Thoughts on the First Two Weeks
Posted February 17th, 2009 by John, Actor.
Most of my relevant experience has been in the “putting on” of a show. So when I sit down to think about this program, I try to keep in mind that, ultimately, that’s what we’re trying to do here, too. Already I’ve been thinking about how our activities can begin to inform where the final production is headed.
For example-when an actor created an advertisement that seemed to magically judge the body type of it’s viewer, I noted how the sketch successfully entertained the audience while still raising important questions in the realm of what we’re dealing with. And that’s exactly what we want.
We have journal exercises requiring the students to write continuously for a determined period. We encourage them to keep writing throughout that period-even if what they write is non-sensical. But when one hungry student’s journal repeated the words “waffles”, “bacon”, “cake”, and “pie” over and over again, I laughed. I can’t help but think we can use that in some way.
These first two weeks have been exhilarating and challenging. And they have contained many of these moments already-pearls formed from the sands of our process-which, right now, is still discovering what it wants to be. I do think we have been most successful when it comes time for the students to perform, and that’s encouraging. I’m excited to see more of it.