Reflections on our first lab session in TS1101e

Stepping onto the stage of LT13 for the first time in my life, I felt a sense of awe and wonder. Under my bare feet, the space buzzed with the energy of past, present and future theatre rehearsals and performances. This was the sacred training ground of the theatre studies program, where the likes of Janice Koh (Crazy Rich Asians) and Chong Tze Chien (Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea) honed their craft. This was where so many of us began, and as we shuffled onto the stage, I wondered how many of us in that tutorial group would someday journey into the theatre scene together.

I had been anticipating our first lab session from the moment I selected my modules online read about the Theatre Studies major last year (fine, I lied). As we stretched, paced around the space and fell into our own rhythm, I was reminded of what it feels like to be reconnected with my body. 

Waking up our bodies

We began the session with neck stretches, arm rotations and calf rotations. The first thing I noticed was how our warm ups was paced. Rather than the typical fast paced exercises meant to get one's heart rate up in a physical education class for example, the warm up was focused on getting us in touch with our breathing and our internal rhythm. From doing the various stretches and movements, we gradually became aware of how we move and the way we carry ourselves.

When we walked around the space for the mirroring exercise, many of us were walking in circles at first, but gradually we realized that we could vary our paths and cover any dead space. From there, we gradually regained control over our movement, both in terms of how we moved and where we were going. I saw that when one person spontaneously made a movement that was different from everyone, the rest of us all instinctively knew how to emulate that person. I wonder if this could be considered kinesthetic empathy given that all of us were observing each other for any changes in our movement, and when a change was observed, we experienced that movement not just in our minds but physically as well.

Theatre games

Next, we played a game called the alphabet exercise: In groups of five, we pointed another actor and shouted an alphabet, and the actor who was pointed at would continue by shouting the next alphabet. The game continues until the group reaches "Z", and everyone in the group sits down to signal that they've finished the game. Through the alphabet exercise, I understood the importance of listening closely for cues and bouncing off each other's energy. I reminded myself to be ready to "pass" the alphabet on to the next person the moment I receive the previous player's alphabet, and I think having this consciousness helped me along in the game. The alphabet exercise could well represent the ensemble, and shows how every actor must be physically and mentally present and ready to play in order for the text (which is simply the alphabet in this case) to be delivered without any dead space.

We moved on to a game called Cat and Mouse. We had an inner circle and an outer circle. A cat was chosen to move around the inner circle, while a mouse could only run around the outer circle unless they wanted to replace someone in the inner circle. The moment the mouse makes it to the front of any pair, the person at the back becomes the new mouse. There was plenty of running, falling and yelling. Who knew that college tutorials could be this fun?

One thing that struck me was the realization that for all our reluctance to enter the inner circle, there was really no risk at all (apart from running and falling off the stage maybe). However, the risk of dashing into the inner circle was ours to take. Apart from strategizing, I also recognized that taking risks in the moment could sometimes be the answer, and that there is no right answer so long as we achieve the objective. I realized that I had an objective as the cat to catch the mouse, just as the mouse has the objective of getting to the inner circle and being replaced by another mouse. We also relied on many tactics such as using other players as pillars, waiting for a chance to strike and running around in order to achieve or objective. This ties in with the concepts of Stanislavski's system, where an actor relies on objectives and super-objectives in order to create a believable performance.

Focusing on one thing

Finally, we concluded the lesson with a 10-minute walk. We had 10 minutes to get from the edge of the stage and walk vertically upstage, but we were allowed to make only one trip. Everything, from our breathing to the tiny strides we made had to last for ten full minutes.

The 10-minute-walk was a new experience for me. I was searching for a way to pace my walk as I did not know exactly how to match my distance to the time at first. As a result, for the first five minutes or so, I changed my strategy numerous times from inching forward to making many movement variations. Towards the end, I realized that the best way to pace myself was by following a regular rhythm. With the awareness of exactly how many beats I had before my toes touched the wall, I was now in a better position to consider my speed based on the time, and I managed to reach the wall at the exact moment the timer stopped. Decluttering my thoughts and realizing that all I had to do was to be in tune with the way I moved was the key to this exercise.

I'm excited to continue learning about the actor's craft and how the entire theatre ecosystem supports each other to make each performance work.