Category: Research

Presenting Shakespeare is an encyclopedic book that collects 1100 theatrical posters of Shakespeare’s plays. It includes designs from as far back as 1860 with over 50 countries and hundreds of artists represented. On the 400th anniversary of his death this tome highlights the fact that Shakespeare can be reexamined, reinterpreted and re-imagined in ways that reflect the time and culture.

Theater managers have always had to find ways to announce performances connecting the art to the public. This has taken several forms, one of which is the theatrical poster. The poster evolved to become less of an announcement and more of a visual representation of the work. Today, the best designs strike a balance between conveying information, setting the expectations for the audience, attracting attention, and being a piece of art on its own terms.

In their introduction, the editors suggest that Shakespeare became renowned in part because of printing technologies which made his plays widely available first as Quartos and eventually in the First Folio. They further propose that “works of art and design” – which include theatrical posters and re-creations of historical tableaux and Shakespearean imagery – wove together a “sophisticated public relations” campaign which helped preserve Shakespeare’s legacy through the ages. I prefer the more humanist view that it is Shakespeare’s ability to create characters who developed, his universal appeal and his juicy poetry that centered him in the Western canon. His cultural significance is undeniable and this book visually catalogues Shakespeare’s international impact.

This collection is a visual delight which I think will fit nicely in any library whether you are a scholar, student, designer, theater artist, fan of Shakespeare, or poster design enthusiast. It is cleverly organized by play (or sets of plays). It has an impressive number of examples from recent productions which serves the double purpose of presenting contemporary posters but also providing a survey of companies who are actively producing Shakespeare plays. Rightfully there is a substantial focus on Polish designs. Companies from the UK and the US get plenty of coverage notably the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Public (who presented the first New York Shakespeare Festival in 1954). Africa, South America and Asia are under represented. The research could have been a bit more extensive (they selected the final 1100 from only 1500 choices) and an index would be helpful. But the end result is thoroughly inspiring.

On Being With Krista Tippett

Brain Pickings by Maria Popova

Design Matters with Debbie Millman

Two podcasts and a blog. The taglines of these sites speak volumes and indicate the scale of thinking: “The big questions of meaning,” “An inventory of the meaningful life,” and “we can talk about making a difference, we can make a difference, or we can do both.” I have been sharing my favorite interviews and articles from these three sites with lots of friends and colleagues. On the rare occasion these wise women interview each other.

I found Debbie Millman first, around the time that I got very excited about podcasts in 2012. Millman’s podcast Design Matters strikes nice balance between art and commerce. She interviews a wide range of artists and “luminaries of contemporary thought.” You can sort her interviews by discipline: art directors, brand managers, graphic directors, illustrators, typographers and more. These kinds of artists (and their firms) always have to balance the art with their client’s wishes and with the demands of the market. But the conversations on this podcast are not limited by graphic design. The disciplines of her interview subjects range from architecture critics, cartoonists, chefs, educators, poets and playwrights. I find it useful to hear about this work and the careers of these interesting people.

It was Design Matters that led me to Maria Popova and her encyclopedic effort of cataloging the work of countless authors. On the website BrainPickings.org, Popova distills the brilliance of writers, scientists, and thinkers of all sorts. Her short essays are more than just a review. She unpacks the central ideas and places them in the context of centuries of wisdom and inquiry. She seems to have a particular interest in science and children’s literature. Her picks of children’s picture books would make for a stunningly vibrant collection to any family library.

Seth Godin tipped me off to Krista Tippett’s podcast On Being. Each episode is a conversation with people who in some way are in “pursuit of wisdom and moral imagination.” What struck me at first was that she releases two podcasts a week. There is an edited version with a scripted voice over and musical interludes and and there is an extended unedited conversation. Each of these unedited conversations begins with small talk and Tippett reminds the guest that it can be a real conversation, nonlinear even, and they can go backwards and talk about things again that they may have not found the right words for the first time. On Being is gently focused on theology and thinking. Mindfulness is a catch phrase buzzword these days. Likewise, God, spirituality and faith are words that conjure lots of different associations for different people. On Being was started a decade ago in part because these topics were not being seriously considered in mainstream media. Tippett is well aware of the hazard of using the word God – for her it is “too small.” Instead she offers: “a rich, kind of wild, strange, expansive place in my mind where I think about what the definition would be.”

