The first exercise we had to do, was based on Grotowski's ideology, which involved physical exercise, in order to surface pure emotions. We were instructed to run around the room, freely. After several minutes of this, the running was organised, in the sense that we were told to run in an anticlockwise manner, with equal spacing between every student. This would then alter to go in the opposite direction, and so forth.
This exercise was developed by Grotowski, as he believed that exhausting actions would then stimulate emotions. So for example, he took his actors to the woods of Poland to run for hours on end. 

This was useful because even though we'd only been running for several minutes, it allowed us to see the sense in his theory. This theory consisted of the hypothesis that the more physically exhausted one is, the brain has no energy to collect and organise one's thoughts and emotions. So, in essence, this meant that the true emotions were at surface, as they usually are when you are exhausted, but for the actor, this means that when he is given a character, the appropriate emotions can be selected, and because of the manner at which they are accessed from, means that the emotions are pure and undisturbed, benefiting both the actor and the spectator. This is Artaudian because Antonin believed that to create true theatre of cruelty, an actor must be skilled, and so must be able to convey these to the audience, only by convincing themselves that they are having the emotions (which are forced out, so they are raw and pure) to which only then the audience can feel genuine emotions coming from the actor.

Our second exercise was developed by Brook. The class was made to stand in a circle and force an emotion out. For example, our teacher started laughing, and we had to respond to that by laughing.

However, it was evident that these emotions were contrived, and so it was explained to us, using one of Brook's practises, that we had to find something and convince ourselves that anything in the room triggered the desired emotions, and this would eventually allow the emotions to become natural because of the self-persuasion. This was effective because it allowed us, as actors, to naturally force an emotion, by using anything as a trigger to stimulate an emotion that was not natural, but in doing so, it became natural. This is an important skill as an actor as it means that an actor can emotionally think on their feet and also become aware of their surroundings and how they can use that to their advantage. This was Artaudian because again, Artaud had a  desire for an actor to be skilled and committed fully. This exercise enhanced both because an actor has to be committed, and we were made to force out any emotion that our teacher decided, and make it real. However, this was difficult because it was forced and if we didn't believe it (which we didn't) then the audience surely cannot. So, to enhance this skill, we were told to find something, anything in the room to trigger that emotion. For example, if we were made to laugh, we were told to convince ourselved that anything in the room caused that. So, the patterns on the carpet were absolutely hilarious, and so it would give ourselves something to enhance that emotion, convincing ourselves, leading to the convincing of the audience's emotions.

Another exercise we did was to walk around the room, and become aware of what other actors were giving, and to react and give back, accordingly. So, for instance, once actor may suddenly become aggressive, and everyone else would have to interact either by becoming involved to that one particular event, or start their own off, by being influenced by the emotions that the other actor made available to everyone in that room. 

This exercise was useful because it allowed actors to become aware of the atmosphere surrounding them, and to use that to trigger their own emotions. This also meant that emotionally, the actors had to be alert and be able to switch emotions in an instant, which could potentially, be at any time, an important trait to hold as an actor with the presence of ever changing objectives.

Another exercise we were involved in was to lie down in the floor, making sure everyone made contact with someone. This then progressed in the sense that we had to hold hands with two different people within that bundle, and had to then form a circle without loosing contact with either of the people we were connected to.

This exercise helped us because it helped us to enhance our team building skills. Because we were allowed no contact throughout this, it also helped develop both our team work skills and communication skills. I personally, also think that this exercise helped in the physical theatre aspect. We all had to move in strange patterns, all whilst being attached to everyone, which provided both interesting visuals and allowing us to explore our own body movements, since there was such a large opputunity to do so, all of which was unavoidable.

We also partook in another exercise, in which we were made to get into a circle, and hold hands with everyone within the circle. We then began to walk around the room individually. Out of nowhere, we were made to stop and immediately close our eye. From there, we used nothing but the memory of our partner's hands and how they felt, to try and find the people we were with at the beginning, with no communication or sight.

This exercise was useful because it allowed us to concentrate and enhance one of our senses by excluding the others. I think this is important to an actor because every sense must be enhanced as much as possible, in order to create a realistic piece, as much as possible, and by focusing on every sense, allows the actor to create a clear image in his mind of the piece, which in turn, allows him to react to his surroundings. This exercise also focused on diffrentiating using only one of the senses. So, when memorizing the hands, we had to remember every little detail. Not only this, but when we were to find the hands of our partners, we had to use our memory and compare what we had and what we remembered, which helps as an actor to focus on the small details, which can then be applied to reactions, facial expressions and body language.

The final exercise we partook in was listening to music. We were made to stand in a room, and music was played. We had to react to the music, but in a way so that our body overpowered our mind. We were not to entertain, but if we felt something, we should go along with it, if not-then nothing must be done. However, we did not know how long the music would be played for.

This was a very interesting exercise. Simply because we had lost all our senses but hearing, yet hearing can be deceitful. For example, many people became paranoid, thinking that everyone was told to watch them and they'd be the only one dancing or such. This exercise allowed us to become comfortable, because all in all, the music was played for a total of 25 minutes, so after a while, people became comfortable and senses were lost, in the sense that they became irrelevant. It also helped us because we went through a journey, because of the lack of sense of time. This meant that as the journey progressed, so did our emotions because we were lost in time, and so we were free to feel as we wanted, not knowing how long we would be there. This exercise was useful because it allowed us not emotionally, but physically, to become pure.

