Steven Berkoff is an English actor, director, and writer known for his avant-garde, physical style of theatre. He was influenced by Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt, Artaud's theatre of cruelty, and Jacques Lecoq's physical theatre techniques. Berkoff's style is characterized by non-naturalism, minimalism, physicality, exaggeration, and addressing the audience directly. His techniques like "mie" and extreme moods are meant to shock and amaze audiences. Berkoff has influenced many contemporary theatre practitioners and companies that fuse physical theatre, dance, and text.
Steven Berkoff is an English actor, director, and writer known for his avant-garde, physical style of theatre. He was influenced by Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt, Artaud's theatre of cruelty, and Jacques Lecoq's physical theatre techniques. Berkoff's style is characterized by non-naturalism, minimalism, physicality, exaggeration, and addressing the audience directly. His techniques like "mie" and extreme moods are meant to shock and amaze audiences. Berkoff has influenced many contemporary theatre practitioners and companies that fuse physical theatre, dance, and text.
Steven Berkoff is an English actor, director, and writer known for his avant-garde, physical style of theatre. He was influenced by Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt, Artaud's theatre of cruelty, and Jacques Lecoq's physical theatre techniques. Berkoff's style is characterized by non-naturalism, minimalism, physicality, exaggeration, and addressing the audience directly. His techniques like "mie" and extreme moods are meant to shock and amaze audiences. Berkoff has influenced many contemporary theatre practitioners and companies that fuse physical theatre, dance, and text.
Steven Berkoff is an English actor, director, and writer known for his avant-garde, physical style of theatre. He was influenced by Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt, Artaud's theatre of cruelty, and Jacques Lecoq's physical theatre techniques. Berkoff's style is characterized by non-naturalism, minimalism, physicality, exaggeration, and addressing the audience directly. His techniques like "mie" and extreme moods are meant to shock and amaze audiences. Berkoff has influenced many contemporary theatre practitioners and companies that fuse physical theatre, dance, and text.
Biographical Info Beliefs & Early Years Key Words Relating to
Training Acting: Webber Douglas Academy in Berkoff · Born 3rd August 1937 London · From Stepney, London. Movement: Laban Schoool of Dance Total Every aspect of theatre must have · Actor, Director, Writer Theatre: Ecole Internationale de Theatre de Theatre purpose: every movement, that is · Born Leslie Steven Jaques Lecoq in Paris. choreographed, each line, lighting Berks effect, mood or message; each · Romanian Jewish sound effect to each prop that has a background. Work Mime and physical theatre practitioner use. at Webber Douglas. 1968 formed the London Theatre Group, proceeded to write, direct and perform Extreme moods to give the audience Influenced by: the Verfremdungseffekt which with his own company. an overwhelming experience and to Brecht Berkoff uses in East where actors shock, amuse, scare, or amaze destroy naturalism by addressing them. the audience. Practices Non-naturalism Attention on movement rather than voice Non-conformist Minimalist, with bare stages and Artaud move from structured Experimentation little language melodrama towards a theatre of Marxist Focus remains on the physical danger and cruelty, using the Political themes movement . power of words and gestures to Mie ‘Mie’ – when the actor strikes a pose release emotions. Who Has He Influenced? and holds it for a while – rest of cast freeze. Lecoq Berkoff studied with Claude Harry Gibbson's stage version of Trainspotting Chagrin, a pupil of Jacques Le Northern Stages production of A Clockwork Audience Mime Coq, and later briefly with Le Orange by Anthony Burgess. Address/Direct Music & sound Coq himself. Mime, movement, John Godber’s Bouncers Address Projections (set) masks, and ensemble acting Physicality are all characteristic of Berkoff. Theatre de Complicite applied his style to the Exaggeration reworking of classic texts. Repetition Volcano, Idle Motion and Frantic Assembly Kabuki Movement is considered to be Lawrence Mie and exaggeration fusing physical theatre, choreography and text. elegant and grand. Very Olivier & The cross-over between dance and theatre by DV8 melodramatic in style. Edward whose work bares resemblance to that of Pina Stylised gesture and forms – Kean Bausch. performance is like a slow dance. (Similar to the kata and martial arts) A Level Drama & Component 1 - Steven Berkoff 1937 - Present Theatre Studies Practitioners KEY TECHNIQUES IN TOTAL THEATRE LECOQ’S SEVEN LEVELS OF TENSION 1 Base Pulse the rhythm and ensemble movement used in choral work 2 Bouffon performance style used by Lecoq drawing on mimicry and the 1 Exhaustion Heavy, like a jelly fish. grotesque 2 Laid back No worries, relaxed, on a sunny 3 Chorus A group of performers found in Greek drama who comment beach. together on the dramatic action both vocally and physically 4 Cryptos the Greek meaning of hidden 3 Neutral No story, blank. 