Director, choreographer, performer and writer, Kathleen Ann Thompson , Artistic Director of Belleherst Productions. discusses an approach to some of the most challenging and complex theatrical techniques which thespians often whisper about in the wings of the stage. Kathleen's twenty-five year experience with directing three schools for movement theatre and directing two theatre companies, as well as writing and performing award winning productions for Bellehert has given her an overall in-depth knowledge of theatre. Her enthusiasm to elevate the craft of theatre for all types of performers and theatrical endeavors is edifying.
Whispers in the Wings targets complex techniques which form the infra structure of good and effective stage practices for directors and actors. These techniques are often glossed over in drama classes or addressed with superficial and time-worn cliches. Kathleen digs down into the technique with analysis and practical exercises.
We hope you will be stimulated and inspired by these discussions.
It's just so much work; I don't know what to do, I'm an actor not a director. I don't know how to do it; What if I do something wrong; I just find a lot of excuses why I can't do it now; I know I'll just do something studpid.
These are just a few of the excuses I hear continually as a teacher and director in the theatre. In our schools we require that a student take the techniques learned during the day and create, rehearse and perform a small devised dramatic project EVERY DAY that they are in school. Therefore, I am very aware of the excuses proferred every night when performance time rolls around.
This podcast addresses this subject and give give the student or performer a structure for rehearsing without the benefit of a director, teacher or learned colleague. Hopefully, the excuses will be replaced with the inspiration that this can be very satisfying and rewarding. Sometimes, just changing the frame can bring a whole new reality into view.
Happy rehearsing my thespian friends.
2 Mar 2019
Postmodernism and its Effects on Acting Techniques
The tenets of postmodernism, deconstructionism and secular materialism are large concepts which symbolize philosophical frames of modern man’s thinking, feeling and thus behaving, whether we understand these markers or not. The consequences of these thought frameworks are imposed upon us through culture and consensus thinking, and therefore seep into the fabric of our lives on every level. We, as theatre artists, pay a big price in respect to the autonomy of our minds and thus are choices to remain free in our thinking and reasoning when we are not aware - awake and watching - of the slow shift in this area of our life in which these changes are detrimental to the orthodoxy of theatre.
In this podcast we are reviewing the changes that are taking place, in particularly, in acting. Our effectiveness as an actor, measured by our influence on the audience, is a primary goal. What postmodern concepts are changing that effectiveness by means of distorting acting techniques and how? What do we need to know to reverse this trend?
20 Feb 2017
How Acting can Chase your Audience Away
The quickest way to chase an audience away from your performance is to bore them by acting instead of reacting to stimulus. Stimulus/Response is the acting tool of spontaneous, real-life, reaction that engages the audience emotionally and holds their attention. Kathleen Ann Thompson discusses how to do it, what stand in the actor's way and what the overall boon is to any performance.
5 Aug 2016
The Myth of Creativity
Kathleen Ann has been teaching drama techniques for several decades in universities and academies in the US, Europe, China and South America. Doubting one's creative ability is the most common characteristic Kathleen has experienced in each teaching situation. This fear creates real blocks on the stage and leaves the actor in a state of tension which severely diminishes the actor's effectiveness and locks up their dramatic potential. If you have ever felt dry, empty, blank and fearful when you are asked to create spontaneously on the stage, you'll want to listen to this podcast.
Kathleen Ann seeks to debunk the myth that creativity is a unique gift received at birth and the idea that one receives it by a throw of the DNA dice when the brain develops.You are naturally creative. She analyzes the creative process by laying out the way in which the brain interacts with the five senses and its integration with the body, emotions and other functions of the brain to elicit creative responses. Kathleen identifies the real obstructor for the actor that separate them from the natural play of various functions in their brain which initiates creativity.
Kathleen exhorts the listener on how to take their creative muscle to the gym and exercise it. Creativity is every human being's natural, God-given gift. It's how our brain works. However, we are responsible for developing it and recognizing our natural creativity is the first responsible thing we need to do.
If you have ever felt dry, empty, blank and fearful when you are asked to create spontaneously on the stage, you'll want to listen to this podcast. Kathleen Ann addresses the myth that creativity is a talent only some receive at birth. You are naturally creative.
5 Aug 2016
Fixed Point in Acting and Stage Production - the Key to Clarity on the Stage
Let me ask you a question: Have you ever heard these comments about your performance or production? Or, have you left a performance yourself and commented something like; - Confusing, didn’t you think?, Hard to follow..., I'm not sure what the point was..., Lost me..., I didn’t really understand what he wanted to say. Comments like these are all too frequent, whether we hear them or not. I made one of them myself just last week when I was in London and walked out of a big musical saying to my friends; I was just never engaged.
Clarity is one of the stage’s most important virtues for good reason. Without it, we can easily loose are audience. We are not talking about dramatic content which is purposefully ambiguous or dramatic messages which are designed to create an intellectual paradox. We are talking about a stage production which gives us a sense of vagueness, confusion, energy lacking action, vapid character development and at its worst, a sense of real frustrating confusion.
Clarity's key element is formed around understanding the over-arching application of 'fixed point' FP. Clarity provides the audience with a means of staying with you - connected - traveling in the actor’s skin and soul with an invested emotional and physical response.
Clarity gives the element of rhythm a heightened effectiveness. Rhythm is the engine of all art (listen to episode One, Learning to Sculpt Memorable Characterizations with Rhythm). There is a mutually beneficial relationship between a good use of rhythm and fixed point clarity. Together, they offer great strength and potential for the production.
The brilliance of clarity is that it makes the audience feel smart. It’s inspiring and edifying to the viewer when they think they understand what's going on. If the audience looses orientation, they are frustrated and loose their engagement with the action and the characters resulting in the audience feeling stupid.
What is a FP? It’s a fixed orientation point -an anchor which doesn’t move and from which we can find orientation and a base from which to create dramatic energy. The fixed point principles hold true for all different realms or frames of dramatic technique; the physical, the emotional, the will and the spiritual.
Kathleen Ann introduces the techniques for creating strong fixed points in stage productions and surveys its application in various frames of stage work.
3 Aug 2016
Learning to Sculpt Memorable Characterizations with Rhythm
Was your last stage characterization one which no one will forget? If not, please consider the sculpting tool of rhythm. Rhythm is the basis of all art. Using rhythm in a skillful manner offers the actor a practical and skillful sculpting tool.
Artistic Director of Belleherst Productions, Kathleen Ann Thompson, takes on the overarching principle of rhythm in theatre practice.
We have to stop talking about rhythm as a pacing tool. This is to cut the arms and legs off of a torso and still call it a body. - Kathleen
Kathleen will discuss how to apply the knowledgable use of rhythm as a tool for the actor to sculpt an unforgettable role. Inclusive in the discussion is the application of the individual elements of rhythm which can create viable, authentic and inspired characterizations. As well, the potential of rhythm to provide an effective template for reliable consistency in actors' performances is explored.
Discussed topics.
I What’s in the recipe? - analysis of the elements of rhythm
II The ideal rhythm ‘mix’ - skillfully modulating the elements
III Let’s get dressed - specific application of those elements in Voice, Body, Emotional Portrayal,Thinking and Breath.
A skilled performer will make rhythm the spine of their technique. Here's how.
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