My words won’t really add value to what they have created. This post is really just an introduction to these brilliant women. After forwarding their work on to so many I’ve finally decided to thread the needle of how these sites are so important. Kevin Kelly once suggested if you read one book a month your life would change. Godin recommends an RSS reader and a daily practice of reading. I think listening can provide the same kind of transformation. These three women have added meaning and vibrancy to my life and work. I can’t recommend them enough.
I’ll let their work speak for itself. In the links below you can hear Krista Tippett interviewing Maria Popova, Debbie Millman interviewing Krista Tippett and … wait who’s going to interview Debbie Millman?! Well, you can see a sample of her work, one of a series of hand lettered posters available through Studio 6.

On Being – Cartographer of meaning in a digital age

Maria Popova interviewed by Krista Tippett

Design Matters – Kirsta Tippett: Author, Entrepreneur, Journalist

Krista Tippett interviewed by Debbie Millman

In submitting a resume for an exciting job opportunity. I forgot to mention that I have a master’s degree in Acting from Manchester Metropolitan University and a BA in Theater from Bard College. Some people introduce themselves by their degrees but my cover letter got right into past projects and ideas and “stuff.”

If you are curious to see some more… “stuff” let me curate your visit to my website.

L’Enfant Terrible

This overview really articulates the full scope of the Fun Family Festival of Tragedy from 2011. You can see the platform I built to support these fantastic artists and the education program L’ET Discovery Happen we made from scratch.  Below is a video that recaps the production of Hamlet, Prince of Puddles. I also created the content for the blog and my favorite posts are here, here, here, here. Our best reviews are here, here, and here.

Poland

Here is a beautiful in depth video reportage of the expedition that I went on to Romania in 2012. You can hear the music and see the dances we explored and catch the mood for the whole experience. The video highlights one strand Poland’s rich heritage of anthropological theater. In their own way, Song of the Goat Theatre is carrying on the traditions of renowned artists and companies such as Jerzy Grotowski, Gardzienice, and Teatr Zar.

Design

Here are some odds and ends not mentioned in my application. I am very interested in design and how technology frames all of our experiences today. I work purposefully with graphic designers to create collateral that reflects the artistic principles of the clients. In addition to working on a number of marketing campaigns and my own personal projects, here’s some work I think is worth noting: redesign of Song of the Goat website, commissioning and editing this dossier of a young performance ensemble in Poland, commissioning the best theater poster ever.

Last spring I made a proposal to an International Baccalaureate school to devise a drama program that matched their teaching philosophy. Their sister school, a bilingual school, invited me to begin teaching two groups of middle schoolers. So far it has been amazing for me and I think quite fun for the participants as well. Here’s my brief course description.

This class views the practice of theater as a form of research with the potential to teach new topics and create knowledge. In the first semester, students will study the body, voice, text, songs, traditions and technology. In the second half of the year they will take part in a collective idea generation and composition process. Throughout the year the class will research different theatrical perspectives considering the stage our laboratory. Participation will reinforce social skills, communication skills, and thinking skills. And it will nurture the physical, intellectual, and emotional balance of each student.

If you want to read the whole proposal click here: WISTheaterLabProposal.

“Everything appears OK but with an underlying sense that it is all wrong.”

The stories I’ve been hearing of the world right now don’t have a beginning middle and end. So why am I even thinking about telling stories like that? A few years ago I was feeling good about making art, having a job, voting for government, buying a car, eating food. Now? All of it makes me feel out of sorts. It’s not just these precise issues. It’s bigger. And I think everyone everywhere is feeling it. There’s no going back. We have to fall in love with each other all over again, but it won’t be built on what came before. You know how certain songs can make you feel like you are about to shatter inside? I feel like that edge is right where we’re at.

