Working Title: Undecided
Type of Proposal
Performance (Music, Dance, Dramatic Art, etc.)
Faculty
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty Sponsor
Meaghen Quinn
Start Date
24-3-2015 1:00 PM
End Date
24-3-2015 1:50 PM
Importance of the Project
With this project, we plan to further our education in theatre and create our own opportunities as emerging artists. We look to use the tools we have learned in our B.F.A. Acting degree and expand on them to create our own work. Our work will contribute to an already rich history of University of Windsor graduates who create plays and devised works in Canadian theatre.
Our play focuses on how we make decisions, and what goes through one woman's mind when asked one very big, life-altering question. We presented the first twenty minutes of the production to a group of peers, professors, and theatre artists. We found that not only was the production engaging and fun, but it explored issues that our audience could relate to. This is our main objective: to create theatre that audiences can connect with and learn from.
Existing State of Knowledge
In our degree, we have learned many necessary tools used to create plays, devised compositions, and original works. Gina Lori Riley and Meaghen Quinn, both professional theatre artists, have taught us the basics of movement and how to use the body for storytelling. We have created many short devised compositions in their classes, and now use these tools to make a full production, including more text than we have previously undertaken. Michael Keating uses the Linklater vocal technique in his Voice classes to allow full release and development of voice. He has also introduced a project known as Vocal Mask, which was also used in the National Theatre School, in order to create many characters and discover new ways to tell the same story. We will use this tool as our main protagonist, Tess, discusses and ponders her current state.
Research Question
How to create and produce an original play in a collaborative partnership using and expanding upon the tools given to us in our Bachelor of Fine Arts acting degree.
Methodology
We have been exploring many methods of creation and rehearsal that we have learned in our acting degree and using them to create an original play. We have utilized the compositional tools we have learned from Gina Lori Riley and Meaghen Quinn, based on the work of the SITI Company. We have also been exploring the voice tools and exercises provided to us by Michael Keating, based largely on the vocal techniques of Kristen Linklater. Additionally, the creation process relies heavily on elements of improvisation and clown taught by Lionel Walsh. We are expanding upon these tools to apply them to writing a full-length script, which is a project we have not yet undertaken. It is important to us that the script writing process is collaborative and physical. We are measuring the success of our process and product by our own self-reflection and analysis, along with having workshops and performances with our peers, professors, and the public to analyze the effect of our play on an audience.
Your Findings
So far in our process, we have discovered that the roles of playwright, actor, and director can be fluid. Though Kyle Kimmerly is officially the director, and Tamlynn Bryson officially the actor, the process is such a collaborative partnership that these titles of “director” and “actor” are more guidelines than hard and fast rules. A challenge we have faced is telling an active story; given that this is a one-woman show, it is easy for the play to be told purely as composition. We have found that a very helpful device to keeping the play active is fully incorporating the audience. We are expanding upon the concept of “breaking the fourth wall,” and are beginning to challenge what the words “play” and “theatre” even mean. We are both excited by theatre being a more interactive process than it has been in the past. We have also observed that a single motif can be incorporated repeatedly throughout a performance, and this device can be very intriguing to an audience. For example, in our show the motif of chalk and chalkboards is continuously re-visited. We are still exploring how to have a repeated motif be different enough each time that it is interesting for the audience, but similar enough that the repetition is recognized.
Working Title: Undecided