Wednesday, April 30, 2008

the cogs are whirring

The old brain has been buzzing non-stop since yesterday afternoon when we wrapped up the Rowan workshop and fled back north to Rat City.

Beautiful day for a drive, heading up the turnpike with Wil crashed in the backseat, Pink Floyd's concert version of The Wall pumping through the speakers, rest-stops rolling by.

The three of us, (Wil, me and the Kid) were all physically exhausted even though we didn't do much more than watch. We talked about it a little, realizing that because the territory we were exploring was so slippery (the master/slave relationship, physical bondage, etc.) we had to be hyper-aware that it stayed focused on the zone of theater and didn't slip into psychological mind-game land.

We were working with young people and they were really digging it, it was wild stuff, but it was bringing up a lot of emotions and thought-patterns that in less careful hands could be used to screw with people's minds.

I kept thinking about that sociological or psychological experiment that a grad school ran back in the fifties where they randomly chose people to be guards and prisoners and after about thirty hours they had to end the exercise because of the emotional abuse that began and accelerated. "Guards" behaved outrageously, but also "prisoners" reverted to an infantile state.

Within, like, 30 hours.

Crazy how fragile our mind-sets and value-systems are when we get shaken out of our regular pattern.

The whole brutality thing is really just one part of Captain Overlord's Folly, but it's a thing that underlies the piece and something I want to get right.

But I tell you, right now I want to focus on spit-takes or pratfalls or something funny and stupid.

Can't do heavy lifting every day or you wind up with a brain hernia.

Or something.

"Brain hernia"?

Maybe a very bad garage metal band that never recorded a thing?

"We are Brain Hernia! Goodnight, Glassboro!"

All right. Back to work.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stanford Prison Experiment, Johnny. Also known as FringeNYC 2000.

John Clancy said...

Now that's all too true.

And still somehow, funny.

Seriously, man, it was intense.

People shaking and losing their balance. After a minute.

No weirdness, me being as clear and as calm as I could be. People freaking.

Wild.

Anonymous said...

The riders of Rohan salute you...and I still can't sleep...:)

Rosemoo said...

Jesus, if you become Zimmerman I may have to change up blogs. He's a freaky, freaky man. The story of him not realizing how he's f*cking everyone up psychologically, until his woman friend comes and is like, "HELLO! You're crazy and this NEEDS TO STOP" is one of the scariest things I learned in high school. Scary things. Be careful mon amie.

John Clancy said...

Rose,

I'm assuming Zimmerman was the prof in charge of the craziness at Stanford.

Everything was cool as Fonzie down at Rowan, back me up here, Amy, but man, it still got choppy quick.

Here's what I wrote down on the Friday before the Monday when we started. We stayed within these boundaries:

BRUTALITY EXERCISES
OVERLORD ROWAN WORKSHOP
APRIL 28, 29
These are exercises designed to explore the practical staging of brutality and violence onstage.

This is separate from fight choreography, but all of the guidelines of fight choreography are helpful.

Safety first.

Must be practiced and performed like a dance.

Performer must feel fully comfortable with the move or sequence or it should be re-worked.

IN NO WAY ARE THESE EXERCISES PSYCHOLOGICAL MIND-GAMES AND IF ANYONE CLAIMING TO BE AN ARTIST OR A TEACHER EVER BLURS THE LINE BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGY AND THEATER TRAINING, YOU SHOULD STOP AND START A DISCUSSION.

MIND-GAMES ARE JUST POWER GAMES AND POWER GAMES BETWEEN ARTISTS RESULTS IN BAD ART, AND SOMETIMES PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE.

The goals of these exercises are to
- start safely working with rope, blindfolds and gags
-gauge audience reaction to different levels of bondage and brutality
-find “honest” interplay and behavior between bouffon and captive

BASELINE CRUELTY
Pair off and choose a master and a slave. Start by sitting. The masters start by listing the duties of the slaves and the slaves must respond with “Yes, Sir” or “Yes Ma’am”, depending on gender of master. Be creative, you can be silly, there doesn’t need to be any overt cruelty.

