SITI Co: Under Construction

Last night at 7pm, Under Construction, had its final performance at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, KY. It was a great show, one of the best of the entire run. The audience was very warm, and they seemed like people who really wanted to be there to experience the final show. Tom acknowledged at the top that this was the last one. For me, having been along for the entire building of the show, Tom’s acknowledgment of the liveness of this performance– its final breath in this space– was bittersweet and made every moment a little more special and transient– here we go one last time. As Tom called out the scene numbers at the top of the show (”tonight we’ll be performing scenes 6, 79, 29, 22, 67, 107…”) an enthusiastic lady from the audience cried “BINGO!” That was the spirit of the whole night. There was a man who left the theater during the ‘1st date’ scene. As the narrator, Tom sternly asked, “Do you have a monitor pass?” And of course during Ellen’s fearless Annie Sprinkle monologue, a thoughtful audience member didn’t have any good advice on how to give a blowjob, but after pausing for a second was able to say the thing you need the most to give good cunnilingus: patience. (That was just about as good as Saturday’s 10am performance in which a woman nervously offered, “I don’t love audience participation.”) Then their was the tiny piece of cardboard tubing that went flying during ‘Bad Stuff’ and bopped Sarah Lunnie, our dramaturg, on the head… she was totally fine.

Of course the show isn’t over. That’s what’s great about SITI shows… the installation is leaving the museum but it’ll show up somewhere else. Next they travel to Arizona, then Illinois. Check back for updates on how they’re putting the show up in 2 new venues.

For my part, every second of the rehearsal process and subsequent run has been a joy to watch. The piece’s esoteric nature seemed to draw out the necessity to work through the building block aesthetics at play working through the show in rehearsal and how that related to the training and then finally the presentation of the work itself to an audience. The company seemed to go on their own journey through Rockwell to Cage to Rhoades. Always there was room to let everything breathe and let every moment take its course, but still the trust that the company would make it to the end of the play in time for tech. And they did–  just in time. No one really stressed, at least it seemed. This play is a tough one to unlock. For that reason maybe, the mystery of the play always kept me intrigued and also provided something to think about and come back to the show with. Kudos to Chuck for such a rich text, and kudos to Anne and the company for being open and committed enough to make the piece both deliberate and organic. I can’t get over the generosity of the company members with each other and with those who were in the room. Being around the company reaffirmed the reason I got into theater in the first place. Their commitment to the work and to each other as a company is inspirational. So a big ‘thanks’ from me out into to ether to whoever has been following this blog and to every person involved in the production of this play. Cheers.

~Nathan Green

p.s. Here are some photos from the end of the final show:

I love those dear hearts and gentle people
Who live in my home town
Because those dear hearts and gentle people
Will never ever let you down

They read the good book
From Fri- ’til Monday
That’s how the weekend goes
I’ve got a dream house
I’ll build there one day
With picket fence and ramblin’ rose

I feel so welcome each time I return
That my happy heart keeps laughin’ like a clown
I love the dear hearts and gentle people
Who live and love in my home town

There’s a place I’d like to go
And it’s back in Idaho
Where you’re friendly neighbors smile and say hello
It’s a pleasure and a treat
To meander down the street
That’s why I want the whole wide world to know
(I love those dear hearts)
I love the gentle people
(Who live in my home town)
Because those dear hearts and gentle people
Will never ever let you down

Since Under Construction has hit the ground running, I asked Anne some more questions looking back on the process of building the show and looking forward to the show’s future:

Looking back at the process of building Under Construction, what was the most fun thing about this process in particular? The most challenging?

The most fun part of the process is how it unfolded. It felt like playing the Ouija Board where you put your hands on a planchette and ask a question and then the planchette moves. We asked the play a question and then the thing began to move and take shapes.

The most challenging: Figuring out how the play started and how the objects would appear, whether you would see them all at the top or if they would be brought out. How can they be reified again and again? It was scary to start staging the first Thanksgiving scene because making a table with two sawhorses and two planks felt so arbitrary.

It didn’t seem like the group ever really got stuck on something for too long. Was there anything that you totally didn’t expect?

I expected for us to get stuck constantly. And we did not. The play kept telling us what it wanted to be and become.

Now that the show is open, has the presence of an audience reshaped some of your thoughts about the show? Did it work the way you thought it would?

I never really know how a play is supposed to work until there is an audience present. This play was no different. The audience lets us know where to meet them.

Now you take this show to two new locations, both of which are proscenium spaces. This show feels so specific to the VJ at Actors Theatre. What is the process of adapting the show to the new space? Or do you more or less have to start from scratch?

