Costumes

During yesterday's rehearsal, Susan presented some of the cast with their costumes for the first time. Oedipus, Corinthian, and Teiresias modeled their beautiful outfits, and we talked over some of the details.. including Corinthian's ultra-modern shoes.

Oedipus

Corinthian



Teiresias

After working on line memorization and articulation, Oedipus and Creon dress-rehearsed a scene, working out some of the action details. The costumes and movement really made the intense scene come alive! I especially liked watching Oedipus' intimidating, king-like postures smoothly fall away as he became more humble toward the end of the scene.



Finally, we celebrated Pat's new job!

Metro Article

Today, the project was featured in an article in the Metro! The article emphasized how the Mustard Seed Drama Club and the upcoming Oedipus Evolving performances are challenging misconceptions about the homeless community by showcasing their creativity. Check it out at http://www.metronews.ca/calgary/local/article/512642--mustard-seed-theatre-challenges-stereotypes

Oedipus Evolving Poster

Character development

Recording Day

We recently hit the streets to record some footage for the video elements within the play.

Rehearsal on April 25, 2010

A prepping ritual that is being incorporated into rehearsal are warm-ups.

Aviva introduced a form of sun salutations into stretching, which helped the cast loosen up for the activities that lay ahead. Cole also led vocal warm-ups; emphasizing the flow of breath in our bodies, practicing our annunciations and making sure our voices could carry across the room. As well, we played a game of tag and it was great seeing everyone run around and just having plain old-fashioned fun.

After lunch we went straight into rehearsing our lines and scenes. I helped B* memorize his scene and it was exciting to see him memorize more lines as the day went on.

Hannah and S* were also in the Seed doing some costume decorating. We decorated broaches for Queen Jocasta, decorated the head dress for King Oedipus and discussed more about the costume design layout for each actor.

At the end of rehearsal, S* felt good about her lines but admits to needing more time for it to become second nature.

N*, who is playing King Oedipus has nine scenes to memorize! He says that he is able to do his scene with Jocasta quite well and his day today felt better than yesterday's rehearsal.

While watching these actors rehearse their lines today, it goes to show that practice may not so much create perfection, but it can create confidence.

Rehearsal on April 18, 2010

Today the actors involved in the Evolving Oedipus Play Project were rehearsing their scenes. Aviva started out the day asking the actors, what character in the play, other than the character they were playing can they relate to?

S* who is playing Jocasta felt as though she could relate to Creon because of his loyalty to the King. P* who is playing Tiresias felt he could relate to Oedipus because of Oedipus' passion and ability to find success in whatever path he took.

We practiced a "body awareness" drill where members walked around the room in complete silence but kept others within their peripheral vision. N*, an actor involved in the play said the lesson he learned from the drill was to be aware of your own body, yourself as an actor and the performers around you, especially when acting in front of a large audience.

After lunch we did another warm-up where we added another layer to the "seven layers" game. To recap:
1st layer- they were to announce their names in a sequential order
2nd layer- while announcing their names, they were to replace the spot of a fellow cast member, following a certain order
3rd layer- While simultaneously doing the 1st and 2nd layers, the cast had to create another order of throwing the ball to one another. Success! We were able to complete 3 layers with all members staying focused and "in the moment."

After this warm-up, the members rehearsed their scenes with great intensity to the end of rehearsal. Jordan and Matt took M*, P* and B* aside to create an interview scenario for a film they are producing for the play.
It was a productive day as the cast were excited about reciting their lines and "being in the moment."

Trip to see In the Wake

Trip to see In the Wake

Rehearsal on April 11, 2010

So today at the Mustard Seed, I've seen all members shine as the day went on. We started out the day with theatre sports: one called "Seven Layers," where we learn how to juggle the task of simultaenously calling out each other's names [in order] and switching places one another. We were able to conquer this challenge by being focused and remaining relaxed during this exercise.

We also wrote themes on the Oedipus play that we were working on. It was great seeing everyone working in teams to figure out how complex and interesting their play will be, alluding to how great and fun the play will be.

