Blog #7

I would absolutely love to stage a production of 'August: Osage County' inside an actual house. In the house, I would have the various scenes take place in the different rooms needed, while the audience is placed in those rooms...for example- the couch, on a bed, on blankets in the front yard. Of course this would have to be a fairly smaller audience than the usual,  but I believe that it would only add the necessary intimacy of the show that I wish to convey with the audience. By putting the viewers actually in the house, I'm giving the actors freedom to act around them. I want the actors to act almost as if the audience is not there and maintain the most natural movement and sense of space. 

With this production, there would be a few technological obstacles to tackle. I really wouldn't want this to be a particularly technologically heavy show, but still would want a few elements present. There is only so much you can and should do when your show is taking place in an actual house. As for lighting, I would stick to soley natural lighting. I would have constant open blinds, curtains, and possibly a window opened here and there to bring some of the Oklahoma feels and sounds to the viewers. As for sound, I would have very simple and instrumental music playing in between the transitions from scene to scene, when both the actors and audience move from room to room. In general, I would want a very intimate feel to come with my production of 'August: Osage County', something I feel a show of this caliber deserves. 

I absolutely do not believe that it is inappropriate or unsuccesful to stage present day theatre in a traditional setting. Although I totally support the new spontaneity of sort of 'wherever' locations that theatre is taking, I also support and will always stand behind the traditional space. I believe that the traditional 'theatre' actually has the power to put the audience into whatever world they intend to and have them focus on soley what they want them to. In the traditional theatre, the audience is at your fingertips, fully ready to view your magic. 

Blog #6

Do I think that we, as a society, are becoming more and more technology obsessed? Of course. Do I believe that technology will eventually overtake theatre as we know it and our simple physical presence will not relevant? No. Technology serves as a very beautiful asset to theatre as we know it. Over the past several years, with technology growing and evolving, we have been able to add so much to the world of theatre. I will admit, though, that theatre attendance and audience sizes have gone down. When people have the cheaper and more convent option if movies, or even Netflix... Why drive to a theatre? I believe that we live in a VERY technologically heavy era, where technology constantly lies right at our fingertips. As far as theatre goes, we haven't completely lost out audience nor must we give up our art to technology. I believe that within the next few years that technology and theatre will fuse together, in a way, to create for a more larger target audience. In general, technology is escalating... And it will only continue to do so. So is theatre, theatre is slowly escalating. We are reaching heights and places many never even considered. I believe we are in a phase of immense growth and it's only a matter of time when the art of theatre will take back off. Self-expression is at a high. 

I definitely believe that the concept of "imagined memory" is very present in society today. For example, my memory is taking me back to the time of Hurricane Katrina. I lived in Dallas at the time, but had family in both Covington and Baton Rouge. I remember seeing the constant telethons, fundraisers, and absolutely horrifying news stories of people totally losing everything. Even though I wasn't living through it, I felt as if I was. The constant media and thoughts of my extended family living through this really took a toll on me. It's a crazy thing how the media has the power to make you feel something with so much intensity. It's almost as if I felt like I went through it all with them.  

Prompt #5

My freshman year of high school, I was lucky enough to be in my school's production of 'Titanic the Musical'. While reading about dark matter and hearing everyone's ideas and past recollections of it operated onstage, I thought of this musical. This huge and massive glacier clearly has the power behind this whole story. During our sinking and death scene, we didn't include any sort of large white glacier-looking barrier, or any sort of visual for the audience of the glacier. Instead, about 8 to 10 black blocks were placed on stage and we basically planked with floating-like movements while being soaked with deep blue lighting. About the whole second half of the show revolves around the aknowledgement of this approaching glacier and how the passengers and crew react to it. This glacier was a form of dark matter, not necessarily needed to be seen during the production. The audience was given more of a wide opportunity with their imagination. 

As far as productions and performance pieces centered around The Holocaust, I strongly believe that they should be as factual and true as they were. Such a horrific event as The Holocaust shouldn't be tampered with necessarily. I personally believe that it's like walking on thin ice. It's too much of a controversial event to not be as factual as possible.