Theta Alpha Phi address

It took a great amount of time to tack down what I wanted to say to all of you tonight. This problem emerged up partially from the fact that it is very difficult to describe this distinct year of OBU theatre. You could phrase  it as  a great amount of change, frustration, waiting,  a great tempest, a fairy tale gone completely wrong, or utter and complete chaos. Our season has twisted and pulled  us in many different directions. We opened with a night of scenes to connect the freshman to their older counterparts over the next few years. We’ve tackled the Bard, under the direction of a true  Shakespearean actor, and miraculously survived his tempest. The Directing class explored  a great range of work with their one acts, showcasing the vast scope of ideas and genres that theatre can encompass. Godot challeneged our previous conceptions of theatre, by rejecting the ideas of a “good play” with no complex plot or emotional journey for the characters. Finally, Once Upon a Mattress reminded us that theatre is nothing, if we don’t simply enjoy sharing these stories written for us. No season is perfect, nor should it ever aim to be so. We should only aim to grasp our complex craft better day by day.

            Through the past four years, people have come and  gone, and this year will be no different. But one thing that holds us together is the sense of family within our department. Call it what you will, comrades, partners in crime, company – theatre is all about the cohesion of the ensemble, not just the actors, but the entire company. We take the time tonight to remember that even though we are all unique, opinionated, outspoken, spontaneous, independent, we are nothing if we do not take the time to nurture relationships within our artistic family.

            As this year draws to a close, I urge you to look outside of yourselves, see the bigger picture. Yes, you will be going out into the claws of professional theatre with your claws sharpened, but this art is too fragile for the idea of “every man for himself”. Today’s competition may be your next fellow actor. Even though we are fighting for the same roles, the same jobs, we still have a common goal, or hopefully we do. We are the artists who tell humanity’s stories, their hopes, dreams, failings, and needs. Our cause is the human cause – To create awareness of our current state and people. To reach out and dare people to care about others, to force change within our brief two hours traffic on the stage.

            This business is an honor. who can say that they get up every day to walk in another’s shoes,  to speak shakespeare’s words, to make a child laugh, to show another point of view that would otherwise go unnoticed. Who gets to do that for their life? That’s why we are willing to work long hours, go to classes in the day, rehearse long into the night, because we are curious, because we need to.

            As Anne Bogart states, the greater reason for participating in this craft, in this art, to remember and discover, over and over again. That is why even though technology and culture changes rapidly, the practice of theatre has held on and will hold on. For we will never stop learning, or forming new schemas for understanding life on earth. That’s not to be taken as an idea of  defeat, but exciting, because everything we learn today is just the foundation for tomorrow. Tonight, we recognize all that we have explored together, as an ensemble of artists and anxiously await what we will discover next. 

 

Last things

As I’m packing up all of my things from the past four years, both literally and metaphorically, I’m having a hard time letting things go. Not that I’m having an emotional crisis every night, or that I think my “Glory days” are over, I’m just

at a point of utter disbelief.

I’ve accomplished all that I could, done everything that a senior in theatre could do, achieved so much, but I just don’t believe that it’s over in a week. I just don’t. This is simply passive denial. 

I’m working on a senior speech for our annual theta alpha phi banquet. I’ll post it when it’s complete. 

I am starting a new journey. I should start accepting this.

Myers – Briggs typology- part one

One of the ideas that makes my approach to theatre unique is that I am greatly concerned with the work of the individual actor. How do they come up with ideas about their character? How can get get their body engaged with what they are saying? How can they use their emotions in a safe manner that can be both repeated every night, and yet seem fresh as if it is the forst time they have felt those emotions. 

This is one of the dangers of theatre. Even though it is considered an art, it is dynamically different than its counterparts in the discipline. For example,  a studio artist creates their work, probably in private, and then shows the work in a gallery. There is no mistake that the work is separate from the creator, because they are two completely different objects. a Musician, even though he performs his piece in front of others, may not be as emotionally involved or vulnerable in front of the audience. Not so with theatre, specifically acting. The actor is his own painting, his own form of music. So, the rejection of the actor from the audience, becomes very close to personal rejection, because the lines of separation between art and life are very thin.

This is one of the reasons why many actors are incredibly confused, depressed, or impulsive, especially young actors. Many of the people I am surrounded by in the college setting are so self concious, so driven by anxiety and fear, that they cannot even fathom that their purpose is to give the gift of art. Instead, they walk on the stage defeated, as if they were about to be attacked by the director or audience. 

This is where the MB typology enters the picture. I found this theory a couple of years ago, and found it to be a miraculous tool to see ourselves through a looking glass, if we even dare to see ourselves truthfully. It pulls out the strengths and weaknesses of individual’s personalities to predict how they may act in situations or even help with the communication of ideas. 

I will explore these ideas in further detail later, but this is one of the fundamental blocks to the way i approach directing. I see each person as an individual, who needs a special language spoken or shown to them in order to understand their character, lines, blocking, etc. Since this is a new idea, and i am a new director, it has been difficult to keep these ideas and tendencies in mind, but not impossible. And this theory is not perfect by any means, I have much to work out in the coming years. but that’s ok, because I’m spending the next three years researching and trying out ideas for acting.