REHEARSAL LABORATORIES
Each week throughout the process of this capstone, rehearsal laboratories were conducted to investigate script writing as a collaborative endeavor. The themes and goals of each session were developed according to the needs of the writing process.
MOVEMENT LABORATORY 1
November 2, 2018
This rehearsal laboratory explored the use of tableau as a staging device and the translation of comic book panels to the stage.
In looking back on the capstone process, this laboratory stands as possibly the most successful effort as to how to consider approaching the writing and work shopping of this capstone.  Performers worked primarily in dance and movement, and designers were allowed to observe and respond to the material of the room. Acting was engaged as a separate element unto itself in separate, individual writing. This separation meant that where dialogue was generated independently from choreography created by performers within the laboratory. This clear separation of physical action from dialogue in performance, though not understood in relation to comic books at the time, was a moment in which the rehearsal process most clearly reflected the project's goal of blending the medium of comic books with theatre. This rehearsal also began the work of considering ways of developing choreography through improvisation. However, the challenge of developing and structuring choreography to create story would remain throughout the capstone process, as many laboratories would remain in this generative mode of working.
MOVEMENT LABORATORY 2
November 24, 2018
This rehearsal laboratory centered on developing choreography for the fourth vignette of 'Spectrum' draft one, 'The Most Beautiful Fear in the World and a prompted writing improvisation for the first vignette, 'Hero as Abuser.'Â
Physical action and spoken dialogue were generated separately from one another based on prompts provided to the dancers and actor in the laboratory.
While a generative process, the main challenge this laboratory presented was the question as to how to build on material, rather than simply generating content.
This rehearsal's way of working by separating dance and physical action  from acting and dialogue is a decision that would have been extremely useful further along the process. Firstly, it allowed for a deeper consideration of each of these elements and thus a deeper understanding as to how to go about developing and creating structure around them for performers. Secondly this clear distinction between physical action and spoken dialogue also reflected the way in which the use of picture and text in comicbooks can readily shift between existing as separate or interdependent elements. In looking back at these rehearsals, much time was spent focusing on translating images to stage as a way to mimic comicbooks rather than the isolation of performance elements, which was ultimately a more successful way of adopting comicbooks to theatre.
MOVEMENT LABORATORY 3
November 30, 2018
This laboratory was spent work-shopping the fourth vignette of 'Spectrum' draft one.Â
This rehearsal was one of the first moments in which I stepped outside of the staging process to act as an outside eye rather than as a performer. This decision made the documentation of rehearsals more effective, and helped provide a clearer sense as to how to structure choreography to develop story. This laboratory also started the work of trying to reflect back to performers on their performance in order to engage more deeply with their performance. In doing so, this helped to create moments in which performers were able to engage with their choreography themselves beyond creating it but also making choices as to how to relate to their performance.
MOVEMENT LABORATORY 4
December 7, 2018
This laboratory was centered on engaging with designers in trying to create content in response to the first vignette 'Spectrum' draft 1.
Though generative, as with previous laboratories, this session was never fully incorporated in future sessions. This was due to the fact that the design choices were not fully developed to think about how they could be used to structure story or action but rather as a way of conveying my own ideas and interpretations of the script. This also contributed to my later use of design to obfuscate the problems of the script. This rehearsal was a helpful moment to engage collaborators in the script writing process, whereby my role as a writer was to simply document and integrate to the text rather than generate material.
MOVEMENT LABORATORY 5 (REHEARSAL FOOTAGE UNAVAILABLE, REHEARSAL REFLECTION ATTACHED)
December 14, 2018
This session was spent discussing my investment in this capstone project. The decision for this discussion came as a result of my reflecting on how to invite my collaborators into the project beyond simply performing tasks that I requested. This moment was helpful in thinking of how to use discussions as a moment of reflection on the work and to create opportunities to generate ideas around themes for the script.
The remainder of the session then focused on a reading of the fourth vignette of 'Spectrum' draft 1. This moment of reading proved an ineffective way on my part to seek feedback and helped me to understand the importance of trying to stage script rather than simply discussing it. In short, staging allows for the possibility of measuring the distance between the written word and theatre, in order to clarify script action or develop structure.
MOVEMENT LABORATORY 6 (REHEARSAL FOOTAGE UNAVAILABLE, REHEARSAL REFLECTION ATTACHED)
December 19, 2018
This laboratory was a follow up session to the fourth lab and spent workshopping design choices for the remaining vignettes of 'Spectrum' draft 1. The major takeways from this session was the usefulness of offering specificity to designers while maintaining clarity as the purpose of their creations in the context of a scene. The work largely centered on world building for each scene and greatly helped in establishing a visual and sonic vocabulary for future rehearsals.
MOVEMENT LABORATORY 7 (FOOTAGE UNAVAILABLE)
February 2, 2019
This session was a writing workshop with three of my collaborators and conducted as an experiment in group script writing. Though an interesting venture, the session was its own independent activity and not integrated into the project as it came in a moment of confusion as to how to go about merging script writing with rehearsal laboratories.
MOVEMENT LABORATORY 8
February 8, 2019
This laboratory was a study of staging tableaux in an effort to refocus on how to think about engaging comic books in theatre. This was done by recreating covers of 'Spider-Man' comic books, selected by each member of the creative team. This activity was preceded by a collective reading of Amazing Fantasy #15, and a discussion of key moments and themes that stood out to each individual. The reading exercise helped to refocus on the source material of this project and rediscover the central themes of the story that would be later developed in future drafts of the script, primarily drafts two and three of 'Spectra.'
