Hello! My name is Patrick Torres, and I am currently directing The F Word by Melissa Blackall. This is my first time working with The Inkwell, and I feel honored to be a part of the team and the development of this great play.
The play focuses on our obsession with fat. It's comprised of monologues and vignettes that explore how we find ways to connect with ourselves and others when our bodies often get in the way.
When I first read the script I connected to it immediately. I have never been comfortable in my own body and the journey of play resonated with me deeply. There are so many lines that ring true for me because I have uttered them many times. I was also struck by Melissa's use of physical metaphor in the script because I so often think movement pieces require the trim physique of a dancer. But what could be more vulnerable and beautiful than a diversity of bodies in space. The metaphors and imagery of the play are haunting and stirring. I hope we can capture some of that in the staged reading.
Approaching the first rehearsal was interesting. The Inkwell has open rehearsals, and I have never experienced that before for a first gathering unless people just sat in on a reading of the play. However, I knew that one primary goal of the first rehearsal (and all the rehearsals) was to examine the play with a mind toward revision. I have to say Melissa is much more brave than me. As a writer I think it would be very difficult for me to open myself up to public criticism. Developing a play is an intimate act, but I think this open format actually served this play. The vulnerability of working on a play for the first time with people looking on worked to put us all in the place of the characters.
Going into the rehearsal, I knew Melissa was primarily interested in pointing a critical eye to the journey of each character. So, we started with a standard read through. I asked the company and the audience to note moments when they identified with the characters during the read. After the actors finished reading, I asked everyone in the theatre to participate in the next exercise called Rasaboxes, developed by Richard Schechner, based on Indian theories of rasaesthetics. Rasa is a Sanskrit word that means essence, juice, flavor. The practitioners of rasaesthetics, defined nine essential rasas based on human emotions. They are:
Before rehearsal, I taped out nine boxes on the floor and placed a piece of piece of poster board in each box. I asked everyone who had heard the reading to enter each box one by one, breath the rasa and write down a moment s/he remembered from the play that sparked that emotion. Rasaesthetics contends that every idea, movement and action on stage must somehow be embodied physically, even if it is at the basic level of breath. Because breath is what sustains our bodies, I thought this would be the perfect exercise to initiate our dialogue about the play. After everyone visited each box, I had the actors stand in the box that best represented the breath of his/her character. They breathed in the emotion, then allowed that breath to affect them physically, and delivered a line from the script. The characters really began to come to life in these moments. Finally, I wanted us to hear the journey of each character in the play based on the rasaboxes. The play begins and ends with each character stating her/his birth weight. I asked the cast to stand together in the box labeled santa (peace). When they felt compelled, they were to move to adbhuta (wonderment, surprise) and state their birth weight. Next they were to move to the box they felt best represented his/her breath at the end of the play and restate the birth weight. This was telling as it demonstrated the arcs of these characters. I left the exercise with a better understanding of the movement of the play.
We followed this exercise with an open dialogue about the play. Melissa left with some very concrete ideas about how to move forward with the play and clear up the play structurally. So...a great play will get even better. I look forward to working on the play again this weekend.
P.S. This was my first BLOG ever. I am sorry if it was too rambling and long...when given the opportunity, I can go on forever. One more thing...The Inkwell is awesome and I hope to see you all this weekend!
In the photo above, Patrick Torres leads the Rasaboxes exercise with the actors. Photo by Melissa Blackall.
The play focuses on our obsession with fat. It's comprised of monologues and vignettes that explore how we find ways to connect with ourselves and others when our bodies often get in the way.
When I first read the script I connected to it immediately. I have never been comfortable in my own body and the journey of play resonated with me deeply. There are so many lines that ring true for me because I have uttered them many times. I was also struck by Melissa's use of physical metaphor in the script because I so often think movement pieces require the trim physique of a dancer. But what could be more vulnerable and beautiful than a diversity of bodies in space. The metaphors and imagery of the play are haunting and stirring. I hope we can capture some of that in the staged reading.
Approaching the first rehearsal was interesting. The Inkwell has open rehearsals, and I have never experienced that before for a first gathering unless people just sat in on a reading of the play. However, I knew that one primary goal of the first rehearsal (and all the rehearsals) was to examine the play with a mind toward revision. I have to say Melissa is much more brave than me. As a writer I think it would be very difficult for me to open myself up to public criticism. Developing a play is an intimate act, but I think this open format actually served this play. The vulnerability of working on a play for the first time with people looking on worked to put us all in the place of the characters.
Going into the rehearsal, I knew Melissa was primarily interested in pointing a critical eye to the journey of each character. So, we started with a standard read through. I asked the company and the audience to note moments when they identified with the characters during the read. After the actors finished reading, I asked everyone in the theatre to participate in the next exercise called Rasaboxes, developed by Richard Schechner, based on Indian theories of rasaesthetics. Rasa is a Sanskrit word that means essence, juice, flavor. The practitioners of rasaesthetics, defined nine essential rasas based on human emotions. They are:
- sringara - love, the erotic
- raudra - rage
- karuna - grief, but also pity and compassion
- bhayanaka - fear
- bibhasta - disgust
- vira - courage, virility
- hasya - laughter
- adbhuta - wonderment, surprise
- santa - peace
Before rehearsal, I taped out nine boxes on the floor and placed a piece of piece of poster board in each box. I asked everyone who had heard the reading to enter each box one by one, breath the rasa and write down a moment s/he remembered from the play that sparked that emotion. Rasaesthetics contends that every idea, movement and action on stage must somehow be embodied physically, even if it is at the basic level of breath. Because breath is what sustains our bodies, I thought this would be the perfect exercise to initiate our dialogue about the play. After everyone visited each box, I had the actors stand in the box that best represented the breath of his/her character. They breathed in the emotion, then allowed that breath to affect them physically, and delivered a line from the script. The characters really began to come to life in these moments. Finally, I wanted us to hear the journey of each character in the play based on the rasaboxes. The play begins and ends with each character stating her/his birth weight. I asked the cast to stand together in the box labeled santa (peace). When they felt compelled, they were to move to adbhuta (wonderment, surprise) and state their birth weight. Next they were to move to the box they felt best represented his/her breath at the end of the play and restate the birth weight. This was telling as it demonstrated the arcs of these characters. I left the exercise with a better understanding of the movement of the play.
We followed this exercise with an open dialogue about the play. Melissa left with some very concrete ideas about how to move forward with the play and clear up the play structurally. So...a great play will get even better. I look forward to working on the play again this weekend.
P.S. This was my first BLOG ever. I am sorry if it was too rambling and long...when given the opportunity, I can go on forever. One more thing...The Inkwell is awesome and I hope to see you all this weekend!
In the photo above, Patrick Torres leads the Rasaboxes exercise with the actors. Photo by Melissa Blackall.
Thank you for this great posting and telling about rasaesthetics. Thanks also for the GREAT JOB DIRECTING The F Word!