d*Construction

Originally presented at Northwestern State University as part of thesis production: "A New Point of View: How & Why We Create the Art of Theatre." 

Modeled after Charles Mee's Under Construction, with additional text by Jerzy Grotowski, Sarah Hailey, Megan Berry, Elizabeth Bigger, Kyle Accord, anonymous authors, and the ensemble. Adapted one afternoon by Liz Maxwell and Ryan Hazelbaker.

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​Ensemble: Lorena Deamer, Annie Gaarder, Ford Haeuser, Robert Johnson, Angela Kang, Gwen Mahan, Regan McLellan 

d*Construction is centered on the threshold of what it is like to “come of age” in America today; it is focused around that crux, that passing between childhood and adulthood, for our generation.  The piece asks: “What is this experience like?  How is it different from generations before us?  How has it defined who we are, and how has this passage represented itself to the outside world?” 

This piece is the first devised work created by Liz. Excerpt from show rehearsal journal and bit on the nature of the process:

"We are still in the early rehearsal process for the show, but our cast of seven actors has explored quite a bit of Viewpoints work and is beginning to tackle the actual text (which is still being expanded by the cast themselves).  I do not claim to know what I am doing here…but I am willing to give it a try. Every aspect of this work absolutely terrifies me.  I am scared that I will fall flat on my face and that the work will be empty and meaningless.  I am out of my element and I know that despite the fact that I excel at a number of things, I am choosing to work in my own personal artistic limbo.  The reward is incredible.  This work fulfills me in a way that I cannot put into words; it nourishes a part of me that I never realized was starving.  I work because I am compelled to and because I am fascinated by what is created.  I believe in the importance of original work and am completely in love with the philosophy of artistic collaboration.  This work allows me to live in the midst of my own inner juxtaposed belief between the innate value of art and a huge sense of social responsibility.  I push not around this paradox but through the center, into the heart of the fear, and I work terrifically hard to come out whole on the other side with a tangible, colorful product."

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