{The Shakes}

In this exercise we explored the life of a soldier. Firstly, we were told to stand in neutral with our eyes closed and then create the mindset of an everyday British citizen before the war began in 1914.We were then asked to convey this persons everyday lifestyle through mime. I took on the role of an artist who is seen by the public as the town idiot due to his rather bizarre mannerisms.

Eventually, Jack the narrator of our lives stated that the war had become and that conscription had begun.  Everyone in the room began to enroll themselves into the army. The exercise no longer revolved around miming so our characters were allowed to interact with each other thus to show the enthusiasm or pessimism towards the war.

Suddenly, it was the final night before we were shipped off to 6-weeks of training. This stage of celebration naturally took place in a pub. Roars of anger towards the enemy was expressed whilst others who weren't as enthusiastic towards the war stood in the corner downing their last ales and by the end of the night every man was drunk stupid.

The next day Jack narrated as the hangover of all hangovers whilst additionally being the day of saying goodbyes to loved ones etc. Later we were on the ship that took us to the training camp, headaches, nerves and excitement lingered within each of the trainees. When we reached the training camp we began shooting exercises with the traditional English Bayonet. We would aim at our targets and shoot. Next, we would stand in our war stance and run at the enemy screaming war cries; this pumped us up for the war.

We then began marching to the trenches through mud and water, dirt and gas. At last we reached the trenches, Jacks words clearly portrayed a dead mans land  which was now our home for god knows how long. We imagined the tall daunting trench walls covered with rusty barred wire.

The first night enlightened us of the horrors of war. The deafening sounds of bomb explosions and cries for help was maddening. My character however kept composed aiding those who succumbed to the dreaded 'shakes'. Finally everyone in the class was called by Jack to over the top into 'No Mans Land'. Fear and anger took over the soldiers; some broke down and some stood there emotionless. Jack then shouted 'CHARGE!' and we began to run towards the enemy screaming our war cries. My character just ran singing, shooting into the smoke. Jack would tap on people shoulders signalling that they had been shot; my shoulder was never touched.

At long last the war had ended. We were brought home still affected by the war; characters who portrayed themselves as normal citizens before the war now returned maddened by what they had experienced in the trenches. Jack then told us to stand in neutral and slowly break out of character and reflect on what we had just gone through.

In hindsight, this was one of the most enjoyable exercises I have ever participated in a physical theater lesson for the reason that it allowed me to explore the mindset of a person without just purely focusing of the movement which in my view can emotionally disconnect you from your character. Moreover, the process of this exercise gave me loads of stimulus and ideas for my solo as it allowed me to open up my mind and unconsciously just live the character.