Chaos and Order

2011-11-10T01:42:00.000-08:00

Moliere' s Scapin: An Adaptation

This is a section of the script I adapted for an adaptation of Scapin - which was infused with a version of Hamlet!!! The show was a co-production between Queensland Theatre Company and South Australian State Theatre Company in 2003.

To be or not to be – a clown: that is the question:

Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The tricks and follies of outrageous scripts

Or to insert some machinations of mine own

And by imposing, play tragedy? Aye, to cry, to sob

No, more, to weep and by a weep to say we end

The heartache and the thousand natural gags

The fool is heir to – tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wished.

For who would bear the banana-peels of time,

The oppressor’s parody,

The pain of period farce, the lack of pay,

The insolence of subscribers who complain

‘Bout parking and unnecessary language,

When he himself might play the most dramatic part?

Tis a clever clown that would survive seriousness.

Ooo, to cry, to weep, ooo, perchance to trip on one’sown feet,

To stumble – Aye, there’s the rub.

For in the hiccups of tragedy what guffaws will come

When I have shuffled off this motley stage

Will give applause.

Thus comedy does make a mockery of us all,

And my desire for tragedy

Is but a dream o’ercast with

Obligations to be funny

With this regard my hopes but turn awry

And lose the name of action. (Copyright Scott Witt 2003 -2011)

2011-10-01T01:48:00.000-07:00

Old Interview - The Australian May 2008
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/rough-and-tumble-the-actors-lot/story-e6frg8n6-1111116209377

2011-09-23T16:48:00.001-07:00

Sydney Morning Herald - Interview. Friday September 23, 2011

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/hot-ticket-20110922-1klqe.html

2011-09-12T14:55:00.001-07:00

Contrast & Contradiction

..... itis worth noting that everything we do in our profession i.e. sharing a story –theatre, film making etc is a contradiction. What we are doing is not real, itis not actually a real event, by this I mean we are dramatising a moment/s oflife, yet what we are doing is a really happening – the whole process of makingart is or rather could be debated as being unreal and yet real – hence myproposition it is a contradiction. My reason for bringing this up is because asan artists in this world, let’s call this world; make believe – in this world of make believe as an actor trying tomake sense of my work within this contradiction I need to almost create areality or sometimes I just call it “tricking” myself – I need this unrealworld to feel real to me in order for it to make sense so some part of brain inorder for me to have logical reactions to what appears to be chaotic and random....to be continued.....

2011-08-31T14:52:00.000-07:00

A shared thought...

The thoughts that follow in this post are inreference to my teaching of actors, primarily with respect to stage combat. However,my philosophical application of (and to) Chaos& Order and the discoveries shared below also relate to my teaching ofacting, improvisation, mask, clowning, slapstick and an interesting classcalled ‘Creative State’. For the purpose of this posting, I shall elaborate alittle on what is meant when I am referring to my methodology of Chaos & Order, and my recent discoveries in class and on the floor in rehearsals.

In simplistic terms, there is arelationship that exists between the two elements Chaos and Order. The basicconcept of Chaos Theory is that random events have an underlying order. We can useChaos Theory to understand more about how an actor problem solves or acquiresand processes new skills. What appears to be a series of chaotic events can infact have an order, something that I will elaborate upon further.

Over the last six months my process of Chaos & Order has takenon a deeper sense of application, learning and comprehension. It is worthnoting my use of the term ‘process’: I am personally very tired of using it,but for now it shall suffice, and I shall save my thoughts on that for anotherblog. Although I feel my work is ever-evolving, I have been confused by myinability to articulate that development. However, I now feel that I can beginto articulate it, or at the very least, try and share it here.

In January 2011, I returned to my‘mountain of contemplation’, the place where I am able to renew myunderstanding of my artistic endeavours in stage combat and fight directing.This ‘mountain of contemplation’ is the Paddy Crean Workshop in Banff, Canada, anamazing workshop held every two years, bringing together some of the mostinteresting folks in the movement and combative arts. Anyone who knows theirgeography would know that Banff is literally on a mountain. I have beenvisiting Banff for ten years and every time I return there I meet old friends,make new ones and reflect. Here, in isolation from the ‘real world’, Iexperience and discover new ideas, share techniques and take part in a cross-pollinationof disciplines. I find I am able toshare my mythology with students, participants and peers. My mountain affords me a smallwindow of time to really reflect on my process (ugh, that word again) andreally call into question what I am doing, how I am doing it and moreimportantly, why I am doing it.

On my most recent visit, a friendof mine, Tim Klotz, asked me why I didn’t write more on my blog. It made methink: do I actually have anything to say?I felt there was something I had to contribute and I set about seekingclarification (for myself) on what it is that I actually do when sharing withmy students in a class – particularly in reference to Chaos and Order. (I prefernot to use the word ‘teach’ – I like to think of it as sharing.)

