Excerpts from thedetroiter.com 2007
Performance Studies Festival:
A Day Of Revelations
Participants at 2007 Performance Studies Festival
by David Bartone
The tradition of performance festivals dates back to the sixth century BC. While it is no longer a celebration of Dionysus and it fails to consume the entire society like it used to, it still persists as an outlet of creative hysteria for new and old talent alike. The “Performance Studies Festival” at Oakland Community College seemed to capture this crucial essence, stressing the rites of fervor, exploration, and participation.
In 2007 the festival’s morning events opened with a solo performance by Bob Laine (Inverse Theater). He read three selections of semi-autobiographical prose poems. At first glance the unabashed candor of his conversational voice seemed like some twisted form of emotional squalor, but in the end he left you feeling clean with heart, as only the best can do.
Bob Laine performing “Burger Death”
The real treat, however, of Laine’s act was the expertise and encouragement he shared in his workshop on Writing for Performance. He provided five rather ordinary plot topics (worst boss, first kiss, etc…) and discussed the freedoms of fictionalizing one’s own past experiences. Even the most expert fiction writers battle these limits on the blank page.
Laine also gave some industry insight. He recognized that he is often perceived as a character actor, a supporting role-only kind of guy. (Is that his natural talent or training? Or is it simply the highest rung for a chubby, distinctly featured actor in the industry today?) So, he began writing for performance to ensure he could play lead roles as well. It was surprising to see how many performers never realized they could do that.
Members of CloseUp Theatre
The group performance events in the afternoon began with a series of presentations by CloseUp Theatre, brainchild of Decky Anderson, Theatre for Social Change. The troupe focused on simple and direct messages about the social lapse students far too easily fall into: bigotry, apathy, and indifference.
The actors, in one performance, simply shouted the kind of person they want to date, or rather they demand, in the style of personal ads. Fireworks of repetition helped to transform stereotypes from cliché into real, until the audience was forced to consider their own desires as preference or bigotry. The audience was drawn to reflect on the cultural roots of their own attractions.
Other features throughout the festival included a time-capsule reading by local poet Don Tocco, and a sonic exploration of performance poetry techniques by Tracie Morris, creative writing faculty at EMU. Acts from the audience included a selection of David Lee’s poems by members of Black Box Ensemble and a sample of solo pieces by “Insider Stories/Peripheral Visions. Most important, anyone who wanted to perform was able to do so, and dozens did.
All in all, there were two kinds of people at the festival: those who have more performance (and writing) experience than you, and those who have less. And that’s what the “Performance Studies Festival” was all about.
The annual “Performance Studies Festival” at Oakland Community College (in collaboration with Eastern Michigan University) is held at the Orchard Ridge Campus.
David Bartone is a published historian, poet, and short fiction writer. Photos Credit: Michael Garcia, Garcia Design, magarcia@rcn.com