Trestle Theatre Company | Mask Resources - Focus line up

Trestle is a mask and physical theatre company: our mission is to inspire creativity through participation and dialogue and we do this by approaching opportunities with an open mind, playful approach and our ever surprising and engaging masks. Trestle has been making innovative physical theatre since 1981 and in recent years has focused its work on school workshops, performances and teacher training; we work in partnership with schools, FE colleges, PRUs and Universities to deliver the skills and resources needed to encourage high quality learning through the arts. Focus Line Up Aim: Considering direct address and focus for mask work. Setup: Whole class/group make an audience, facing the performance space. Up to six volunteers line up in the performance space, facing the audience. • Teacher/facilitator should label the volunteers one to six. • The audience will automatically look at number 1, so number 1 is the major person on stage. • If number “1” looks at number “2”, they have passed the focus on. Number “2” looks at the audience and now number “2” is being watched by everyone. The game is to pass the focus down the line. It is essential that once the focus has been passed on, the giver doesn’t look back to the audience. The line-up must all look at the major person, and they are, therefore, minor. • First of all, practice passing the focus up and down the line – it must be given and not taken at this stage. • Now add emotional content, e.g. number “1” sees something a bit scary behind the audience and reacts to it. None of the line-up (minors) see it. Increasing the tension, number “1” passes the focus to number “2” who looks out to see what the problem is, (line-up now look at number “2”). Number “2” sees the scary thing and is more frightened, passes the focus to number “3” who sees it and is really scared and so on down the line. • The tension and reactions must get bigger. The person in major must keep facing front and not hide their face. It helps to vocalise, but don’t use words. • Try with different emotions, some emotions can get so big that they will need to go down the line three or four times. Keep it physical. • Now try number “2” stealing the focus from number “1” (by looking at the audience before number “1” is ready to pass the focus on) and so on, but only one person must be in major at any one time. The others support the major person by being in minor until it is their turn. Visit www.trestle.org.uk for workshop bookings and Mask purchases.