Insecure Revolutions
I've had to push back the start date for my Play in a Day Series until October. I had wanted to start this past spring, but chose to wait until September so that I could give it my complete focus while Sully is in school. However, I have decided to wait until October so that a few more things can fall into place without rushing. I have to do this one right because I want this one to last. After two "failed" (or more appropriately "fizzled") theatre companies in the last five years, I am really hungry for something I can look back at as a success.
Not that GSTW or Closer Theatre Company were dismal failures by any means, but I didn't reach my goals. So what pieces of the puzzle were missing? First, I think I had made uncharacteristic concessions to "marketablity" as opposed to simply making what is truly mine and then finding an audience for that. I hadn't any true voice yet- and perhaps I still don't, but I think I'm on the right path. Second, because I was making some compromises I held back. I didn't throw everything I had or was into what I was doing. I was waiting for the hand of God to come down and validate my choices and then I would committ. Third, everyone I was involved with left New York and I decided to take it personally and sulk instead of pressing on.
People that I have discussed my Play in a Day Series with have all been very excited and yet skeptical. Can you really create and rehearse one act of material in eight hours and perform it the same night? To me, the answer is obvious- of course you can. There are plenty of challenges out there for film and theatre and they seem to produce results so why not mine? Of course, I am guarding my structure like an alligator guards her eggs because I've had structures stolen from me before. I look around and don't see anyone else do what I am proposing to do. This both excites and terrifies me. Great! No one is offering what I can offer. Then I must ask myself this: If no one else has seen what seems obvious to me, am I a genius? Or am I so far off in la la land that I am doomed to failure? Will anyone come out to play? After all, I truly cannot do this alone.
I have a truly unique idea that showcases what I have to offer the theatrical community. I can't teach you how to act. I can't teach you how to create an ensemble. I can't teach you how to write. What I CAN do is give you tools, structure, and an environment in which creation is not only possible but an absolute necessity. I'm a damn good director with a very good eye and a deep understanding of where art comes from. I also have a million and five things to say and within that there are a billion opportunities for others to agree or dissent with their own work. I'm interested in a theatre that has something very thoughtful to say. I'm interested in a theatre that strips away the pretense of hipness and dispenses with the stylish tricks so popular these days and stands just as naked, conflicted and confused in the face of American culture and politics as the average American does. I want to learn something in each process that I didn't know before I started and I want my audience to experience the same.
Can I get a "Hell Yeah!"?
Not that GSTW or Closer Theatre Company were dismal failures by any means, but I didn't reach my goals. So what pieces of the puzzle were missing? First, I think I had made uncharacteristic concessions to "marketablity" as opposed to simply making what is truly mine and then finding an audience for that. I hadn't any true voice yet- and perhaps I still don't, but I think I'm on the right path. Second, because I was making some compromises I held back. I didn't throw everything I had or was into what I was doing. I was waiting for the hand of God to come down and validate my choices and then I would committ. Third, everyone I was involved with left New York and I decided to take it personally and sulk instead of pressing on.
People that I have discussed my Play in a Day Series with have all been very excited and yet skeptical. Can you really create and rehearse one act of material in eight hours and perform it the same night? To me, the answer is obvious- of course you can. There are plenty of challenges out there for film and theatre and they seem to produce results so why not mine? Of course, I am guarding my structure like an alligator guards her eggs because I've had structures stolen from me before. I look around and don't see anyone else do what I am proposing to do. This both excites and terrifies me. Great! No one is offering what I can offer. Then I must ask myself this: If no one else has seen what seems obvious to me, am I a genius? Or am I so far off in la la land that I am doomed to failure? Will anyone come out to play? After all, I truly cannot do this alone.
I have a truly unique idea that showcases what I have to offer the theatrical community. I can't teach you how to act. I can't teach you how to create an ensemble. I can't teach you how to write. What I CAN do is give you tools, structure, and an environment in which creation is not only possible but an absolute necessity. I'm a damn good director with a very good eye and a deep understanding of where art comes from. I also have a million and five things to say and within that there are a billion opportunities for others to agree or dissent with their own work. I'm interested in a theatre that has something very thoughtful to say. I'm interested in a theatre that strips away the pretense of hipness and dispenses with the stylish tricks so popular these days and stands just as naked, conflicted and confused in the face of American culture and politics as the average American does. I want to learn something in each process that I didn't know before I started and I want my audience to experience the same.
Can I get a "Hell Yeah!"?
posted by Bree O'Connor at 1:41 PM
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