Frantic Assembly
Frantic are a devising theatre company who create emotionally profound stories. They combine physical theatre, movement and "intense" (so I suppose emotionally engaging) storytelling. I personally love their style and works; I find that a large amount of a story can be, and is, told through their physical works.
Movement
Movement is the central and, I think, most important pillar of Frantic pieces.
Home chairs and chair duets are physical sequences centred around, you guessed it, chairs. See an example in the video below. I personally think they can greatly aid in the storytelling of the movement by providing the actors with more variation and opportunities of movement, helping to make a scene and or sequence appear more visually interesting.
It shows the relationships and narrative of the story. Parts of the storyline are already being told through physical theatre before the audience hear one line. The best example of this is Frantic's adaptation of Othello (Miss Hill's fave).
Music
Music is the building blocks of Frantic's devising. It leads and accompanies their pieces, aiding in the style and actual movement itself. Music aids in the narrative of pieces; it often helps the actors during the rehearsal process too, in their understanding and character development.
Workshop
Steve Kirkham, a movement director (for shows including Frantic) and dancer of 25 years, came into school to deliver an in-depth practice and workshop of Frantic Assembly as a physical theatre devising company. Steve took us through different devising blocks, warm up activities and non-negotiables used by this company and developed our understanding of physical theatre and the process of devising.
Some things we worked on:
- Squeeze duets
- Home Chairs (and Chair Duets)
- Lifts
- Manoeuvres
- How to hold/ grip people
The final two bullet points on the left are the two that I found the most useful. Steve put us in pairs and got us to do lifts; he then gave us techniques such as just using the palm of your hands during a horizontal lift instead of wrapping your fingers around someone, this resulted in what we found to be much faster and 'easier' lifts.
I was partnered with Fin in the year above me. I found this worked to both our advantages: Fin could lift me with much ease, so we had quite a fluid dynamic in comparison to some other groups.
Overall, I found that Steve massively helped in my understanding of Frantic and enhanced my wellbeing.