The Seeing Place Theater spends a good deal of their rehearsal processes not doing the play. They remove the text completely at the beginning. Think Whose Line is it Anyway? - but not so shticky. They improvise their way through The Situations of a play until they are telling the same story as the playwright. There's a lot of falling down, a lot of failure. Many times, they do not accomplish the demands of a scene right away. It isn't until the final week or two that they add the lines and their productions begin to take the shape that the audience will see. Thus, their whole rehearsal process is spent exploring the characters and The Situations in which they find themselves. In this way, the play becomes more than just words. It is a true collaboration between all of the artists involved. Every member of the ensemble - from actors to directors to designers - is called upon to bring their own viewpoints to the table. That is what gives The Seeing Place its unique stamp.
It's so easy to get caught up in the effort to impress or entertain an audience. It has become customary for actors to represent a situation, rather than to live through it - which is what The Seeing Place strives to do. Right now, there is a void in New York Theatre. What is available is impressive much of the time. But The Seeing Place prefers to have an audience identify with what is onstage, rather than marvel at the art. They are much more interested in sharing insight into the human experience, so that an audience can leave a little richer than they arrived. Theater should be a hands-on study of human behavior. It is sociology without the science. The Seeing Place creates a shared experience between the artists and the observers. Audiences constantly remark that they have not only witnessed, but lived through an event.
The literal translation of the Greek word "theatron" is "The Seeing Place" . . . the place where we go to understand ourselves.
Their current production of Look Back in Anger, John Osborne's groundbreaking masterpiece, plays October 13 - 30, Wed-Sat @ 8pm, Sat matinees @ 2pm at ATA's Sargent Theater - 314 West 54th Street, 4th Floor, NYC. Directed by Reesa Graham, the production features Keenan Caldwell, Rick Delaney, Adam Reich, Anna Marie Sell, and BranDon Walker with Lighting Design by Christopher Michael Ham and Production Design by Lillian Wright.
For tickets and more information, please visit www.seeingplacetheater.com.
