The devised theatre production that we did as our final was
a unique experience, and I learned a lot from a theatre perspective as to how
digital media and theatre can come together to create a unified piece of art.
Our group’s choice to focus on our true identities being hidden behind social
media naturally leaned itself towards an integration of both digital and
physical storytelling, allowing us to find and implement both of these elements
with ease. Our groups collaboration was fairly good, allowing us to explore
different ways to synthesize these two platforms together. I was, based off of
my basic knowledge of video editing, and familiarity with other editing
software, able to create many of our digital elements, including all of the
movies and projections that accompanied our performance. This was done with the
input and concepts of others as a guide.
As an
artist, I learned a lot about how to connect different aspects of a
non-scripted theatre performance to come together to tell one cohesive story.
There can not simply be chunks or scenes that stand alone, but they all need a
unified principle and transitions that allow the audience to follow the
production from beginning to end. There was certainly a learning curve with
adding technology in the way we did as well. We had our technological ideas all
planned, but not completed when we started adding in the physical elements of
our performance, something I would do the other way around if I was to do such
a project again. Trying to adapt our physical movements and ideas to the
unchanging digital media after it was completed was difficult.
Our devised digital media
performance was an interesting learning experience, and one that will be
directly applicable to in class practices as a theatre educator. The unique
practices that we used on a smaller scale for our final could easily be adapted
to become an entire class project, or even a unique mainstage show over which
students could have a great amount of ownership. This particular project allows
students to be involved in nearly every aspect of the production, rather than
sticking to only the acting or only the technical side of a production, a line
so often drawn in traditional theatre.
I
personally learned a lot from this project, not only working on my own, but in
watching other students’ projects, and discussing with them the techniques and
ideas that went into creating their works. Each group seemed to have very
different processes of devising their work, and while all of us started off
with very similarly conducted interviews, our end results showed that in many
different ways. Some groups took a much more literal approach to their storytelling,
while other groups went for more metaphorical and symbolic movements and
storytelling techniques. Seeing each group’s work allowed me, as a future
educator, to see some of the different ways to apply interviews and concepts to
a devised theatre piece.
The synthesis of digital
storytelling coupled with traditional acting and devising techniques is
something that would make this project successful in an advanced theatre
classroom. A project like this could become a collaborative effort, allowing
for students to have almost complete autonomy. From selecting a concept,
interview questions, media platforms, and then combining those with the
physical movement and dialogue that make this a theatre performance, students
get to be the directors, the playwrights, the producers, and the actors. This
is a unique experience that is not common in theatre, especially in a secondary
setting. The entire process of creating this performance would also teach
students a lot about leadership and interpersonal skills, as you could not do
this performance without addressing those things.
In a theatre classroom setting, the
concepts that would be used to create a piece like this could come, as well,
from texts and assignments that would lend itself to your schools curriculum. A
project like this could become a collaborative effort with other departments,
addressing major themes from English works, confronting large ideas and
controversial topics in science, and more.
