For my final project I have created a new Social Network on Ning. The link to the site is listed below.
My audience for this site is the cast members and parents of the cast members of the musical I direct at my Middle School. While it’s currently a work in progress, even the handful of comments and videos that are posted represent e the potential the site has for being an extremely useful tool. Even though auditions won’t be held until the fall, I see a great potential for use before the rehearsals start, during rehearsals and even after the show is over.
Communication to the cast will be a lot easier with this site. There is a “broadcast message” option so anything (Rehearsal schedules, costume notes, reminders, cancellations) that needs to be communicated to the cast can be done so easily and quickly! We often have Saturday “rehearsals” that are completely devoted to set construction or set painting or costume sewing and I could easily organize these through the events tab. If I were to send out an invitation to a construction day I could invite the entire cast and ask them in their response to let everyone know what kinds of tools they are bringing so if we would need five power drills everyone could see who was bringing what.
The previous things I’ve mentioned will certainly make my life easier in organizing and communicating but they don’t dig into the deeper issues that are presented by using the site. “Passions, then engagements, then imagining…” The students in the show already have the passion and they’ll engaged themselves in that passion by auditioning for and rehearsing and performing but unfortunately, I have to question the extent to which I’ve ever really asked them to imagine. Fortunately there is a lot of potential within the site to help this.
What I’ve already done with the site is to post videos segments of other productions that were found on YouTube. For two out of the five big musical numbers, we are already beginning to discuss how we think they should be staged. For example, should it be a big production number with lots of dancing and flashing lights and confetti and more importantly why do they feel it should be staged that way. I’ll be finding videos of other number in the show and ask them if what they see is what they imagined.
I’ve always very much felt that talking to the cast about who their characters are and what makes them tick is one of the most important aspects in directing a show. Unfortunately, I’ve always felt so pressed for time so the depth of the discussion is sometimes lost and therefore the students experience is in a way cheated. With the site I’ll be able to communicate and discuss with each actor or actress the details about their character so our time in the rehearsal space is spent on shaping the body and other character work that requires real time communication
Because members of the network can post pictures and videos, I’m looking forward to seeing what they find on YouTube and feel inclined to post. I’m hoping they’ll post pictures in sharing ideas for costumes or for scenic design. I also hope they post videos of other productions and start conversations of their own.
Lastly, I really look forward to taping their rehearsals and being able to parts of their rehearsals on the site and ask them to comment on their own work. I think this will be one of the most powerful tools. Instead of just me or any adult in the room giving feedback or constructive criticism, that can all come from other members of the cast or even better, themselves.
There are certainly drawbacks and barriers. The site isn’t as navigator friendly as I’d really like it to be and I won’t be able to log on at school meaning all the managerial work will have to be done at home. As the manager of the site I can filter every photo, video and comment that is made and because students and their parents will be using the site, I want to make sure that everything is appropriate. While I do feel the need to act as a filter I don’t want to turn into a manipulator of information.
“…I want to find a way of speaking of community, an expanding community that will take shape as people speaking as who, not what they are, come together in speech and action, as Arendt puts it, to constitute something in common among themselves”. In this case, the theatre, the organization, is the community. It’ll will be exciting to watch it take shape, watch grow and form and branch based not on what I tell them but based on who they are and how they think and question in order to create the common goal of opening night.
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