Work Session, 1/7/09

present: Dale, Jeff B., Barbara, Jeff A.

Dale unrolled the triple-poster printout of Marc’s part-2 text [rtf], only to find that instead of the version everyone worked on in the 12/17/08 session, it was a clean copy, and one that had not printed the right-hand third of the last poster. Perfect!

We began with the first five steps of the Vocal Sequence again as a warm-up.

Jeff Allen then gave his new Neo-Futurist monolog to Barbara to read. It was a variation on the “I need to write something” trope, and it worked.

Jeff A. also had us read through “Give & Take,” a hysterical Neo-Futurist skit from 200 more Neo-Futurist plays. It would be fun to add to an evening of theatre.

We returned to part-2. Barbara suggested that we brainstorm as many ways to perform the text as we could thing of. Dale set the timer for two minutes, and we came up with:

1. a monolog
2. rearrange pieces of it
3. backwards
4. dramatic interpretation
5. change the verbs
6. as a dance
7. mime, holding up the words
8. metaperformance, like Jeff’s idea from last session
9. choral anthem
10. audition piece
11. diagram the sentences
12. as a Marx Bros. routine
13. grade it as homework
14. edit (??)
15. make it rhyme
16. talk back to it, sass it
17. cycle through film genres
18. props, without words
19. hand puppets
20. nude
21. as a musical

Dale then used the random number generator to pick one, #4, dramatic interpretation, and we gave ourselves another two minutes:

1. black box/empty set
2. Chekhov
3. political thriller
4. children’s bedtime story
5. Noh theatre
6. gossiping over tea
7. medieval mystery play
8. opera
9. absurdist piece
10. elementary class play
11. Julie Andrews vehicle
12. dysfunctional family drama
13. police procedural
14. therapy session
15. Seussian tale (??not sure of the handwriting)

Again with the random number generator, and again #4, the bedtime story. Barbara began telling us wee ones the bedtime story, and we both interspersed lines and repeated lines and added our own commentary. It was interesting.

We went back to the main list with the random number generator, and we got #1, monolog. Dale tackled it as a solo piece; miraculously, he convinced everyone he was making perfect sense.

Next was #6, dance, and Jeff danced the first page. We then drew #9, choral anthem, and skipped it.

Finally, Barbara took on #12, audition piece, and Dale was her auditioner, requesting expansions and redirections of the piece. Jeff was the janitor.

As a quickie ending, we threw out #15, Marx Bros., and got a couple of laughs with some delivery. Mike Funt: download the text and turn it into a Marx Bros. routine.

It occured to us that we could take the text and do an evening’s work with it, starting perhaps with the monolog so that the audience could get the whole piece at once, then hitting bits and pieces of the text through the filters of our list (and other ideas). The audience would begin to form their own connections and ideas, perhaps.

It was also suggested as a performance that we could have a pool of available texts, to be matched randomly with performance modes, and improvise performances that way.

Ideas for Neo-Futurist monologs:

• grocery list; e.g., a piece about one’s grocery list, perhaps the one you’d like people to think you have
• desktop; e.g., what’s on your desk and why

NEXT: Jan. 14, 6:30, NSOD

• TEXTS: part-2, Jeff’s Myth [doc]
• PATHS: Vocal Sequence
• HOMEWORK:
  • Neo-Futurist script
  • five pages of text, either randomly selected from one’s own library, or some online library like Forgotten Books; multiple sources OK