Tuesday 6/20
Religious Play Discussions We broke up into small groups to discuss the idea of religion and theater. Here are some bullet points condensed from my group:
- What constitutes a "religious" play?
- Community
- Ritual
- City/Country divide
- Asking questions vs. Giving Answers
- Class distinctions
- The Power of the Theatrical vs. the Power of the Spiritual
- Context
- Hope & Light
- Private vs. Public
Some of the plays under discussion were:
- "The Happy Journey" by Thornton Wilder
- "House of Blue Leaves" by John Guare
- "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told" by Paul Rudnick
- "White Chalky Substance" by Tennessee Williams
- "St. Joan" by G. Bernard Shaw
- "Androcles and The Lion" by G. Bernard Shaw
- "Galileo" by Bertolt Brecht.
- "Jesus Christ Superstar" by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice
- "Gilgamesh"
I started the day by attending Ming Cho Lee's Clambake - a gathering of the finest new designers from across the country at Fordham University. I met designers from Yale, NYU, Northwestern, USC, Cal Arts, and Carnegie Mellon. It was great to see the work that is coming out of these schools. More on Ming Cho Lee later in this blog.
In the afternoon I attended a rehearsal for Goldstar, OH directed by Andy Paris. (Andy and I attended NYU at the same time, and he is a member of Moises Kaufmann's Tectonic Theatre Project, starring in the original productions of The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and The Laramie Project.) Goldstar is a new work that he is creating based upon interviews with families that have lost a son in the war in Iraq. On the wall at rehearsal was a big sheet of paper with "The Elements" - a technique that was being created at NYU by Wendell Beavers. Here are "The Elements" of Theater, as listed in the rehearsal room:
- Prop
- Choices
- Lights
- Sound
- Color
- Costume
- Gesture
- Space
- Scenery
- Music
- (Text)
- Audience Relationship
- Emotion
- Intent
- Time
- Breath
- Rhythm
- Duration
- Movement
- Unison
- Character
- Subversion
- Tension
I then watched an hour of rehearsal of a new play called Hookyjook directed by Chrystal A. Dickinson. Chrystal was doing table work with the actors, and had created a very cheerful and productive environment. It was fun to watch.
The best part of the day was a discussion with legendary designer Ming Cho Lee. Ming was the principal designer for Joseph Papp, creating the sets for nearly every production in Central Park during the 1970's and 80's. He teaches scenic design at Yale University. He had many wonderful things to say. Here are a few:
On technology:
"Nobody goes to the library anymore! You can go online and "google" and get just what you want. But what if you don't know what you want?"
"Image doesn't make the set, or the play. A picture isn't enough. You're dealing with actual space. As opposed to the movies, or TV that is two dimensional, theater is actual space. You creat infinite space within these finite limitations."
"People are manipulating finished images, but they don't go through the process of discovery. They are too lazy to go to the library, where you can open up many sources at once!"
"Everyone wants everything. It's gotten so complex. Instead of actors driving the show, technology is driving the actors."
On directing:
"I will not allow piece-meal decision-making. Don't delay decision-making as a director."
"Don't ask for diagonals in a classic play. Shakespeare calls for symmetry. Don't pin the play down with specificity."
"At the first showing (of a design to the director) the designer is scared out of their wits!"
