Repetition

From teachers and coaches you are often cautioned not to invent or get the note after a show or scene "that was too inventy". Invariably by way of explanation the coach or teacher advises that inspiration and ideas are already present within the scene or piece. Invention weakens by creating a broader and broader world where connections become forced, repetition strengthens by solidifying the already established world creating an environment where connections and discoveries happen organically almost independent of the performers deliberate intent.

Both my shows tonight were good reminders of this idea. During the opening for Schwa we repeated a couple things then told the audience "but you already knew that didn't you" and ended it with the proverbial "you'll find out something later" type of line. We didn't really capitalize on this idea or use it to augment moments of confusion/discovery and the show would definitely have felt more like a singular piece had we done so. We did find success in repeating the set up, staging, and initiation of one of the first beat scenes with Karisa. It was an end-of-date scene using food innuendo culminating in a black out with Robert Frost played by Joe. By simply reiterating then repeating something that we had already done we gained traction and depth.

With Prime its a bit easier to implement this idea because there are less of us and the form is much more fluid. Our suggestions tonight was robots and we started with a scene of Nelson, a scientist, working on us, robots. During the course of the show during moments of pause or indecision one of us would peal off and enter as a robot. We created this device initially and simply kept returning to it to propel us forward, which in turn provided a more distinctive quality to the show.

More often than not the mechanisms to gain momentum are found internally with patterns, scenes, or lines already established rather than in reaching externally for pop-cultural facts or preconceived narrative set-ups deemed invention.