Examples:

“You will wake each morning and sing a Sonny and Cher song.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“You will travel to Phoenix and run for mayor. You will continue running for mayor until you win the office or die.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Challenge is for the slaves to stay as simple and honest within their limited vocabulary. After a little while, the masters should pause between listing the duties. Both partners should pay attention to these silences, observe them.

Switch roles and repeat exercise.

One at a time, each team show the group some of the things you came up with.

ROPE WORK
Switch partners. Choose two stereotypes. Create short scenario. One partner ties up the other partners hands. Perform scenario. Tie up the other partner. Lead each other around while performing the scenario.

BLINDFOLD WORK

Same as above with blindfold.

We adjusted some stuff as we went along, as you do when you're doing something for the first time, but that was essentially it.

Very wild and wonderful work.

showard said...

speaking of violence and brutality congrats on discon violation Clancy got two only two letters from landlords attorneys today! still arguring over whos the captive!

John Clancy said...

Yes, Susan, I'm a free man in most senses of the word today.

Jesus.

Good to have that behind me.

Anonymous said...

Backing you up, John, it was incredible how everyone just snapped into those roles, even the sweetest most unassuming people just transforming.Nothing to do with the mind, but they say that smiling can change your mood because of the chemicals that are released to the body make you happier. It is pretty freaky how quickly human beings revert to submission. I was surprised at myself. Also you guys were very attentive supervisors. If anyone started getting emotional you were there to bail us out!!

John Clancy said...

Thanks, Amy.

Also, from a director's standpoint it was a trip to be able to watch the seemingly subtle yet huge difference between eyes down, eyes up, calm master, irritated master, etc.

All geared towards Overlord, for me, and so fucking helpful.

Anonymous said...

Good day !.
might , perhaps very interested to know how one can make real money .
There is no need to invest much at first. You may commense to receive yields with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.

AimTrust is what you need
The company represents an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.

It is based in Panama with offices everywhere: In USA, Canada, Cyprus.
Do you want to become really rich in short time?
That`s your choice That`s what you really need!

I`m happy and lucky, I started to get income with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. If it gets down to choose a proper partner utilizes your savings in a right way - that`s the AimTrust!.
I earn US$2,000 per day, and what I started with was a funny sum of 500 bucks!
It`s easy to start , just click this link http://xazuqewo.freewebsitehosting.com/oqihejog.html
and lucky you`re! Let`s take this option together to become rich

Anonymous said...

Good day !.
You may , perhaps curious to know how one can reach 2000 per day of income .
There is no need to invest much at first. You may begin to get income with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.

AimTrust is what you thought of all the time
AimTrust represents an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.

Its head office is in Panama with affiliates around the world.
Do you want to become an affluent person?
That`s your choice That`s what you wish in the long run!

I feel good, I started to take up real money with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to select a correct companion who uses your savings in a right way - that`s it!.
I take now up to 2G every day, and my first investment was 500 dollars only!
It`s easy to start , just click this link http://ilequfymop.ibnsites.com/qytudem.html
and go! Let`s take our chance together to feel the smell of real money

Anonymous said...

Hi!
You may probably be very curious to know how one can manage to receive high yields on investments.
There is no need to invest much at first.
You may begin to get income with a sum that usually goes
for daily food, that's 20-100 dollars.
I have been participating in one project for several years,
and I'm ready to let you know my secrets at my blog.

Please visit my pages and send me private message to get the info.

P.S. I earn 1000-2000 per daily now.

http://theinvestblog.com [url=http://theinvestblog.com]Online Investment Blog[/url]

Anonymous said...

Glad to materialize here. Good day or night everybody!

For sure you didn’t here about me yet,
my name is James F. Collins.
Generally I’m a social gmabler. recently I take a great interest in online-casino and poker.
Not long time ago I started my own blog, where I describe my virtual adventures.
Probably, it will be interesting for you to read my notes.
Please visit my diary. http://allbestcasino.com I’ll be glad would you find time to leave your comments.