Like all good ideas, it started over a beer. Maybe 2. I think Sam and I had been talking
about the lines between theater and architecture for years. But, the first clear recollection I
have of the 4:2 project’s start was at the Capitol Lounge drinking beer and
eating pizza…probably the fall of 2011.
I was home working in D.C. on co-op and Sam was home visiting from
school. Not much came out of that
chat other than some napkin scribbles that would be probably left on the table,
and the conviction that at some point we would work together on something….
Fast forward to late Spring, early Summer of 2012. I
am working on co-op again, Sam has gradated and is back in D.C. working for a
local theater company. He has come
over to my apartment for a party or something, and for whatever reason we
decide to leave the hustle of the party and take a walk in the pleasant night
air. D.C. really is best in the Spring at night. We are talking about confession, intimacy, friendship, love
and death. You know, the usual cheerful
things folks in their early twenties like to think about after a few beers on a
Saturday night. What becomes really clear very quickly is that both of us have
been thinking about these ideas a lot.
That is when we decide that this is the time to start the project we
have been mulling over for a few months now. I, with interest in small structures, Sam with his interest
in non-traditional theatrical forms, will dive into something together. A play
for two people in a space for two people, a space made for a play, a play made
for a space, an Ouroboros of ideas.
It took us a week or so to settle on a time that we
could both work on it again. If I
remember correctly it was a Thursday or Wednesday night. There were several pots
of coffee, tea, popcorn and Tai food. We stayed up most of the night talking,
arguing, discussing, drawing, writing, and looking at inspirational images. At the
end we had a set of guiding rules, a lot of questions, and a similar
understanding of what we wanted out of the project.
We would explore ideas of threshold and intimacy.
The play would happen in a larger space somewhere.
The object/space of the play would some how relate
to, or interact with the space it was in.
The whole thing would require less than 5 people to
run, and if we could do it with less that would be better.
We would not rely on technological gimmicks,
projectors, sound effects, ect.
We recorded all of these initial exchanges. They will be up soon.
This seems very exciting and cool. One of the best set designers I worked with in college was an architecture major - though this is obviously more than set. When is said date? And where will the structure/performance be?
ReplyDeletegreat questions Kyle, we are still working on those parts of the question, we hope to have it built by the end of the semester, but that might not be enough time to get it set up and run as a play... but we are eternally optimistic
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