Slow Motion Tennis


We were divided into pairs and instructed to play our partners in a game of tennis.  This was to be a purely physical, non-verbal exercise and must be carried out in slow motion.  There were no racquets, no balls, no court so we had to create an imaginary space in which to play our game.  We were encouraged to keep up our concentration in the game and to become completely involved physically in maintaining the flow of the game backwards and forwards.  This exercise was continued until we had to call on our reserves of stamina to keep up the task and still appear alert and committed.  This was to illustrate the method that Artaud would have used with his actors and the extreme discipline needed to continue a task beyond the stage that you feel you can’t go on.

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