Thoughts on Frantic Assembly

From my research, I learned that Frantic Assembly is a British theatre company that aims to encourage diverse and ambitious practices of movement performance on an international level. 

The first video that I watched was the director’s interview for “Things I Know To be True”. I was interested to learn how Frantic Assembly became involved in the project after one of the two artistic directors mentioned that the play was based on the life of an Australian playwright. It was great to hear that the directors could learn from each other when presenting a topic as unique as generational trauma, and i especially enjoyed this quote: “Collaboration isn’t about coming into a room and showing everyone what you know; it’s about discovering what neither of you knew yet.” It’s clear that they understood the importance of intentional movement and how elements of TEAM such as tension effect an audience’s experience. 

After that video I was really interested in seeing what the actors themselves did to rehearse, so I looked at a time-lapse video of the rehearsal room during warm-ups. Some cast members started out doing handstands against the walls or stretching in other ways. Then, they gathered in a circle and shook themselves as one member set up some music for what I think was jumping jacks. They stayed in a circle but would expand a bit before rushing back to the middle, and then expanding again to repeat. The group dispersed after that so people could rest and do individual stretches. When they circled up again, everyone waved around and stretched out their arms, eventually partnering up to give each other shoulder massages.  It was great to see how supportive all of the performers were, respecting each others’ spaces and abilities while keeping them included.

Lastly, I decided to watch one of the resource pack videos called “The Presumption of Weight”, since I figured that it would connect to Frantic Assembly’s movement practices as well as some of the work we’ve done in class with gestures and such. Admittedly, I was kind of surprised by the graceful focus that came from the collaborative effort of the movement. I had expected that the weight would be more tied to individual character movement seeing as the play is a family drama. But the movements in the video were extremely elegant, and the form of the central actor being carried made me think of a star streaking across the night sky. If anything, my assumptions are exactly what the title of the video is trying to call out, and this resource pack is instead trying to demonstrate that with enough coordination, even the carrying of another person can be made into a seemingly weightless dance.