Jaclyn Hales in ZTC's Multimedia Production _Rings of the Tree_.
In my MFA program at Arizona State University, there's been an increasing trend towards digitizing theatre. Production after production that I've seen there, they have some sort of technology or film related component. And it's not just Arizona. All across the country, all across the globe, technology is making its way into playhouses and theaters. Video, projection, multimedia-- it's becoming a common practice to see these elements make their way into a production.
Purists may think this rather disturbing. After all, isn't that defeating the beauty of LIVE theatre? The intimacy, the visible perspiration, the spontaneity of it all? All of that, although I agree with it to an extent, especially for certain productions, is not seeing the great possibilities attached to multimedia theatre. Certain shows require the traditional approach. There's something simply wonderful with having a straight forward piece of theatricality set in a black box theater, where nothing is interfering with that magical chord building between an audience member and an actor standing not more than 15 feet away from her. It's beautiful, it's intimate, it's magic. And I want to keep that. But there are other shows that could benefit from a little extra. Much of that same character anchored intimacy can still exist within a multimedia piece, but then other layers can be added to create another kind of awe.
Shea Potter and Heather Jones in ZTC's "The Snow Queen."
As a writer, one of my focuses has been the use of beautiful language. As a culture, I think we put less and less emphasis on vocabulary, aesthetic language and poetry in our writing. That aspect will always find its place in my work. However, I've also really been enjoying adding a different approach to my work as of late. Maybe it's partly that I've been working on writing screenplays as well in my Dramatic Writing program, so it's put my head in a different place, but in addition to writing beautiful, lyrical language, I've enjoyed focusing on creating visuals-- on creating visions. Continue reading →
