conceptual theatre

[brian carroll]

in times like these you might expect there would be
music about what is going on, films investigating the
concepts (many quite good actually), other activities,
painters painting (a few) and so on, to establish depth
to conversation and communication instead of enforcing
ideological limits and functioning in limited parameters,
reinforcing traditional feedback loops corruption relies upon

especially plays, literature. perhaps some of the latter in
its detachment or documentary aspects or parallels yet
where is the cultural insight of those most free on earth-
why the silence when searching for 'play on surveillance'
that would have theater delving into realm of importance
and providing critique, frameworks to evaluate ongoing
situations within, instead of- well, seemingly nothing.

- of - the - most - free - people - in - the - entire - world -

with nothing to say or views to share about this situation,
not using their rights or freedoms -- adding up to nothing

fucking disgraceful. shameful, self-indulgent, self serving
hypocrisy. as if bureaucracy must sign off on everything.
no allowable risk. disneyification of the entirety of culture,
endless reruns of previous ideas and interpretations yet
no one with enough insight to frame this given picture?

or is it fear that holds people back, silence is safety

no one willing to take a stab at it, and then another
to regain a space and place lost to complacency and
lack of will, responsibility, greater purpose than money

certainly playwrights of the past would have engaged,
though what about direct engagement, for understanding

to model the situation and evaluate it as only theater
can do, to create other atmospheres that capture these
situations and make what is ineffable due to abstractness
tangible, realized, understood, and relatable through use
of actors and storytelling and stage and props, scenery


my contribution to this, as a structural idea for plays
about surveillance society, free for use as a concept:


that a stage with one person, at other times two people
(or more) could exist as if on a basketball court, whereby
bleachers would exist on either side of the main area

1) this could involve a central stage with two bleacher wings,
splayed out facing an audience as if vanishing perspective

2) else it could be an actual school gymnasium with large
bleachers where a theatric performance takes place

see: concept for stage design and structure for play
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pic7z1x1sqdj8az/concept.gif


here is the idea. people in the bleachers are surveillers,
they may either sit on the sidelines, and then aspects of
the play could move in parallel in these other dimensions
(geospatial, store tracking, license scanning, credit card
history, database mining and advertising, listening to calls
and keyword mapping, metadata, tracking receipts, etc)

in version 1 (above) they would then be functioning the
_background, otherwise invisible to the people in the center
of their daily lives, behind this hidden threshold of rules, laws,
language that forbids understanding of this condition at the
same time it defines the existence and actions of the people

warping or skew of data, the hypocrisy of tracking details by
companies or reselling of data, public-private profit strategies,
extortion, blackmail, political abuse, marketing, web adverts,
social network mapping, any of this commentary introduced
into this position of the actors at center stage as they relate
with others, such as using the phone or a computer, as this
links to people or topics, 'feedback' as various events occur

in version 2 (above) the same dynamics could occur though
with plants in the audience, sitting amongst others in the
bleachers, perhaps people wearing all black suits, dark
glasses, holding strange equipment, and instructions for
those in the bleachers to relay messages (the telephone
game) where a signal is passed along regular routes and
thus input is transformed by output, then passing this data
back into the play, as improvisation. for instance, a "secret"
could be passed into the bleachers by an informant, and
then by a defined route, 10 or 15 people in a given line or
sequence (marked by graphics) could be part of this flow
of data, having to relay what they heard one to the next,
to get the data to the black suited mystery people, and
thus the message they receive is then output as signal
back into the play, to those center stage or others who
are inacting with it, such that 'traveling to sign-ville' then
becomes 'unraveling the dollar bill' when later output, etc


thus, this kind of conceptual format would allow creative
expression and exploration of issues, perhaps it would
be best and most informed by technical consultation
with privacy or security and-or other experts, including
data from those surveilled, such that a larger sense of
what this involves could be sketched for citizens so that
its impact and importance could be gauged in a context
of daily living, to what extent this data gathering and this
tracking and watching is going on, and what principles it
is currently be driven by and how laws do not exist that
can constrain its functioning against citizens day to day,
and that everyday situations involve these dimensions
and issues of privacy, security, and such exploitations


playwrights have the unique skills to convey such
cultural messages and raise consciousness, and do it
in a memorable and intriguing and innovative way. where
is the equivalent of the Snowden of playwrights, perhaps
such a format could be reinterpreted by a dozen or more
playwrights, from varying angels or degrees or settings.
what if the structure is modular, and can add, subtract,
or modify the ideas of other plays using this structure,
and thus open or free source the play for interpretative
exploration and development. it is the information and
the perspective that is important, the truth of what is
going on. theaters are places for living ideas, not the
continual regurgitation of those dead and lifeless as if
highest value or truth. there is missing data of today,
who is willing to approach to present and convey what
it involves, using all the resources available to transmit
important information and ideas, start and sustain the
conversation beyond its existing, stifling boundaries

freedom does not exist if it is not made use of. and
it goes away if seeking permission to do something,
because somewhere along the line it may involve risk.
but isn't it worth trying to do something and seeing what
the real situation is, and then knowing from that, then to
not even try, not even do anything, and supposed to know
by not taking it on, accepting defeat without ever fighting

there have got to be some playwrights willing to take
on these issues. if they exist, hopefully so, it would be
interesting to see what such plays involve in their content
and approaches to conveying and conceptualizing issues
of cyberspace, hacking, surveillance, attacks, and so on

929-2010   780-2888   810-4356
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