Monday, September 22, 2003
Dialogue
I'm AD/SM-ing (that sounds so naughty) a show that's going to be produced in December. The director's boyfriend is a chef, and he's going to make food that complements the content of the show, which is about exploring masculinity and femininity in a certain way at different stages of life & related to sex/sexuality. The director is developing the show based on Viewpoints, which is a way of developing a show through improvisation from the performers. For the first 3 weeks of rehearsal, we will be "collecting data" as the actors play/improvise/research/explore & the director will use that material to shape the show into something with form that makes sense.
So, yesterday afternoon, I went to call-backs. The actors were given a list of elements to include in a 5-minute theatre piece on the topic of masculinity/femininity. The director, the choreographer, and I left the room for 25 minutes while the actors developed their piece, and then we came in to watch. The elements: using one object in 3 different ways, a simultaneous action, 3 stereotypes rebuked, 3 stereotypes affirmed, repetition, 2 exits, a game, a moment of silence, and a song.
It was amazing to watch what they came up with.
The first group did this very sexy movement piece based on a game of tag. The second group did a very talky piece using 7 minute dating as its format. The third group did a disturbing piece with kids on the playground. The second piece was definitely the least interesting because they were sitting in chairs talking the entire time. The first piece was probably the most interesting because it made the least "sense" in a linear way but said the most.
I think what I'm most interested in is the idea of stereotypes. I want to make a list of all the stereotypes I know of just to look at them, just to play with them, just to explore that idea. There are stereotypes based on nationality, ethnicity, age, geographical region, sexual orientation, race, gender, etc.
Some of my favorites: Asian women can't drive. Women love babies. Lesbians like folk music & hate men. French people hate Americans. Black men are criminals. Black women are promiscuous. Poor people are lazy. White men can't dance. Black people can sing. Gay men have great fashion sense. White women are princesses. Jewish people are stingy. Old people are senile.
The list can go on and on. And, it's an interesting thing. I love just throwing all these stereotypes out there because, somewhere inside, each of us feels like some of these stereotypes are true, depending on our individual experiences.
The only way to work through our relationships with one another in this country is to talk about these things. I feel like racism exists on deeper, institutional levels, but it needs to be dealt with on personal levels as well.
Anyway, it was amazing to watch the actors play, and I would like to do a theatre piece based on racial stereotypes because I'm so interested in opening that dialogue. Where is that dialogue in our society?
--m
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I'm AD/SM-ing (that sounds so naughty) a show that's going to be produced in December. The director's boyfriend is a chef, and he's going to make food that complements the content of the show, which is about exploring masculinity and femininity in a certain way at different stages of life & related to sex/sexuality. The director is developing the show based on Viewpoints, which is a way of developing a show through improvisation from the performers. For the first 3 weeks of rehearsal, we will be "collecting data" as the actors play/improvise/research/explore & the director will use that material to shape the show into something with form that makes sense.
So, yesterday afternoon, I went to call-backs. The actors were given a list of elements to include in a 5-minute theatre piece on the topic of masculinity/femininity. The director, the choreographer, and I left the room for 25 minutes while the actors developed their piece, and then we came in to watch. The elements: using one object in 3 different ways, a simultaneous action, 3 stereotypes rebuked, 3 stereotypes affirmed, repetition, 2 exits, a game, a moment of silence, and a song.
It was amazing to watch what they came up with.
The first group did this very sexy movement piece based on a game of tag. The second group did a very talky piece using 7 minute dating as its format. The third group did a disturbing piece with kids on the playground. The second piece was definitely the least interesting because they were sitting in chairs talking the entire time. The first piece was probably the most interesting because it made the least "sense" in a linear way but said the most.
I think what I'm most interested in is the idea of stereotypes. I want to make a list of all the stereotypes I know of just to look at them, just to play with them, just to explore that idea. There are stereotypes based on nationality, ethnicity, age, geographical region, sexual orientation, race, gender, etc.
Some of my favorites: Asian women can't drive. Women love babies. Lesbians like folk music & hate men. French people hate Americans. Black men are criminals. Black women are promiscuous. Poor people are lazy. White men can't dance. Black people can sing. Gay men have great fashion sense. White women are princesses. Jewish people are stingy. Old people are senile.
The list can go on and on. And, it's an interesting thing. I love just throwing all these stereotypes out there because, somewhere inside, each of us feels like some of these stereotypes are true, depending on our individual experiences.
The only way to work through our relationships with one another in this country is to talk about these things. I feel like racism exists on deeper, institutional levels, but it needs to be dealt with on personal levels as well.
Anyway, it was amazing to watch the actors play, and I would like to do a theatre piece based on racial stereotypes because I'm so interested in opening that dialogue. Where is that dialogue in our society?
--m
