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Preparing and Performing Site-Specific Immersive Work

This is the fifth post in “A Balancing Act: Community, History, and Playmaking,” a series taking an in depth look at the process, start to finish, of working collaboratively on a site-specific theatre project with a community to animate a historical site. This series will explore some of the challenges of including all stakeholders, communicating a clear vision, translating work to non-arts partners, and balancing history with compelling storytelling.

“It will be different every time”; this was the phrase director and playwright Joe Salvatore kept sharing with actors, stakeholders, and all those involved in finally bringing our piece, Animating the James and Ann Whitall House at Red Bank Battlefield, to life. In site-specific work, even the most comprehensive preparation can’t anticipate the unique challenges each performance can bring. We found ourselves battling loud lawnmowers, threatening thunderstorms, plane traffic from a nearby airport, and continued questions about what exactly audiences should expect. Although every project will present its own constellation of challenges, the following is some of what we learned and found important throughout this process about casting and actor preparation, audience engagement, and managing an outdoor playing space where the audience becomes a direct part of the action.

actors in period costume performing outside
The cast performing the final scene in the garden of the Whitall House on the morning of the Battle of Red Bank. Photo credit: Eoin Kinnarney and Dave Coates.

When casting an immersive, site-specific piece, it is crucial to find actors who are flexible and comfortable improvising. For this particular project, the reasons for this were twofold: 1) The rules of engagement invited audience members to directly address the characters and ask questions, and 2) the actors had to be able to adapt to the unexpected and manage a large and mobile group. We were lucky to have actors that were quick on their feet and able to preserve the world we were creating (even when they themselves were stumped), but we still used specific strategies to help prepare them for this particular type of work. First, we shared a dramaturgy packet with all actors to help prepare them to answer some of the questions we anticipated might come up about their characters and the time period. The packet was specifically curated to complement the topics covered by the play and the potential backstories for each character.

Next, we took time during rehearsal to “hot-seat” our actors, meaning we asked them questions we imagined audience members might have based on their characters and the content of their dialogue. This allowed them to make clear decisions in advance about their backstories and to brush up on some of the historical details grounded in the given circumstances of the play. For example, the indentured servant Jenny Murphy discusses sowing flax, so that actor researched the process of harvesting flax.

And finally, if any actor was truly stumped, we asked that actor to be unknowing within the world of the play. This meant that if an actor didn’t know an answer, he or she attempted to use a character trait or dramaturgical knowledge to avoid drawing attention to a knowledge gap. For example, when the actor playing Jenny Murphy was asked what colors she dyed the flax cloth with, she responded “The mistress wouldn’t want me givin’ away all our secrets to you.” This technique was largely effective and turned out to be the most important strategy for managing curious and deeply engaged audience members.            

a woman in period costumes speaking with children
CAPTION: Deborah Whitall (Liana Costable) in the kitchen telling stories. Photo credit: Eoin Kinnarney and Dave Coates.

In site-specific work, even the most comprehensive preparation can’t anticipate the unique challenges each performance can bring. We found ourselves battling loud lawnmowers, threatening thunderstorms, plane traffic from a nearby airport, and continued questions about what exactly audiences should expect.

After nearly three years of work on this project, it is hard to describe the simultaneous excitement and anxiety we felt as this play was finally becoming a reality. We had lived with these characters and historical figures for so long and had come to love the site, so we truly wanted to give the history its due justice! Yet, even after all these years, the audience still had little idea of exactly what to expect. So director and playwright Joe Salvatore began each performance by outlining the rules of engagement in simple terms; he shared with audiences that in this show, they are welcome and encouraged to talk with the actors, to ask questions, to move around, and stay close to the action. Then, in order to ease audiences into the performance, he began with some guided imagery, asking audiences to imagine they were back in 1777, without cell phones, running water, or electricity, and that the piece of land they were on was a 400-acre plantation. He then invited them to turn around and meet their guides, and their gaze would meet three young people in traditional colonial garb. As the audiences met their guides there was some initial trepidation, but they quickly warmed up to the style and the performers. This may in part have been due to the amazing community volunteers who we placed as “secret shoppers” with each tour guide, ready to ask a question if the group went silent or wasn’t willing to ask. These “secret shoppers” were helpful in making the actors and audiences feel more comfortable interacting. Additionally, we discussed the need to meet the audiences where they were. This was something we talked about before and after each performance—the necessary adjustments needed for our diverse audiences. The actors continually adjusted and worked diligently to speak appropriately to each type of audience; they tempered their levels of trust and approach to create a dynamic and engaging experience for every audience member.

The job of the stage manager in a site-specific piece is paramount because he or she is always managing not only the actors, but the audience as well. With the audience becoming a part of the action, it is as if there is a new cast every time, so every show is an intricate negotiation of logistics and rapid decisions to accommodate the constantly changing conditions. We were able to anticipate some timing and spacing issues through a previous piloting of the play, but we were still faced with a litany of challenges in performance. Constant communication became the key to keep the show running smoothly; each of the three audience groups moved around with one point person on walkie-talkie to report to the stage manager when groups moved locations to avoid any overlap. Our stage manager, Talia Krispel, stood in a centralized location where she could have eyes on at least seventy-five percent of the show and the audience at any given point. This second piece, the audience, is what is really important to note; a stage manager has to heed the needs, movement, and overall experience of the audience just as much, if not more so, than the actors in a site-specific piece. Our stage manager noticed that some of our patrons were struggling with the physical distance covered by the play, and she was able to give the point people instructions to have the guides slow down, as well as anticipate the need for additional seating during the second act, which was scripted to be shown with audiences standing. These types of adjustments may not be what we imagine as creative minds behind a piece, but when we remember the goals of the project—to connect audiences to the site and the history there—they become instrumental in making the project a success.

two men in period costumes talking to children
Colonel Greene (Matt W. Cody) is greeted on the Delaware River by Jonas Cattell (Robert M. Stevenson) and his group. Photo credit: Eoin Kinnarney and Dave Coates.

Through this preparation and ongoing adjustment, as well as the relentless hard work and dedication of our incredible community supporters and volunteers, the play was a huge success, with audience members declaring the performance should happen every year and students reporting they wished they could learn history like this all the time. After so many steps forward and then back, and so many lessons learned, the play proved impactful with audiences of all ages, and we began to code the data to discover and explain why.

To view more photos of the event, please visit the Rowan College Archival Photo Gallery.

 

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Thoughts from the curator

A series taking an in-depth look at the process, start to finish, of working collaboratively on a site-specific theatre project with a community to animate a historical site.

Site-specific Theatre Series by Liane Tomasetti

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