"So Adam," my coursemates said. "Want to write a blog about theater in Russia for all of us back home?" I hemmed. I hawed. I had no idea what I was getting into...BLOG MISSION STATEMENT...
When I started this blog, I was extremely focused on creating a tool that would be a vehicle for keeping up with my theater company in New York, and at the same time accessible to any visitors that want to read about theater or art. As Studio Six and I happen to be bi-cultural, so too will this blog focus on printing quotes and terminology in the language of the original (Russian) while providing translations for those who cannot navigate the Russian.
While elements of my personal life will undoubtedly color some of the posts in this blog, it is not my main interest to be sharing personal anecdotes, or writing a live journal.
While this blog will contain (or attempt to contain) concise analysis of theater, art, and classroom experience, I have no interest in being a critic.
This blog will focus on impressions and analysis of the art I am in contact with now and in the future through the eyes of a practioner.
It is my desire that this blog will be:
A forum for active discussion (between myself and the readers of the blog) on Russian theater from the perspective of a bi-cultural actor/student at the Moscow Art Theater school.
A resource for information about Russian directors, writers, theater culture, and teachers for all students and practitioners of art, wherever they may be.
An ongoing search for an artistic identity (my own personal artistic identity and that of the theater company I have the honor to be a part of), and its effective and adequate expression both on and off the stage.
Exploration. Identification. Expression.
What do these words mean? Why are they at the top of the blog?
As artists we must constantly be exploring, searching, pressing the limits. As one of my teachers once said "if you don't feel innovation breathing down your neck, you have no business being in this profession". We must constantly be searching for that new innovation. We must explore.
But exploration is not enough. At some point in the search, we must identify as precisely as possible what it is exactly we are looking for. The search alone is not enough without a goal, a grail, an idea that we will know we have found when we find it.
Once we know what we are searching for, we must then use all of our talent and creativity to bring that vision to fruition onstage. However, mere text or inside jokes intelligible only to those who have staged them are insufficient. We must bring all our energy to bear so that our goal finds its adequate, accessible, and intelligible expression onstage. We must know what we are saying to the audience, how we are saying it, and in what artistic language.
Exploration. Identification. Expression.
This blog is part of my throughline of action towards achieving these goals. I eagerly await your participation.
-A
