BWW Blog: 35MM Invites Audiences to Contemplate Art

Interacting with an unfamiliar artistic style can be an enthralling challenge--but perceived inability to comprehend the artist's meaning can be alienating. This is a common feeling in many facets of our lives, and isn't relegated to the attempt to understand avant garde work. I, for instance, experience similar emotions when the reminder to update my iTunes appears on the screen, throwing me into an existential whirlpool, my fingers petrified to the mouse pad: should I or should I not update? I don't understand the stakes, and I have no real expectation of consequences. It feels like a considerable commitment, one for which I'm completely unprepared.

But I do love new, innovative theatre. It saddens me that so many people in Santa Barbara suffer from "Andrew Lloyd Webber Syndrome". People will pay an obscene amount of money to see Cats or Phantom of the Opera (theatrical spectacles, to be sure), but they're less willing to take a risk and see something untraditional. I have no problem with the big Broadway exhibition productions, but many of them have outlasted their relevance. Especially touring productions, which often try too hard to be carbon copies of the original show, seem soulless on stage. There's no fresh interpretation in these productions--they're imitations. Without fresh concepts, shows are performed purely for the value of basic entertainment. So... to boost audience confidence, here are some thoughts on how to work toward successfully experiencing avant garde art, such as Out of the Box's current production, 35mm.

• Let go of the idea that you need to understand the art piece in the way it was "meant" to be understood. Art will always recall personal meaning to viewers based on their own experiences, regardless of the vision of the artist. Viewing art is an excuse to deeply consider a concept within the context of your own emotional range and cultural points of reference. There is no wrong answer.
• Find enjoyment in opening your mind to possibilities. It's exciting to intensely contemplate the presented ideas. Allow yourself to recognize the beautiful and intriguing connections your mind makes between the art and your own existence. You might illuminate otherwise unrealized nuances in your own world or develop a greater understanding of the plight of others.
• Allow yourself to be drawn into the experience. Find relaxation in potential discomfort. It indicates an expansion of worldview. Give yourself permission to take charge of your experience of the show. Consider your views with respect and honesty. Again, there is no wrong answer.
• Think about the work you're interacting with. Reflect on how elements of the work make you feel, and what memories or emotions you become connected to through your contact with the piece. Take it a step further and consider the root of these emotions. You don't have to understand how drama works on an academic level to feel the sensation of something authentic and significant in a play. You don't really even have to know anything about yourself--experiencing art helps us to better understand our society and ourselves.
• Talk about your experience and opinions with other people. Hear their ideas, and incorporate them into your thought process. You may agree with them; you may not. It doesn't matter. The point is the conversation, which can be revealing and invigorating.

With these ideas in mind, let's discuss 35mm. 35mm isn't a play with a typical narrative arc. Situation A, followed by the hijinks or turmoil of Rising Action B, does not necessarily resolve in Conclusion C. 35mm is a play about art. To some, that may seem annoyingly meta, but I find it an intriguing layered spiral of creativity. A music cycle without dialogue, each song in 35mm was inspired by a series of photographs. These images are projected against the upstage wall during the performance so the audience can see the connective tissue between all four levels of artistic interpretation: photographic, musical, directorial, and performance. 35mm is a nexus of cross-genre concept building, which leaves the door open for audiences to enjoy the play as both a series of curious vignettes and as a unified production representing strong thematic elements of relationships and artistic creation.

First, consider the photography. Ponder your own understanding of the images, and compare that to the interpretation you see onstage via the music and performances. If your original construal of the image differs from what you see on stage, it doesn't mean you've misunderstood the piece; it simply means you've been given the opportunity to see these photographs from another point of view.

35mm embodies artistic collaboration, but it's about relationships. Every story has a beginning and an ending point, but with a story told through a photograph, that beginning and ending point are the same instant. 35mm offers a look at possible scenarios that the photographs represent, but with only a few moments to tell each song-story, Situation A must land at Resolution C using the most efficient version of Rising Action B. These vignettes are extrapolated concepts based on images, so play with your own imagination, and compare your story to the one told on stage. 35mm is a playground for creativity.

