Patricia Helsel
Ionesco: Research and Production Concept
(Production Statement for Selection Process, KCACTF)
The Visual and Performing Arts department at Michigan Technological University began offering degrees in Audio Production and Technology, Sound Design, and Theatre and Entertainment Technology in the fall of 2005. The department’s rapid expansion includes the recent addition of a degree in Theatre and Electronic Media Performance, just twelve weeks ago.
We engage majors in the design process as soon as they begin, as freshmen. Classes and individual students generate many projects in which students can collaborate. Performance majors have an abundance of opportunities to perform, including theatre productions, a heavily designed audio drama, and film and television projects.
The Bald Soprano and The Lesson represent the integration of student design, new performance majors, and committed students from departments across the University. Faculty members serve as mentors to student designers who learn to collaborate artistically, and to communicate as an organized team.
This production also represents the growth of student actors, some of whom have worked with different faculty directors the last few years. As with most theatre programs, the rehearsal process is one that combines direction with actor coaching. In our productions, the coaching comprises a great portion of the rehearsal process.
The production provided several challenges beginning with deciding how to present two different plays. The set was the logical place to focus in creating a playing area that could convey two different worlds, quickly and aesthetically. We determined the set would be abstract, imposing no time or place, but establishing mood and texture. The first production meetings included a lot of discussion regarding the use of contrasting textures (and associated images and sounds) for the two plays. The Bald Soprano suggests a plastic texture where The Lesson is glass-like.
We used a web-based program to share images, sounds, and ideas on a daily basis. The design elements evolved through the rehearsal process, most particularly the sound and light which depend so heavily on the actors’ timing and style. Rather than inserting sound effects or light cues after the actors have established a rhythm and timing, the light and sound were incorporated and used to motivate the actors as much as was possible.
The production has been a fantastic endeavor wherein students and faculty had the opportunity to create a provocative, engaging, and memorable theatrical event. The response of the audience has been continuously gratifying. Comprised of students, faculty and community members, many are still discussing the impact of the plays.
