Mauritius Ensemble Unites Through Movement
By Lukas Hagley
For the first time in two years, Marshall’s theatre program is formally implementing the movement-based acting techniques of legendary acting instructor Michael Chekhov. Unlike conventional rehearsals, this method emphasizes emotion and character creation through the use of physicality; in other words, the cast works from the outside-in to achieve an organic performance.
“The last time we rehearsed like this was for ‘Anna in the Tropics,’” said Nicole Perrone, the show’s director. “It works for a small-cast, text-based play that is ensemble in nature. A play like this really enables the actors and myself to focus on the scene work. That’s the kind of rehearsal environment that I need. As a Chekhov practitioner, it’s a part of everything I do.”
The cast utilizes Psychological Gestures in their rehearsals, which entails working a scene from a physical standpoint. Fully investing their whole bodies into gestures, the cast members play their actions externally, engaging every part of their body which allows for internal characterization. They also experiment with the Imaginary Body, which allows an actor to visualize a character’s physicality and gradually transform themselves.
“I like the whole idea of a transformation from one body to another,” said Remy Sylvain, a senior in the theatre department and cast member of Mauritius. “I like working with Psychological Gestures because, rather than having to drum something up out of you, you become affected by external stimuli. It informs your internal choices without doctoring it.”
Perrone taught a Chekhov-based theatre class last semester in preparation for this rehearsal process.
“We just had the Movement II class, entitled ‘Physical Approaches to Text and Character,’” she said. “I thought it would be great if the students could have an opportunity to apply what they learned in that class in production.”
Nearly every part of this rehearsal process stems from an organic place. Each actor chose songs that relate to their respective character. Playing during warm-ups each rehearsal, the cast’s personalized playlist consists of music related to the show. Perrone is implementing these handpicked songs as intermission and pre-show music for each performance.
“Music definitely helps because you work alongside the character to choose it,” said Story Moosa, sophomore theatre major. “Having those repeated songs gets me into the mode where I’m ready to lose myself to this character.”
