Reviews

Theatre of the Absurd Workshop

The workshop for me was more than simply understanding the pioneers of this artistic form of theatre; Beckett, Pinter and Ionesco. In fact it was so much more than that – to portray absurdity, to portray nonsensical we had to break down the barriers of inhibition that so many people cling on too for fear of looking ridiculous amongst their peers. Firstly to do this together as a group, i.e. the silly walking, the speed, the contours of movement was a mark of genius, it stopped me feeling self conscious and started to feel almost natural. The transition to doing the same to a piece of music with a single idea, in my case ‘nervous’, didn’t feel too big a mountain to climb – although admittedly I wasn’t first to volunteer, but nevertheless the environment felt safe to explore otherwise considered ridiculous avenues.

I gained a greater understanding of less is more and the use of pauses and how by acting without expression and with simple movement can leave the audience with a treasure trove of interpretations on what is being acted.

Becky was superb, not only because of her understanding of the subject and ability to articulate this to the group, but also her ability to enable each individual feel comfortable enough to act out the absurd. I also loved the suggestions when going through ‘Waiting for Godot’ – subtleties such as eye contact, smugness, resentment improved the individual performances no end.

I learned a lot on Saturday – I just hope my memory allows me the luxury of retaining a small portion of it.

Theatre of the Absurd workshop participant