Pr22t 095

Hello Brian: Further to our conversation today, here is a revisiting of my proposed Pure Research Experiment. As I mentioned, I am pursuing this topic as an extension of research for my MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies at Goddard College. My current area of inquiry is around the creative process and well-being. Within this, I am keenly interested in the actor’s relationship with audience as a significant factor in the performance experience. I have been developing the experiment in collaboration with Dr. Rachel Tyndale (UofT) who has been helping me identify appropriate tools for measurement and data collection.

I am interested in the conscious and unconscious adjustments and experience of story and story telling that happens when an actor performs in front of various audience permutations. To be clear, I am not speaking about the adjustments in technique that trained performers make - (ie: playing to frame, sending voice out in space, although I will look for these), but what happens to a performer’s relationship to story.

Questions I want to consider: Does the actor experience the story differently with the different audiences?

Does the telling of the story change?

Does the story itself change for the performer?

Is there greater/lesser faith in the story?

Is there greater/lesser self-consciousness?

Is it more difficult/easy to tell the story?

Are there adjustments made in the story telling that can be observed by an outside eye?

Are these adjustments conscious/unconscious for the performer in the story telling?

What is the actor’s level of pleasure/displeasure with each?

Does the expectation of feedback/lack of feedback affect the experience of performance?

There are more questions, but these are the basic foundation.

My hope is to have 4-6 actors work with theatrical and/or film texts and perform the same piece under four different audience permutations: 1) Full house live audience 2) Camera crew of 6-10 people 3) Camera only 4) One person in the house.

I’m am looking at ways to have some of these scenarios replicate regular performance situations where possible ie: half hour/five minute calls/wardrobe/makeup for scenario one. Various shot sizes, fragmented shooting and repetition for scenario two etc.

I will measure these experiences in regulated intervals (after establishing baseline measurements) using physiological tools ie: blood pressure, heart rate, as well as a series of questions using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) which is a widely accepted method of collecting and analyzing subjective data.

The creation of this VAS will be significant to the collection of useful data. Should my proposal be supported, I will create this 15-20 question VAS with the assistance of Dr. Tyndale, the Nightswimming team, and other respected colleagues from performance and research fields. My plan will be to test the efficacy of this survey in advance of the formal experiment by running trials in order to identify which questions point to the most useful data. It will take a great deal of preparation time, but this work excites me and I’m very interested in collaboration. I am considering inviting another collaborator on this project but would do so in consultation with Nightswimming.

There will therefore be three reference points for information: The physiological measurements The performer’s experience as expressed through the VAS The outside eye observations.

Some limitations to the experiment that I already foresee are the sample size. Since I am dealing with so few subjects, it won’t be possible to get any real understanding of what might be larger trends within these different audience permutations. I will therefore be looking at the relational changes within each individual performer. In many ways, this is more in keeping with the way VAS’s operate. Other limitations are the subjectivity of the observers. My hope is to video the entire workshop and use this as reference point for understanding and reviewing some of the more subjective information.

Hope this clarifies some of the ideas I’m interested in exploring. So lovely speaking to you, as always. Of course, I’m so open to further thoughts and ideas from you. I’m still scratching away at this idea and different perspectives are always useful. yours, Christine