Craft and Survival in North American Alternative Theatre Companies
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SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL: CRAFT AND SURVIVAL IN NORTH AMERICAN ALTERNATIVE THEATRE COMPANIES Carrie Kathryn Lee A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2006 Committee: Dr. Ron E. Shields, Advisor Dr. Jeannie Ludlow Graduate Faculty Representative Dr. Jonathan Chambers Dr. Michael Ellison © 2006 Carrie Kathryn Lee All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Ron E. Shields, Advisor The strategies that North American nonprofit theatre companies employ to ensure pragmatic survival and artistic advancement prove critical to their abilities to continue working. When the artists in these companies utilize alternative approaches to creation, the abstract quality of the resulting productions often exacerbates the need for successful survival tactics, as performances appeal to a limited number of paying audience members. Theatre practitioners who emphasize long-term performer training and the lengthy development of original montaged productions, such as companies building upon the artistic tradition of Jerzy Grotowski, represent one extreme sect of these marginalized artists. Relying on data gleaned from North American Cultural Laboratory (NaCl) in New York and Number Eleven Theatre in Toronto, two companies influenced by this artistic tradition, this study employs a grounded-theory method of analysis to examine the strategies marginalized nonprofit alternative theatre companies use to negotiate the tension between economic viability and artistic integrity. The study reveals that these groups engage in several common survival strategies with varying degrees of success. The major differences within the companies’ tactics derive from the groups’ varying working structures, locations, and economic conditions. As a result of these dynamics, each company relies on one particular survival tactic most fully to ensure continued existence and artistic refinement; NaCl orchestrates community-based events, whereas Number Eleven relies on an established leader. iv The results of the study suggest that through the practical action of employing strategies, transformations can truly arise. While Grotowskian practices can advance NaCl’s and Number Eleven’s quests for artistic refinement and fiscal survival, at times the practices also prove problematic in a contemporary North American context. The susceptibility to exclusionary politics within this artistic tradition compromises NaCl’s community-based survival efforts, while the performers in Number Eleven often perpetuate the tradition’s concept of a director as all-knowing guru, undermining the leader’s desire for more equality-based dynamics. The groups partially compensate for these weaknesses through cross-company collaboration. The artistic cross-pollination and fiscal benefits of these efforts prove integral to each group’s continued survival and artistic advancement, suggesting the appropriateness of this practice for North American alternative theatre companies. v This dissertation is dedicated to the loving memory of my father, Dr. Clifford M. Lee, who taught me to “fly like an eagle” and to use the pain of a fall as a lesson to help me soar again. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I extend my thanks to my committee, Drs. Ron Shields, Jonathan Chambers, Michael Ellison and Jeannie Ludlow, for their help in seeing this project through to its completion. I offer my gratitude to Dr. Lisa Wolford Wylam, without whom I would never have had access to the bulk of my sources or the knowledge to engage in this study. Drs. Sonja Foss and William Waters have been incredibly influential in my approach to this study and in helping me to formulate my argument—I cannot thank you enough for your time, efforts, and positive attitudes. And to the late Tal Lostracco: as my directing mentor, you affected my artistic and scholarly work more than you ever knew; thank you, my friend. I would be personally and professionally remiss if I did not extend my overwhelming gratitude to the members of North American Cultural Laboratory and Number Eleven Theatre for allowing this study to take place. Your willingness to share your lives, work, and homes with me will always be remembered with love and affection. My family has been a grounding force for me throughout this entire process. I thank my Dad for knowing when to push me and knowing when to hold me. Mom, Craig, Terra, Caiden, and K-Lee: thank you so much for your love, care and support, and for giving me the models of tenacity, grace, spunk, perseverance and courage that I needed to undertake this project. I also offer my gratitude to Cindy for reminding me to laugh at myself during the challenging times. Finally, I thank my dear husband Brad—there are no words to express the depth of my love for you and my eternal appreciation for all of the obstacles that you have helped me face and overcome. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION: A PATHWAY IN...................................................... 1 CHAPTER II. CRITICAL JOURNEYS: COMPANY OVERVIEWS............................. 29 CHAPTER III. TRYING TO FIND A WAY: TRAINING AND SURVIVAL THROUGH COMMUNITY IN NORTH AMERICAN CULTURAL LABORATORY.............................. 72 CHAPTER IV. IT ONLY MAKES YOU STRONGER: ARTISTRY AND SURVIVAL THROUGH LEADERSHIP IN NUMBER ELEVEN THEATRE.................................................. .............. 106 CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION: SALIENT NEGOTIATIONS......................................... 155 WORKS CITED.................................................................................................................... 184 APPENDIX A. FIGURES.................................................................................................... 196 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 The artists’ residence at NaCl Catskills in Highland Lake, New York.................. 196 2 NaCl’s theatre at NaCl Catskills in Highland Lake, New York............................. 196 3 Kowalchuk and Krumholz meet with independent performers outside of the artists’ residence to discuss upcoming productions at the Catskill Festival of New Theatre............................................................................................................ 196 4 Artists participating in a work exchange at the Catskill Festival of New Theatre..................................................................................................................... 197 5 Small group work at the Catskill Festival of New Theatre..................................... 197 6 Artists partaking in a communal meal at the Catskill Festival of New Theatre.................................................................................................................... 197 7 Artists conducting technical work for another company’s show at the Catskill Festival of New Theatre.......................................................................................... 197 8 Carreri leading a discussion for Odin Week at Odin Teatret in Denmark.............. 198 9 McClean in an emotionally charged scene in Icaria.............................................. 199 10 Jane Wells, Rucker, Grimes, and McClean in a physically abstract scene from Number Eleven’s first production, Icaria............................................................... 199 11 Ker Wells in PRIMUS’ production of The Night Room......................................... 199 12 Krumholz with independent performer Laura May on stilts in NaCl’s physically demanding outdoor performance, Invisible Neighborhood................... 200 13 Kowalchuk conducting physical training exercises for NaCl’s work..................... 200 ix 14 Independent performers in Krumholz’s new piece for NaCl, TERROTICA........................................................................................................... 201 15 Kowalchuk with Leese Walker in Ten Brecht Poems............................................ 201 16 Wells and Kowalchuk performing in The Confessions of Punch and Judy......................................................................................................................... 201 17 Kowalchuk in her solo performance for NaCl, The Passion According to G.H.......................................................................................................................... 202 18 Independent performer Rosaruby Glaberman rehearses with Kowalchuk for NaCl’s Eastern European tour of Invisible Neighborhood...................................... 202 19 Krumholz and Kowalchuk with independent performer Megan Wyler in NaCl’s children’s show, The Time Cycle............................................................................ 202 20 Nearby scenic overlook that participants can experience during time off at the Catskill Performer Training Retreat in Highland Lake, New York........................ 203 21 Performers participating in a physical training session at NaCl’s Catskill Performer Training Retreat..................................................................................... 203 22 The festive meal on the last evening of the Catskill Performer Training Retreat............................................................................................................... ...... 203 23 Wells prepares independent performers and the members of Number Eleven to begin a physical training session at a workshop offered by the company in Toronto....................................................................................................................