We will not have to start from scratch because there is certainly a play and certain spatial relations and scenes central to the experience. But in a proscenium house it will be more challenging to invite the experiential intimacy that we enjoy in the VJ. We will want the audience to come on stage at the end, of course, but it’s a bigger deal to walk up onto a proscenium stage. Fingers crossed!

From SEE

Here’s a review of Under Construction from Louisville’s Courier-Journal…

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090319/SCENE05/90320005/1011/SCENE

What the phenomenal SITI Company does with Mee’s script, under the direction of Anne Bogart, becomes high-wire performance art with a sense of humor.

“The play wants a ganky audience.”

Today, open viewpoints. Starting off stage.

During viewpoints Barney asked, “When I go on the morning talk show and the woman asks me ‘what is this play about’ what do I say?”

Ellen: “About an hour and forty minutes.”

Anne: “I had to answer that question in the salon today. You know what I said? It’s about Norman Rockwell, who had a vision for America, and what actually happened to that vision.”

This wound up being one of the silliest viewpoint sessions ever. At some point Darron started playing “Jump Around” to give you an idea.

Afterward…

Sam: “That was the projects version of viewpoints”

Leon: “Viewpoints with crack inside”

Stephen: “Recession viewpoints”

They spent the rest of their time refining a few things here and there…

To end the day, they did a mic check for Simon and Garfunkel’s “America” (which Stephen and Tom perform beautifully). I have to say, it was a very heartfelt end to a wonderful rehearsal process. The feeling of being in the room as this show was built, getting to know SITI and also the feeling of just being able to share in this great process seemed to attach itself to the song. The room applauded what had become an impromptu performance. The conversation that ensued after, the breaking down of the mic stand, and the striking of any remaining props undercut the emotion of the moment, and we moved on. It was fitting for the show, and for me, I’ll admit, a little bittersweet.

Opening night was fabulous. The crowd was very enthusiastic. Afterwards, people crowded the stage. It was a great moment. The opening reception was lovely– lots of food and booze. Good cheer all around.

…

So that’s the making of Under Construction at the Humana Festival.

However, as Anne or any other SITI Co. member is quick to point out, a SITI Company show is never ‘open’ in the sense that they stop working on it. The show moves on:

April 18, 2009 Galvin Playhouse at the Gammage Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

April 25, 2009 Krannert Center, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL

Both of those spaces are incredibly different than the 159 seat Victor Jory Theater at Actors… one’s kind of a thrust stage, and the other’s a big proscenium… to my knowledge. The company will have to do a lot of work adapting the show to fit the spaces. The blog should be getting some updates throughout their rehearsal period as they rework the show. Stay tuned for that.

As for my tenure at the Humana Festival, I will continue to go see plenty of performances of Under Construction and observe training. I’ll post some updates periodically. Also, look out for photos and more Q & A.

Thanks so much for reading, and please share the blog with people who’d be interested.

More to come.

Nate

Last night’s preview was great. It was excellent to finally see the show in front of an audience. It’s definitely a show that thrives on its relationship to the audience. There was some great response- a real buzz in the room. Many people hung around afterwards to talk to the ensemble and hang out in the space. Elizabeth noted in the performance report that two girls dressed up in the crinolines and took each others pictures.

The run time: 1:41:21

Today’s viewpoints, or “Viewpoint throwdown”: When you speak, speak your subtext.

As the group did Suzuki Slow 10 into viewpoints, two lines walking slowly and intensely towards each other, ensemble members began saying things like “I’m just barely gonna miss Tom’s elbow”, or “out of all the notes, Philip Glass picks 4 and uses only those…”

Now having done the show with an audience:

Stephen Webber: “Is there something in our ‘complicity’ that is actually complicity with the audience?”

 The group did notes, worked specials, then looked at a few *sigh* “transitions.”

Can’t wait for the second preview. More to come.

Pushing forward through tech. No viewpoints today.

Anne: “I have the great honor of watching you come up with stuff. I want the audience to have that sensation. I’m not in the position of saying ‘you’re a lesbian, you’re on fire, you’re on a table, GO!’ There’s a certain exactitude with the way that you can come up with stuff together.”

Re: after the Jason Rhoades text

Anne: “I’ll just say that there’s something mysterious going on and I’d hate to have that collapse into a relationship.”

There was a moment where Anne described a moment as a ‘tesseract.’ A Wrinkle in Time?

Re: a hanging mask

Anne: “It’s a dangling signifier.”

