Wonderland (promo, 6:13)
This obviously alludes to the world that exists down the rabbit-hole in Alice in Wonderland:
‘In another moment down went Alice, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again’
It is also a reference to the modern prize of becoming a ‘celebrity’ and fracturing oneself from the ‘ordinariness’ of life. But at what cost? Once you have left everything you know and entered into this ‘wonderland’, how in the world will you ever get out again? What will you have sacrificed?
Finally, ‘Wonderland’ is a reference to our own, shared creative process. Like Alice jumping down the hole, we on the Ecole des Maîtres will be embarking on our own unknown journey, using our curiosity as a starting point. We don’t know exactly where it will lead us. We know there will be puzzles to solve, we know there will be inspirations and difficulties. We know that a work will emerge.
Crucially, the exploration of this material will go hand in hand with the development of improvisation techniques and practices, which feed and support this creative process. The work will focus on physical and visual, rather than spoken language, on sounds and on silence.
From project to project, aesthetics, processes and subjects change. Each rehearsal room is different, there is no formula, but my approach towards the responsibilities I have as a director remain the same:
The players create the story of the game. They play in front of the spectators, score goals, tackle and defend. The manager decides the way the team plays and develops an approach that suits his tastes – the passing game or the long-ball game, aggressive attack or deep defence. The way the manager works with the players, the emphasis he gives to training, the sense of discipline and commitment he instills, is important. There is an expression in football – ‘to read the game’. A good football player can read the game – can see possibilities, pre-empt the movement of another player across a diagonal, can understand the timing of a run, the simultaneous shifting of the positions of other players on the pitch.
A good actor, working in a collaborative process, develops a similar understanding of the possibilities available to him or her. This understanding becomes intuitive, impulsive, spontaneous and allows for the creativity of other actors. This is the understanding we work towards as a creative collective. We work through play but also through discipline. So, working together in a rehearsal room, a group of actors must engage with a set of rules. The rules are there to serve the creation of a piece of new work. Like players entering a pitch, when an actor enters the rehearsal room, life is left behind. The rehearsal room is a working space, a playing space, a creative space. In this space work will take place, a game will be played, a story will be told.
The stories that emerge will emerge from the actors and objects in the rehearsal room.
Curiosity is the starting point. Working together, we will discover where our curiosity leads us.
MATTHEW LENTON
Matthew founded Vanishing Point theatre company in 1999 and has directed all of the company’s productions. He has also directed for National Theatre of Scotland and numerous other theatres.
Recent work includes the development of Journeyman, a new show at the National Theatre Studio in London, a new version of The Beggars Opera in co-production with the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry; Interiors, a co-production with Napoli Teatro Festival Italia, Traverse Theatre and Lyric Hammersmith; Little Otik (an adaptation of the film by Jan Svankmajer); Subway, commissioned by The Lyric Hammersmith; Mancub, a co-production with The Soho Theatre; Lost Ones and Invisible Man, in collaboration with Theatre de Cournouaille in Quimper, France.
Other work includes an adaptation of Les Aveugles, by Maurice Maeterlinck, performed in total darkness as part of a groundbreaking Playing in the Dark season at BAC. Matthew also works regularly at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, developing work with acting students and directing The Visit by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and Roberto Zucco by Bernard Marie Koltès. He also developed a new opera for ROH 2 at the Royal Opera House.
Matthew recently completed Boy, his first film, four Channel 4 and Touchpaper Television.
The course will develop from August 2 to September 14, 2010, and will have this year two work areas in Italy: Udine (Teatro S. Giorgio) from August 2 to 19; and Naples from August 20 to September 8.
The results of the course will be presented to the public in occasion of final demonstrations open to the public in 4 European venues in the following calendar: September 8, public demonstration in Naples; September 11 in Brussels, September 14 in Lisbon (Teatro Nacional D. Maria II), with an annual reprise on December 11 in Reims (La Comèdie de Reims).
The actors selected to take part in the XIX edition will be sixteen, four actors/actresses admitted for each Country partner of the Nouvelle Ecole.
The language spoken during the course will be English.
The presence of interpreters to help the comprehension of the students is expected.
