There's more to "vision" than what we see with our eyes. Vision also resides in the brain. The eye sees things as they are, but the brain sees things the way they might be. In theatre, playwrights have a particular sort of vision; directors have another, and designers another yet, and they all interconnect to form an image, like a jigsaw puzzle... And, as with any jigsaw, we usually start at the outside and work our way in, to find the truth in the middle. It's hard, though, to express that vision in words – theatre people sometimes say that if we could describe it in words, we wouldn't need to do the show.
Theatre is a collaboration, in absolutely the finest, broadest sense of the word. The actors collaborate with each other to relate the story. The designers collaborate with each other – and with the actors – to create a visual and aural environment, in a manner which supports, sometimes in an imperceptible way, the themes of the play... and that brings up another important collaboration: our collaboration with the playwright. Even when the author is not in the room – even when the play is a classic whose author died years or even decades earlier – our work is a collaboration with the words and thoughts put upon the page in the initial creation.
Any well-written play can, and usually is, about several things at once. To me, Slowgirl is about running from one's responsibilities... and returning to confront them. You might agree with me, or you might not. You might see the theme as something completely different. That's fair enough, and while I am, of course, right... so are you... Because our most important collaborator is the audience.
"When the best leader's work is done the people say, 'We did it ourselves!'” ~ Lao-Tzu
Theatre is a collaboration, in absolutely the finest, broadest sense of the word. The actors collaborate with each other to relate the story. The designers collaborate with each other – and with the actors – to create a visual and aural environment, in a manner which supports, sometimes in an imperceptible way, the themes of the play... and that brings up another important collaboration: our collaboration with the playwright. Even when the author is not in the room – even when the play is a classic whose author died years or even decades earlier – our work is a collaboration with the words and thoughts put upon the page in the initial creation.
Any well-written play can, and usually is, about several things at once. To me, Slowgirl is about running from one's responsibilities... and returning to confront them. You might agree with me, or you might not. You might see the theme as something completely different. That's fair enough, and while I am, of course, right... so are you... Because our most important collaborator is the audience.
"When the best leader's work is done the people say, 'We did it ourselves!'” ~ Lao-Tzu
