An Experiment in Production: “Uncanny Valley” Collaboration Inspirational for Students, Company
“I can see a light,” says the scout, stepping cautiously across the memory field in his white jumpsuit. He steps deeper into his memory, and three ghostly figures join him on stage. Then he’s gone.
“We’ve lost his signal!” cries ground control, and the team leaps into action.
This is the second phase of “Uncanny Valley,” an evolving work of experimental theater developed by the Hand2Mouth theater company while in residency at Reed this month and in May. This ensemble’s presence has given students the opportunity to see contemporary art in the making, and has forged a powerful connection between Reed students and the company, said Kate Bredeson, assistant professor of theater.
Things started last year when Bredeson began work with Hand2Mouth as a dramaturge. After becoming involved with the company they came up with the idea of getting students involved in the production, and the residency fell into place.
“They were looking for somewhere to do a show, and we decided to do it at Reed so [students] could be involved,” Bredeson said.
While in residency in May, the ensemble held a number of workshops, and more than thirty students participated even though they were held between reading and finals week, Bredeson said. Dominic Finocchiaro and another student served as assistant dramaturges for the production and Rosalie Lowe and Ariana Karp, now seniors, worked as assistant directors.
“They’re this team of brainpower,” said Faith Helma, a company member. These students helped determine the arc of the show, and helped figure out how it all fits together.
Hand2Mouth’s creation process sets it apart from most productions at Reed, Bredeson said. The script is the product of individual improvisation and collaborative creation, said Jonathan Walters, Hand2Mouth’s artistic director. Ensemble members work with source material and bring ideas for scenes that are experimented with and developed collectively. The script is the final step.
“The script is more of a blueprint to mark where we’re going,” Helma said.
Much of this process was adopted from the theater tradition in Poland, where Walters worked for a year. Instead of building a show from a script, theater companies there are permanent groups that craft shows by training together, Walters said. When he returned to Portland ten years ago, Walter began assembling such an ensemble through advertisements and word of mouth.
Since then their method has evolved; the group now builds their material from the topics on every member’s mind, rather than just what one member was obsessed with, Walters said. Etudes, hour-long improvisational structures, were incorporated into their work in 2006 while developing “Repeat After Me,” a piece on American patriotism based off of country music.
“Our shows are getting much more verbal,” Walters said. Before “Uncanny Valley,” and Hand2Mouth’s previous show, “Everyone Who Looks Like You,” the company’s work was largely based in music.
Hand2Mouth’s productions are developed in phases over the course of the year; the version of “Uncanny Valley” showing at Reed this weekend is phase 2, a revamped and revised version of the piece performed last May.
“We used a script in May, and it really choked everyone,” Walters said. The company now uses a slalom technique. Particular points of the show are scripted and memorized while other interjections are improvised nightly.
“We’re at a point where what people say will really get heard; feedback is going to be useful,” Walters said.
Through their work with the company, Reed students have gained access to a number of opportunities. Karp, Lowe, and Jesse van Buren also worked with Hand2Mouth company member Erin Leddy on her piece “My Heart is Like an Open Meadow” for the 2010 Risk/Reward festival, and helped bring the festival together. Others have worked with the company’s lighting director and helped with marketing.
“They’ve had incredible hands-on experience that many of them wouldn’t get until they had post-graduate internships,” Bredeson said.
Though Hand2Mouth had toured and given workshops at the University of Oregon and Western Washington University, the stay at Reed in May was the company’s first residency. This positive experience laid the base for further collaboration between the two groups.
“It’s awesome to go somewhere where students are hungry for theater,” Helma said.
Hand2Mouth will host a multi-day workshop over Paideia and build a collaborative project with students, Bredeson said, and Helma mentioned that she would like to build a more regular role with the college’s theater department. Karp hopes that the company will show phase 3 of “Uncanny Valley” at Reed in the spring, though no details for the performance are set.
“Their method has absolutely affected how I’ll structure my creative project,” said Karp, a literature/theater senior, “I’ve already dedicated my thesis to them.”
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