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Underground > Temple >

Theatricality & Form

  
 
Digital Hermes
20:54 / 30.03.06
The seed of this thread is dual, so I'll outline both:

1)With a burgeoning career in theatre or theatrical ventures, I've been looking at alternative methods of performance. Theatre started as a form of religous worship, when Greek preists stopped saying 'Prometheus said...' and begain speaking as Prometheus. Powerful performances can affect people quite profoundly, even and especially those of traditional performances.

In that more traditional vein, my skills lie as a director, tweaking and coaxing the actors and crew into an organic whole. When the actors are on, and the audience is there, it can be truly magical. A prolonged state of gnosis for length of the performance.

That said, I'm looking to also create more blatantly magical performances. Not in the card-tricks fashion, but more of the bending-information-space variety, at least partially inspired by Alan Moore's magical performances. I've thought about including some Crowleyan rituals, as well as yoga and martial arts.

But I'm open to suggestions/opinions/sacred-texts-full-of-
hoary-and-arcane-rituals.


2)Reading the threads, there is often talks of doing workings, empowering sigils, and so on. Yet one rarely talks about the particulars. I'm not discussing the broad statement of masturbating over a pencil sketch, but actual specifics. Diameter of the chalk circle, the exact words used in the voodoo summoning, that kind of thing. I really enjoy the Temple, which is usually full of all kinds of Neat Ideas and Big Concepts, but it'd be nice to have a bunch of like minds, or at the very least, similarly inclined minds, share some of the nitty-gritty of the astral.

Over to you.
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
21:03 / 30.03.06
(OK, this thread has been double-posted. Please reply to THIS copy as the other one will be deleted. Ta!)
 
 
*
21:46 / 30.03.06
Have you ever seen or read the one-act by David Ives titled "Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread"? Done properly, it seems like it would enlighten at least a handful of people.
 
 
xytar with a Z
22:40 / 30.03.06
THE most magical live perfomance I have seen in a long time was

Tripsichore

a yoga/avant/theatre performance group from London
really amazing.

o'course GG allen flipped some lids as well.
 
 
xytar with a Z
01:12 / 31.03.06
Digital Hermes may dig this as well...


The Art of the Law: Aleister Crowley’s Use of Ritual and Drama
http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeV/ArtofLaw.htm
 
 
Digital Hermes
16:52 / 31.03.06
(id)entity: I've read that play, but never seen it. I'd love to get some actors together, just to try it out. Have you ever read his play "The Philadelphia"?

Thanks for the Crowleyan link; I'm knee-deep in it now, and it seems like it talks a bit on the theory of the subject.

But c'mon, everybody! Gimme some specifics. The theatricality element is not the only thrust of the thread. The temple is full of discussions regarding big ideas and debates, but when I hear everybody talking about their workings or whatnot, it's very shy on the details. What colour is your robe? Do you buy a special kind of chalk for the circle?

I'm not calling anyone out here, or being facetious. I really would like to hear some details of the actual actions performed, before I start kludging together my own, theatrical or otherwise.
 
 
xytar with a Z
20:55 / 31.03.06
Well, Here's the thing- magic is a DIY activity at its root. We are all using tools that speak to us as individuals.

nothing is the same for each individual.

Now, if you want to express the specific trappings of a specific sect or group you could, i suppose. But, then how close are you to giving the whole body of -Magic- a fair shake?

I think Crowley makes a point that he spent so much energy in making his production specific that he lost the flow of the production. "Unfortunately for Crowley, the Rites, as a prophetic and artistic event, were almost a complete flop. Even Crowley, not known for his humility, admits that they failed, but for telling reasons: “I diminished the importance of the dramatic elements; the dialogue and action were little more than a setting for the soloists.”51 "
 
 
xytar with a Z
20:58 / 31.03.06

Digital Hermes have you seen the film

'Holy Mountain' by Jodorowsky?
 
 
Digital Hermes
21:55 / 31.03.06
True, xytar, in a place like Barbelith, it can be guaranteed that there will be diversity in practice. It's why I asked the question. I want to hear a sampling, start a discussion of different techniques. Like a ju-jitsu practictioner picking up a few things from capoeira.

Besides trading links or opinions, I'm trying to discuss the bare-bones of magical practice. Some of what I've been picking up from Crowley's Book IV and Magick Without Tears gives a direction to go in: kneel this way, make this gesture. I'm not married to these forms so much as that they are all I know, and I'm looking to branch out. Particularly while I'm considering some not-too-traditional forms of preformance.

I'll hear from Quantum, or Gypsy Lantern, (to name but two) referring to themselves as magicians, but I rarely hear the particulars. It's like a bunch of mechanics discussing the principle of internal combustion. Which is good, to understand the principle behind the action, but at the same time, it's also good to learn about crankshafts and fan belts. Let's talk mechanical, while not forgetting the sublime.
 
 
Woodsurfer
00:31 / 01.04.06
Hey now -- I like this thread. Somethin' I can sink m' teeth inta! Mmmph!

The group I belong to does a lot of big, open rituals and have done so for many years. It is quite a trick to have real, palpable energy in a ritual that involves 100-300 (or more) people. But it can be done and there is a rigor to it not unlike that of theater.

