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CREATING RESONANCE

                     “We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring

                       will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”  T.S. Eliot

 All the risk taking, creativity inducing, entrepreneurial flames that have ignited the Contemporary American Theater Festival since 1991 continue to burn strong. Opportunities abound for creative stimulation, and inspiration continues to flow as we begin our 20th Anniversary Season.

 We embrace the excitement and wonder of our 2010 Repertory and we are clearly focused on  our vision, mission and core values. We are a community of artists who are united by a common purpose–to help people raise the standard of living meaningful lives by producing provocative contemporary works of art that help us to understand our world and ourselves. Our work empathizes with others because empathy lies at the heart of morality, and we are a theater company that embraces social responsibility. Our purpose drives our mission, which drives our vision, which is inspired by our core values.

Creativity is the nucleus of our collective enterprise. We understand that the creative process is essential to the health and success of our organization. We are a theater that is willing and agile enough to adapt to the unpredictable rhythms of society. This means that our Theater Festival is alive with possibilities. We celebrate the power of ideas and we seek fresh opportunities for new thinking. The 2010 Repertory will continue to rock-the-boat and shift the status quo.

Our 2010 playwright’s: Max Baker, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Jennifer Haley, Michele Lowe, J.T. Rogers and Lee Sellars function as master storytellers, while sending activist tentacles into the world to bring about dialogue and positive change.

So here’s a question: What does the Contemporary American Theater Festival truly represent? How does the work we create relate to the current social events and why does it really matter? I invite you to attend all five plays…and see for yourself…Because theater can move us…it ignites our passions and inspires the best in us. When we try to explain why theater is so effective, we speak of strategy, vision, or powerful ideas. But the reality is much more primal. Great art works through the emotions. Our success depends on how well we do this.

Throughout history and in cultures everywhere, people look to the artists for assurance and clarity when facing uncertainty. Artists act as our emotional guides. They help us to become more self-aware by mirroring our behavior. Self-awareness plays a crucial role in empathy, or sensing how someone else sees a situation: If a person is perpetually oblivious to their own feelings, they will also be tuned out to how others feel. Being attuned to how others feel in the moment can create an atmosphere for social awareness and empathy. Empathy which includes listening and understanding other people’s stories creates resonance. The root of the word resonance is revealing: the Latin word resonare, to resound. Resonance, the Oxford dictionary states, refers to “the reinforcement or prolongation of sound by reflection,” or more specifically, “by synchronous vibration.” This occurs in the theater when the audience is on the same wavelength emotionally with the actor and production–when they feel “in sync.” And true to the original meaning of resonance, this synchrony “resounds,” prolonging an “AHA!” experience with the audience.

Our 2010 Repertory presents five new works that will inspire and create resonance…plays that will move you with our  compelling vision and collective mission. I am attracted to contemporary writers who are attuned to our world and whose stories help us to define these tumultuous times.

I assure you that Max Baker, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Jennifer Haley, Michele Lowe, J.T. Rogers and Lee Sellars are attuned to today’s world and their stories will create resonance long after you leave the theater.

Ed Herendeen

ANTICIPATION 2010 REPERTORY

We are in the final week of Pre-Production prep. Our Equity Stage Management Staff has arrived and they will prepare the empty rehearsal spaces. The rehearsal rooms are ready to be transformed into the 2010 Repertory. Rehearsal begin one week from today. Company members will be arriving all week. We will kick-off the 2010 Season with a Company Picnic on Monday June 7th on the Frank Center lawn. On Tuesday June 8th we will do a Company read-thru of the 2010 scripts.

I am thrilled about the extraordinary artists that we have invited to Shepherdstown this summer and I am eager to introduce you to their unique and daring work. These world class theater artist are gathering in this historic hamlet on the banks of the Potomac River to explore five brand new plays in a creative atmosphere that is protected and outside the urban glare. ShepherdstownWest Virginia provides an ideal geography for the exploration of new work. New plays are produced without a safety net of tradition…there is no production history to fall back on. New work is risky and exciting. Over the next month we will nurture and develop five new American plays…plays that I believe have “staying power”…plays that matter…stories that matter…writing that makes a difference and provokes a living conversation.

Honestly, I cannot wait to begin the rehearsal process…because our Repertory has got some serious kick to it…aggressive… live storytelling at it’s best. Next week cannot come soon enough for me.

Ed Herendeen

AHH THE ECONOMY

Yesterday…Peggy McKowen and I were going over our 2010 operating budget line by line. We were looking for additional cuts…trying to squeeze and tweak each line item without cutting the artistic program. It was a tough exercise and we were feeling the stress that other non profits are experiencing. Suddenly a CATF Trustee appeared in my office doorway with a generous donation. It made our day. And it reminded me how fortunate we are to have such dedicated supporters who passionately believe in our important work. This particular trustee has been supporting the Theater Festival since our first season 20 years ago. His gift yesterday means so much to us. I am deeply touched by the generosity of all of our patrons and supporters. The Theater Festival could not exist without their loyal support. They give because they care. They give because they believe in our Mission: “dedicated to producing and developing new American Theater.” They give because they are passionate about our Core Values:

*          “To sustain an artistic process of innovation and daring.”

