Talk:Friday July 3: Somewhere Between Truth and Lies: The Self as Character in Devised Performance

ure RESPONSE: Jessica Hoover Matzke, Annemarie. "Performing Games: How to be Cast as a Forced Entertainment Perfomer." 169-179. Print.

The article was interesting to say the least. I enjoyed the fact that we had already seen a bit of what was being discussed, otherwise the whole peice wouldn't have made sense! The entire idea behind "Forced Entertainment" is very smart and a little insane, it's hard to grasp I guess, so I found it very fitting that a lot of the article juxtaposed ideas and used several contradictory sentences, "...follwong the rules, only to be able to bend and break them onstage" (173) or my favorite, "Individuality shines through...highlighting deviations from the constantly same( which is, of course, by it's nature, constantly different)" (174). I can't say with confidence that I get exactly what happens on their stage but i think I can grasp the concept of being yourself, while still removing yourself and becoming a perfomer. We need to remember that although the cast is not trying to represent thier individual selves they are also refusing to act. I highly doubt that any one of these individuals do these sorts of experiments and discussions on their time away from work. What's funny is, that this is their work. How many of us are removed, or perhaps a different part of ourselves at our jobs, or family dinners etc.? I think these people must have to try and live and perform in this other "realm" of thier own lives in order to do what they do. Every rule in the article begins with, "imagine", which I am sure is what many of the "Forced" group has to do; however it's not about imagining unicorns and riding on squirrels, it's more about imagining you are removing a peice of your self? The "judge" we all have inside of us, in order for them to explore and do this work? Is any of this making sense? I feel as if these people must have to become a "safer" them, for lack of a better term, so that the bruising and scaring, both mentally and physically is set aside during performances like "Speak Bitterness" and "Quizoola!" That is what I am offering, the idea and discussion that these people are more than able to be both themselves and performers at the same time.