From Schechner to Streb
Andrew Taylor reports that Elizabeth Streb is rethinking the audience chamber. (Is it cheating to link to the same author in two consecutive posts?)
Elizabeth despises the constraint and construct of the traditional proscenium space. So her studio is a ”come as you are, come when you want, leave when you want, talk if you want” free-for-all — even during what we would usually call a performance. If your phone rings and you want to answer it, answer it. She figures you can decide if the work her dancers are doing is more worthy of your attention. The seats aren’t fixed. There’s popcorn (”the smell of popcorn just makes you happy,” she says). And the building is open whenever any staff is working there (she even encourages public use of the restroom and water fountain, since the city stopped providing such amenities long ago).
In my former life as a theatre director I had an unhealthy obsession with the concept of environmental theatre. I believed (the same way a religious zealot believes things) that the rise of film and television had turned traditional fourth-wall theatre into an irrelevant anachronism. My primary intellectual inspiration was Richard Schechner, who pioneered this kind of work (unless you count the ancient greeks) with The Wooster Group in the late 60s and early 70s.
The problem is, I never actually saw Dionysus in ‘69 or any of Schechner’s other productions. From speaking to folks who did, my understanding is that the ideas behind environmental theatre (at least as practiced by Schechner) were a bit more compelling on the page than on the stage. Certainly they never caught on in any major way, and Schechner himself moved on to other things long ago. At best, these works were appropriate for their time and place (i.e. downtown New York at the peak of the free love era), but lacked any kind of timeless relevance.
Reading about Elizabeth Streb’s studio has me thinking about environment theatre again, but from an altogether simpler, more human, less conceptual standpoint. Her approach seems audience friendly, and very much in sync with the way our culture is headed today. What a great way to be relevant.
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Come see Elizabeth Streb’s action garage in person! We are in the middle of a run of shows that feature’s new work by Elizabeth at her Action Lab in Williamsburg. We run through May 18th!
See below for details and get tix on our site at http://www.strebusa.org
STREB SLAM XI is an Action Event for the stout of heart and imagination, anyone of any age who has every dreamed of being free of our earthly constraints and being able to soar.
At S.L.A.M., a sideshow/state fair atmosphere (including popcorn and cotton candy) prevails with Action Onlookers free to sit, stand, wander from event to event as they occur, often simultaneously, all around them.
STREB SLAM XI
8 WEEKS OF EXTREME ACTION– JUST IN TIME FOR SPRING
Friday, March 29th through Sunday, May 18th
At S.L.A.M. (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics)
51 North 1st Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Schedule: Fridays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 7pm
Sundays at 3pm
Admission: $20—Adults, $10—Children
To buy tickets call Theatermania: 212-352-3101
Or visit http://www.strebusa.org