Notion's Notions

For recovering theater kids, and all you emos, nerds, artists and punks who thought you were too cool.

Theater is not just about what's popular on Broadway. That’s like saying music is just about bands who have made it on the top 100. But you know it’s not, you’ve seen indie concerts, soundcloud musicians, listened to a street musician or your friends play. But how do you do the same with theater?

Non-theater-freaks are often shown that theater falls into one of three categories: the superficial, expensive, melodramatic Broadway musicals; the dry political or social commentary; and the Shakespeare you were forced to read in class. (Seriously, why do we force people to read plays without seeing them live? That’s like teaching music theory by making you stare at written music while never playing a note!) For your sake, we’re skipping the Shakespeare. But even Shakespeare knew, theater was a way to bring information and stories to the masses.

Theater can be weird and artsy and new and exciting and grungy and gross. Whatever you're into, it exists onstage. Or, even better, could exist onstage with your help! Theater is live, dynamic art! It’s impossible to do alone, begs emotional investment from both the performers and the audience, and can be done spontaneously on a minuscule budget! Here's my little guide to some of my favorite styles of theater that have broken the mold over the years.

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Weird Theater Crash Course:

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THEATER of the ABSURD

Life SUCKS, what if nothing is real? Absurd theater is all about existentialism, questioning the purpose behind societal structures, and wondering what we’re doing here. Absurd plays are nonsensical, surreal yet reserved, liminal, and often depend on repeated words and phrase and cyclical plots to really show how pointless everything feels.

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THEATER of the RIDICULOUS

Life SUCKS, let’s make it more fun! Ridiculous theater responds to existentialism with camp and debauchery. Often highlighting queer themes, cross-gender casting, drag, and sexual freedom. Budgets are small, performances are often rushed and partially ad-libbed, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re going to create whether it’s good or not!

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THEATER of CRUELTY

An all-out assault on the senses! Theater of Cruelty values light, sound, and movement more than spoken word. No it’s not about causing literal pain (though it could), but shaking the audience out of their stupor as passive observers and creating visceral emotional reactions in the deepest parts of their brains.

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HAPPENING

Happenings are small pieces of performance art that are performed without announcement, usually in public spaces. They engage the audience by barely seeming like a performance at all. Happenings can be absolutely anything, that’s why there’s no better way to describe them but “a thing that is happening”!

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GUERRILLA THEATER

Surprise public performances with heavy political messaging that intends to catch unsuspecting audiences off their guard and create intense emotions. Here to disrupt and destable the status quo.

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BREAD & PUPPET THEATER

A specific theater company whose message and style has spread beyond their single group. Bread and Puppet theater is a long-running theater company that creates radical political shows combining puppet and masque characters, mime, and clownery. They believe that art must be accessible to the people, and make everything out of donated and second hand materials for a distinct slapdash style that defines their scrappy, anticapitalist values.

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So you have an idea, but performing it feels ridiculously out of your reach. What can you do? This is a list to get you thinking about the ways that performance art can be done on a small budget. The only tough resource to find here is a dedicated group of people ready to pull together and see it through.

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SETTING

• Anywhere and everywhere!
• A friend’s house or backyard
• A public space (remember to take precautions, be prepared to move)
• A bar or pub (with permission)
• Paint a sheet with your backdrop
• Grab any furniture you have around the house

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LIGHTING

• Can you see the actors?
• Congratulations! You have done adequate lighting. Sometimes this all even professional theaters do
• Want something a little fancier?
• Pick up some color changing LED lights with remote controls

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SOUND

• Can you hear the actors?
• Congratulations! You have done adequate sound.
• If your space is small enough, you don’t need microphones
• Play music and sound effects from a laptop and a bluetooth speaker

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COSTUMES

• Buy from thrift stores
• Raid your closets
• You don’t need to sew!
• These things only have to last one performance
• Feel free to glue and paint your way to the top

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KILL THE PART OF YOU THAT CRINGES

Embarrassment is the mind killer, it isolates us, prevents us from sharing pics of ourselves and forming deeper connections. You will see shows that make you cringe, but ask your self, why? Why am I embarrassed to watch someone put their whole earnest self in front of me? Be supportive to those who are brave enough to put themselves out there, and expect the same in return.

You will do shows that make you cringe. Why? Why am I embarrassed to fail in this medium that I know I am still an amateur in? Find people you are comfortable with failing around. Enjoy the act of making something together. Above all else, performance art should be fun, exciting, evocative. That's more imporant than it being good!