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THE PRESENT TEST THEATER PROCESS
A few words from the Artistic Director
Each component of the Present Tense Theater Project relates back to a previous
one, simultaneously extending and supporting the project. Think of it like a
web or a system.
system: 1. group of interacting elements forming a complex
whole. 2. The human body regarded as a functional physiological unit. 3. A
network of structures and channels, as for communication. 4. A condition of
harmonious, orderly interaction. 5. An organized method, procedure.
No man is an island. Every human exists within a number of systems, all
interconnected and interdependent. From family systems, to artistic
communities, all the way up to paying our taxes on a local, state and national
level, we participate in a series of social systems. On one level or another we
and these systems are dependent on one another for mutual survival. These
systems are the tools our species has developed in order to feed, clothe and
shelter ourselves from nature's otherwise cold indifference. But even these
systems, like other organized societies, from bee hives and ant hills to packs
of wolves and bands of gorillas exist within another set of interconnected and
interdependent ecosystems.
From the sub-atomic scale to the interpersonal scale on upward to an
astronomical scale we are all undeniably engaged in a glorious cosmic dance.
The Present Tense Theatre Project looks at storytelling through the lens of
Systems Thinking.
Ensemble
An individual wakes up and negotiates his or her day. They navigate through an
almost unknowable amount of stimuli from breakfast and traffic to co-workers
and bosses to media and entertainment. In order to function amidst this chaotic
dance of shapes and colors any animal must process it all through their mind
and body, (it's a system, remember, interdependent and interconnected). Humans,
for thousands of years, have employed storytelling as a processing tool. Most
people wake up, have their day, and in some form or fashion come home and talk
about it. They tell the story of their day. PTTP extends that same principal to
the ensemble.
Maintaining a diverse collection of theatre artists, living and working across
the globe for over a year and a half, allows PTTP access to hundreds of
thousands of systems and stories by which and from which to process our own
observations. Through research and workshops PTTP develops these observations
into a play, essentially telling the stories we see unfolding around us in
context of the stories people have been telling for generations. By using a
collection of upwards of thirty theatre artists, PTTP can allow it's
participants to pursue their own professional goals while offering a safe and
artistically fulfilling home to which they may return again and again.
Dialogue
Posing the initial question acts as our seed. Our dialogue over the next year
and a half will fertilize it. The workshops will prune the branches and our
audience and artists alike will reap the fruit.
The Artistic Director gleans from the tone of the ensemble a single
question. By reducing each of the participants' questions to a common
denominator we find the one question that's on all our minds. Understanding
that our ensemble doesn't exist in a vacuum we can assume our answers are
representative of the systems and communities in which we live and work and
therefore representative of our society at large. Granted this may not be
purely scientific but neither is it an abysmally poor gauge of what's on
peoples' minds. It's like a barometer reading. Although it can't tell you
everything about the weather you can still tell when a storm is coming. This
seemingly simple exercise, measuring the pressure of the air, proves to have
profoundly useful implications. Although we limit ourselves to a single
question, it can still reach far and wide without loosing specificity. It must
because it will drive the direction of our research for the next year and a
half.
Given that our participants live and work all over the country, and in some
cases the world, it is imperative that the discussion is guided forward by
strong and nurturing hands. A Director and Dramaturg moderate our 18 month
discussion, much of which will happen online, either over the list serve, on
our callboard or through research assignments distributed in between workshops.
The rest of the dialogue happens at the workshops and retreats scheduled
throughout the 18 month process.
The second step on the journey is to choose a Myth or Legend. This universal
story will be the spine and narrative to our play. This, along with the
question, helps to keep our artists on the same page. Everything participants
bring to the table resonates with our question and our myth. As we continue to
discover and collect more and more stories to weave in and out of our chosen
myth, our play begins to resemble a patchwork of collected stories. A central
myth ensures a narrative which in turn allows accessibility to an audience that
might otherwise resist nontraditional storytelling.
Next, the ensemble embarks on a series of workshops of varying intensities to
begin uploading and processing the research it's been assigned and the stories
it has found. Eventually this processing transitions into determining which of
ALL the stories that we've collected tell the BEST story. Which are going to be
the most dramatically useful?
As we pull more and more stories from current events, historical anecdotes, and
personal memoirs, like casting, the Director and Dramaturg ultimately decide
what to keep and what to leave behind on our journey toward a final text and
production.
The Piece
At the end of this process we have a working text that will run for no longer
than 90 minutes and with no more than approximately 8 characters.
Limiting ourselves to a 90 minute text helps us keep it from mushrooming out of
control. It also allows for us to extend our 18 month dialogue outside the
ensemble. In the process of finding all the stories which have comprised our
new play we have engaged a variety communities, both geographic and cultural.
The production of the play provides an opportunity for communities who might
never have shared space to now share as an audience the presentation of their
commanalities in the framework of a universal story. Through "Talk Back" these
audiences are allowed the opportunity to engage with one another before they
leave the theatre, perhaps taking home a perspective with which they did not
arrive.
Limiting the play to only a few characters, like the time limit, keeps it
manageable. It also allows us the freedom to rotate different actors into
different roles. The text is created by an ensemble through the sharing and
relating of stories. Because of this common ownership of the text, there are
often varied ensemble members who may be drawn to a particular section of text.
And that same text is likely to resonate very differently when spoken by a
single mother of three or by a 22 year old college grad from a wealthy family.
Our collage style play lends itself to this rotational casting and provides the
audience with a reason to see the play again and again for the new perspectives
offered.
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