A note: Part of this post actually comes from some publicity paragraphs I wrote to help with marketing the show. Some of the post is new.
Another note: Some of this post may seem eerily similar to a post I wrote while I was in c.1993 at Annex (this post). But that's what I love about devising. In some ways, every collaborative experience is very much the same. In other ways, every collaborative experience is different than anything you have ever worked on before. That being said...
Sometime during college, I realized my passion (within theatre) is
generative and collaborative work, or “devising.” Over the last five years or
so, I’ve been involved in creating no less than six generative theatre pieces
and am so pleased to add Blood/Sailing
to the list. (Six may not be the right number. I've lost count. I like devising THAT much.) There’s nothing more satisfying than taking your art into your own
hands while being lead by creative, intelligent, and talented ensemble such as
Blood Ensemble.
I should explain what Blood/Sailing is. I think the Blood Ensemble ladies actually explain it best so I'm using their description of the show fromm their blog:
"Blood Ensemble and heavy metal band Smooth Sailing announce
“Blood/Sailing,” a show that combines experimental theatre and live
heavy metal music and performs July 12-28th at the boom! theatre space.
Blood Ensemble and Smooth Sailing intensely collaborated to create this
show that that will draw audiences from both Seattle’s music and theatre
scene.
“Blood/Sailing” is a story of despair, violence and redemption. Mr. Clementine, an eerie skeleton man, runs a sweatshop buried deep in a volcano. The children that work there have never seen the sun and never learned how to play. Using songs from Smooth Sailing’s debut album XO as well as brand new music written for the show, the show is full of stunning visuals and face melting music."
“Blood/Sailing” is a story of despair, violence and redemption. Mr. Clementine, an eerie skeleton man, runs a sweatshop buried deep in a volcano. The children that work there have never seen the sun and never learned how to play. Using songs from Smooth Sailing’s debut album XO as well as brand new music written for the show, the show is full of stunning visuals and face melting music."
The concept for this show is uncharted territory for me. As a theatre
artist and playwright, I usually rely heavily on the written and spoken word.
This show relies on a collaboration with metal music before words. And I must admit I’m not very familiar with metal music. But, I am QUICKLY
becoming a fan. Smooth Sailing’s music is great overall and perfect for this
kind of work: full of tension, emotion, levels. Personally, I’m enjoying the
challenge of creating of show based on stunning visual pictures set to a
distinctive soundscape. Words come later. Words come only when necessary.
There is an incredible darkness to this piece that I think contemporary audiences are not used to. As an ensemble, we have not shied away from violence, despair, overwhelming tension, and high emotion. These are reality, real parts of life. And, in my opinion, we really need to explore them. I think often in theatre, we try to hide from these themes...or mask them. Sometimes that is necessary and makes a statement in and of itself. But we're going full throttle into the darkness. We're driving the bus straight to the gates of hell and frolicking all the way.
This is like nothing else I’ve ever worked on. For audiences, I think it’ll be like nothing else they’ve ever experienced. It will be full of stunning visuals, moments of sadness, laughter, face-melting live music and genuine theatrical poignancy in an amazing venue. Blood/Sailing is an experience for this creative moment in time. A great one. There is some serious theatre going on here.
And you can tell we're invested. It's in our blood.
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