We did a news-casters role play, where one member was a reporter and the other group members had to reflect on how the characters in the Oedipus play would respond to certain situations. S* was the character Jocasta, the Queen of Thebes who arose from the waking dead to tell her account of the tragedy. S** was the Messenger who had to deliver the ghastly news about the King and the Queen, P* was Creon, the brother-in-law that had to deal with the consequences of the tragedy and its leftovers. We had interviews of the prophet, King Pelops, the Shephard and other witnesses of the tragedy. A news story definitely worth your attention!

All-in-all it was a great day where everyone felt comfortable in each other's space as the day went on. Great day full of activiites and funny moments!

Orientation

Thursday April 1, 2010

Today was the beginning for the Development Studies Club to embark its new journey with the Evolving Play Project. We met with various artists and members who are part of the major forces of this play.

Meet some of the amazing members who are involved in the direction, coordination, and the artistic endeavours of this project!

Aviva Zimmerman



Raised in Calgary, Aviva trained as an actor in Toronto where she began to explore the intersection of arts and social justice while creating and performing guerrilla theatre and teaching drama at homeless shelters for youth. Since returning to Calgary, Aviva has facilitated a number of community development projects using the arts, founded the Provincial Boom Comission Art Collective, and has staged a number of guerrilla art interventions around the city (including introducing the mascots of ‘Peetry the Poverty Panda’ and ‘Dobo the Disparity Dragon’ at the Calgary Stampede). Since 2008, Aviva has been facilitating various theatre projects with the Mustard Seed Drama Club, including the upcoming Evolving Oedipus Project in May 2010.

She went to acting school at Ryerson University and also at the University of Toronto. Aviva, as well as the members involved in this project believed that art should be accessible and available to all individuals in society; pushing the need for social change through artistic means.

Hannah Poon



She is the Arts & Culture Facilitator at the Mustard Seed and a "collector of jobs."
Hannah was always interested in the "street-life" as well as reaching the people in society who are misunderstood. She always dreamt of working with the youth and this invoked her to receive her Bachelor of Social Work at the University of Calgary. Hannah found herself divided between her passion with Social Justice and Arts, until she found an opportunity at the arts program at the Mustard Seed- which sprung into what is currently, The Evolving Play Project (EPP). For the EPP, she's working on set design and is too, running the arts workshops.

Jessica
She is the Stage Manager for the Evolving Play Project. Jessica did her studies at Mount Royal University, which is a very intense Theatre Arts program. She specializes in painting, lighting, and many other behind-the-scene tasks in the theatre. She is very passionate about integrating theatre and social justice as well. Jessica is engaged in many other community theatre programs and is with the Provincial Boom Commission. We will definitely be seeing a lot more from Jessica!


Cole



He works with Verb Theatre, tells stories from specific communities and is also involved in theatre writing. Just like Aviva, he was part of the This-is-My-City team of artists. He has focused on the visual arts aspect of theatre but now has the chance to incorporate certain passions within the realms of theatre arts. This included his involvement with the Why Calgary? Mapping project. This consisted of a map of Calgary displayed on the streets of Stephen Avenue, where people were randomly asked to walk and see what the day in the life of a homeless person would be. Cole is active in the Provincial Boom Commission and is involved in Comedy Projects with the Calgary youth.


Matt
Another valuable member to the Evolving Play Project, Matt is a sound designer and new media artist working in theatre, dance and installation. He is a graduate from the Electroacoustic Composition and Sound Technology program at Concordia University and is an active member of the Montreal improvised music community. Matt usually spends half of his time in Montrealand is super excited to have the opportunity to work with the Mustard Seed Drama Club. We will be seeing many great things from him!

First Read-Through and 5-Minute Oedipus!

Today, the actors did a first read-through of the entire Oedipus Rex script, in about 3 hours' time, with everyone taking turns reading the parts of the various characters. It was great to get a feel for the story (since it's certainly not a simple one!) and explore its themes.





At the end of the rehearsal, the actors split into two groups to each perform a 5-minute version of the Oedipus play. They met this challenge with enthusiasm and creativity, and we ended up with two very different versions of the play! See the drama unfold in the pictures below...