“Underneath everything in your life there is that thing, that empty- forever empty. You know what I’m talking about?”

Using a creative language that was dreamt up 100 years ago (or 50 or 20 years ago) in order to convince actors that they really are someone else, or provide some form for them to fill or even to feel as though they have some internal energy or presence. All of this feels so disconnected to what we are going through now. Theater artists who work with a limited set of tools and vocabulary can only make literal representations of life and therefore be left out of the deeper conversations about art and culture and the truths revealed in unlocking our hearts. Musicians can talk in such fresh and abstract terms about their music and yet still make an album that is relevant and that people want to hear. I want my theater to walk that line.

“Man, sometimes it takes you a long time to sound like yourself.”

The way of searching is most important so I’m just going to throw away the expectation of finding answers and finally ask questions which are burning inside me. How do I bridge my ideas and experiences? How do I open my heart? What I need to know now is different than what I needed to know 2 years ago. I’m 33 years old and just now feeling the skill and strength to craft my own work. Build a platform of support. Develop a network of like minded makers.

The recent Enter Face project that I worked on as part of the Avant Art Festival was both the last straw and the final piece. It proved something that I have already suspected, technology is huge in how we make art. The digital revolution is having an undeniable impact on the evolution of analog. Seeing Akhe Russian Engineering Theater perform showed me, performance and art don’t need to be pretentious. It can be smart, imaginative, playful, poetic, and covered in wires. Hmm, now I don’t know if I’m making theater anymore. Not exactly, anyway.

“Whether you like it or not,

alone will be something

you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone there’s a very good chance

you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.”

Being fired and broken hearted is scary and it’s also exhilarating. Picking yourself up puts you in direct relation to that bottom. I see the craziness of all my past fantasies, imaginings, and delusions. I feel the sharpness of how cruel I had once been in matters of the heart. I hear the echoes of my footsteps as I traveled down false and twisted paths. I can only make something big and meaningful if I’m not pretending to be someone else. Poland has taught me that all songs are sad songs. And it has woken me up like a splash of cold water in bed. There are roots here that clutch such dark and spicy depths.

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost;  that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”

I do, I will.

Quotes:

Andrew VanWyngarden (from MGMT) in an interview with Electronic Beats Magazine, N° 35 (3, 2013).  

Louis C.K. in an interview with Conan O’Brien, 2013.

Miles Davis, maybe.

Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go. 1990.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walden. 1854.

[sic] It’s done. It was a lonely and winding process but I have completed my master’s degree course. Here is a summery of my activity over the last 12 months all of which became a part of my presentation in some way:

• Songs of Lear and Cherry Orchard: reflections from my journal regarding the experience of professionally working with Pieśn Kozła from April through December;
• Open Your Heart workshop: the continued response and feedback from students, journal reflections on the shortcomings, challenges, and achievement of this piece of the project
• Solo meditations: journal reflections charting my experience of being in the space alone, saying good bye (for now), meditating on my own origins, video recordings of my personal exploration of text and movement, forming my own deep questions;
• Body Alphabet workshop: journal reflections on my power and strength,  finding my own resonance, being heard, deep personal research from within a group, being surprised;
• Starting a Foundation: the next step… building a platform for the creative life I hope to live, a chance to dream big and at the same time place my energy within a frame work relevant to here and now, slowly integrating technology, finding ways to share the work, not just “like” on Facebook but Opening the Heart.

I didn’t do this alone and have many colleagues, teachers, friends and family to thank for their love and support. Notably these lovely ladies: Jessica, Angela, Anna, Niamh, Kamila and Mom.

If you are interested in reading my contextual essay which fulfilled my written requirement and helped me receive a merit of graduating “with distinction” go to my document page.