I find so many pieces of theater skillfully made, maybe even expertly made, that I don’t connect with. Or that confound me and leave me totally disoriented. One of the reasons I love formal construction so much is that you can admire beauty and imagination at the level of construction itself.
Almost always, if I see creatively and thoughtfully deployed seam construction (entrances, exits, transitions), I will admire the work. It is one of the key indicators of good vs. bad on a more formal level.
Anyway, these are all amazing theater makers. Sometimes circumstances and process compromises trap really great directors and designers into a world of bad transitions. It happens to the best of us.
Here are some of the pieces I use in this video. All are available to watch online, and all are worthwhile examples of craft and content.
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“LIGHT OF PASSAGE” — Pite, Taylor, Bryant, Visser
“SAUL” — Kosky, Tag, Pichler, Klein
“MESSIAH” — Wilson, Panzer, Engeln, Torres, Soto
“KILL YOUR DARLINGS!” — Pollesch, Neumann, König, Novak
“INNOCENCE” — Stone, Lamford, Page, Farncombe, Renz
“LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR” — Stone, Clachan, Babidge, Añón, Erde, Halls
“ORIGINS” — Papaioannou, Demiris & Manidaki, Dickinson, Yashi
“SUTRA” — Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Gormley, Brzóska
“DON GIOVANNI” — Guth, Winter, Schmidt, Sigl
“THE SIX BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS” — De Keersmaeker, Versweyveld, D’Huys
“PALERMO PALERMO” — Bausch, Pabst, Cito, Delaere, Burkert
“LA PASSION DE SIMONE” — Shields, Oliva, Gladu
“DER FENSTERPUTZER” — Bausch, Pabst, Cito, Burkert
#classicalmusic #art #theatre #operasingersofinstagram #opera
a month agojoshua_townshend
I do as well. The same thing with unimaginative writing especially in the exposition. Thank you for this. Very well articulated. Very thoughtful. And yes, it has nothing to do with budget and has everything to do with intention and imagination and taking time to develop something unique.
a month agodomcchesney
A good performer (and i include crowds) can/should be able to walk on or off a stage at a normal pace and bring energy with them. This is putting all onus and blame on the director. This is about design conception and ignores performers doing their job. Having big budget reveals however guarantees unskilled or lazy performers attitudes don't infect a production.
2 months agolakshwadeep
Ideally a great performer would intuitively enter/exit in ways that enhances the experience. I was also thinking about ancient (like Greek deus ex machina) and global theatrical traditions (like the mie pose in Japanese kabuki) where the experience of storytelling is much more in the imagination than a slick production.
2 months agochris.fields.5458
I saw a wonderfully stage show years ago in downtown New York —off off off Broadway—extremely small budget—where the enrtrances and exits were through a half sized doorway. you could see the actors approach the door (as there were no walls but they had to bow and contract in order to go through the door and then expand to fullness as they arrived. It was breathtaking and NEVER got old.
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