Sharing Process

Jeff Becker and Nick Slie from Mondo Bizarro/ArtSpot Productions and Oliver Butler and Paul Thureen from The Debate Society co-facilitated a workshop sharing process as part of ArtsEmerson's The Next Thing (TNT) Festival on Wednesday, February 20th, 2013. This workshop was created through a partnership of HowlRound and the New England Foundation of the Arts. Before the workshop, we asked each company a few questions about their process:

HowlRound: What is the very first thing you do when creating a new piece?

Mondo Bizarro: We gather all participants in a room, eat food, have a toast, move, draw, and sing.

The Debate Society: Make hummus. Stare at each other. Then we start with our own individual research—we bring things to each other that we think will excite us. Often objects. Then we decide how to research more, look at it in different ways. Throw it out and work on another thing, then come back to it.

HowlRound: If your process were a president, who would it be and why?

Mondo Bizarro: If our process were a President, it would be Kathy Denobriga, President/Mayor of Pine Lake, Georgia. At a recent NET gathering in New Orleans, Kathy reminded us that we should move away from always thinking about the results and instead ask the question: "Is everyone doing what they do best to the best of their abilities?" We try to create the conditions in our process for everyone to use their talents, dreams and inspirations at the highest possible level.

The Debate Society:

Paul: Alright. I have it narrowed down to: James K. Polk (who I really like), McKinley—

Oliver: Shot at a World's Fair. Very Debate Society.

Hannah: Yep.

Paul: And Carter.

Hannah: Carter makes sense. I went to high school with his granddaughter. They're a really nice family. But I'm just gonna put it out there... Martin Van Buren. They called him "Little Magician."

Oliver: I like that. I was thinking Rutherford B. Hayes but mainly because that rhymes with "plays" so I thought we could tie that into our limerick.

Hannah & Paul: Ooooo!

Paul: But really if our process was a president, I think it would be one that came from a list of invented president names we came up with after researching presidents we like.

5 Minutes Later.

Hannah: So the answer to the question is...

Hannah, Oliver, & Paul: Orin Addison Stevens.

HowlRound: Describe your process in a haiku or limerick.

Mondo Bizarro: Our events are on land filled with roaches And water that swiftly approaches Long after we leave Those bugs carry on with reprieve

The Debate Society: There once were three folks who made plays About racquetball, sad kids, and chalets. To make their plays right They worked day and night Just like President Rutherford B. Hayes. This workshop was livestreamed this morning on #NEWPLAY TV—see video below!

HowlRound: Describe your workshops.

Mondo Bizarro: Cry You One is a project of Mondo Bizarro that combines a site-specific performance with an outdoor procession to highlight how rapidly one of the world's most vibrant cultures is disappearing. It is shared on the sites of erosion in South Louisiana, where water is reclaiming land once occupied by people’s homes. Led by Jeff Becker and Nick Slie, this interactive workshop will guide participants through our process when creating site-responsive performance events, using Cry You One as a focal point. People should be prepared to witness, ask questions, move, sing, and make things with their hands.

The Debate Society: Making a Moment lead by Oliver Butler & Paul Thureen of The Debate Society. When we make our plays, special/sad/bad/funny/unexpected tiny moments are what we search out and the things that become the fundamental base that we expand upon to create our onstage worlds. We work to find these minor elements of language or action that get to the root of the mood and meaning of our play. In this workshop we will guide (and sometimes trick) each other and ourselves into making these moments; working on our feet with objects, lists, etudes and possibly some god-awful love letters.

ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage, in association with Howlround: a Center for the Theater Commons and The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival, presents a combustible combination of theatre, film, music, workshops and live-streamed events. Completely housed in ArtsEmerson’s Paramount Center in downtown Boston, The Next Thing (TNT) Festival (FEB 15-24) creates an unprecedented opportunity to dive deep into the world of contemporary ensemble performance. For more information about the festival, click here.