What's Real is Not Real

Dark Matter Abstractions 

This topic was difficult to understand when I first set foot to read these articles, plays, and video clips. As directors and performers we seek to express theatre in the best ways that we can. However, sometimes we may have a more abstract eye for a certain scene or theme of the play. Deciding how to express certain situations with the means or abilities we have is a challenge. One example we used in class is usually the children's readings where the narrator will lay out a blue blanket to represent the water or pond in the story. Having an outstretched imagination is very important when it comes to creating something out of nothing. I am actually apart of this week's group project and we have definitely had a brainstorming meeting to figure out how to represent something real that can't or shouldn't be shown literally or as-is. We cannot wait to perform and show the class our interpretation. 

One instance of a theatrical performance where the director made me consider an effective or even necessary choice not to represent something in full, naturalistic detail was when I worked on the lab show 100. This show was artfully constructed in showing an abstract imaginative world. Trying to create a world where souls go after death is unimaginable. It was unique to experience the choices made to show how the space was utilized and also how the actors represented their characters. It made me really think is there a place after death? I very much enjoyed working on this show. 

Our discussions of abstraction allow us to create something that can turn the emotions of the idea in a different way. Your post about the Holocaust is intriguing because I have thought about it for a while. The use of abstract work to relate back tot he Holocaust is a powerful emotional piece of art. Multiple directors have chosen this as a focal point because it strikes many emotions of fear, anger, depression, and revolution. Because of the multiple emotional products of this one topic having an unique perspective on this subject incites the director to chose a purpose of the abstract piece. The Holocaust should be represented in a careful manner but still effect the audience enough in a way that it leaves an impact. 

Disturbance as a Performance

Disturbing Moments 

This week in class we read a few different articles and play discriptions of how there are disruptions in theatre. It is an interesting conecpt to view because of the unexpected tendacnies of a theatrical performance. The expression of interupting a sequence of events can be based off a mob scene or protest, event creating a 'sit in' to show a movement of revolution. Anything that can create/cause an action from an audience member or viewer is the main purpose or goal. In theatre we strive for a good feedback from the audience. I especially enjoy when I can hear the audience bursting out in a roar of laughter during a comedy performance. Also for example when the undergraduates performed the Lab Show 6 performance and interacted with several audience members. They roamed around the room creating a scene of their own from imagination trying to gain the audiences attention. It was unique to experience, because the unexpected results from the audience members allowed for the show to have a change of events or movement. The example that we used in class that really provoked an awesome debate was the guy who claimed he was going to 'burn a flag' on campus. It was totally misinterpreted revealing that any disruption with every day life presents problems and changes. I even thought after much debate, what if our interpretation of a performance can take the change of the show its self. We are entitled to our own opinions so that helps us to chose and think about what is going to happen next.

Changing theatre is always in progress towards the future. What can we bring to the 21st century besides our knowledge and technology. With a progressed span of knowledge we are able to make scene changes more reality and projections increase the imagry of the space. With this technology we are able to share our performances out to more people and the world. For example in Nick's physical theatre class we are able to record our silks performances and then upload it onto the internet where more students, teachers, and others out there can view our performances and make opinions based from our presentation of skills. It is amazing with our increased social media how we can show our performances to the world. It can help us get recognized by people who can recrute us for our talents. This is how we can share and progress theatre in the 21st century

My Comments

YEAH ~ COMMENTS 

Blog 1: 

http://sas4130.blogspot.com/2014/09/blog-one.html#comment-form

Blog 2: 

http://andiethtr4130.blogspot.com/2014/09/tweaked-performative-act.html#comment-form

Blog 3:
http://sanchavis.blogspot.com/2014/09/im-still-relatively-new-to-theatre-and.html?showComment=1410756066564#c3427842892433337451

Blog 4:
http://tylerjales.blogspot.com/2014/09/disturbance-theatre.html?showComment=1411356863316

Blog 5:
http://gracieperformancetheory.blogspot.com/2014/09/reality-vs-enjoyment.html#comment-form

Blog 6:
http://sas4130.blogspot.com/2014/10/blog-6.html?showComment=1413338331647#c5226932780642008397

Blog 7:
http://janessasenior2015.blogspot.com/2014/10/let-move-into-different-space.html#comment-form

Blog 8:
http://theatreta.blogspot.com/2014/10/harry-potter-twitter.html?showComment=1414545906644#c3294052640140177143

Blog 9:
http://yvettebourgeoisthtr4130.blogspot.com/2014/11/blog-9-activism.html?showComment=1414983215324#c5913356267112695232 

Blog 10:
http://bturn4130.blogspot.com/2014/11/post-10.html#comment-form

Blog 11:
http://laurengraham512.blogspot.com/2014/11/blog-post-11.html#comment-form 

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good

Documentary Performances: Real or Fake 

Joe brought up some incredible important facts that Carol Martin presented in her article. For the 3 quotes we were required to bring to class on Wednesday I too chose, "There is no “really real” anywhere in the world of representation.  Depending on who you are, what your politics are, and so on, documentary theatre will seem to be ‘getting at the truth’ or ‘telling another set of lies’”(Martin 8).  I thought about this for a good while during the discussions we had in class and with our small groups that we are under the impression that these documentary films or performances relate more to a personal perspective of an event, rather than a generalized accusation. Andie brought up, how we watch the news and hear about the statuses or numbers of an event but we do not hear names or stories that have any real information. So how are documentaries any different than watching the news? How do we know who to trust that they are speaking the truth and not just lying to us? 
Forming a timeline during an interview is very important. If all the dots connect from the specific dates in history, to the time on the recorder, to the precise moment a person passes by on the street. These all must be related in order to form a truthful story. 
Now back to theatre, we are performers trying as much as we can to recreate these moments in time. We study interviews, character descriptions, and observe actions from the person whom we are trying to represent. Performers are under a lot of pressure to make sure their representation is just perfect, because they wouldn't want that person whom they are representing to be misinterpreted or upset for a terrible vision of them.

