Robert Paterno
MFA Acting 2010
So on Thursday and Friday of last week we had the privilege of working with Laurent Bastide of Turak. They do some really amazing work with video, miniatures, and, most importantly, puppets. We got to work with the same puppets that they used in their performance during the Ca Tchatche festival, and was simply amazing. Laurent is such an great teacher, and he made us really focus on specificity of intention and action and helped us to hone our listening skills, both aural and physical. It's really interesting how working with the puppets forces you to be so precise and attentive to both your partner and the audience. And the work that we did was so simple and focused on action, it reminded me of how often I forget that when doing theatre work. The text and the action are one and the same. The puppet work is so different from acting and yet they share so many of the same principles. It was really hard work, but I gained so much from the experience. This was the work that I was most looking forward to, and I was not disappointed. I only wish we'd had more time with them, but I look forward to bringing both what I've learned to my stage work and seeing how I can manifest this into new works or retelling old stories that are still relevant.
And so on Thursday night we hit the suburbs of Lyon to see a dance show (which was, at least technically, amazing, especially seeing a lot of the same things on the stage that we did in Xavier's class). The most interesting and frightening part of the night, however, happened on the train to the theatre. While we were on our way, some young French guys started to harass some members of our group, both male and female. I'll save you the gory details for now, but I will tell you that one of the guys actually hit one of our professor's in the back of the head. At that moment I felt everyone person in our group get their hackles up. They kept exchanging words with Russell and Chad, who both kept their cool and made us all really proud. Eventually, we all moved to separate parts of the train and the guys lost interest. In the moment, however, it was pretty scary and we were all at a bit of a loss. This has been my only ugly experience of any kind since I've been here, and it could have happened just as easily in Dallas or Houston or any place in America, probably more easily. It was just a bit sobering, I guess. I've had such a great time and met so many people since we've been here, and it brought me back down to reality a bit too quickly for my tastes. Nonetheless, we continue to enjoy our few remaining days here in France, and I know I'll miss it when we start that long long LONG plane ride home. Jet lag, take me away...
We've got homework, so I'm outtie for now. Stay tuned tomorrow for my Parisian hijinks and other sundry doins'. Everyone have a great night!
Seacrest. Out.