off-stage right

There are two projects that I have been following peripherally and need to delve into more.  I am so excited about them both.

One is Rude Mechanicals opening of the creation process to the world as beautifully described by Vijay Mathew at NEA New Play Blog as breaking the 5th Wall.  This great post opens up thinking that I hope more folks will pursue about removing boundaries from the rehearsal hall, innovative use of technology and a huge leap forward in addressing the meaning of live for the theater.

Then there is Fatebook – a project by New Paradise Laboratories in Philadelphia.  Full disclosure the company was founded by some of my fellow Virginia Tech alumni and friends – the company actually grew out of work the artists began working on at Tech.   I have been following Fatebook conceiver and director Whit MacLaughlin’s musings on facebook and twitter about the show.  Knowing what I do about the artists and company I have been on the edge of my seat waiting for this.  Just take a look at their mission:

New Paradise Laboratories (NPL) was founded to create surprising, meticulous, spiritually challenging, and wholly distinctive experimental theatre productions that investigate physical expression, on-stage and in life. These productions are assembled using collaborative creative processes developed by the company. The work tends to value wild humor, shock, a concern for history, a muscular visual sensibility, and a fascination with the utopian impulse. Furthermore, NPL uses the fruits of its experimentation to benefit the artistic and audience community as a whole.

and here is one of the descriptions of the show:

FATEBOOK will be a theatre production created by the OBIE and Barrymore award-winning NEW PARADISE LABORATORIES for the 2009 Live Arts Festival and beyond.

FATEBOOK will take place both in cyberspace and in real-space. That is, it will start on the internet and then move into a live theatre. Audience members will attend the performance in both places. FATEBOOK will explore a way of weaving narratives that bridges the two realms.

The subject matter of the piece is far-ranging but will include: 1) the way people create and massage identity as they enter the workforce, 2) the phenomenon and characteristics of online socializing. 3) the transition between college and post-college ways of life.

I am so glad that people are testing the boundaries of theatre and technology!  A year ago, I first started pondering this and the entire meaning of the live experience.  I think these two projects are just the tip of the iceberg!

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