw the ball from where it lands and can't run with the ball. They can throw it as many times as they like in one round, including behind themselves. They also have the power to say go, making sure they have the best position possible to start the game. To start each round they must start in the centre, to give the group a fair chance of passing.
The runners: Get from one side to the other side without being tagged by the ball. Once hit, you must take up position where you were tagged. This is a critical rule! You then become octopus tentacles and physical obstacles for the group to run around. You may tag with your arms but you are not allowed to move your feet. By remaining in position without moving you become a physical barrier for the octopus and the octopus can try to trap people to running through the tentacles being tagged to make even more tentacles until there is only one running left.
If they can successfully make it past all of the obstacles they are grand champion. Woooo!
Time to sing. To give my group a chance to rest, collect and reset with more focused and stronger energy for our remaining session.
Songs: Walking together
C Am C Am
Walking together down the freedom highway, no one we meet can take our freedom away,
C Am C am
We are walking, together we are walking, Oh yeah
Magnificence
Let's get together
Message me for more info on these songs claire@creativespark.nz
Theme work
Introducing to you how we do playback theatre.
Musicians chairs, actors space and playback.
I know you know playback, so I invite you to walk with me as we explore it through the experiences of my group members.
Forms
Fluid sculpture: The Check in: What is an element that resonated for you in this story? What do you think this story is about? For Musician's: An invitation to select an instruments or instrument that helps to best describe the feeling in this moment. Same questions as above, with additional thought to reminding about the power of voice.
Chorus: A favorite because people are naturally inclined to do look and add as they go. I invite you to hold your own energy in this, but take note of the other actors around you, adapt to the offer that are present in the chorus. In this case it is not about holding your own energy. But working to collectively represent the story.
Two up two down: Set up the stage with seating and speak to how it is staged, that we will invite our actors into position. This is one of the groups favorites because they can be any character, any object, anything they like. They work together as a team to bring out the strongest elements for the storyteller.
Three Part Story: Doing a check-in and deciding on what part they would like to take, personal check-in with each actor like we do in fluid sculptures. Invite musicians to pick a part to follow or to create an orchestral piece to fit with the overall story. It is there choice to explore how music best fits with this, remembering that sound effects can be powerful underlying energies to support the story.
Three Part Story Chorus: Exploring three part story but with more actors creating mini vignettes or choruses of the moment each group is exploring.
Excerpts of a story Invite the tellers chair or in a circle. Same as story, only rather that retelling the whole story we will do excerpts of the story for the teller.
Closings: Time to talk to discuss the work and any rising questions people might have.
Song: Magnificence
Closing Blessing: for all we have shared and explored in our time together