Re: divorce scene

Anne: “Hey Makela, Stephen? I felt a lot of history in that.”

After dinner the group went for their second run, incorporating all the changes and questions that had come up over the past 36 hours. It was quite an experience all together. I was struck this time how, as a viewer, I was constantly trying to figure out how to watch the show, then once I had learned, it all exploded and quite literally rebuilt itself for me. Once again I learned how to watch only to have it all turned upside down. It made me very vulnerable to the experience of this show. I think it’s going to be really something special with an audience.

Quite a few notes. Some good discussion. There was a long discussion about the Putnam scene. “It’s didactic… it’s a hard scene. The play really sits down in that moment. I think we’ve layered it too much, and it’s the layers that make it didactic.” J.Ed decided he’d try the speech straight to the audience.

Show time: 1 hr 44 minutes… getting closer, Anne!

Day off tomorrow. People will sleep, go to the gym, go see Ryan Adams, do yoga, and otherwise chill out after a great week. I’m personally astonished at this tech. I’ve never seen a tech go so smoothly. No one ever seemed stressed. Every one had great energy and totally brought their all. Everyone was sharp and on their game for every minute. In turn, it was a pleasure to be in the room for every minute of tech. Looking forward to Tuesday and our first preview.

The group headed into their first day of tech.

Anne: “I think our play was meant to be between 1:40 and 1:42– that’s what it’s meant to be.”

Today’s viewpoints: Complicity. Constantly coming back to this group of people between scenes. “I hate the word ‘transition’… it’s not what it is. The play is always being built. It’s always under construction.”

So the session began with Stephen: “This is Viewpoints! An open improv that will last about 10 minutes.”

Barney: “Ladies and gentlemen, Stephen Webber!”

Clusters of people, groups, laughter, discussion. Even inside the session Barney said to Anne, “Transitions are viewpoints!”

Afterwards, Anne: “Checking in with each other is very powerful– coming into a clump– very satisfying… Stay open to change, rather than solidifying.” Darron spoke to the idea of rooting for people. Making the stakes in the scene changes higher.

Also, something else that seemed incredibly relevant was an episode of “This American Life” from a few weeks ago:

Act Five. The Accursed Items.

J. Robert Lennon reads an excerpt from his short story “The Accursed Items,” in which he demonstrates that even objects can fulfill a fate different from the one for which they were intended.

Here’s a link

We listened to the 6 minute section of the episode. We realized that all of the objects in this play have had other lives. Most of them were bought off Ebay, or found in thrift shops. So who knows who used or wore what when and for what purpose, or what meaning some of these objects had to people? And it all speaks to the point of this play: We reuse and remake things. That’s what America is.

Darron brought up an event from a few days ago for example: In the show, there’s an old-timey television set. At some point in rehearsal the picture tube blew out, making this funny noise and leaving this black smudge in the middle of the screen. When it happened everyone sighed “Oh…” because how many programs have shot out of that electron gun? Over how many years? There was a real sense of respect, and maybe even mourning.

So tech pressed forward. Questions that had come up from the run yesterday were addressed as they moved through the show. It was really astounding to see how everyone in the room felt free to really have honest discussions about how to handle particular instances in the show, even in tech. “What are we doing here?” “What are we saying in this moment?” “This is exactly the question that came up at table work.” “How do we move through this moment?” It was wonderful that the designers were all a part of that conversation. It seems like that’s how it should always be. Tech can often be a stressful time. Not here today. Here it was simply a room full of collaborators. Anne and Elizabeth the Stage Manager were great at moving things along and maintaining a creative atmosphere.

Re: an interstitchal moment. Should text be spoken to each other, or to the audience?

Anne: “It’s about a focus with each other. This is what we’re doing. Then go.”

The same questions kept coming up. It always came back to that discovery about complicity.

Re: sending up the 50s acting

Anne: “As long as you’re trying it on and not *insert gesture that perhaps signifies ‘gung ho’* about playing the scene, then it totally works.”

Tom: “It’s challenging to have the audience laughing, and remain vulnerable to trying on the scene.”

When they teched up to Bad Stuff Anne exclaimed “This is it! This is the transition we’ve earned!”

Re: Bad Stuff

Stephen: “Better buy the carbon credits for all this duct tape we’re using.”

This was a big discussion when the use of tape first became an issue a couple of weeks ago… I love this concern. How much petroleum is used in a roll of duct tape? The earlier conclusion was “not as much petroleum as it takes to fly us all to Arizona after the run is over.”

An incredibly smooth first day of tech. They got through the first half of the show.

More to come.