5 Ensemble a group of actors performing together 6 Grotesque fantastic and outrageous element of bouffon 4 Alert Curious, lost something, confused. 7 Japanese Noh theatre Stylised classical Japanese dance drama using characters masks 5 Suspense Suspicious, cautious. 8 Jo ha kyo kabuki concept where jo is a slow and auspicious beginning, ha speeds events up and ku is a short and satisfying conclusion 6 Passionate Melodramatic, despair. 9 Kabuki a classical Japanese dance drama with elaborate face make up 7 Tragic Grief, petrified, frozen with fear. 10 Kvetch taken from a Yiddish noun and means to complain all the time, usually with humour Jacques Lecoq's Basel/Larval Masks consist of 7 11 Marche sur place a stylised way of walking on the spot masks (there are others, but this is some of them): 15 Mie a character pose using a heightened physical style 16 Strip Mime a character pose using a heightened physical style 1 Charles not amused, smug, and arrogant usually a character with much power. a style used in clowning and pantomime 17 Attitudes a series of movements to help go beyond natural gesture 2 Military angry, demanding, rigid, authoritarian character and is usually used to play 18 Commedia del arte masked improvised comedy originally from Italy the part of a boss or leader. 19 Counter mask playing against the emotion a character mask is showing 20 Identification finding a character by physical identification with materials and elements 3 Idiot clumsiness and stupid curiosity. The 21 Neutral state when you are in a state of balance before you become a character character makes the audience feel 22 Neutral mask used to make your body the focus of expression sorry for him. 23 Base Pulse the rhythm and ensemble movement used in choral work 24 Action Mime to replay a physical action as close as possible. 4 Fatty Curious, lost something, confused. Also to copy the handling of objects lazy to do anything, finding it 5 Sloth 25 Pantomime where gesture alone replaces words and associated with white impossible to move a limb, any pantomime/Pierrot movement for him is hard work. 26 Cartoon Mime peformed like a silent movie of images 27 Figurative Mime The body to represent objects 6 Daisy childlike and innocent. She is 28 Storytelling Mime Narrative spoken and used with any of the mime family portrayed as beautiful from her name 29 Mimage A zoom into a character’s internal feeling 7 Lizard Mostly represents an animal in the 30 Mimodynamic Movement found fom colours, words or music play. A Level Drama & Component 1 – Steven Berkoff 1937-Present Theatre Studies Practitioners
Plays & Methods & Techniques
Productions East. West. * Berkoff tells stories in a poetic and heightened Messiah: Scenes from a Crucifixion. way, both vocally and physically using minimal set The Secret Love Life of Ophelia. and a non- naturalistic style with lighting and music. Decadence. Characters use a mix of poetic language, sometimes Harry’s Christmas. Shakespearean, often vulgar and muscular, almost Massage. physical. Acapulco. Brighton Beach Scumbags. * Berkoff’s early work is based on classical Greek One Man. texts and contemporary modern day verse in an Shakespeare’s Villains. ensemble environment. Requiem for Ground Zero. Metamorphosis. * Berkoff often uses the chorus in a stylised sequence The Trial. of movement, usually heightened both vocally and The Fall of the House of Usher. physically. They reflect the mood of the story and Agamemnon. express what the main characters cannot say.
• The Kabuki concept of jo-ha-kyo. This Japanese
concept governs actions of actors, structures of plays and scenes. • Jo is a slow and auspicious beginning (the way Berkoff often introduces character and plot), ha speeds events up (Berkoff often uses this and culminates the story with a moment of tragedy) and ku is a short, satisfying conclusion. Many of Berkoff’s characters move on quickly after tragedy.