Over the last twenty years ofsharing, I have had all sorts of epiphanies, ideas, approaches, break-throughsand philosophies occur to me. By inlarge, I over-complicated everything. However, in the last few years I havetried to distil my philosophies down to just a few concepts. Regardless ofwhere my thinking has taken me, the driving question has always been the same –why do some actors pick up stage combat more easily than others? I am not justreferring to remembering moves or knowing how to sling a sword or push anotheractor safely. I am suggesting a deeper understanding, one I felt I had instinctively.In my early days of teaching, I was unable to articulate and unpack thisinstinct for my students. Now, however, I feel I am better able to discuss myapproach towards Chaos and Order.

An actor is taught, learns andthen performs a technique. Let’s take the technique of a parry, a defensivemove used in sword play to prevent an opponent’s attack from landing. Simpleenough. One could even say a parry is just a parry. But what complicates theprocess for an actor learning to apply all this new information is all thevariables that come into play as he or she realises that the parry can be usedand applied to so many scenarios and contexts. Ultimately, it is a form ofseptic focus to only teach a parry, what is meant by this is that there needsto be a holistic approach to the teaching, a parry cannot be taught inisolation it needs to be taught within a set of combative principles along withthe rest of the frame work that sits around the combative requirements andkinaesthetic awareness needed when and while performing the parry. There is thekinaesthetic languaging that takes place while performing the parry, thepotential emotional drive behind it, the demands of the script, the probablecostume restraints and so the list continues. So now a parry is not just aparry.

Humans are a complex system. Weare in on-going interaction, development and learning with and by ourenvironment. This includes the physical world and as well as other humanswithin that environment and we learn by that process and the interactions inturn inform new developments and new directions. In chaos theory, there issensitivity to dependence on initialcircumstances. A small alterationin the initial situation can lead to major change in the long-term behaviour ofa system. The actor learns a technique – a parry (initial circumstance). Thenthe use and application of the parry occurs and deeper understanding ensues (alteration).This is finding order within chaos. Students are now on the edge ofunderstanding.

Of course, at this stage I have only refereedto a technique in isolation. In reality, an actor will have to (amongst otherthings) use this technique alongside a series of other techniques and alsodeliver text, avoid trip hazards, work generously with other actors, be awareof lighting, work within the limitations of some costuming dilemmas, keep theaction contained for various angles and shots (for film), be mindful of theaudience (for theatre), work safely and most importantly, convey the story. Inshort, actors are continually multi-tasking and problem-solving.

While I feel I am able tomulti-task and problem-solve while performing, I have not always shared thisfundamental part of our job with my students – I was taking it for granted. Whileat Banff this year, I began to explore what was to become a breakthrough in myprocess and the relationship between Chaos and Order. I began to share thisidea with Spencer Humm and together we started with some basic multi-taskingexercises to see how students would react. We set tasks that I felt were fairlysimple – say doing two or three things at once. I was astounded at the small level of tasks any one person (generally speaking) could perform. For the most part the actors’ brains began to fry!

If we look at the function of theleft hemisphere of the brain, we find writing, language, maths, and of course,logic. On the right side, we find emotions, spatial awareness, and creativity.With logic comes a need for a linear process, or order. Often throughout a creative process, we see what appear tobe messy events – or chaos. So, to draw in my process of Chaos and Order - theleft brain is Order and the right brain is Chaos. What links these twohemispheres of the brain is the corpus callosum. This is the area of the brain that unlocks our ability to multi-task.

The corpus callosum is keycontributor to overall cerebral organisation.During high levels of cognitive activity, the function of the corpuscallosum seems to be one of ensuring the equilibrium of stimulation and focusbetween the two halves of the brain. This in turn allows the brain to work in aholistic way and enables constant concentration throughout compound cognitiveduties. For me, the corpus callosum is the ‘and’ in my Chaos and Order. It isthe link to what was missing in my teaching. I was focusing on the Chaos andthe Order, but not finding ways to link them so that actors could access themas elements of learning.

Since my mountain visit, I havedeveloped a large range of exercises that focus on problem-solving and multi-tasking.The exercises stimulate both logic and creativity. For the most part, whether anactor is learning stage combat, rehearsing a script or performing a role, theyare often in what chaos theory physicist Norman Packard calls ‘the edge ofchaos’ - a state of complexity that existsbetween order and chaos . I think the concept is very pertinent to what I amattempting to do when I place my students in a complex state of learning. Theexercises I have created since my Banff visit, immerse students in a complex situation for a given amountof time to increase their ability to operate in that context. Students begin tosee the need to compartmentalise aspects of techniques and develop skills toproblem solve.

I am not suggesting that an actorbe a multitasking guru, but rather that developing multi-tasking and problemsolving skills is a great way to help an actor deal with certain scenarioswhich may occur on the job. I am attempting to help increase their ability toswitch between tasks and deal with dilemmas in a high pressure situation. Here’san example that has happened to me: inthe middle of performance, I began to feel the handle on my sword loosen. I hadto make a series of decisions about what to do next, knowing that it could savesomeone from serious injury. This is why I am suggesting that the range ofexercises need to fluctuate between multi-tasking and problem-solving. In acontrolled environment, I am taking my students to the edge of chaos.

