Hey there! My name is Payton Briggs Anderson and I’m the
Shakespeare Intensive for Teens (SIT) Remix intern for the Summer of 2016 here
at the Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse. So what exactly is SIT Remix? After three
weeks of rehearsals that culminate with multiple performances of a
Shakespearean play, the participants of SIT launch into a fourth week devoted
to devised theatre.
Wait a second. What exactly is devised theatre? I’m glad
you asked! Now I’m no expert (I’m still a student myself), but I’ll do my best
to give you a basic run-down of what devised theatre is. Devised theatre (n.)
results from the creative process of devising (v.), a process in which theater
practitioners create a piece that doesn’t arise from a specific script.
So what exactly does that mean? Generally, when going into a
traditional theatre environment (like the one that the SIT students are exposed
to for the first three weeks), an actor is equipped with a script that has
specific parts, lines, text, stage directions, etc. The actor learns their
lines, rehearses their part, and performs a story according to a specific
script. When an actor steps into the devising process, however, learning your
part and learning your lines from a specific script is not the first step. Instead,
the actor steps into an ensemble-driven environment that works on the
embodiment, interpretation, and communication of larger themes and ideas that
can stem from an infinite number of different sources. These sources can be
pretty much anything, such as society, personal experience, observation, a
piece of poetry, or (as in the case of SIT this year) the text of a
Shakespearean comedy. After a period of exploration, the ensemble uses elements
of staging such as lights, text, sound, space, props, and movement to compose a
piece that addresses these themes.
When I was given the opportunity to expose high school
students to devised theatre I was initially super nervous and scared.
Personally, I had no idea that devised theatre even existed until my freshman
year of college, so I had no doubt that Remix would be the first exposure to
devised work for many of the high schoolers I’d work with. What right did I
have to be teaching high schoolers about devised work when I’m still a student
myself? Luckily, I had an amazing lead teacher (shout-out to Atlanta actor
Brandon Partrick!) to collaborate with, and together we did our best to create
a trajectory that would introduce these creative young minds to the basic
principles of devising theatre.
This June, the SIT students rehearsed and performed a
production of the comedy Much Ado About
Nothing. During the first Remix session, we had the students discuss themes
and ideas from the play that resonated for them or had been uncovered during
the rehearsal process. True to the nature of Shakespeare’s plays, the themes
discussed were a diverse slice of the human experience, including love, truth,
deception, pride, and forgiveness. As the week unfolded, the exercises we
introduced were utilized to tackle these themes and explore them through
embodiment. In addition to the exercises, students were encouraged to bring in
their own contributions to the work. It could be anything from a piece of text
that spoke to them on some level, a movement that elicited some sort of
emotion, or a song they had written. By encouraging the students to bring in
and share their own material, we hoped that the students would develop a sense
of ownership of their creation – a crucial element of any ensemble. And own it
they did. By the end of the week the students had created a piece that was
completely their own, one that took place primarily in a dark room and explored
the darker issues of Shakespeare’s comedy.
By a landslide, my favorite part of the week was watching
the students’ faces light up as a new, exciting piece of knowledge clicked for
them. As a particularly nerdy theatre theory person myself, it was so much fun
to watch the learning process in real time as a new idea was introduced, and it
was even more fun to watch the realizations occur as those theories and ideas
were explored through exercises. I can absolutely relate to the feeling of
excitement brought on by a buzzing brain, and I had no doubt that this was
happening for those high schoolers. For me, this feeling is invaluable as a
student and ESPECIALLY as a theatre practitioner. Introducing students to
alternate methods of creating theatre opens a portal of infinite possibilities
filled with their own unique challenges and levels of excitement. Just as exploring
Shakespeare’s words offers an insight into the complexity of the human
condition, I believe that devising theatre encourages students to explore these
complexities in new and exciting ways that are completely unique to them.
Being the Remix intern has definitely been one of the most
rewarding experiences of my summer, and I’m incredibly excited to do it all
again this July!
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