Freefall in the Project Arts Centre continues after the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival until the 24th of October. Book your tickets HERE

Annie Ryan

From early productions such as Streetcar and Baby Jane to the internationally acclaimed Dublin by Lamplight and sell-out success Everyday, the most instantly recognisable thing about The Corn Exchange has been the ‘whiteface’ make-up. If you’ve seen the poster or flyers for Freefall then you’ll no doubt be wondering where it has gone. Not only that but the staccato rhythm and direct address of the Commedia dell’Arte style have been jettisoned as well. There’s even rumour of video making an appearance! I went down to rehearsals to get the skinny on why a more contemporary style of theatre is required for the unconventional FREEFALL from director Annie Ryan.

Gillian: Why have you moved away from Commedia with this piece? 

Annie: Well I think with every piece we do, we start from scratch anyway. It just didn’t suit what we’re trying to do. We felt a more contemporary style of theatre would suit the kind of story we were trying to tell, but the elements of what we use with the style are still at play all the time. 

Gillian: Tell me about the style of the piece and the techniques you’ve been using. 

Annie: We have been minding the rehearsal room really carefully. We’ve been washing the floor everyday and doing a full hour of yoga followed by voice training as well as other movement techniques and other techniques of ensemble theatre practice that basically are about working better together as a group. We have made a happy, fluid space to work, which is just as well, as the play is so challenging.

The style of the piece is very contemporary. We’re using video. We’re using Foley work where the actors make sound effects offstage at the people who are onstage. It’s not naturalistic. It’s certainly not as theatrical as Commedia, but we use whatever elements of the craft that might work. [Laughs] So anything you’ve got in your bag is an option. So we try things out and then we pick whatever seems to resonate the most. The style, and the answer of how to stage this was revealed slowly in this way. 

Gillian: What’s your process for training the actors for this show?

Annie: In the past we always did sun salutations and then moved into more ensemble work. In Ireland rehearsals usually start at ten, but I was keen to really deepen that side of the practice so we started at nine and the actors, thank God, have agreed to come that early. As well as the yoga, we have also incorporated a very physical exercise from Body Weather, which is a Butoh [a Japanese style of movement/ dance performed with slow hyper-controlled motion] based practice. It is kind of like walking yoga. It’s very athletic, and it’s worth saying that all of us are not particularly that fit, so it’s been really great to get in contact with the body more! We’ve also been doing voice work too. Various techniques have come into that hour and a half of training. After voice, we occasionally do ensemble work that varies from improvisation work from Chicago, Le Coq, and Viewpoints, which is quite abstract improvisation focusing on time and space. It’s a mixed bag, but all of these techniques complement each other. Ultimately, they are all there to help the performer be more aware, more present, and more equipped to serve the group and the moment.

By Gillian Middleton

Book tickets to FREEFALL here.

What happens when two film-buffs enter the uncharted territory of The Corn Exchange? With a newly found interest in theatre and little knowledge of what lay ahead of us myself and Gillian (newly crowned Corn Exchange interns), packed our notebooks, donned our Sherlock Holmes hats and set off to discover exactly that by way of observing these elusive theatre folk in their natural habitat – the rehearsal room.

9am, Dance Studio, perched atop the Samuel Beckett Theatre, Trinity College, Dublin.

Once in the rehearsal space the first on the cast’s itinerary was a yoga warm-up led by Corn Ex artistic director, Annie Ryan. Knowing that both of us are as stiff as two planks we decided not to partake.  After yoga, more warm-up exercises. One involved the cast pairing off and in each pair there was someone who could not see while the other person leads them around the room. They take their hand and make them touch inanimate objects while all the time being deadly quiet. After the exercise a discussion is held on what the players have experienced. 

 From this point on we were quiet; simply absorbing everything. The stage had a huge curtain rail going from one wall to another and was fitted with four transparent hospital curtains. Throughout the rehearsal the players used these curtains to reveal and obscure as they and the director saw fit. Also at their disposal was a large rack of costumes, three hospital gurneys, which doubled as tables, and all manner of objects. When the call is to repeat the scene these were reset promptly by Corn Exchange’s indomitable stage director and stage manager team, Mags Mulvey and Clare Howe. They are charged with gently pulling those at the rehearsals back to reality for lines, breaks and all things practical.

As the rehearsal continued I found my only problem being to stifle laughter at the one-liners and impromptu costume changes. These technically superb actors played with Michael West’s original text, teased it and improvised with a mischievous wit. Annie’s direction guided the words from the page to their manifestation within the play’s intricate maze of a life in fragments. Imagination was clearly at the forefront of everyone’s minds and over the entire day the material was being discussed openly and changed where and when appropriate. The combination of skill and fluidity of ideas meant that it wasn’t just a morning of watching actors – it was a trip into a different world.

We are delighted now to declare ourselves film-buffs in Freefall!

Book tickets to Freefall HERE!