My personal definition of Ensemble is “a group of people working together towards a common goal.”
Having been a member of several successful ensembles and led my own, I have experienced the dedication, sacrifice and compromise made for a whole. Sun Tzu in On The Art of War described bringing together soldiers on a desperate field.
“Place your army in deadly peril and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits and it will come off in safety.”
Perhaps an extreme example, but the act of creating a successful army is no more than the act of uniting and bringing together separate people in common purpose. At times, making ensemble based theatre can certainly feel like the life and death mortal peril of ancient hand to hand combat. This is the energy behind ensemble work – the group need or desire to work together to make the work a reality. This state of mind and conviction can only be there if the cause is well argued and lead and the artists willing.
Once the cause has been established and the army assembled, the development of training the ensemble to work together and breath together begins. In small or profit share companies, there is always an advantage, as the artists who work in these mediums bring a dedication simply by being there. Artists who are working because they want to or out of a commitment to a cause, project or person are more willing to risk – in fact that is usually why they are there. Within the more traditional ecology, a greater effort has to be made to inspire and earn this dedication and trust.
This challenge can be addressed by creating a common drive. Phrasing such as “How can we…” ,done with confidence in the artists, over “I need you to…”, make a huge difference in allowing the artist ownership over their work and, as a result, encourages them to bring choices in. Permission to fail spectacularly also allows not only the director but the cast the opportunity to explore. Clear goals for the day or rehearsal period shared with the group allow a sense of teamwork to develop and unity in accomplishing the goals. In past productions such as The Tempest, Titus Andronicus or The Odyssey, I have also deliberately come in with difficult sections of the plays or ideas to tackle as a cast. Although prepared with at least two solutions in the back pocket, the group work has invariable proved to create a more interesting result and has had the added benefit of offering up a challenge that, through working together, allowed a greater sense of teamwork to develop.
Once the mission is agreed on, creating a common language and breathing together are probably the two most important physical elements in Ensemble. Fortunately these can be done together. Actors often don’t realise the difference between a production where they have warmed up together and one where they haven’t when from the outside it is unmistakable. By starting all group rehearsal with games and movement work we have the opportunity to instil the sense of “complicate”. The exercises chosen can also reflect what explorations we may be looking to do for as a director. In smaller rehearsal, as not full group, abbreviated versions of these same games and exercises can be used to get people breathing together and maintain the Ensemble feel – although not together they are continuing a practice that is subconsciously related to the group or, if full cast work has not been possible yet, it provides a common language created separately and allows the ensemble to form quicker when finally pulled together. Practically we have prepared a series of codes and tools that everybody knows and can use; personally they can bond in joy for this game or hatred for that one. It is a method to bring people of diverse practices, educations and experiences onto the same page and working from the same physical blueprint. Both Viewpoints and Laban Work can prove very useful in this work.
Maintaining a malleable structure also helps provide support and a free rehearsal hall. Easing the artists into a safe place to risk through ensemble exercises and warming them down at the end of day with conversation and discussion allows the “we know more or less how the day will begin and how it will end” safety and permission for the volatile nature of creation to happen in between.
Maintaining the Ensemble through the run is another challenge. Group warm ups are always encouraged, but many artists prefer to have a private warm up. By assigning the running of various group elements (this is easier if you have dance or fight elements that MUST be run for safety), one brings the company together in movement and breathing prior to the evenings performance.