Photo by T. Charles Erickson

I popped in to the post-show discussion after last night’s performance of Tartuffe, at which a small crowd of audience members stuck around to ask questions of the actors about various aspects of the performance process. Here is Alison Cote (Production Stage Manager)’s summary of the discussion, straight from her performance report:

“We had a really wonderful post show discussion. Only 43 patrons were able to stay but they were a very smart group with insights and interesting questions. The discussion first focused on the convention of using video in the show [how it developed over time; what moments translated well on video; how does it affect the actors onstage etc]. The discussion then moved on to the topic of the rhyming text [how the actors approach it and how it translates to the audience], and then moved to an analysis about the use of both period and contemporary costumes. Marisol moderated and Zach, Michael, Sally, Daniel T., Andy and Alex participated.”

What I enjoyed (this is Elizabeth again) was that the discussion transcended a mere Q&A session, as actors and audience members engaged in back-and-forth conversation about what they got out of Daniel’s choices with regard to set, video, and costumes. We heard several different interpretations of the function of the mixed periods in the costumes: serving to distinguish the family from the “outsiders,” indicating which of the characters are still trapped in a world of pretension and posing and which have broken free, or highlighting the intrusion of this play’s themes and situations into our modern political circumstances. I think that’s one of the strengths of Daniel Fish’s creative vision–the way it allows such a myriad of different, equally fascinating interpretations of any single element in the production.

See also:

• Tartuffe Previews
• Tartuffe Quotes
• Audience/Artist Conversations
• Discussing Stick Fly
  

Posted by Elizabeth Edwards, Literary Intern at McCarter Theatre.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 12:37 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.