I really want to know more about the whole "right brain" thing. I always thought of myself as being a right brain person. This class has made me question my creativity. However, I still feel I am a pretty creative and unique person... in my own way that is. Thinking back on a time when I feel I was having a creativity peak was last year, my senior year of high school. We were working on monologues and were to choose one that was completely different from ourselves in order for it to be challenging. It was also new because usually we were assigned a part of piece to perform but this time we got to choose. After digging through what felt like an abyss of monologues, I found one. It was a creeper of a monologue and it called for me to be a serial killer. The character was always second best and kills six of her female classmates to become "(in)famous". Depending on how well you know me.... I hate violence and hate even killing bugs even if it is a cockroach. My favorite part of this theatrical experience was the character development. I did many "sunday morning" and object exercises. I mapped out every aspect of the character's life according to some hints given by the playwright but basically whatever I thought up and created from scratch. When it was time to perform, after months and months of prep., I had a really strange moment on stage where I could feel I wasn't "me". I was thinking like the character. It was very "in the moment". I feel the only reason I felt this while performing was because of all of the preparation I had done.... it was the creative process that let me create that moment on stage for me and the audience to experience.
Now this was not a hge theatrical break through. But in my eyes it was creative. The path I took to get me there was teh creative part. I think this is just an example of how creativity does not neeccesarily have to be a world wide thing. It can be something small and personal. Just like the art by Stern I mentioned in my last post. Her art I consider to be creative, but it wasn't like she made a historical break through. I feel the tiniest things can be creative.
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I agree with you that the smallest things can been seen as creative, if not by the creator but by someone else. And it seems to me that your monologue is a very creative production. That in the moment feel you had while performing, is one of the major points to producing something creative. When you don't even realize you're creating. You are just doing. That's when creativity happens, atleast that's where my train of thought is going right now.
ReplyDeleteNot only is it a testament to the fact that a creative act can be "small" and personal, but it is further evidence that performance is creative, that it is not just copying. Your work on the role took some serious effort and "creation" on your part. You did not robotic-ly copy what the author put on paper.
ReplyDeleteFrom Lauren: That is so funny that you wrote about that creative experience... I had that same experience my senior year... I was assigned to act as the character "Lysistrata" by aristophanes, "Lysistrata" piece... the play is pretty vulgar and sexual... and I felt at first that I could not really connect with the character in which I was suppose to be acting out... So, I studied the time period and my character thouroughly... I also realized that I felt a little uncomfortable with all of the sexual references made as well as having to be a little seductive... then it hit me that when it comes to acting... your not suppose to be acting like yourself... u become someone else completely... which is the beauty of acting as well as the creativity part of it... so with that in mind, I let go off the uneasiness that I felt and took on the role of Lysistrata completely... I ended up doing pretty well...
ReplyDeleteLindsay-
ReplyDeleteI think this is really cool. I sometimes think that this is a perfect example of when the creative process is more important than the final result. The weeks of research and commitment to a character far out way the satisfaction of the actual monologue. I am aware this goes against what the book says, but its just my opinion. And I find it really cool to do things that expand your self-understanding and make you think outside the box.
PS- The monologue reminds me of the Heathers...you know, that 80s movie? Yeah.