The haunting image for me is the lone child slowly wandering the foreground, from stage right to stage left, singing a song in a slow tempo.This kid was new to the school. She started rehearsals by telling me that she’s been in shows before and she had some confidence. And with most kids, I believe them. There’s no reason not to believe. So I gave her a wide playing area. But our definition of theater experience differed wildly. Sure, she’d been onstage, but didn’t know what it means to share the song with the audience, or find a way to make your movements match the meaning of the song, or even to sing the song loudly enough to have the audience hear it. Her voice was weak and her body didn’t have presence. She walked like she didn’t know how to move her feet. But she was confident enough to stand up there, alone.
In our final rehearsals I tried to give her some options so that she’d at least look more comfortable. Maybe you’d like some other kids singing with you? Maybe you could hold this prop? Maybe you want some specific places to move? But I had already given her permission to be the one in charge of her moment on the stage, and I was not going to take it away. After all, this is theater in process, and I want them to think about what they are doing and have some power in it. If I am holding all the power, then they have nothing.
The conflict is in performance. Do you serve the needs of the audience? The song needed more interest for them. I could have pressed the point about more chorus, to take away the loneliness of the solo artist; to give the audience another place for the eye to wander. Or do you serve the needs of the child performer? Give her that stage completely to herself, just as she wants, and let her stand on her a strong belief in her “experience”?
In my non-professional opinion, the audience has probably seen plenty of theater pieces before, and this might be one of very few opportunities this girl has to shine completely on her own. Who knows, maybe having this opportunity (bland or not) will spur on a life in the spotlight. She might be an astronaut, or a pitcher, someone who is confident doing their own thing in front of millions of people. And she may realize one day that her confidence came from theatre. Pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting! Of course I agree that the child should be given free reign, with some helpful suggestions thrown in just in case. She'll look back on the experience and will have learned a lot, like I did when I played the most bland Dorothy ever to grace the JCS stage. I have come a long way since then, but I only know that because of some (many) not-so-proud memories like these.
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