To experiment with my own ability to unravel and create narrative images based on the score (written by Ryan Scott Oliver), I listened to each song with the intention of finding lyrics that represented, to me, the strongest exemplifiers of the mood of the number. I put those words and other related phrases into a search engine and scrutinized images until I found one that elicited the same emotions in me as did the song. The following pictures epitomize my interpretations of certain pieces from 35mm--not the photos you'll see in the show.

Stop Time: "Time stopped by a photograph..."

This image represents a humorous interpretation of stopped time. What happens in the seconds after the exposure? Does the dog bite her face off? Or is this the precursor to winning a competitive championship? A photo like this begs for imaginative extrapolation. I encourage you to do the same for all the photos in 35mm.

Crazytown: "It's an anthropomorphic circus..."

This phrase is a reference to Alice's experience in Wonderland, Dorothy's experience in Oz, and Lucy's experience in Narnia; which are, in turn, represented by the mystifying and nightmarish occurrences on stage. My chosen image recalls the strange, yet eerily frivolous mood of an early-century carnival--a depiction of the nonsensical inventions of the mind.

On Monday: "You texted back saying, 'Play hard to get...'"

This photograph says yes and no at once, a personal interpretation of a song that describes someone falling in love too fast, too hard, without comprehension of their partner's romantic restraint. There's Yes, and there's No--but with love, there's much unspoken sentiment between these lines.

The Party Goes with You: "And I'm left with all the messes, cleaning up for vows in gold; wishing to take back merely one of my yeses and have my story all retold."

Poor Betty Draper. She understands the disappointment and bitter defeat of romance gone wrong. Knowing that the person you depend on for "the party" only offers it with their presence, and absconds with it fully when they disappear fosters resentment and depression--especially when the relationship comes with the knowledge that asking about the future is tantamount to initiating closure, since the answer has been obvious since the relationship began. It's regret, indulgence in a damaging fantasy, and an admission of defenselessness.

The Seraph: "He thinks I have a soul to keep."

I understand this song as one about overcoming addiction and darkness with the support of someone willing to love them despite their faults. Both members of the couple compare each other to a kind of conceptual angel, and both feel blessed to have found the other. They recognize the cracks in their will power, but they find, in each other, the strength to hold the pieces together. When one can't believe in themself, sometimes the conviction of another is a necessary crutch.

Immaculate Deception: "She looks just like Jesus in a liquor-licked spot, with a tear and a tear in her side."

I love meta theatre. In this piece, actors sing about taking a picture of a subject (the one you see on the wall behind them) to which they can assign meaning in order to touch the audience. These artists sing of art as a form of manipulation rather than a conduit for expression: but don't be fooled. You can see anything you want to see in the photo. I see it as the cynicism of the hipster-culture's expression of disdain for people they assume they can influence. Instead, they succeed in exposing themselves through their work, even if it's not the concept they'd set out to present.

Leave Luanne: "Someone's howling screams like sighing with battered breath."

While accessible in terms of storytelling, the ideas in this song are brutally uncomfortable to envision. But be brave: allow yourself to accept that despair. Live with that discomfort. It's painful, but it engenders empathy.

35mm is a unique theatrical experience that's not soon to be replicated. Ultimately it's about relationships made unavoidable through providence of family or career; and relationships with those who provide protection, haven, and inspiration. It's about the people we want, the people we can't have, and about accepting the hopelessness in reconciling those two ideas. It's about the people we lose, and the relationships we have with their ghosts.

But the most fun aspect of 35mm is that it's about the creation and perception of art. And if that doesn't convince you to experience this unique show, maybe the available cocktails and cupcakes will. But so much more vital is the opportunity to put your imagination and cognitive skills to work, and explore various interpretations of a theatre piece. 35mm welcomes everyone, regardless of knowledge and background, to enjoy the process of contemplating art.

Out of the Box Theatre Co. Presents
35mm
Directed by Samantha Eve
Center Stage, April 7th, 8th, and 9th at 8p.m.

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