Dramaturgies of risky play: Two (risky) case studies

ABSTRACT

In this descriptive autoethnographic essay, I discuss my work on risky play as a dramaturgical framework in two recent performances for young audiences—one traditional, one site-specific—staged in the U.S. metropolitan area of Phoenix, Arizona. I directed the first, This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing, in February 2015, and one year later I collaborated with a youth artist to create and perform in The Light Rail Plays on the Valley Metro light rail commuter train system with Rising Youth Theatre. Through both productions, I sought to investigate potential ways in which risk might function dramaturgically in two different youth-focused performance environments. These diverse experiences taught me much about the ways in which I use risk (and its aversion) to negate and control the spaces in which I (claim to) seek to enable empowerment and action. Through this journey, I came to understand risky play as a powerful strategy to facilitate problem solving onstage.

En este ensayo descriptivo auto-etnográfico, hablo de mi trabajo sobre el juego arriesgado (y la actuación o representación arriesgada) como marco dramatúrgico en dos representaciones teatrales dirigidas al público joven—una tradicional y una organizada en un sitio específico—escenificadas en el área metropolitana estadounidense de Phoenix, Arizona. Dirigí la primera: Esta chica ríe, esta chica grita, esta chica no hace nada, en febrero de 2015; y un año más tarde, colaboré con un artista juvenil para crear y actuar en Las obras del tren ligero, representadas a bordo del Tren Ligero Metropolitano de Valle, del sistema ferroviario de Tren de Cercanías, con la compañía Teatro Creciente Juvenil. En ambas producciones, procuré investigar los caminos potenciales de los cuales el riesgo podría funcionar dramatúrgicamente en dos entornos teatrales diferentes dirigidos hacia la juventud. Estas experiencias diversas me enseñaron mucho sobre los caminos de los cuales uso el riesgo (y su aversión) para negar y controlar los espacios en los cuales (yo reclamo que) busco procurar el empoderamiento y la acción. A través de este viaje, logré entender el juego arriesgado (y la representación arriesgada) como una estrategia poderosa de facilitar la solución de problemas en el escenario.

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this essay was first presented as a keynote address at the University of Arizona School of Film, Television and Theatre’s Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 14, 2016. Many thanks to Dr. Melissa Thompson and Dr. Jessica Maerz for their feedback, enthusiasm, and encouragement. Many thanks as well to my incredible collaborators on these performances, who have all freely consented to being named and discussed in this essay.

Notes

¹ While the entire series of works was presented together as The Light Rail Plays, each individual piece did not have a formal title. For the purposes of this essay, I refer to the entire series as The Light Rail Plays and the individual piece I co-devised and performed in as our Light Rail Play.

² Since 2013, I have served on the board of directors of Rising Youth Theatre. Although my work on The Light Rail Plays informs my service on the board, and my board service informed my approach to The Light Rail Plays, I was not invited to work as an artist because of my status as a board member.

³ Brief passages within this paragraph initially appeared as part of the Director’s Notes in the program for This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing. See Hughes (2015).

⁴ For audio excerpts of Noel Miller’s score, please see https://soundcloud.com/nnicholssounddesign/sets/this-girl-laughs-show-content.

⁵ For audio excerpts of Drew Miller’s composition for the lobby display, please see https://soundcloud.com/drewnicholsmusic/lobby-play-from-this-girl-laughs-this-girl-cries-this-girl-does-nothing.