Frantic Assembly

by Mark Evans, Mark Smith

Overview

Frantic Assembly have had a powerful and continuing influence on the popularisation of devising practices in contemporary theatre-making. Their work blends brave and bold physical theatre with exciting new writing, and they have collaborated with some of the leading theatre-makers in the UK. The company’s impact reaches throughout the world, particularly through their extensive workshop and education programmes, as well as their individual and collective impact as movement directors on landmark, internationally successful productions such as Black Watch and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

This volume reveals the background to, and work of, a major influence on twentieth and twenty-first century performance. Frantic Assembly is the first book to combine:

• an overview of the history of the company since its foundation in 1994
• an analysis of the key ideas underpinning the company’s work
• a critical commentary on two key productions – Hymns by Chris O’Connell (1999) and Stockholm by Bryony Lavery (2007)
• a detailed description of a Frantic Assembly workshop, offering an introduction to how the company works.

As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today’s student.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367030858
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/31/2021
Series:	Routledge Performance Practitioners
Pages:	196
Product dimensions:	5.06(w) x 7.81(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mark Evans is Professor of Theatre Training and Education at Coventry University. He trained with Jacques Lecoq and Philippe Gaulier in Paris and has published widely on performer training and physical theatre, including: Movement Training for the Modern Actor (2009), The Routledge Companion to Jacques Lecoq (2016) and Performance Movement and the Body (2019).

Mark Smith is a Lecturer in Theatre at the University of York. His research examines the interplay between processes of devising, writing and physicality in contemporary UK theatre. He has worked as a theatre director and dramaturg, and he writes regularly for the British Theatre Guide.

Table of Contents

List of figures vii

Foreword Vicky Featherstone ix

Acknowledgements xi

1 Biographical and Artistic Context: A 'Frantic Method'? 1

Introduction 1

Beginnings: the 1990s 2

Expanding dramatically: 1998-2012 21

Letting others in: 2012-present 36

Conclusion 41

2 Key Writings, Principles and Ideas: 'Always Forward, Never Back' 43

The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre 44

Collaboration 45

Physicality 50

Movement and gender 61

Movement and writing: developing the ideas 67

The value of text and movement 73

Learning and training: Frantic Assembly and education 75

Conclusion 80

3 Ideas in Production: Hymns and Stockholm 82

Hymns: text reconstructed 82

Stockholm: text and silence 100

Conclusion: from friendship to family 116

4 Practical Work: A Frantic Assembly Workshop 118

The context 118

Fundamental principles 120

Before beginning 123

Physical preparation 127

Group exercises 132

Partner work 134

Weight and contact 137

Lifting 139

Generating physical material 143

Workshopplng the material: exploring the potential of what is made 148

Winding up 149

The presumptions 150

Starting points for devising text 154

Performing/acting/making 157

Video 158

Placing practical work in context 159

Conclusion 161

International impact 162

Bibliography 166

Resources 179

Index 181