Complicite-

Complicite 

• Formed in 1983 – Complicite-meaning that the audience is part of the creative  experience.

• “Television and film have liberated theatre in the same way that photography once liberated art.  Once you had photography and you didn’t need to record anything historically, art could be anything at all- theatre’s the same.  We don’t need to do boring thriller plots anymore- that’s done every week on The Bill.”  Simon McBurney

 

• Exercise 1: In groups we had to devise a game with the objects: a plastic fish, a piece of string and a plastic stick and we had to use all the objects in 10 minutes. We created the game ‘Wrap a fish’ which required three or more players. We tied the string to the fish, then got two people to hold the plastic stick on either side. The player holding the string and fish must attempt to wrap it round the stick the most times. The player with the most times the fish wrapped round the stick would win the game. We presented all our game ideas to the rest of the class and got feedback such as what was good about the games and why. This exercise allowed us to work together and created an idea within a short space of time, which taught me to listen carefully and consider everyone’s ideas, which is an important factor when devising.

• Exercise 2: We explored space and proximity during this workshop. We had to improvise an activity in pairs. Me and Lizzie created a scene of waxing her moustache off. We then split up, repeating the activity but with space between us and had to respond as if you are still in close proximity. This created a much more interesting scene to watch because it could present more detailed ideas of who the characters were.

• “Over the time that I have been working with Complicite what happens in the rehearsal room has changed enormously, yet certain elements are always present.  The constant fooling around; the immense amount of chaos; pleasure as well as a kind of turbulent forward momentum.  Nothing is off limits apart from not turning up.  When rehearsing a piece I do not have a method, no single approach.  Ultimately the material dictates each rehearsal.”  Simon McBurney

• All the work that Complicite do relies on the actors working intuitively as an ensemble so that they can improvise their way out of any situation.

• Exercise 3: This involved getting into groups and starting in each corner and while maintaining contact, move to the other side of the room. In the same groups, maintaining contact again, we then had to move to the opposite corner BUT only one person can move at a time. This exercise required everyone to be comfortable with their groups and really focus on things like proximity and how fast other people were moving. You need to be very focused and aware of your other group when devising to ensure that not one person takes lead and the rest just goes along with instructions because it is a group effort.

Complicite as a whole:

• The audience choosing to be involved in the collective imagination. As an audience we are involved in accepting the performers’ reality e.g. in an early show they represented the sea with a bucket of water.
• Bodies and objects can be anything. No limits.
• Work is never finished.
• ‘Seeking what is most alive, integrating text, music, image and action to create surprising disruptive theatre… what is essential is collaboration.’

 

 

  

    






                                                                        SIMON MCBURNEY