b'T3 Journal - Student Writing in Drama, University of Exeter 2020-21versation forward (ibid: 20). Within our ensemble group, aachieved in choral music, discussed by dramaturg Lynn Thom-conflicting conversation would often take place within theson. This note exists octaves above the rest and is not sung container of a game or improvisation. For example, in oneby a human voice. It is magically heard when all vocal parts game that we attempted to play as a group, one of our mem- of a choir join together, the literal result of perfect harmony bers became frustrated as they were not enjoying the game.(Thomson 2003: 118). Our groups use of the maxim hold on They verbalised their frustration, which the ensemble tooktightly, let go lightly to utilise training, consider adaptation and as an offer, sparking an improvisation where we became ste- guide our collaboration, facilitated our strength of ensemble. reotypical characters in a board-meeting attempting to solveIn the final performance, as a result of our process, we harmo-the problem. This improvisation would not have existednised to collectively create our own phantom note - the culmi-without the verbalising of this members frustration, and thenation of our collaboration.ensemble would not have been able to absorb the frustration into an improvisation without the trust that we had built, which was only grown as a result of taking the time to listenAlfreds, M. (2007) Different Every Night: Freeing the Actor, London: Nick Hern to each other and nourish the group. Conflict, therefore, canBooks. be productive in a collaboration, as long as the group canAmabile, T. and Kramer, S. (2011) The Nourishment Factor in The Progress hold on tightly to developing a strong group bond.Principle: using small wins to ignite joy, engagement, and creativity at work, Boston: Harvard Business Review Press. Alongside the nourishment factors, a key aspect to creatingBogart, A. (2007) And Then, You Act: Making Art in an Unpredictable World, a successful collaboration is to let go lightly of ones individualLondon: Routledge. ideas. This process of relinquishing must be maintainedBogart, A. (2014) Whats the Story: Essays about Art, Theater and Storytelling, New consistently throughout the collaboration, as true collabo- York: Routledge. ration is a verb, not a noun, a process of engagement, a mapBryan, B. and Petrakova, O. (2016), Devising a Playground: ARTELs strategies for more than a destination (Thomson 2003: 118). We thereforeembodying research and text, draft paper.attempted to consistently collaborate throughout our pro- Catmull, E. (2014) Creativity, Inc. Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the cess, which was particularly evident when we created motifsWay of True Inspiration, USA: Random House. of movement as small containers to refer back to in our per-Freedman, J. (2016) Dmitry Krymov: Bomb, Issue. 136, [Online], https://formance. We began in a circle, creating one gesture eachbombmagazine.org/articles/dmitry-krymov/ [2 January 2021]. that represented a theme to each individual, for example, childhood. After we had shared our individual gesture, eachGogek, D. (2015), How Pixar turned their Criticizers into Creators - and Changed the Movie World Forever, [Online] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tired-member would then take another persons gesture and plusdysfunctional-collaborating-steal-3-great-ideas-daniel-gogek/ [2 January it. This was inspired by Pixar Animation Studios method of2021]. feedback, known as plussing, where you may only criticiseKean, L. (2020) Working Together: Performer Training for Collective Creation Logbook, an idea if you also add a constructive suggestion (GogekSeptember to December, University of Exeter: unpublished.2015: online). Finally, with a plussed gesture each, we brokeLilley, H. (2017) Kneehighs Retellings in Reilly, K [ed.] Contemporary out of the circle, playing and experimenting with the ges- Approaches to Adaptation in Theatre, London: Palgrave Macmillan. ture, plussing and changing our own ideas until we were in Overlie, M (2006) The Six Viewpoints in Bartow, A. [ed.] Training of the agreement as an ensemble. This final collective creation weAmerican Actor, New York: Theatre Communications Group. made as a group therefore seemed to epitomise the hold on tightly, let go lightly maxim, as we held onto our gestures indi- Overlie, M. (2016) Standing in Space: The Six Viewpoints Theory and Practice, Montana: Artcraft Printers. vidually, but we all had to drop these to achieve harmony in the ensemble.Sennet, R (2012) Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation, London: Penguin Books.Examining our module through the perspective of thisThomson, L. (2003) Teaching and Rehearsing Collaboration: Theatre Topics, maxim reveals how our process as a collaborative ensem- Vol. 13, No. 1, Project Muse: John Hopkins University Press.ble was supported through the collective creation trainingWangh, S. (2000) An Acrobat of the Heart: A Physical Approach to Acting Inspired by and exposure to new forms of adaptation. Therefore, ourthe Work of Jerzy Grotowski, New York: Vintage Books. final performance developed as a natural product of theseYoko, O. (1994) The Memory Police, translated from Japanese by Stephen, S. London: skills: a physical indication of our learning process. A finalVintage. analogy for successful collaboration that seems applicableYorke, J. (2013) Into the Woods, How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them, London: to our performance is the phenomena of the phantom notePenguin Books.60 61'