I wonder, what has happened to the ensemble? What has happened to collective research and investigation into topics worth creating new pieces about? What has happened to theater as a novel art form rather than a pastiche of capers provided as divertissement?
Thanks for your considered and thoughtful reply, Scott.
I concur regarding the profit model that has ruined both theater and theatrical educations, such as still exist in the US.
As I come from the European tradition of physical theater, new American Vaudeville, and Boal/Grotowski experiential devised work, when I refer to research, I mean the ensemble's creation process, the collaborative, improv-led, performer-driven method emblematic of such luminaries as Jacque Lecoq and Peter Brook. These are, I believe, the paths forward for the inevitable resurgence of theater as a transformative and inclusive art form. Having just witnessed the French school the world with the spectacle opening of the Summer Olympics, I am reminded of what we are missing here in the United States – not just a complete lack of funding causing piranha attacks for measly grants between competing companies and artists, but a fundamental reorientation to what theater is & what it can be as regards a necessary catalyst for personal and cultural change.
I am glad to have found your voice here, and hope to hear more from our community about changing these trends for the better.
Yes! I now focus my theater chops on helping promote SEL for young people as an attempt to address the mental health crisis in that population through theater skills and physical actor training techniques. I was the first non-founding member of the UMO Ensemble in Seattle, all Lecoq grads themselves. Very familiar with Jeaune Lune, Bogart, et al.
I have some faint hope for an arts resurgence if this younger generation takes charge of the White House come November. . . until then, we find ways to fill the cracks and slowly rise. . .
I'll be around, for sure, and I invite you to join my page as well.
I wonder, what has happened to the ensemble? What has happened to collective research and investigation into topics worth creating new pieces about? What has happened to theater as a novel art form rather than a pastiche of capers provided as divertissement?
Thanks for your considered and thoughtful reply, Scott.
I concur regarding the profit model that has ruined both theater and theatrical educations, such as still exist in the US.
As I come from the European tradition of physical theater, new American Vaudeville, and Boal/Grotowski experiential devised work, when I refer to research, I mean the ensemble's creation process, the collaborative, improv-led, performer-driven method emblematic of such luminaries as Jacque Lecoq and Peter Brook. These are, I believe, the paths forward for the inevitable resurgence of theater as a transformative and inclusive art form. Having just witnessed the French school the world with the spectacle opening of the Summer Olympics, I am reminded of what we are missing here in the United States – not just a complete lack of funding causing piranha attacks for measly grants between competing companies and artists, but a fundamental reorientation to what theater is & what it can be as regards a necessary catalyst for personal and cultural change.
I am glad to have found your voice here, and hope to hear more from our community about changing these trends for the better.
Yes! I now focus my theater chops on helping promote SEL for young people as an attempt to address the mental health crisis in that population through theater skills and physical actor training techniques. I was the first non-founding member of the UMO Ensemble in Seattle, all Lecoq grads themselves. Very familiar with Jeaune Lune, Bogart, et al.
I have some faint hope for an arts resurgence if this younger generation takes charge of the White House come November. . . until then, we find ways to fill the cracks and slowly rise. . .
I'll be around, for sure, and I invite you to join my page as well.
Yours,
Bradley