ASKING QUESTIONS, THANK YOU PLAYWRIGHTS: BY MICHAEL GLAVAN
Lately I’ve been contemplating the limits of “process” and/or at what point process becomes prescription? I think most actors and directors will tell you that each play they embark on reveals to them what sort of process it requires. I hope that the tools I use have helped me create some starkly different characters and stories, but I’m also conscious that my bias for certain tools may be putting blinders on me and that sometimes my work is less transformative than it is stylized or affected (*gag*).
Read More
FROM ACTOR TO COMIC, ALWAYS A PRODUCER - BY KADIJAH WINGO
As I learn more about what it looks and feels like to produce live shows, I can see my possibilities multiplying. With experience and some successful projects as evidence, my confidence has tripled in size like the Grinch’s heart. Now with confidence and true belief from within that I can conquer just about anything, it seems the opportunities jump out at me like salmon swimming up stream. Excuse me for all the analogies, but finding the words to describe the drastic transformations over the past 4 years makes me want to vomit from realizing all the change I’ve undergone.
Read More
LEARNING FROM ENSEMBLE-BASED SHOWS, BY SARAH FARRIS
After getting cast in The Wolves, I was ecstatic because I had never done a show like that before. Every character is onstage for nearly the entire play and they are talking over each other almost constantly. Admittedly, as excited as I was for the experience, I was also a bit intimidated. It is an incredibly physical show with several conversations occurring every which way at the same time. How was I going to remember all the movement? How was I going to remember all my lines, the overlapping conversations, and the cues?
Read More
MOVING TO EXCITEMENT, BY ROLAND MOORE
It’s our first rehearsal for Seat of the Pants’ production of Elephant’s Graveyard. We sit in a circle of folding metal chairs and are told to introduce ourselves by saying our names and something about us that has nothing to do with the play, nor even with theatre generally. “For example,” says our Director, “my name is Craig and I’m an animal lover.” Then he adds that (it just so happens) he is fostering a really sweet dog who is looking for a new home. We meet her at the next rehearsal and she really is a sweetie. At some point later that evening, he asks us to consider this question: “What moves you as a person, and what excites you as an artist, about this play?”
Read More
PROCESS, PATIENCE, & A KID IN A CARDBOARD BOX, BY GEOFF SHORT
Remember being a kid when a new washing machine or fridge arrived, and suddenly—there it was—a giant, empty box? Instantly, it transformed into a fortress, a castle, a rocket ship. Inside those cardboard walls lived a world of endless imagination and possibility, a place where nothing from the outside could touch you. It was safety and adventure all at once.
Read More
A CHAT WITH DANIEL TELFORD
This week, we were fortunate to have some time to chat with Daniel Telford, one of the actors making his Seat of the Pants’ debut in our upcoming production of Elephant’s Graveyard.
Read More
COMPOSING MUSIC FOR ELEPHANT'S GRAVEYARD, BY ZACH PALUMBO
When I signed on to music direct and compose for Elephant’s Graveyard, I knew I didn’t want to go into the process with preconceptions about how to score each scene. Music is one of the most powerful tools for setting an atmosphere, and coming in with a prepared score would have meant dictating that atmosphere before we had the chance to discover it as a team. This isn’t the role of the music director in any process, but especially not for a company like Seat of the Pants whose approach is so deeply rooted in ensemble work and collective discovery. That’s why, when I first sat down with the script, my plan was to read through and get a sense of how the music might fit in (where music was explicitly called for, where underscoring could be appropriate, which scenes should definitely not have music, etc.) without actually writing anything. Then I read the opening stage direction.
Read More
CREATING A CHARACTER & SOCIAL WORK, BY BENJAMIN GREGG
I suppose what draws me to social work is the same as what draws me to the work we do at Seat of the Pants. We place high value on collaboration, competence, process, and intentionality in the work. These are values I carry with me in all facets of my personal, professional, and artistic ventures in my life.
Read More
THE PROCESS BEFORE PROCESS, BY KATE BECKLEY
First rehearsals are always filled with exciting energy—almost like first day of school energy—seeing old friends, meeting new folks, and the anticipation of the journey we are about to start together. But a stage manager has a bit of work that has to be completed before the first rehearsal.
Read More
