november sixth, two thousand nine

Things to remember while making work.

Number 5: pursue the ideas you are passionate about.

After spending a week with Analogue and listening to Liam and Hannah talk about their process, I'm reminded of how damn hard it is to make theatre.

They'll spend two years on a project. Have I ever been passionate about something enough that I would spend two years working on it?

Someone once told me that ideas are like children. They have to be nurtured, fed, and raised to maturity. I think I disagree. I'd never kill my own child, but sometimes, often, ideas need to die. Maybe ideas are more like trees. Some have to be cleared so there can be new growth.

I recommend a book called "free Play" by a violinist named Stephen Nachmanovich. (sp?) he talks beautifully about freeing yourself from inhibition in order to let creative impulses rise to the surface. Interestingly, once you start getting good at that, having the ideas is no longer the hard part, its deciding which ones to pursue that can kill you.

So - if you are going to go through all the effort of making a performance, finding the resources, going through the headaches, getting into the fights, struggling with yourself, your collaborators, your loved ones - then its worth taking a minute to ask yourself - how do I feel about this idea? Am I passionate about it? Do I love it? Do just not have anything better to do during the day?

I'm intrigued by the idea that Analogue might spend two years on an idea for one performer and one audience member. I'm not sure I'd ever do that.

But I'm glad they are. They've been a lot of fun to work with and I'm glad they had fun, as well.