Play is a practice, and practice is how you improve what you play
When I spent a year attending the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, we spent a lot of time working hard on our ability to play.
The program was intense. Dozens of students from all around the world came together in a small town in Northern California, high up in the Redwood forest, and met in a renovated Odd Fellow’s Hall. (It’s sort of like a Masonic Hall, but for weirdos.)
We studied and practiced and rehearsed and performed for hours every day. The pace of the curriculum was grueling, and we studied Physical Theatre, Melodrama, Pantomime, Clown, and Commedia dell’Arte, an ancient 15th-century form of Italian street theatre.
Our teachers in modern dance, yoga, acrobatics, and voice would give us training exercises that alternated repetitions with exploratory play.
First we would drill new skills, and then we would improvise using those skills as an ensemble. Every Friday evening we collected our experiments into a performance called Bits & Pieces. We gathered together in groups of 2–5 every week, to create a short performance that showcased what we had learned recently.
