Physical Fest Press
Liverpool Daily Post
June 10th 2008
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Festival success led by Japanese actor
ORGANISERS are declaring this year’s Physical Fest 4 as the most successful to date, thanks to the participation of some huge names.
The festival, on until Thursday, features experimental workshops and evening events.
Japanese actor, director and teacher Yoshi Oida is involved in both strands of the festival.
Trained from early childhood in the traditional kyogen acting style of the Japanese “No-theatre”, he created his own style after years of performance with Peter Brook.
As part of Brook’s International Theatre Group, he performed all over the world.
Oida is currently giving one workshop taking place over four days, to give those attending a chance to connect properly.
“I try to share what I have studied in Japan and Europe, and from Peter Brook, with the younger generation,” he said.
“We are sharing movement together, or exchanging openness to transmit what I’ve studied in my past.”
All the Physical Fest workshops are sold out, but t some evening events are open to the public.
These include a showing on Wednesday of Have You Seen the Moon? a documentary featuring Oida, who will afterwards give a question and answer session, and the closing party at 3345 Parr Street on Thursday.
Oida continued: “I hadn’t done workshops for two yea rs, and my main aim is not a theatre degree, but happiness. It has helped me as a human being, in how to approach life.
“Before, I felt that life is difficult, but as soon as I started group theatre, I could learn how to live life. So I want them to find a happy life and learn how to live not in frustration and anger, but a calmer life.”
Yorgos Karamalegos, who with Elinor Randal is one of the directors of Tmesis Theatre, , which is behind the event, said: “This year has been the most successful festival we have done.
“People from all around Europe are coming to workshops, and practitioners are taking part from all over the world . . . It is for everyone who is interested in movement, acting and performance art, and I’m really happy it is taking place in Liverpool as it is a city that is thirsty for that.”
May 12th 2008
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Liverpool festival celebrates physical theatre
PHYSICAL Fest 4 may sound like a festival of physical exercises, but is rather more interesting than that.
Presented by Liverpool’s outstanding physical theatre/dance company, Tmesis Theatre, it is a festival designed to show just how far physical theatre has come these days.
The nine days of the festival in Liverpool, between June 4-12, provide workshops in physical theatre run by some of the world’s best practitioners.
But, this year, there will also be five free events open to the general public and all with free admission.
Among those running workshops will be Greek performer Selina Papoutseli, international actor/ director Ira Seidenstein, Liverpool dance/theatre artist Maria Malone and Japanese actor Yoshi Oida.
Tmesis Theatre – performers Yorgos Karamalegos and Elinor Randle – will also be conducting workshops.
The festival is co- presented by the theatre school Hope Street who will host most of the public events at 7.30pm at its headquarters behind the Everyman Theatre.
This will include the festival launch on June 4 which includes the British premiere of Desert Story 2, first created for a Berlin festival and performed by its creator Selina Papoutseli.
A film night on June 5 will also be open to the public and show films from the international physical theatre world.
On June 8, participants in the festival will present a work in progress Une Filet d’Amour from Ira Seidenstein and Jam, an hour-long improvisation.
June 11, at 7pm, will offer a question and answer session with Yoshi Oida, a performer who trained in traditional Japanese theatre but found his own style working with the theatre icon Peter Brook for many years.
The closing party of the festival on June 12, at Bar 3345, at 5.30pm, will be open to the public where they can meet the Physical Fest team and enjoy "drinks and nibbles".
Creaturing expert Al Seed on his quest to create the perfect spider impression
Apr 23 2010 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post
AL SEED is obsessed with encounters with spiders.
Not in that screaming, jumping on chairs terrified sort of way, but in observing them for hours at a time to see how they move.
He’s an expert at mosquitos and pretty good at birds, but he just can’t quite get arachnids.
“My nemesis is spiders,” says Seed, who copies the motions of insects as part of his physical theatre technique, Creaturing.
“Spiders are tough.
“Obviously I don’t have eight legs but in principle with even four limbs I can’t see why there’s any logical reason why you can’t get a very good impression of spidery movement, but they’re very tricksy.”
He will be holding a masterclass on Creaturing as part of the Liverpool-based festival of physical theatre – Physical Fest – run by local company Tmesis, whose new piece Dreadful Hours was premiered at the Everyman earlier this year.
The technique involves taking on elements of the motion of anything that isn’t human, such as animals, machinery or robots.
Training involves a series of exercises that teaches you to both think and move differently.
“If your mind goes then your body will follow, so there’s the psychological aspect of not thinking about our bodies as human but as a tool – flesh to be manipulated as you want,” Seed explains.
In the end it all comes down to tension, he reveals.
“Mammals are quite ploddy but insects have very high levels of tension and a jellyfish has absolutely no tension at all,” he explains.
“By teaching yourself to breathe incredibly slowly and bring down the whole level of tension in your body you create one effect.
“But if you work with very short, sharp intakes of breath you get a natural vibration within the body – quite close to a hummingbird quality.
“If it’s not uncomfortable then we’re not really breaking any habits.”
Seed observes the non-human movement by repeatedly watching a box set of David Attenborough wildlife documentaries as well as CGI special effects in films.
He does not weave animal impersonations into his physical theatre shows but uses elements of their movement.
“It basically offers more choices as a performer in what you want to represent,” he explains.
“There’s the pure form – I want to be half-mosquito, half-squid – but what’s equally interesting is applying it to more naturalistic theatre.
“If the nature of the character is birdlike you can take birdlike qualities into how you present him/her.
“Nobody watching that performance would think it’s a bird, but that the character rang true.”
PHYSICAL Fest 2010 runs from June 5-12. Workshop details from 0781 330 1517 or www.tmesistheatre.com.
