Reflecting on working as an ensemble

The group tended to work well together from the start although there were a number of difficulties associated with working as an ensemble. There were also other interesting points that I have noticed through working with this ensemble. They are:

• It was difficult working when people would not attend rehearsals.
• It has been difficult with people dropping out.
• Creativity seemed to flow better when someone was absent from rehearsal.
• This project seemed secondary during the uni semester period – I can understand this.
• Working as a democratic ensemble everyone pulled their weight and was not overzealous or precious with their creative ideas.
• Working with an ensemble who are individually and as a group flexible, open, reflective, constructive and enthusiastic was both positive for the group and the process.
• I feel like I could have been more of a leader in the process and that this could have hindered the process to some degree.

It seems contradictory for me to say that people not turning up to rehearsal had a negative impact on the process but then go onto say that we worked better creatively when someone was missing. The difficulty was in not being able to flesh ideas out in the space as well as we could of because of the missing person. Ironically this seemed the time when we would be getting passed the blocks that had been stopping progress. Reflecting it probably has nothing to do with the number but more likely we had hit the block in the previous week and after a week of it rolling around in our heads reflecting we had come into the space and they just rolled straight out into the space and worked for us..

Since beginning we have had two members drop out. The first was only after a couple of weeks and due to life’s pressures; this brought the group down from five to four. The second only occurred a few weeks ago due to a family crisis. It’s difficult to think if these events changed the group’s dynamics but I’m certain they would have to some degree. The reason the first was not very significant was that it was at the start of the process before anything had really even been started on the floor. Nothing was locked in, nothing was set we were just playing and seeing where it would take us. The major concern was if we would want another person or just go on with four. We decided to go with four and it has worked out very well. The second person dropping out was at a pivotal moment in the process but also a moment that did end up working out for a new person to step in and take her spot. We introduced the new actor at the moment after we had received some feedback from both marketing and other Deakin staff. From here we just walked the new actor through the piece and then set about tightening and fixing what needed to be. The new actor has slotted in very well and it has been good to get her opinion of the piece from a new perspective as well.

Working with people that are not overzealous or precious about their creative ideas was such a positive for the group and the process. The reason although I can only speculate is that I felt that all the ensemble were generally flexible, open, reflective, constructive and enthusiastic. This created a positive environment that contributed to everyone being comfortable with their ideas and themselves in the space so that play could take place. This play was what would generally lead to material being generated even if in the long run it wasn’t kept in. It will be great to be able to continue to work with one of the original ensemble and the actor who has come in at the last minute to save us. I also hope that I can foster the same positive atmosphere in the future that was so beneficial for the ensemble this time round.