DEVISING PERFORMANCE

HUMAART
What is devising?
‘To contrive, plan, or elaborate; invent from
existing principles or ideas: to devise a
method.’ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/devising

In essence, devising means:

‘to create a piece of theatre’
‘to create performance’
Devising entails—

 Rethinking what theatre/performance is

 Using practical tools for making
creative work and encouraging you to
think outside the box
1. Object as stimuli
 Object personified
The story is told from the point of view of the object

 Using the object

The object is a part of the story

Action-narration
Narrating a story about the object
Your task…
With one object, you must create a depiction/still
image using the object.

You must select one of the ways of using the objects.

◼Object personified
◼Using the object or
◼Action-narration

Then, develop your depiction/still image into a short

scene.
What stimuli can be used?
Props /
Text: Poems, stories,
objects /
scripts, etc.
clothing

Your imagination
Music
TV, films, etc.

Real events
 2. Characterisation, Physicality
and Stereotypes
Walk around the space, focusing on:
 physicality- your posture, the way you walk, etc.

 characterisation- facial expressions, etc.

Q. What are stereotypes?

Q. Where do stereotypes come from?
Q. What informs them?
Q. Why is it important to consider stereotypes when
creating characters?
Look at the images:

 Look at the characters, what is happening here?

(what story can you develop)
 Look at the proxemics, what do they tell you?
 Look at the background, what is the context? (time,
date and place)
 If you had to title this image, what would you call it?
http://www.taopo.org
http://www.fyi09.wordpress.com
http://www.imageblogs.org
Your task

Create 3 depictions/action-depictions
 some time before the photo was taken

 the photo

 some time after the photo was taken

You can add in dialogue, actions, thought tracking etc

but you must have clearly thought about the
characterisation and physicality of your character.
Character chart (Example)
Name and Age Mrs Perez, 45

Physicality Upright, middle class

History/Past Couldn’t have children, ‘adopted’ son

at birth. Cunning and devious.
Present situation House wife, but she employs a
cleaner who works once a week
(family, job, etc.) Married with one son, Edward
Relationship with others Concerned about Edward’s recent
behaviour. Not close to husband
Political stance Right wing, not religious or
superstitious.
Perception of death Is afraid of death and wants to protect her
family, but has used ‘death’ as a threat to Mrs
Baldon (her cleaner) when she adopted
Edward.
3. Using text as stimuli
1, 2, 3 exercise in pairs: a quick exercise to engage
students with text and action

Create a depiction/still image using abstract nouns as

stimuli.
 Death, Journey, Hope, Fear

Q. What other ‘texts’ could you use?

Q. How would you start?
Q. Do you have to use the whole text?
Using text…
 Use a text extract to create a short performance
piece incorporating specific techniques.
 Types of text can be:
 a poem,
 an extract from a short story or a novel,
 a monologue or dialogue or scene from a play,
 text from a social/secular or religious ritual (be careful in
using the latter)
 A letter
 Any piece of written/already composed text
4. Using improvisation to devise
 Spontaneous improvisation exercise
 Introduce ‘Blocking / Accepting’ as rules

 Improvisation parameters
1. Place
2. At least 2 Characters
3. Problem (this usually helps create 4 & 5)
4. The Motives
5. The Dilemma (Conflict)

Students should then use same structure/model to improvise a

scene for their devised piece.
 5. Sequencing
 Chronological- beginning- middle-
end

 Cyclical

 Episodic (short scenes that can stand

alone, not necessarily linked, often
with narration), BRECHTIAN.

 Flashback (going back in time)

 Flash forward (going forward in

time)
6. Other devices
 Presence/absence
 Creating performance installations
 Silence and stillness
 Incorporating technology
 Transforming personal material into performance
 Walking
 Using documentation
 Many, many more…
References
 Okoth, H., & McManus, K. (n.d.). How to teach
devising [PPT].
 http://dramaresource.com/resources/features/devi
sing-theatre
 Heddon, D., & Milling, J. (2006). Devising
Performance: A Critical History. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Guidelines for the devising project
 Students will work collaboratively as members
of a performance group taking the role of
either a performer or performance support.
The group size must be between five and eight
performers.
 Performers can offer scripted performance,
devised performance or a combination of both.
 Duration of the performance should be from 5
minutes to 15 minutes (maximum)
Guidelines for the devising project
The assessment will be based on the overall impact of
the performance, to be rated on a scale of 1-10 with
10 as ‘excellent’. Raters will however be influenced by
specific aspects such as:
❑ voice/sound (audibility, clarity)
❑ movement (precision, skill, appropriateness or the way it
‘communicates’ what the piece wants to say)
❑ roles and characterisation
❑ content, style, form (what is the intention and how is it
conveyed?)
Plan your performance to have the following components:

Actions
Stimuli
Music

Set

Characters wish list

Events

Objects/Props Technical
Costume
Guidelines for the devising project

Ideally, the students should create their own set of

rules to give them ownership of the work, but they
should include:
 Group roles: researcher, technical, set designer,
director, script writer, group chair, etc.
 Listening to each other
 Trying out ideas before rejecting them
 Selecting and rejecting ideas
 Rehearsing and policy for persons away- can they be
included?
Expected output on Oct 9 (Thurs)
1. Group name
2. Group chair/point person
3. Group members
4. Task assignments
5. Short description of the creative concept (50-150 words):
What is intended and how will you do it? What is the
desired output and what will be the process of
devising it?
6. Title of the performance piece
7. If text-based, which text and reason for choosing the
text?