Free Essay. Moment Work: Tectonic Theatre Project's Process of Devising Theatre

Theatre, as a kind of art, has vast potential. Theatricality, as a language, is extensively able to engage the audience's thoughts, sentiments, and fantasies. Kaufman and McAdams explain their term Tectonic as the art and science that revolves around the structure, for example, architecture, architectonic. In the book 'Moment Work: Tectonic Theatre Project's Process of Devising Theatre", the writers wanted to focus on the form and its connection to the narratives they make.

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In the 1980s and 1990s, some of the most creative theatre in American history was produced. Companies such as the Wooster group have been used as a reflection in the training labs in Tectonic works. The artists that inspired the thoughts had various related attributes such as the desire to intensively discover the possible occurrences on a stage, the concept that a laboratory setup was the best place to make the theatrical tests, and the belief that domestic group artists with related past and language were most reliable to solve the inquiries (Kaufman & McAdams 9).

Postmodernism and Deconstruction in art were introduced, and it influenced the Tectonic Theatre Project. Attention shifted towards form oriented issues. Conversely, Michael Kirby stated, "Every performance has form; not every performance conveys meaning." Kirby tried to separate the two, and it was successful. Additionally, Mary Overlie created Six Viewpoints from story to space. The Six Viewpoints include Space, Shape, Time, Emotion, Movement, and Story. In the pyramid model, performance is created from a story or test, and the involvement of the rest of the theatrical elements is dependent on it- every stage has to influence the story.

These postmodern concepts became inspirational, but some segments were less helpful. However, Tectonic is always interested in the text or story. The text cannot be approached as a tyrant; instead, how the rest of the elements of the stage can cover their narrative potential. Tectonic Theatre strives to do work that looks into the complete theoretical influence of each component (Kaufman & McAdams 13).

A moment can be described as a theatrical time unit, a segment of a theatrical tale, or a structural feature of the performance. Moment Work, on the other hand, can be described as a procedure of making and scrutinizing theatre one moment at a time (Kaufman & McAdams 43).

In the early years, theatrical languages and forms had to be explored effectively by staging current plays and solving the problem of text creation. Part 2 of the book discusses The Moment Work Process. The part discusses the process- with particular practices and methods that can be adapted in the rehearsal room to do work. The Tectonic Company members create moments and conversations connected to Moment Work. Tectonic have tried to make theatrical tales from the ground up or instead "write performance" as contrasted to "writing text." When work starts on a fresh play, Tectonic members start with a clue or a '" hunch" and then head to the rehearsal area to discover through Moment Work (Kaufman & McAdams 29).

The stage is then prepped, and the elements of the stage are prepared and set in place. In the Moment Work, the features of the stage, such as movement, set pieces, lights, music, are explored every time the narrative starts to be created. The Moments We Love and the Favourite Moments awaken the theatrical fantasies, offers us an indication of each individual's unique orientation, and assists us in acknowledging some elements of the stage that can be used in the next practice (Kaufman & McAdams 34). Once the original list of elements of the stage is recognized, we proceed to study the Moment Work construct, the medium for exploring vocabulary (Kaufman & McAdams 37).

Single-person and two-person moments are made. The individual making the moments states I begin to show the moment is beginning. Then… an action occurs. "Action/something" can be simply a deep breath or a body movement, and once the moment ends, the makes says I end. In Group Moments, there are three or more participants and also Group Gesture Moments. In Group Gesture Moments, the first participant says, "We begin," followed by the rest of the participants making their gestures right after each of them makes theirs. When the last participant completes their gesture, they say 'We end" (Kaufman & McAdams 42).

The art of making moments, evaluating them, and consequently interlacing them into play can also be termed as writing performance. Tectonic has utilized Moment Work to explore fresh ways to stage current plays, for example, The Nest, and to develop complete plays from the start, plays such as The Laramie Project and 33 Variations. Consequently, structural and interpretative analyses are essential in the Moment Work analysis. It is necessary to reflect on the examples provided and the experiences by the moment maker. In the early circles of the moments, we learn to approach a moment structurally and for its uniqueness. A discussion of how it is interpreted and what it means should also be done (Kaufman & McAdams 53). In the future, as we make a narrative willingly, sharing our ideologies will assist the moment makes specify the narration and the objective of each moment.

Works Cited

Kaufman, Moisés, and Barbara Pitts McAdams. Moment Work: Tectonic Theatre Project's Process of Devising Theatre. Vintage, 2018.