Theater Style Lab

The 2001 Lab began by asking a series of questions: What is a theatrical style? What defines it? What elements create it? Does style define a period, a generation, a movement? What is the relationship between style and taste? How do elements of acting and design, as well as playwriting define a theatrical style? Is there a style that defines new theatrical work today?

The centerpiece of the 2001 Lab (June 11-30) was the three-week rehearsal sessions conducted by master artist Shi-Zheng Chen, the young Chinese director whose production of THE PEONY PAVILION caused an international contretemps when it was not allowed to leave China for performances as part of Lincoln Center Festival '99. Mr. Chen explored a classical Chinese play called THE ORPHAN OF ZHAO written by Ji Jun-Xiang in 1280. During rehearsals, which were observed by members of the Lab, Mr. Chen and his ensemble explored how an author from a far-removed era created a theatrical style. How does a modern director and his collaborative partners translate this ancient style into a contemporary, cross-cultural idiom? Mr. Chen invited Qian Yi and Zhou Long, two classically trained Chinese actors (his exiled stars from THE PEONY PAVILION), and Wei Guo-Yong, a traditional Chinese-instrument musician, to be the resource artists for the American company. The cast did not attempt to recreate the Chinese performance tradition, but instead worked with Mr. Chen to find an "American" way of performing the play. Also joining Mr. Chen in the rehearsal room were scenic designer Michael Levine (MNEMONIC) and playwright Howard Korder (BOYS' LIFE, THE LIGHTS), who rephrased the original Chinese text into a modern vernacular.

The actors and artistic staff worked together to find a way to perform THE ORPHAN OF ZHAO by developing a style in which the ensemble would create the physical world of the play through movement, music and sound, and costumes. At two presentations, the ensemble presented a 45-minute excerpt of the play to an invited audience of 200, demonstrating a highly original fusion of traditional and modern elements-both in staging and design. LCT scheduled a second four-week workshop of THE ORPHAN OF ZHAO for October 2001.

Thornton Wilder based many of his works on a wide range of sources, borrowing traditions and plots from, (among others influences), Asian theater, ancient Greek drama, and 19th-century German farce. Because his output is so stylistically diverse, Wilder was an ideal subject for the Lab's focus on style. Wilder's original works, as well as material based on his work, were explored in thirteen three-day workshops. Rehearsals, attended by Lab directors, formed a common basis for discussion.

In the second week of the Lab, again concentrating on style, directors chose the work of contemporary authors. One-day rehearsal sessions were conducted to discern the style of plays by Richard Perez (SECRET THINGS), Julie Marie Myatt (COWBIRD), Richard Ramirez (AMERiGRANT), Keith Bunin (THE PRINCIPALITY OF SORROWS), Don DeLillo (VALPARAISO), Ping Chong (TRUTH AND BEAUTY) and Craig Lucas (THE SINGING FOREST). In addition, Lab directors explored short plays by Suzan-Lori Parks (THE DEATH OF THE LAST BLACK MAN IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD), Sam Shepard (THE ROCK GARDEN), and Sarah Kane (4.48 PSYCHOSIS).

The Young Directors Project founded at the Salzberg Festspiel. LCT Lab Directors Nancy Jones and Rubén Polendo attend.