XIII Pocket presents LACK THEREOF

Posted by DCA Theater on August 30, 2010 in July-December 2010 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Thirteen Pocket

XIII Pocket entertained the crowd last night in the DCA Studio Theater with three excerpts from plays as part of Lack Thereof: Development Series.  See below for some photos from the evening’s performance showcase.

The event was presented as a part of INCUBATOR, a series designed to support the creation of new work by emerging Chicago theater companies. Utilizing Chicago DCA Theater space and resources, participants explore new projects, develop and refine styles, and share their process with the public during a special showcase event.

Don’t miss the next INCUBATOR series showcase for Strange Tree Group on Monday, September 27 at 7:30pm.

Judith Cross/Carin Silkaitis and Huxley Cross/Chip Davis reading from The (method) Displaced

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Preparing for the Presentation

Posted by DCA Theater on August 30, 2010 in July-December 2010 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Thirteen Pocket

by Jeff Phillips, playwright for Bosto script as part of XIII Pocket Incubator

The growth in each piece that has taken place over the course of our new play workshop Lack Thereof has been quite exciting.  And each entered into the workshop at a different stage in development.  Cash had been first put down on paper by Stephen Louis Grush in 2003.  The Displaced was first conceived in 2005 by Anthony Nikolchev.  My play, Bosto, is the baby of the group, it was only last February that I first typed it out.  Bosto in its raw form came out fairly quickly for me.  Some stored up feelings and ideas for characters kind of spewed forth one afternoon, in one sitting, I had the first draft of Bosto completed at 42 pages.  From that point I let it sit in drawer while I focused on wrapping up other writing projects and began to tinker with it as we rolled into July, mostly cleaning up thoughts, making it a little less “raw” for further examination.  I entered August with the initial intention of reworking dialogue and fleshing out the ending. 

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Technology in Bosto

Posted by DCA Theater on August 26, 2010 in July-December 2010 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Thirteen Pocket

by Jeff Phillips, playwright for Bosto script as part of XIII Pocket Incubator

In developing Bosto the offstage sounds are becoming huge to the script, at points serving as some of the major events to drive the story.  Which is certainly challenging.  The way the offstage voices, the eavesdropped conflict from the floors below are taken on a misshapen texture in the latest re-write.  Originally they came through clear as day, but I have since worked them to come through diluted, creating more confusion in the character, and more mystery to the spectator.  So the art of the sound design has become pivotal, as the way it is contorted as though it is really resounding through intricate ductwork, is almost an extension of the set design.  As well I have developed a television show within the staging, as another background noise which parallels some of the themes of the on stage action.  Certainly there will be a lot of technical cues in the execution of the play.  In some ways, I feel a bit of a cop out relying so much on the external forces to move the piece a long, like a warped little deus ex machina, but at the same time, given the perspective of the characters Melbourne and Barry, and the world they are trying to understand on a “micro” level as well as “macro” it is highly important to me to keep it and develop it to the most effective specificity. It’s easy as a playwright to jump ahead and think about staging, but as I pondered in a previous post, at what point to stop worrying about how to pull the script off, and just focus on the story. 

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Photo blog

Posted by DCA Theater on August 25, 2010 in July-December 2010 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Thirteen Pocket

by Paige Smith, XIII Pocket company member and resident photographer

Cash reading L-R Chip Davis, Jeff Philips, Stephen Louis Grush, Caitlin McGlone, Mark Minton, Heath Cordts

The (Method) Displaced reading from L-R Jacob Lorenz, Carin Silkaitis, Jeff Philips

Director of New Works Caitlin McGlone

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blueprint vs literature

Posted by DCA Theater on August 20, 2010 in July-December 2010 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Thirteen Pocket

by Jeff Phillips, playwright for Bosto script as part of XIII Pocket Incubator

Some things we’ve been considering as we read and discuss each piece is how other groups may approach the text. I know most everything that I have written for the stage or screen has been something that I’ve been directly involved in bringing to life. A strong question lingers as to how much you set in stone with the text, and what elements shall be left up to the director. Of course the set, sound, music, lighting will be altered, as well as character textures will changed from show to show. But there are certain ambiguities that of course provoke questions, but at what point do let each production take unique liberties with choices to fill in the life between the lines? At what point do you run with detail to really paint the picture of locale? It’s a curious boundary as a playwright, between setting a blue print for production and a piece of literature.