It's hot and humid outside, I've been burning rubber several times a week on interstate 70 between Lawrence and Manhattan, and all kinds of muscles I forgot existed for the last 46 weeks are insisting, not only that they really do exist, but also that I have been abusing them.
All these signs together can mean only one thing, it's Experimental Theater Workshop time.
The most wonderful time of the year!
This year we have decided to try out this blog business, see if people are interested in following along on our workshopping progress. I have a feeling there might be a few people out there who would like to vicariously re-live their own workshop experiences, so the directing team and myself will do our best to add to this blog as the process continues. If you are unfamiliar with what we do, check out our web page at www.mxtw.org
Speaking of the directing team, this year the workshop is being directed by, myself, Gwethalyn, and I am being assisted by some wonderful workshop alums, Megan, Ashley, Josh, and Amanda and we have Libby as our lead tech. Go team MXTW!
Disclaimers: Does every blogger feel the need to do this? I do. (Wow, I never thought I would have to identify myself as a blogger, you see what ends I am willing to go to in order to promote the awesomeness of the workshop?) In the workshop we have half an hour to “teach” each author. Our main goal is for the participants to get a feel for the techniques of each author in the pieces we read, so they know how they would be expected to write and perform if they choose to work in the style of that author in their small group. We use the styles and techniques of these authors as ends to a mean. We do not pretend to give anyone a full education about any of these authors or movements, so the notes on authors we read in this blog highlight only some of the things we stress to the participants in that half hour and should not be seen as an attempt to summarize the whole of any authors work or ideas. If something sparks your interest go out and read some of their work and make your own opinions. All of these authors are brilliant and worthy of further study by anyone interested in theater, art, or life. Regarding the discussion of particular exercises, we have borrowed exercises heavily from Augusto Boal, Ruth Zaporah, and JoAnne Akalaitis, and found a few other sources as well. We do not pretend these exercises are unique to us, although we have certainly modified some of them for our purposes.
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