Student Blog: My Experience with Devising

I was first involved in a devising process my senior year of high school. I'm not sure how accurate a devising experience it was because none of us had any idea what we were doing. We just kind of jumped into it. We wrote a basic plot of the show we wanted, cast roles, and started improvising scenes. We ended up with a somewhat script, more just a detailed list of plot points with a few stand out lines we wanted to keep in the show. Every performance was different though because nothing was really set. I'm not sure if it was a good or bad show. It was kind of just a series of inside jokes by the end. We all thought we were being hilarious, but I bet the audience didn't.

My next experience was junior year of college. I took an acting seminar called Theatre of Games. We started with the play Marriage written by Nikolai Gogol. We read it, picked what parts we'd like to explore, then began creating etudes and improvised scenes. Eventually by the end of a semester of work, we had about an hour-long show. This time devising felt a lot more structured, less chaotic, possibly because we were being guided by a professor. It was scary to jump in at first. Improv is not exactly my forte, but it was very freeing once I did. I chose to dive into a relatively small character, so it was really cool to discover a back story for them and develop that with no boundaries.

Finally, we arrive at senior year of college. My current experience with devising and my first time directing a devised piece. Butler's mainstage this semester is called a (re)making project. It is a piece devised based on the works of Charles Mee. I really wanted to be the assistant director for this project from the moment the season was announced. Partly because one of my favorite professors is the director, and it's my last semester, so I just wanted an excuse to hang out with him. But partly because I had only ever acted in devised pieces and wanted to know what the directing side felt like.

The project isn't over yet, but so far, it has been such an amazing experience. My favorite part of directing has always been the auditioning/casting process. Casting for a not yet written piece was such an experience. We worked to cast people mostly just on what they would bring to the rehearsal room. There was no need to box them into a role, just the pure want to work with them was enough reason for casting.

As we began rehearsals, I had to train myself to let go. I'm am very much a control freak especially when it comes to directing (as many directors are). It was harder for me as a director to accept the fact that there just wasn't going to be a script for a while than it was for me as an actor. I think it was because I was in a position of power, I felt I needed to bring something to the actors. I needed some script as a map for them. Whereas when I was an actor, the pressure was not as intense.

Nonetheless, I was able to eventually let go. I've learned so much from the director, William. The way he absorbs the chaos of the process and lives in it without fear is very impressive. Recently, I've been working to take pieces of Mee scripts as well as poems, short stories, and various other sources and combine them and rearrange them. From that, I have created a sort of "working script." By far, this has been the most satisfying piece of work I've created in college. It feels like a collage but for the theatre.

My passion outside the world of theatre is literary editing. I don't even know how to describe how much I love editing. I've written all my life, but I really don't have the discipline to be a writer. Editing allows for a deadline, a more concrete goal to work towards. It is also just as creative a process as writing. Each decision is made based on the vision of the manuscript, where it can go. As I collaged together the (re)making script, I felt like I was editing. Rearranging chunks of already existing writing. Putting new meaning into various works. I loved it. I am very thankful to be part of this process especially since it allows me to combine two of my greatest passions.