As we continued through the process of devising our piece, it became apparent that we were leaning towards to idea of physical theatre. In one rehearsal I asked any actors with experience in the physical theatre arts to bring in a game or idea to workshop. This led us the bamboo stick’s game. The original game involved two people working together whilst holding a bamboo stick between their index fingers. The idea was to create a distance from one another, but also making them aware of each other’s bodies when moving around the room. This meant that they were accommodating to their partners movements as so not to drop the bamboo stick.
However, when this idea was mentioned, we did not have the resources needed; instead we simply partnered off and moved using the touch between fingers. It was interesting to begin with, as the actors wanted to challenge one another when leading. They made difficult positions and movements, meaning their partners needed to duck and dive in time. As I watched, I realised the complexity of the movement and the struggle they gave one another through self -infliction. This made me think of Zelda and her own struggles.
From this exercise, we returned to a more basic drama game, the mirroring exercise, but with the same intensity and awareness of bodies as the bamboo stick exercise. It was then developed by giving the actors their characters back, which gave their movement a theme and direction.
Due to the intensity and slightly vicious nature of some of the movements in the workshop, I decided to choreograph a movement between the last Zelda (asylum Zelda), and the other Zelda’s as the finale to the piece. The idea was to show the story of her life in a movement, and then the declination by her struggle to keep up with her past selves. If executed correctly, the mirroring should be precise at the beginning, showing her attempt to cope with the events in her life. However as the movement gets faster, the actor playing Asylum Zelda should become tired therefore lacking in her movement. Thus, resembling the decrease of Zelda’s mental health in her life.