Physical Theatre- positions for becoming inanimate objects- such as furniture?

Question

Okay so that made no sense. Sorry, am trying [and failing] to word this...coherently.

So pretty much, doing a group perf. for Prelim Drama [year 11] and were incorporating physical theatre in it- ive searched for ages, im looking for...different positions/ways 2-3 people can manipulate their bodies to form objects- like a couch, a chair, etc?

Me and one other are forming an armchair, and im wanting to...do it properly and make it look as realistic as possible, an emphasis of p.t [phis. theatre] is NOT placing strain on the person your leaning on- they support their weight, you dont hold them.

Hoping this makes sense...anyone know of any sites/ books/ ideas on different ways we can use our bodies to make furniture? - I mean, you know for like...gymnastics they have like a sheet of different sequences a group might try using balancing and support- like this.

Answer 1

Try some of these books:

    * Bogart, Anne; The Viewpoints Book

    * Cross, Robert; Steven Berkoff and the Theatre of Self-Performance

    * Decroux, Etienne; Words on Mime

    * Grotowski, Jerzy; Towards a Poor Theatre

    * Hodge, Alison (ed.); Twentieth Century Actor Training

    * Leabhart, Thomas; Modern and Post-Modern Mime

    * Meyerhold, Vsevolod and Braun, Edward ; Meyerhold on Theatre

    * Stevenson, Darren ; A Case for Physical Theatre

    * Suzuki, Tadashi; The Way of Acting

    * Wright, John; Why Is That So Funny?: A Practical Exploration of Physical Comedy

    * Allworth Press; Movement for Actors

Also try contacting a physical theatre troop in your area and see if they do workshops, or try and see a show of theirs at the very least.

Answer 2

to make a chair have someone form a bridge and someone stand on your knees behind them to make the back of a chair,