Philosophy of Theatre Making

My philosophy of theatre making can be distilled down to two ideas:

1. The Radical Yes

2. Limitations Spark Creativity

I think my collaborators would agree that I use these two phrases constantly (if not relentlessly).​

​

"Limitations spark creativity" is really simple. This idea came first, actually (thanks, Denise Gillman). I don't need every resource in the world. I don't need to pretend I have more than I do. Rather, I am going to find all the possibilities of what I do have. So often, those possibilities are better than what i wished for initially. 

​

The Radical Yes is a natural progression of the first idea. It is an idea that I have used for years now to articulate the key to immersive theatre. Immersive theatre is so often terrifying to new practitioners because suddenly they realize that they have, in fact, this whole time, been afraid of the audience. The audience is the unknown element that we invite into our process well after we feel confident and in control. Under normal circumstances they cannot affect you - beyond maybe not laughing or getting to their seats quickly. But Immersive flips that. we invite the audience into the space, we say "we see you. You are sharing our space. You have power here."

 

My experience tells me that many people believe when you open that door, the audience is going to run you ragged and wild - but it is also my experience that this simply isn't the case. I want to Radically say Yes to our audiences - welcome them exactly as they are and try our hardest to let them make honest choices. Their honest choices will always surprise us. Now, we don't only study the human in the writing, in the rehearsing, but in the performing as we share intimate moments with strange humans. 

​

And if we can radically say yes to our audiences, then we can say yes to our collaborators and accept them for who they are. Accept the reach they have. Saying yes to our limits - yes to those who need to be heard and helped. Yes to the humans who make this work. Yes to being human. 

​

Saying yes is a kindness - and does not ask for what we do not have.

​

With these two philosophies, I just want to study humans in all their humanness. Their strangeness, their bodies, their dances, their fears, their dreams, their ghosts, their crimes, their secrets, their shame, their joy, their grief. Yes to any and all of it.

​