What A Theatrical Moment Is Not
I was at Thumpers last night, a Seattle bar equipped with a small cabaret venue separate from its bar, a venue that Ann Evans Zavada, a local voice teacher, often takes advantage of as she creates opportunities for her students to perform. Last night was a "cabaret" (an uptown version of a recital, and lots more fun) performance, and my family and I, along with a few friends went to see my son sing--which he did quite well, but that is another post, another time.
As I watched these young performers sing various songs from the musical theatre, I thought I'd take a bit of time and analyze just what was going on in terms of "density" as I've referred to that elusive goal of theatre work in recent posts. There was intense interest in the students as most of the audience were, as we were, family and friends (not to mention financial supporters). Truthfully, most of the students were early on in their training, and as high school students go, they sang bravely and well enough, but without much art (as in skill), though they were all obviously growing in their skills. I say this not to disparage them--truly, it was a wonderful evening--but rather to seek the truth about the quality of interaction between the audience and the performer.
Theatrical density can be aided, I suppose, by familial connection, but...not really. By familial, I would include not only blood relations, or close friendships, but I would suggest that close political, religious, or any other idealogical ties are no real help in creating true artistic density or wholeness. This is the whole problem with close relations (by blood or politics or religion) telling you whether you're any good at a thing or not. Give my novel to my Mom or my friend, and its a great novel. Give my novel to my Christian buddies who want to encourage me and they say its a great novel. Give my novel to my Christian friends who are also published writers and I'm moving closer to the goal of getting real knowledge. When the published atheist comes to me and tells me he was moved by the writing, perhaps something more deeply artful is approaching. Not that atheists no more about art than Christians (that, too, is another post), but trying to say that art will transcend the barriers.
In the theatre, the density of the moment is what we are seeking. Were the moments dense at the cabaret? Some were, mostly when singers forgot their lines, or smiled in a particular way, the crowd erupting in a spontaneous laugh. Artfully dense? No. Again, please don't hear that as criticism, but as comparative analysis. So density of a moment is not mere interest--we were all terribly interested in our children.
Density of moment in the theatre has to be related to skilled construction and structure, and the linkages between smaller structures, both in actors moving moment to moment in terms of their own arcs, as well as by the physical work of directors and designers moving bodies and other aesthetic materials in space.
Sometimes I worry that Christians in the theatre still think that Christian fellowship buys them an out when it comes to that skilled construction and structure. Note that the paragraph above is no respector of religion: it is part of the discipline and mystery of the theatre, across culture, across time, across space.
Faith will inform art...if the skill is there to make art to start with.
...faith does not art make.
11:56:38 PM