*           To tell diverse stories.

*           To create a profound and ever evolving relationship between the audience and the work.” 

These last years of financial turmoil, as we all know, have had a devastating impact on so many people in our community and region. The Contemporary American Theater Festival has not been immune to the economic “downturn” and we are weathering the storm as best we can…but it is difficult.

The economic climate is a harsh reality check that has required hard choices and tough decisions. But…we refuse to be deflected from our Mission. We will continue to produce new American theater. We will continue to nurture and develop playwrights.  We will continue our passion for telling contemporary stories that help us make sense of our world. We will not be deterred by the economic challenges that we are facing this season. Because…I know I can count on all of you who are reading this blog to help us…especially now. A gift from you will ensure our future.

Ed Herendeen

Random Thoughts: REHEARSALS BEGIN IN 15 DAYS

Rehearsals for the 2010 Season will begin in 15 days. Our Company Management staff has arrived and they are making the travel and lodging preparations to welcome the 2010 Festival Company to Shepherdstown, West Virginia. We are expecting 84 theater artists from around the country to arrive in the next two weeks. Our Equity Stage Management Staff arrives next week to prepare rehearsals for our five play rotating Repertory. So I have been thinking about the rehearsal process:

Behind every successful production is a rehearsal process…a process of thought…a process of exploration which is based on the given circumstances in the script. And this process transcends the production/performance process. If you work in the theater–you are constantly engaged in the rehearsal process. Rehearsals are about curiosity. Because curiosity is one of the most important and certain characteristics of a vigorous, creative mind.

Rehearsal is all about exploring. And exploring builds an inspirational bank account to spend when facing the intense deadline of performance. Rehearsal is a place for “creative roaming.” It is an opportunity to expand the free-range territory of the creative process by listening, watching, sketching, writing,  researching and studying the script.  There is always room for “creative roaming” in the rehearsal hall. I believe that strong ideas begin with risk-taking and free-range exploration. Free-range exploration is about filling your work…and your-self…with life. Artists bring to the work who they are.

What is central to the rehearsal process is the joy of creating. I love rehearsing a new play…it is an exhilarating experience. I am most happy when I am in rehearsal…”making believe”…”creating belief.” Theater artists are “makers of belief.” We create truth and belief on-stage. And this process begins in the rehearsal room.

Theater artists are: tolerant, independent, curious, witty, persistent, observant, questioning, optimistic, energetic, passionate, flexible, intuitive and perceptive. My role as a director is to create an atmosphere for these artists to take risks and create dangerously. I encourage these artists to” listen” and “look”…the more you look…the more we will find in rehearsal.

“Once in a while 

you get shown, the light,

In the strangest places

if you look at it right.”

—The Grateful Dead

 Ideas sprout in the strangest of places. And the next idea may be growing between the lines. In the theater we call this the subtext…the meaning between the lines in a script. We help the audience to see the subtext in a play. Exploring and discovering the subtext in a script leads to understanding…and understanding leads to inspiration. An observant artist sees things overlooked by others…a really good artist for that matter, anyone whose mind and soul are capable of some extension…sees what is going on…sees the patterns…and asks, WHY? What underlying forces are at work in the script?

I am constantly surprised by how the words in a play tend to be visceral rather than academic. This reminds me that our job is to create an emotional experience for the audience. I never underestimate the power of words. I never underestimate the power of story.  I never underestimate the power of observation. I never underestimate the power of listening.

“An artist has to keep one ear to the ground and one to the heart.”—-Bruce Springsteen

I would say that listening to the characters and their emotions in a play; and listening to the actors in rehearsal may be one of the most important things I’ve learned in 30 years of directing theater. This often means  putting aside my own ideas and views and getting inside the actor’s and playwright’s thoughts and words. When I am truly listening to the actor, designer, playwright completely and attentively, then I am listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it. Listening in rehearsal is a magnetic and strange thing…it is a creative force.

“It takes two to speak the truth–one to speak and another to hear.”—Henry David Thoreau

For example: Jazz players praise a fellow musician by saying he or she has “big ears”…meaning…the person actively listened to another’s playing and built on the rhythm, lyrics and tempo. I try to have “big ears” in the rehearsal room. And I encourage the other artists in the rehearsal to listen with “big ears.” 

For me the whole aesthetic of directing a new play is telling a really incredible story that people are moved by. Stories help us make sense of our world. On June 8th we will begin our exploration of five original contemporary stories. I am looking forward to sharing our repertory of new stories with you this summer.

 “The web of our life is of a mingled yarn”—William Shakespeare 

Ed Herendeen