I worked on the very first stage reading of Spill as an ASM. It was a totally different experience than what I had expected or prepared for. The script was under constant reevaluation and there were multiple rehearsals where we attempted to recreate a scene of importance from the great BP oil spill explosion. However, it was based out of a movement performance so trying to interpret these movements was very important to the director. I remember there was also a night of gallery art where actors were required to go and see their characters who they were representing. After the first opening night, the cast was able to meet these people whom they were representing. It was an emotional time for them because it was a recreation of a scary point in their lives. Scott mentioned in class that he has met the man who he had performed as and that he was most impressed at how they carried out this performance. Being able to hear how well they had performed as a person they were pretending to be was very notable. Spill had been an interesting project because I guess that it was also my first documentary theatre work. I can see how it can be exaggerated and misinterpreted with multiple changes of the script or lengthy explanations from an interview that needs to be cut. All of this work is to achieve interest from the audience.

In Spring 2013 I worked as the ASM on the production Rising Water. This production was another reenactment of a hard time in which people had to suffer and rise against. In this play we meet a couple who is stuck inside an attic during Hurricane Katrina when the waters began to rise and flood the house. Recreating this moment was a pivotal idea for students and people who may have not experienced the aftermath of this vicious storm. These actors had to channel the emotions of how a married couple would respond to being cooped up in a tight space where they had only the few items left to them and the entertainment and hope of each other. This play came about after interviews and is not considered a documentary but shows features as in a timeline and emotional confusion. How do we really know if this couple survived? And how are these actors pretending and achieving the emotions of these characters? This is where the truth is hard to accept because we question, "Is this really what happened during Hurricane Katrina?  The audience could form their own opinions from this production whether it is real or not.

Performative Utterance

Performative Act 

My apologies for my tardiness on this blog post. This exercise of discovering or explaining what a performative act was in class was very fun and intriguing. I noticed that I had thought of the same examples as some other people in class and had to quickly rethink about what I wanted to perform. I chose the symbol of a handshake. Shaking someone's hand could mean a million different things. It could be a job acceptance, a greeting, an introduction, a goodbye, or an establishment of receiving recognition. My performance of placing out my hand in front of someone is the action taking place waiting to receive the action of another hand to be accepting of the handshake. My action is mine alone; it is up to the person that I am performing the action to, to make up their mind of how to respond to me.
I was playing around with the idea of how would someone who does not understand the formality of a handshake would respond to me if I offered my hand out to them. They may think it's a high five, or some posed threat. I really enjoyed all the different examples of performative utterances such as the hand symbol from Star Trek "Live Long and Prosper", the words for bestowing a knight hood on someone, and also a simple apology being accepted.

http://youtu.be/_RgCbcT8eEU - Probably the funniest performative utterance I enjoy to watch. Claiming the "triple dog dare" trumps the "double dog dare" in this instance and seeing how the boys react to these few silly words makes me giggle.

Performance Or Identity

"What is Performance?" 

The challenge of identifying a type or idea of performance to me is based on opinions. During our class discuss we debated whether simple every day actions were part of a performance based on the audience. For example, taking your daily walk to class not paying attention to whom or what may be watching. This example explains that even when minding your own business some other person out there may be watching you finding your simple actions such as walking to be a performance in itself. However, that also turned most people into the debate of how creepy it was to think that way and that walking to class is not a performance. The question still arose, "What is Performance?" In Carlson's Intro, he used the words "an instability of truth." Those words caught me by surprise and made me wonder, are all performance not true? How can that be? The retelling of events, if, historically accurate would be true.  Brushing my teeth in my daily morning ritual is true, so why would he propose that performances are not stable. Perhaps it is the imitation of the actions? Pretending or channeling a character to perform is definitely not your true self. I can understand Carlson's thinking there. But again I still believe that even the simplest things are performances. I perform when I am typing on my laptop. I perform when I tie my shoe laces. It may not be a performance to an audience or to the lonely bystander who happens to notice you; but it can be a performance of action by yourself.

Consider reading this article because I have found it to be enlightening. http://hbr.org/2012/01/creating-sustainable-performance/ar/1

Reading this article I took myself away from the "theatre world" and discovered a different form of performance. A job takes a special kind of skill sets that adapt into a performance through thriving because we are passionate about what we do. Performing is exactly what it describes it to be. It is not about being content. To perform means to experience vitality. Doing what you love should be a performance. If that entitles you to standing on stage performing a scene from Hamlet to working as a mechanic in a garage; as long as you are doing what you love you are performing. It's incredible the ideas of figuring out that something so simple in life can be your greatest performance.

Compared to Carlson's intro, this article broadens the ideas of performance. This brings me back to the saying, "instability of truth." Performing an exhilarating task is a true performance. It can not be falsely presented by you because you are the one creating the action without deeply thinking about the mood or steps to achieve it. A task as simple as breathing, it is a performance of yourself because it is a natural form of life in your body. Think it through about what you love to do. Believe it or not that is your greatest performance. My performance is the joy of a good hug, that sensation of the first bite of ice cream, and the miraculous way my mind works. It's crazy enough because my brain is performing to produce these thoughts that turn into words on the page. Performance is a way of Life.