New Plans for the New Plans
February 7, 2012
It’s surprisingly difficult to write blog posts about what’s going on in the Affectable Acting sessions. They’re going beautifully, they’re really exciting, and if I were to tell you more than that I’d lapse into jargon that won’t mean much if you’ve never been along. Perhaps the answer is to write a post where I actually explain the basics, maybe even film a few bits of our sessions to illustrate what we do… I’ll add it to the To Do list!
What I can tell you is that I always underestimate how much I can do when I’m feeling nervous. When I began running the sessions in December, I was truly terrified. I knew Aileen could teach Affectable Acting very quickly and thoroughly, and I trusted absolutely that it works. But could I share the technique in a way that would make sense to other people and would let them see results as swiftly as I had? I had no idea. All I knew was that I was bloody well going to try. So I spent the first couple of sessions being quite tentative, trying not to overload people with new information and ideas.
It didn’t take me long to realise that I can trust the actors (and myself) not to need things broken down into bite-sized chunks. It is possible to get people up to speed with the Four Conditions in a single three hour session. It’s intense, but it’s rewarding. Then once you’re familiar with the Conditions, you can start applying Affectable Acting to scenes and introducing fun stuff like constraints and given circumstances and physical externals.
Now that we’ve got a sizeable pool of actors who know how to use Conditions and are champing at the bit to go further, I can see the need to make some changes in the way the sessions are run. A few people have been in touch saying they’d like to start coming along, but expressing concern about coming into the established groups. To be honest, we don’t really have established groups – we’ve never had the same group of people twice, because people tend to turn up on different days depending on their schedules. Also, the technique is founded on a few simple games with variations, so doing them repeatedly isn’t holding anyone back, it’s just what we do anyway. However, the feedback I’m getting suggests that it may be time to introduce separate sessions for beginners.
So here’s the plan:
- Keep the current Monday-Thursday-Saturday sessions as they are, but add in a Wednesday night (6pm – 9pm) and a Sunday afternoon (2pm – 5pm) for beginners.
- NB: Unlike the current sessions, the Beginners’ sessions will only run on request. I’m quite happy to run them for just one or two new starters, but I need to know you’re definitely coming or I won’t be there! Contact me via jen@tightlacedtheatre.com or 07725569419.
- Anyone who attends the regular sessions is welcome to come along to the Beginners’ sessions if they fancy the extra workout. I’ll post on FB/Twitter when there’s going to be one, but if you could text me to say that you’re planning to come that would be great – just so I know who to contact in the event of cancellation.
- Beginners’ sessions will be free, same as the Regulars’ sessions.
- Once you’ve been to a Beginners’ session and got your head round the Conditions, you can come to any of the Regulars’ sessions and join our casting pool and eat our Jaffa Cakes. (Not that there won’t be Jaffas at the Beginners’ sessions. There may well be. But the Regulars eat them, well, Regularly.)
- These plans will take effect from the beginning of March.
Thoughts and feedback are, of course, welcome!
— Jen
Training Sessions – Progress and Gratitude
January 14, 2012
When I started planning the Tightlaced sessions, my biggest worry was that the technique wouldn’t work, that Affectable Acting was powered by the particular alchemical talents of Aileen Gonsalves. It was one thing to assist Aileen and love her brilliant method of combining reality and imagination to create exhilirating performances. It was another thing entirely to bring it back to Edinburgh and say “I think this is amazing and I want to work this way, who’s with me?”, knowing I would have to train them myself.
I’m so glad I took the leap of faith. The training sessions may not have been running for long, but they’re already proving inspiring! It doesn’t take long to learn the basic exercises, and once you’ve got them down you quickly start seeing how the technique works. I’ve been delighted by the number of actors, both regular Tightlacers and newcomers, who have come along and then come back to keep experimenting, discovering and growing increasingly bold and trusting.
If you’re interested in the sessions and haven’t been along yet, don’t worry – each session starts with a recap for newcomers or anyone who feels they would benefit, and it’s actually really useful to have a mix of people of different levels of experience. They’re free to attend and I plan to keep them that way, partly because I know we’re a pretty broke bunch of people and I’d hate for financial considerations to put anyone off coming even once, but also because I don’t want to foster a teacher/student dynamic. I happen to be the one sharing this technique because I’m the one who had the opportunity to learn it from Aileen, but there’s a strong emphasis on everyone bringing what they know to the group. This technique fosters the idea of being creative equals. As anyone who has heard my lengthy and impassioned rants on this subject knows, I feel very strongly that we have to see each other as creative equals if we are to be a group of self-respecting theatremakers working towards common goals.
There’s so much more I want to say – about the working practice I’m aiming to build, the type of work Tightlaced will create in future, how self-respect is vital to solve many of the knotty problems facing emerging theatremakers. But it’s after midnight (because I’ve never learned to write blog posts at a sensible time – by this time of day my brain has unwound sufficiently to let me put my thoughts in order here) and since there’s a session tomorrow/today, I should get to bed. The most important things for tonight are said and the rest will wait. See you at the Fort!
— Jen
Goodbye 2011…
December 31, 2011
The final hour of 2011! It’s been a hectic year for Tightlaced – we moved into the Fort, did our first Fringe and began a complete revamp which should make for an exciting 2012.
2011 hasn’t been without its sad moments. This year Tightlaced said goodbye to our lovely PR Ariane when she moved to London, where she is currently working at the Barbican, and to the amazing and inspiring Flavia D’Avila, who has gone solo in order to pursue her interest in inter/trans/multi-cultural theatre running Frontieras Theatre Lab. I hope this won’t be the last of our dealings with either of these ladies and that they both have a wonderful, prosperous 2012.
Since it’s New Year, it seems like a good time to make our new website official – no longer www.tightlacedtheatre.org, we are now www.tightlacedtheatre.com! New host, new design, new content, new URL.
Have a fantastic Hogmanay filled with whatever form of celebration you prefer! See you in 2012!
