Academic Blog Response #1

In my second creative act, I presented a dramatic story. I call it so because I do not necessarily know how it will actually manifest in a theatrical context. In a way, I am concentrating on the process rather than a product, but as was mentioned by Jennifer Kingsley and Scott Amos in their own ways, the product is always looming overhead. This can be a challenge when creating a theatrical piece, one might become to intent on what the product is meant to look like and be like instead of making discoveries along the way and exploring the issues concerning the play.
I know for this piece of theatre I’d like to show humanity a brighter side to the darkness that we might have. In Twyla Tharp’s your creative DNA, she raises some wonderful points about how ingrained in yourself is your own creativity; for example, her example of Merce Cunningham’s chaotic creativity. I like to tell stories of larger-than-life beings with extraordinary power, like my Envy. I like deities, demons and gods. I have always had a deep love of mythology, and I always try to incorporate it into my personal creations regarding theatre. I love embodying something that cannot be seen or expressed, such as envy, or desire, or love, or pain, etc. It is a trend that isn’t seen in popular, contemporary theatre.
Continuing on the hardwired DNA, I find that my personal work is physically based. Movement-based theatre is where my passion and greatest joy comes from, but I am only at the beginning stages of my own understanding and development. I am sometimes hindered by my lack of technique. Richard Klein’s article brought up some fascinating points pertaining to being an artist. My anxiety because of my lack of technique and education halts me from realizing many of his points. I do not take risks. It is a negative orientation. And it is not action oriented. It is all about thinking things out.
But for this current project I find that I intend to expand these hesitations and to look outside of my box. I intend to find a process and commit to each action I take. And respond to each impulse and feeling. This was seen with the Envy monologue for I stepped into the shoes of the character and wrote from there. Improvisation is all about following your impulses and staying in the moment and ignoring the distractions of the past and future.