The Nerve Meter: Antonin Artaud

I really enjoyed reading the Nerve meter. The poem itself was very chaotic, in terms of language. Despite it being a fairly dark poem, the language used to create this imagery was very poetic, and both beautiful and sophisticated. From what I can gather, this poem deals with (lack of) sanity and intelligence. What I like about this poem is that it deals with both a general and personal problem. Generally, topics like this apply to everyone, but is completely unique for every single person, making it personal. The fact that it is written in first person, both supports this and makes it feel as though he has written this in a diary, giving us the illusion that we are invading his privacy. I like this because even though Artaud portrays that he finds it hard to communicate his thoughts to the open world, the structure of how this play was written achieves the objective, because we get to see what he is really thinking, not only invading his comfort zone, but when he goes on to  describe the difficulty of putting his thoughts to words, we understand him, because we have seen his true thoughts, and there is no mask and the poem is made up of raw thoughts.
The structure of the poem is just as complex as the language. When Artaud comes to describe the darkness in his emotions that reside in his mind, he write in long sentences and using endless clauses, as if to say his emotions are endless and there is much to say. However, when he starts to talk of either how others perceive that or when these thoughts are attempted to be put out in the open, he writes little than a few words, implying that despite the infinite thoughts that run through his mind, they come out as nothing, compared to what is actually stored within. This is really effective, because in contrast to knowing the (almost) full extent of his mind, we then witness, in contrast to this, how the outside world perceive his thoughts. To us, it seems like a disappointment because of the sudden change in both length and language, but this allows us to see both his true emotions and the "fourth wall" between his mind and reality.
I also adore the penultimate paragraph, simply because of the contradiction within his thoughts. During this stanza, he goes on to describe how sometimes, only a "single word" is needed, yet it takes a whole paragraph to establish this. The reason why I find this effective is because there are so many reasons for needing so, yet only a simple word is needed for these infinite purposes. This fascinates me because it allows the reader to explore the depths of the mind. It is also effective because Artaud himself believes that within drama, words should not be the focus, but the actor himself, and this stanza allows us to see that, but only because he goes back on his words, to we pay attention to his theory.

Lesson 1, Term 3.

The first exercise was to imagine that the floor was made up of an imaginary grid. Each individual  had to also think of something they desired, to be at the end of our journey. To get there, the actor must follow his own imaginary journey, taking the paths created by the grid. For instance, one can only turn 90 degrees as such, and avoid any contact with everyone else.
This exercise was useful because it allowed the actor to concentrate something (the grid) which was, unsurprisingly, boring. However, the desire gave everyone motivation. So, even though they we doing something monotonous, there was a reason to do it so in the end, we walked with purpose and accuracy, two things that are hard to do spontaneously. This was useful in relation to Artaud because he focuses on visual poetry, which focuses on the visual imagery created by movement-something this exercise focused on. It allowed us to both discipline ourselves AND make sure we had “light in our eyes” because as Artaud himself said, “acting is not to entertain, nor instruct, but to effect” which the individual motivation allowed us to achieve. Artaud also believed that an actor has to have total commitment as an actor. Each actor must be emotionally involved, and this exercise allowed us to achieve this because each actor had their own motivation, so the actors where emotionally attached and committed as a result of this. Had the exercise had a general desire, some actors may have become more attached than others, but where we created our own, it was personal, and something that everyone wanted, therefore achieving emotional attachment, in order to effect the audience, and give them the motivation, which allowed the actor to become emotionally attached.

The second exercise was very physical. All the actors were told of an inanimate object to become. However, they all had objectives. For example: “Baked bean warming in the microwave.” or “a potato growing underground” or “a sausage on the grill.” We had to exaggerate these as much as possible, because they were inanimate, so they had no emotions, and so the movements in our body had to compensate for this.
This exercise contributed to Artaud’s theory of “Deliberate cruelty.” I think this contributed to this because of the utter chaos that this could cause if it had been used in a theatre piece. There were no limits when people were doing this and so with the right music and lighting, these movements could have put the audience in shock because of the mayhem caused by all this. Especially with the sausage one, we had to emphasise on how hot the grill was, and did not stop for quite some time, forcing us to persuade everyone it was really THAT hot. Because we have never been in that situation before, there were no limits as to how anyone would react, and so everyone was stripped of all dignity, and reverted back to animal like states, which would contribute further to assaulting the audience’s comfort, because the actor is voluntarily making himself vulnerable for the audience, which not only allows the audience to connect with the actor, but assaults them too, by revealing their true-selves whilst the audience conform to certain social rules.

Our last exercise was to play tennis with a partner in absolute slow motion. We were told it was never slow enough.
This exercise contributed to several of Artaud’s theories. One of which being creating a dream world. Where we live so fast, we do not take into account small details that affects everything that happens, wether we see it or not-they are all vital. So, when performing this exercise, not only was it a dream like state because we took a vigorous sport and slowed it down, but it involved our entire body, and so all the movements created a whole new world. Even though we partake in these movements often, they are only seen for a split second, but when it is broke down into slow motion, we see the journey that everything takes, and our thought towards our every move and why we do it, and the contrast between real life and what actually happens, creates a dream state. It also increased our skills as actors, because we had to depict to the audience that this is what happens, and allow the audience to think about their every move. It allowed us to become fit, because our body was constantly tense, and so we had to control our muscles as well as concentrating on how to get from one position to another, rather than just spontaneously doing it, as we are used to in everyday life.