Category Archives: Stuart Scott

My reaction to the manifesto and The Trial

‘I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage.A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre’ (Brook 1968, p. 11).

If we take this idea that the relationship between spectator and the actor is the necessary catalyst for theatre to occur, then we must also consider what it takes to fuel the performance from the actor to a relatable state for the spectator. For STAMP we want the characters and the story to drive our performances, which ultimately derives from the work of the actor. We believe that we do not need grand aesthetic features because in our eyes the actor and the work he/she is doing is the only spectacle that is necessary.

Theatre has, as Brook suggests, become deadly (Brook 1968); what STAMP aim to do is break the boundaries of theatre and use all that is old to create something new. We are going to be drawing from all aspects of theatre and making it better and breath new life in to it. For us no practitioner is wrong, no style is incorrect. We want to stamp our own mark on the theatrical scene, taking what is already present and overused and making it into something that feel fresh.

The Trial seems to be an excellent starting point for the company to begin expressing these ideologies through, as it is a diverse and absurd play which can incorporate the playing of Brook, the bio-mechanical elements of Meyerhold and even the naturalism of Stanislavski. Berkoff’s play offers STAMP the option of freedom and will allow us to further explore theatrical convenitons and ourselves as a singular and as a collective company.

Brook, P. (1968) The Empty Space, London: Penguin.

Joseph K – The naturalistic man in the surreal world

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So, I am to play the role of Joseph K in STAMP Theatre’s upcoming production of Steven Berkoff’s The Trial. Having just read through the script I am concerned as to how I will portray such a naturalistic character in what is such a surreal world. It will be a difficult process and I worry that he may become lost in the fray of flamboyance that will be occurring on stage. But then maybe that is Berkoff’s intention; that K becomes lost within the law itself as he aims to find out what he is accused of. On the surface it is difficult to find any form of beginning for K. He seems like a man who is stuck in an empty life which consists of sleep, work and the occasional fling with Elsa. Joseph K seems to me to be an everyman who has no ego, and in the end does not succeed in his quest, ‘Man cannot live without a lasting trust of something indestructible within himself’ (Berkoff 988, p. 11). Joseph K does not have this belief and in my first reading, I perceived this to be the reason why the play unfolds in such a manner.

Berkoff states in the preface to the play that ‘The Trial is my life. It is anyone’s trial. It is the trial of actually creating the production‘ (1998, p. 5). Perhaps I will be able to understand the character of Joseph K as this process develops and I begin my own trial of morphing Joseph K into a real character.

Work Cited.

Berkoff, S. (1988) The Trial, Metamorphosis, In The Penal Colony, London: Guernsey Press Co. Ltd.

What Does It Take To Make A Theatre?

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I attended a workshop led by playwright and actor Andy Smith where we discussed the question:

What does it take to make a theatre?

Three important elements that come to mind are:

-Enthusiasm

-People

-Location

All three are necessities when it comes to forming a theatre company and creating theatre. As a group we need to have a passion and an aim. Why do we want to create this theatre? We need somewhere to perform it and in most cases we need people to perform the work. The workshop explored various ways we could devise a piece of theatre. Though STAMP are working from a scripted piece we will still be creating a form of theatre which corresponds with our manifesto.

Andy suggested that theatre does not have to be a messy complicated mash of objects and people, but instead can be simplistic. He discussed with us the idea of reducing the content of the work and devising in a context of simplicity. Rather than saying we cannot do it and accepting the limitations that are in place, he suggested we break through the limitations and use them to create a piece of work that flourishes through them. Arguably this is a challenge but with our company’s ideologies we agreed that we want our theatre to be limitless. For us there is no correct practitioner or performance; this is to say that we can synthesise all practitioners or a few.

Andy introduced us to a piece of artwork entitled An Oak Tree. (1973) The piece suggests to me as an actor that performance works due to our audiences ability to accept the preconception that we are actors performing. As the ‘Answerer’ states in Oak Tree ‘One could call it anything one wished but that would not alter the fact that it is an oak tree.’ (Carig-Martin 1973, Online) The conceptual idea that as actors we could embody a character and invite the audience to agree with the notion that we are merely portraying an action or a story. In this way they can enjoy the piece of theatre and focus on the acting. It is something that STAMP wishes to explore. We want to escape the contemporary concentration on aesthetically pleasing performance and create a theatre that focuses on the audience’s connection with us as actors who create a story through acting.

Work cited.

Craig-Martin, M. (1973) An Oak Tree, The Tate Gallery : Online (Accessed 29/01/2013)

Smith, A. (2013). What Does it Take to Make a Theatre? Theatre Company Guest Workshop, Lincoln, LSPA