At the time, the tableaux staging exercise was another example of an independent exploration and came at a moment in which the script and rehearsal laboratories were operating separately. However, this workshop around staging tableaux would eventually contribute to the decision to treat the script of this project as a comic book as opposed to a play. The formatting of text within Spectra draft two as comic book panels, arose from these experimentations into staging tableaux, where the events of the script were treated as panels to be staged, as opposed to simply writing out extensive descriptions for choreography, as was the case in 'Spectrum' draft one.
Furthermore, this workshop was helpful in experimenting with the composition of tableaux in order to begin thinking of ways to comment on masculinity through the framing of bodies in relation to one another.
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MOVEMENT LABORATORY 9
February 22, 2019
This rehearsal continued the work of staging tableaux, building on scores of movement generated in the previous workshop. The session went on to focus on the work-shopping of superhero entrances, which would eventually develop into a part of scene in draft to of 'Spectra.' The laboratory concluded with a reading of an idea for a scene that was not included in future drafts in order to get feedback on the text.
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Continuing the work on tableaux helped to further solidify the approaching of writing text as a series of stage images embodied by physical action, as evidenced in 'Spectra' drafts two and three. The work-shopping around superhero entrances was helpful in terms of considering ways of structuring a sequence of events to tell story and find ways to comment on masculinity. While present in the research of this project, discovering ways of re-framing masculinity through performance was a thread not previously present within rehearsals outside of discussion around the subject of masculinity in relation to Amazing Fantasy #15.
The reading of the scene at the conclusion of rehearsal was a moment to think about the ways in which gaining feedback as a writer would be useful for the project. Simply reading the text aloud and having a general discussion proved to be an ineffective way of working as it caused me a great deal of anxiety and prevented the work from developing. This moment was illuminating in terms of considering alternative strategies of gaining feedback from collaborators in future workshops.
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MOVEMENT LABORATORY 10
March 8, 2019
This rehearsal continued the work-shopping of superhero entrances, a brief revisiting on staging tableaux before moving on to workshopping superpower ideas for the main character of 'Spectra' draft two.
The workshop section on staging superpowers was most helpful in terms of generating ideas for the rules and limitations of superpowers for the main character. Furthermore, in attempting to stage these powers, the session helped to identify a tendency I possess as an outside eye to rush through staging moments, as opposed to focus on the meaning communicated from moment to moment. Finding ways of slowing down to observe and focus on specific details would prove to be a major struggle for the remainder of the capstone process. This rehearsal was also helpful in discerning another tendency I possess when leading a room, tied to the aforementioned, of devoting energy to entertaining my collaborators. This desire to appear funny or interesting stemmed from a space of doubt and self-consciousness in my role in the room. This rehearsal was a moment of confrontation with this tendency and instructive in figuring out ways of diverting this energy towards productively engaging with collaborators.
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MOVEMENT LABORATORY 11
March 8, 2019
This rehearsal centered on a reading exercise of the first part of 'Spectra' draft two and the workshopping of the first scene of this draft. The script brought into this session was the first attempt of writing the text as comic book panels and developed directly from our work on staging tableaux in previous rehearsals. The panels of the script were initially thought of as placeholders for drawings rather than a way of incorporating text as image or structuring the layout of text on the page as a way to communicate action or story.. Each panel instead described what was happening through extensive stage directions, offering a filmic quality to the text, and greatly focused on the emotionality of characters in each moment.
In terms of the reading exercise of the draft of the script, collaborators were asked to draw in the events described in each panel. As opposed to reading the text aloud, this exercise was a helpful way of obtaining feedback as a writer as to the efficacy of structuring the text as comic book panels. This reading exercise also attempted to offer performers a way of engaging with the characters and story of the text.
The session then focused on developing choreography around a hoodie, which was purely based on the emotional feel and tone with which performers engaged with this object. The workshopping of this scene stands as a major moment in understanding the root of my struggles as a writer and a director in this capstone process. In developing the story of the script, both in rehearsals and writing, my focus, as exemplified in my approach to staging this scene, was often on communicating the emotional arc of characters as a way to structure story. In doing so, this meant that action was often side- lined or excluded within the text, which prevented performers from engaging with the material beyond acting as vessels for my instructions as a director. Furthermore, working with a focus on emotion as opposed to task or action meant that my work as a director was often a way of compensating for the problems of the text rather than allowing performers to perform the text as it was written.
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CAPSTONE SEMINAR DRAFT SHOWING
March 9, 2019
This footage was a sharing of the work developed from Movement Laboratory 11 dealing with the first scene of 'Spectra' draft 2. Audiences were asked, as with performers in the previous session, to draw the panels of the first scene of 'Spectra' draft 2 based on the descriptions in each moment. This exercise was a way of once again confirming the efficacy of formatting the text of 'Spectra' draft 2 as comic book panels, even if this activity proved redundant.
The work shared during this showing was the choreography developed around the hoodie in the previous laboratory. This showing helped to provide a realization in the continued divide between scene writing and rehearsal, as the material shown failed to communicate the story of the scene shared with the audience. This showing identified a wall in the capstone process, as I remained uncertain as to how to go about working through this separation between script and rehearsal. At the time, I blamed this separation as arising from a lack of materials necessary to attempt staging the script in its entirety. Casting blame on a lack of costumes and props was a way of evading trying to working as a director within the project, as I felt more comfortable working as an actor. This was yet another way in which I sought to evade the problem of staging and working through the text, even as I then began generating and acquiring set and costume pieces I felt would allow me to proceed with the staging of the script.
OPEN REHEARSALS
During the Capstone Festival, audiences were invited to witness the rehearsal process of this project. Over the course of one week, audiences were able to witness the process of translating the script to the stage, not as a way of presenting a finished performance but of rewriting the text.
While footage from these rehearsals are  unavailable at this time, the two annotated copies of the scripts used during this week are available for viewing.