I was digging through our "text vault" today (a vast and labrynthine facility located 6 miles beneath Lake Norman) and found a blog post written by our dear friend and colleague Biniam Tekola. He wrote this post in the aftermath of our tour to Burning Coal Theatre in July. So without further ado I present to you: the lost blog of Biniam Tekola. -MC
For me, explaining "devised" theatre to someone not familiar with the theatrical process is a little like telling a long story—badly. I start off by describing a more open rehearsal process whereby improvisation and collaboration play a larger role in the finished production (if it ever is, in fact, “finished”). One can see their eyes glaze over and I back up, saying, ‘Well, in the more traditional rehearsal process staging and dialogue have a rigidity or at the very least…’ and as the blank stare settles and they let out a half-cough or shoot a distracted glance to the air beside me I usually resort to, ‘It’s weird and shit’. It’s weird…and…shit.
Truer words were never spoken. But if I had to elaborate I’d say that devised theatre falls under the umbrella of experimental theatre. And so the recent tour of Mums to Raleigh can certainly be seen as two weeks in the lab.
Just like any other experiment we had our own hypotheses:
× A costume change can be executed quickly within a pitch black body bag.
× As the show deals with secrets it is not only a natural conclusion to play “Never have I ever” with the audience, it is practically a requirement.
× There is always a good reason to play “Patches” by Clarence Carter.
× Inspiration for choreography can originate through line, form, breath and speed. But more importantly, inspiration can come from the dance fails of little children.
And just like any other thoughtful experiment there are foreseen and unforeseen results. The Politheatrics Theatre Festival at Burning Coal afforded us the opportunity to put our hypotheses to the test and as it happens, most of the results were expected:
× Costume changes in a body bag are not ideal if you’re on a time crunch but it does offer some abstract shapes to amuse the eye of an audience member with a short attention span.
× While playing “Never have I ever” is a great excuse to pound a beer on stage it almost always leads to me taking my pants off in the dressing room after the show.
× There is, in fact, a specific time to play “Patches”. Most people refer to this time as “Now” and “Forever”.
× Barishnikov, Cunningham, Graham—all talented in their own right, but it seems that for our purposes “Stairway to Stardom” contributed to the tone of the work like the warm PBRs contributed to my indigestion—immediately.
As far as the unexpected results of our experiment goes I have to make comment about the wonderful support provided by Burning Coal, the other theatre companies, and the friends and family that made the trek. Burning Coal provided us with more than pleasant accommodations and facilitated discussions between the practitioners. In addition, Jerry Davis and Burning Coal cultivated an atmosphere whereby theatre companies were encouraged to attend each other’s performances—and they did! It was wonderful to actually interact with other theatre companies which oddly enough doesn’t really happen at theatre festivals as often as one would think. But it was an absolute pleasure to become familiar with Haymaker, Neutral Ground Ensemble, Community Garden, Force/Collision, and Awkward Elephant. Looking forward to continuing dialogue with other creative and capable artists.
The overall experience was fantastic. It was inspiring. It was theatre camp. It was the type of theatre that I feel not only drives people into the seats but provokes them to jump out of their seats. It’s the type of theatre that refuses to anesthetize and encourages irreverence towards traditional theatrical concepts but remains reverent towards the craft itself. It’s my kind of theatre. Why? Well, because it’s weird and shit.
For me, explaining "devised" theatre to someone not familiar with the theatrical process is a little like telling a long story—badly. I start off by describing a more open rehearsal process whereby improvisation and collaboration play a larger role in the finished production (if it ever is, in fact, “finished”). One can see their eyes glaze over and I back up, saying, ‘Well, in the more traditional rehearsal process staging and dialogue have a rigidity or at the very least…’ and as the blank stare settles and they let out a half-cough or shoot a distracted glance to the air beside me I usually resort to, ‘It’s weird and shit’. It’s weird…and…shit.
Truer words were never spoken. But if I had to elaborate I’d say that devised theatre falls under the umbrella of experimental theatre. And so the recent tour of Mums to Raleigh can certainly be seen as two weeks in the lab.
Just like any other experiment we had our own hypotheses:
× A costume change can be executed quickly within a pitch black body bag.
× As the show deals with secrets it is not only a natural conclusion to play “Never have I ever” with the audience, it is practically a requirement.
× There is always a good reason to play “Patches” by Clarence Carter.
× Inspiration for choreography can originate through line, form, breath and speed. But more importantly, inspiration can come from the dance fails of little children.
And just like any other thoughtful experiment there are foreseen and unforeseen results. The Politheatrics Theatre Festival at Burning Coal afforded us the opportunity to put our hypotheses to the test and as it happens, most of the results were expected:
× Costume changes in a body bag are not ideal if you’re on a time crunch but it does offer some abstract shapes to amuse the eye of an audience member with a short attention span.
× While playing “Never have I ever” is a great excuse to pound a beer on stage it almost always leads to me taking my pants off in the dressing room after the show.
× There is, in fact, a specific time to play “Patches”. Most people refer to this time as “Now” and “Forever”.
× Barishnikov, Cunningham, Graham—all talented in their own right, but it seems that for our purposes “Stairway to Stardom” contributed to the tone of the work like the warm PBRs contributed to my indigestion—immediately.
As far as the unexpected results of our experiment goes I have to make comment about the wonderful support provided by Burning Coal, the other theatre companies, and the friends and family that made the trek. Burning Coal provided us with more than pleasant accommodations and facilitated discussions between the practitioners. In addition, Jerry Davis and Burning Coal cultivated an atmosphere whereby theatre companies were encouraged to attend each other’s performances—and they did! It was wonderful to actually interact with other theatre companies which oddly enough doesn’t really happen at theatre festivals as often as one would think. But it was an absolute pleasure to become familiar with Haymaker, Neutral Ground Ensemble, Community Garden, Force/Collision, and Awkward Elephant. Looking forward to continuing dialogue with other creative and capable artists.
The overall experience was fantastic. It was inspiring. It was theatre camp. It was the type of theatre that I feel not only drives people into the seats but provokes them to jump out of their seats. It’s the type of theatre that refuses to anesthetize and encourages irreverence towards traditional theatrical concepts but remains reverent towards the craft itself. It’s my kind of theatre. Why? Well, because it’s weird and shit.
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