Pondering Live Performance
Beowulf Alley Theatre mounts four summer shows as part of its new effort, The Next Theatre
by Sherilyn ForresterWhat will the theater look like in the future? Will it continue to tell stories in the way it has for centuries? Or will it find new ways? And if so, what exactly might what's next look like?
Michael Fenlason, the new artistic director of Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, is pondering these questions, and in response, he has established The Next Theatre as the Beowulf Alley's avenue to explore and experiment with new ways of theatrical storytelling.
The subgroup of Beowulf Alley is actually a new version of what used to be its Late Night Theatre, which also operated with an experimental spirit. Fenlason was associated with Late Night, but now as artistic director of the entire organization, he has an opportunity to help develop The Next Theatre. This summer, the group is slated to present four shows.
"The idea is to look at how live performance is going to change, and to try to reinvigorate the form by finding new ways of presenting and new ways of telling a story," Fenlason says.
The first show is a multimedia, company-developed piece, Joan Is Burning.
Kristen Islas in Joan Is Burning.
"I created the story, and some of the scenes, and then let the actors breathe through them," Fenlason says. "They have been free to make changes to make it work."
Crucial to the development process has been the work and input of filmmaker Josh Parra. "He's a fantastic creative mind and brings a nice satirical edge."
Fenlason says the piece looks at "how we have an almost-erotic attraction to our technology. The film supplied by Parra is shown on a big screen that represents Joan's phone, her computer screen, etc., with which she constantly interacts. We're often more attached to our technology than to real people."
The story takes place in the near future, and Joan (played by four actresses) is a marketing whiz who can sell anybody anything—a "terrible power," according to Fenlason—and she has issues with her boyfriend, her aging father and her boss. She also has to decide whether she should answer a call by a women's protest group to support issues that she feels do not really affect her.
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