TWENTY TWO

Artistic Statement 

(very rough)

I established Progressive Theatre Workshop in 2007 as a response to a lack of non-traditional approach in the development and creation of new works of theatre in Phoenix. It seemed that the community in which I was creating my work relied heavily, if not solely, on historical standards of production even when tackling less traditional material. This is not to say that I am entirely opposed to a more mainstream and familiar approach. In fact, I find it imperative to acknowledge and preserve theatrical roots because the past allows insight into the future. Still, I was disheartened by the predictability of directorial choices and the selection of material that was occurring around me. It is absolutely critical to nurture the development of new texts which is why Progressive Theatre Workshop unwaveringly remains devoted to its mission of devising, workshopping, rehearsing, and producing pieces never before seen by audiences. Text development was only the first step toward injecting instability into a system of artistic representation that holds close to a tried and true lexicon of standard theatrical definitions. 

As a director, I seek to deliver an audience to response via the path of unexpectedness and greatest resistance. It has become a necessity of my work to not only engage audience but to hold them responsible for their participation in artistic exchange. Moreover, through this exchange it is my intent to take my audience to a reality that is distinctly and unquestionably different than their own. 

Inspired by the work of directors Richard Foreman, Anne Bogart, and Elizabeth LeCompte, as well as playwrights Sarah Kane, Samuel Beckett, and Suzan-Lori Parks, I attempt to create a world that shocks an audience into participation. Further, I attempt to induce response while aggressively seeking a conduit leading to said response that might leave an audience confused about how they arrived there. Is it possible for an audience to sob when everything they are witnessing tells them they should be laughing? Conversely, how am I able to drive an audience to laughter when something tragic is unfolding before them? The interruption, disruption, and reconfiguration of logical cause and effect are the primary informants of my directorial sensibilities. 

Throughout the rehearsal process, I am constantly assessing the work and anticipating possible response in order to reevaluate and detect possible points of alteration in design, movement, gaze, and approach, in order to create a layered world that is much too dense to decipher at first glance... or fifth glance. This is not done in an effort to purposefully guide an audience into unreconcilable confusion. It is done with the audiences experience in mind. 

There have been very few instances where I as an audience member can recall feeling a certain way and not understanding why. Emotional response is wonderful but the human tendency to assign logic and explanation keeps the audience in their seats and never allows them to fully transcend. Getting mired in reasoning and analysis takes away from the experience. 

The dreamworld is an appropriate comparison. In our dreams everything makes sense. The most absurd and unlikely of scenarios are accepted as fact and we respond to them emotionally. We wake up and begin to analyze, forget, consult symbol dictionaries... and soon the world in which we just took flight becomes more flat than our present reality. In this respect, my choices as a director are positioned toward keeping an audience in the surreal and acceptable chaos of a dream. This requires precise and sometimes manipulative methods that destroy alarm clocks of logical perception that could wake them.

Due to my acute attention to audience response and reconciliation of perception, my work is not as cold and callous as its description might indicate. The audience is taken care of as I attempt to set them down abruptly in a reality that is vastly different from their own. Theatre and art should be an adventure and departure from the mundane and recognizable. We live and breathe reality every day. It’s time to explore the places our hearts, minds, and relationships have never been.