What I am hoping to achieve isthat my actors can learn to identify when something is becoming chaotic andwhen things need to be brought back to order. I am also helping them becomeaware that from a spectator’s point of view, we may want things to appearchaotic - but we on the stage, or on set mustlook for the order. Ultimately the audience members don’t want to see ourhomework.

to be continued...

2010-08-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

Article for magazine - 2010

Hi all and welcome to my first blog... I don't think it hurt...

I have decided to share an article that I have drafted up for a magazine here in Australia. This is the full version of the article, but it will be cut down when it goes to print. So I just wanted to share it with my bloggers! So follow me and my blog if you want to, as I share with you my growing developments, ideas etc here at my new blog home - Chaos & Order.

“Oh, you’re a fight director? What - so you do sword fights?”

This is probably the most common response I hear to my statement that I am (amongst other things) a Fight Director. It’s difficult to explain to the lay person, even industry types, exactly what my job entails. So, here’s how I would like to answer that question.

In 1969 in the UK, a meeting was held by artists who had regularly been teaching and choreographing fights for stage. The outcome of that meeting was the formation of an organisation that would specialise in creating and maintaining a professional discipline dedicated to the development of stage combat and fight direction. This organisation became the Society of British Fight Directors. Since that date, similar organisations have developed throughout the world, including, in 1993, The Society of Australian Fight Directors Incorporated (SAFDi), where I had the privilege of serving as president for over a decade (1996 – 2007).

Until these organisations formalised the profession, most theatres used fencers to arrange fights. There was also a tradition of specific actors passing a variety of arranged sequences down through the ranks over time. However, the heritage of stage combat and fight direction can be traced back even further, to a man by the name of Patrick “Paddy” Crean. Paddy was an actor with a background in competitive fencing. He first began to choreograph fights for theatre in 1932 in England, also doubling for such stars as Errol Flynn, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Alec Guinness and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. In 1962, he attended the Canadian Stratford Theatre Festival where he eventually became the festival’s fight director until 1983. He also continued to act. I had the pleasure of meeting him in 1999; unfortunately, he passed away in 2003. Paddy has left a great legacy.

Today, a growing number of fight directors have their roots in performance. There is an increasing trend for actors who have been exposed to stage combat through acting training to continue with further study and go on to become stage combat teachers and fight directors. This ‘actor-first’ trend is creating a fight director with a stronger understanding of the function a physical conflict plays within a story - and moreover, how to achieve it.

I am an actor, clown, writer/adaptor and director. I believe that storytelling is paramount and that my work as a fight director should be invisible. is The term ‘Fight Director’ is potentially misleading. Often, I will be credited as ‘Fight Director’ and there may not even be a “fight moment” in the show, which is confusing for an audience thinking – where was the fight? Or, on seeing this title in the program prior to the show, expect a “fight”.

A “fight moment” doesn’t have to be dramatic - it could be comedic. It doesn’t always appear in the form of a sword fight or a punch-up either. The range of tasks I facilitate, arrange, co-ordinate or choreograph is growing. With the increased requirements to uphold OH&S standards, our role as fight directors is changing. In my opinion, a well-rounded, correctly trained Fight Director is skilled and experienced in areas encompassing, but not limited to: director, actor, movement consultant, dramaturge, safety officer, historical/modern martial artist (eastern and western), violence (sexual and domestic) co-ordinator, teacher, slapstick adviser and weapons consultant.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of understanding from the industry about the role of fight direction in the creative process. Firstly, there is little committed development of stage combat at acting institutions. The fundamental skills involved in stage combat go beyond just knowing how to throw a punch. Limiting an actor’s training to just a few weeks within a three-year course is not satisfactory. Ironically, we would save the industry money if actors had a more solid understanding of stage combat when working on the rehearsal floor. Secondly, many companies still underestimate both the time needed to get a ‘fight moment’ to speed and the costs involved in ensuring that actors and crew are safe each night. Fight Directors are regularly the last creative brought into a process and they are given the least amount of time to contribute. Fight Directors should be brought in earlier to provide a costing (like any other department) about what might be involved. Then a strategy could be put in place that ensures a) a safe working environment and b) that a creative vision is fulfilled.

On a positive note, there are many companies and acting schools that are extremely supportive of the services Fight Directors bring to a production or actor training and these companies are at the forefront of understanding the roles and responsibilities of a modern Fight Director. Bell Shakespeare Company, Queensland Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, Opera Australia, La Boite Theatre Company, Company B, Griffin Theatre Company, NIDA, Actors Centre Australia and QUT are just a few of the companies I work for.

Hopefully, this insight has given you an idea of how a qualified and experienced Fight Director can contribute to your project, whether it be on stage or screen. I welcome any comments or feedback you may have at smilee@combatcircus.com.