shadows & shapes

Above: Teen students rehearse for Jess Noel’s adaptation of H.G. Well’s War of The Worlds, Philly PACK, 2024.

Shadows. Shapes. For me, the two words are almost interchangeable.

Have you ever noticed we dream in shadows? Or, at least, I do. Outlines are powerful. Our imaginations will fill in the details. Our brains don’t need to know the color of hair or eyes, or even t-shirt. All we require is a shape to provide every bit of information we need to decipher the dynamics of the moment. We can tell everything that’s going on simply by studying the outlines. 

Shadow work is extremely rewarding, especially in the theatre. It’s like a puzzle, and if you can solve the challenge, you meet people in the delicious space of Understanding Each Other. This understanding is the purest goal of performance. 

Shape-making is universal and transcends language barriers. You want the audience to guess what you’re trying to say, and the quest is to make it as easy on them as possible. In rehearsal, you chisel, and you shape-make. You’re on a mission to discover and project the most distilled version of the moment. You want to be understood, so you simplify the gesture and the body, and you ask the viewer “can you see me?”, but what you mean is “can you understand me?”

War is an interesting shadow-work concept. Make a shape with your body. Does it communicate violence, terror, loss, greed and sacrifice? Does your shadow tremble. Do you puff your chest to try and stop the quivering heartbeat? 

Mother is another challenging shadow to experiment with. She is a large shape that expands and contracts with love, but also with concern and momentum. She moves forward while still preserving what’s left behind. She is protective and holds her love close, but she also lets it run free. 

Change is inevitable in life, so change is important in shadow work. Children grow into young adults, adults shift into withered elders. The power in change lies in the consistency. Change will always occur. Therefore, a shadow denoting change should be a familiar series of two, maybe three projections. Two or three shifts in the body communicate change. 

Why is shadow work important? 

I believe the significance of shape is a long-forgotten communication tool. 

Think about riding on a train. Your eyes scan the other passengers, and you can tell which are tired (they slump, their chins droop), which are anticipating something exciting (their heads are lifted, their shoulders are rolled back, their hearts are pointed up), and which are listening to a great song (heads bob and sway, eyes turned upwards, ears point up to the ceiling a bit). 

If we all took the time to empathetically decipher one another’s physical communication, we would need less explaining, and there would inevitably be less misinterpretation that leads to frustration, or even sometimes ends in violence. We would need less words, and we would feel less confusion. There would be more seeing each other through a vocabulary of physical expression.

Shape-making and shadow-deciphering are education tools that teach empathy. What do you need to make a lesson plan? A white wall and a flashlight. Turn out the lights, flick on the torch, and GO! Teach children to investigate outlines, and suddenly we have a generation full of attuned detectives. 

Jessica Noel teaches shadow work, physical dynamics, and shape-making as a part of her custom performance curriculum. For more information, email her at pennsportpack@gmail.com