Here are some particulars for large rituals as outlined in "Castings: The Creation of Sacred Space" by Ivo Domiguez, Jr. (the elder of our tradition). They pertain to performance-within-magick but I see no reason why they couldn't be magick-within-performance as well. I have paraphrased somewhat for this context but it's based on considerable personal experience:

* Make a clear transition between mundane headspace and ritual headspace (e.g., get everyone's attention and get them to breathe together for a minute, etc.)

* Make your plans adjustable for a wide range of audience/attendance sizes. It should be a priority to connect with everyone in a meaningful way no matter how many people are there. This requires being in the moment and adjusting your plans.

* Because some people may be a considerable distance from the center of the action, make gestures and other items of visual/audible significance broad enough to be understood by everyone (this is basic theater art, anyhow).

* If you incorporate chants, dances or other group participation elements, station individuals with strong voices (for the chants) and a solid understanding of the movements to help guide people. This is especially important in magick as people tend to get spacey and wander off the program if not given guidance.

* In events that involve standing in circle, make some accommodation for people who cannot stand for long periods (elderly, ill, etc.) such as chairs around the periphery. Make sure that you tell people that these are available and that there is no shame in using them if they need to.

* Be aware of any condition that might pose a safety hazard. This is especially important in outdoor events that might be on uneven ground or have obstacles that cannot be seen in the dark, etc.

When we do public rituals, we always have enough copies of the ritual outline available so that everyone can have one and, if they wish, keep with them in the ritual (especially if there are chants and they need to refer to the words). We set aside a time beforehand to go over the ritual, sing the chants, explain the underlying symbolism, etc. When there is plenty of time (as in gatherings that are held over several days), we hold classes to explore the deeper aspects of the theme of the ritual.

Over the years as I've become more involved in the planning and execution of these events, I've discovered that it is just about the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Then there's the 'sky clad' rituals . . .
 
 
trouser the trouserian
06:59 / 01.04.06
Digital

Apropos magic & the theatre, it might be interesting for you to look at the works of magicians who were also 'theatrical'. Florence Farr, for example - infamous for her relationship with George Bernard Shaw and her, shall we say, deflowering of Willie Yeats. Farr wrote two plays The Beloved of Hathor and The Shrine of the Golden Hawk - both of which were influenced by her magical career in the Golden Dawn (she virtually ran the order for several years, did much of the teaching, and contributed heavily to the evolution of Golden Dawn 'visuals'. In addition to being a successful actress (and writing several books), she also directed several of Yeat's plays. Caroline Wise (who staged a production of one of Farr's plays in the early 1990s), in a recent presentation on Florence Farr in London, noted that Farr, and her fellow GD member Annie Horniman together had a tremendous influence on modern theatre. Horniman is considered a pioneer of modern repertory theatre. She financed the early plays of Yeats & Shaw, ran the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester, and funded the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
 
 
illmatic
10:07 / 02.04.06
(A simple bump this thread because it's interesting. I don't have time to do a full response at the mo (have work to do - On a Sunday! Boo!)

Have you seen Keith Johnstone's book Impro It's one of my favourites, and if you've not read it, will give you a bundle of new ideas. He moves from ideas about spontaneous theatre and improvisation right through to maskwork and parallels with possession. A great read. It's quite an old book so I'd be interested to hear from anyone performing or updating Johnson's ideas.

More from me later.
 
 
grant
20:50 / 02.04.06
You really should find a copy of Free Play by Stephen Nachmanovitch. It's basically magicky transformation stuff in a theatrical package. Nachmanovitch set out to discover the roots of creativity, and, pretty much, succeeded.

I think most improv games will flip right into the realm of the sacred with the right intentions at the outset.
 
 
Glandmaster
18:20 / 08.04.06
This site is dedicated to a paratheatre medium developed by Antero Alli, combining techniques of physical theatre, modern dance, voice and Zazen meditation to access, express and embody the internal landscape in non-performance settings that occasionally erupt in live performances and video documents.
 
 
Digital Hermes
18:44 / 08.04.06
I've been away from the thread for a while, (and have noticed someone fixed the problematic attempt at italisizing part of the last word) so thank you, to everybody who have been tossing me these links, ideas and opinions. It's all percolating, and helping with the concept that I'm trying to develop.

One question I've got for everybody who may be reading: what are your own rituals? What colour of chalk do you use, what grimoires do you intone from, those kinds of details?
 
 
All Acting Regiment
00:20 / 09.04.06
Antonin Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty, anyone? Sounds like just the thing for this thread:

...in his book Theatre and its Double, Artaud expressed his admiration for Eastern forms of theatre, particularly the Balinese Theatre. He admired Eastern theatre because of the codified, highly ritualized physicality of Balinese dance performance, and advocated what he called a "Theatre of Cruelty". By cruelty, he meant not sadism or causing pain, but rather a violent, physical determination to shatter the false reality which, he said, lies like a shroud over our perceptions...

...The Theatre of Cruelty was Artaud's attempt to not only revolutionize theatre, but also it was his attempt to free l'esprit (roughly translated to mean the combination of mind and soul) from the stifling grip of culture.

Here's the wikipedi article
 
  
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