Collaborative project portofolio growth

Growing up in the Balkans, I was exposed primarily to classical theatrical works, on pre-written texts which were rarely modified at all by the theatrical company. Acting in a youth theatre as a teen, I had experience in improvisation when it comes to set design, acting techniques ect, however, none of these would include devising theatre without any prior written text or include elements of anything that can be characterized as contemporary theatre.

However, when I started IB, I was involved in an experimental theatre piece, set in an airport, that was characterized by disconnected scenes and dialogues. As a thespian, it was a challenging performance, as it required me to be open to improvisation and break away from traditional theatrical structures. However, it was also an exciting and rewarding experience, as I was able to push the boundaries of my craft and explore new ways of storytelling. The costumes, music and even the audience layout were very different from what I ever experienced in theatre before, which made me realise that there are almost no boundaries in the format in the process of devising theatre.

I can conclude that my engagement with theatre was very binary: I would either be exposed to a classical theatre, with a straightforward story and conventional acting, or I would engage with a full-on experimental approach, as during our performance in the first year. As I began my IB Collaborative Project, I knew that I wanted to challenge myself and explore new approaches to performance. If I get the opportunity, I would like to break this division and learn how to create performances based on intersections of classical and conventional.

My main interest in this project is using theatre to convey a social message. While I had never created a text or performance(or any kind of artistic work) with this goal before, I believed that theatre had the power to spark conversations and inspire change. I was eager to learn how to incorporate social commentary into my work and explore the ways in which theatre can reflect and shape society, which was crucial for finding my starting point.

As the foundation of my work, I want to maintain a classical structure, due to it's timeless elegance and sophistication as well as its convenience for transmitting messages. This is particularly important in the context of my audience's understanding of the piece, as after I talked to the audience from our "airport style" performance, I noticed that most of them didn't understand our piece due to its unregulated structure. As I will be dealing with transmitting the social message, I will aim for maintaining the classical structure of the piece in order to avoid misinterpretation of my performance.

Nonetheless, I am ready to experiment with what happens when a classically-structured piece involves conventional elements, so, if they arise, I will take the opportunities to incorporate this kind of aesthetic on this assignment, as it could also benefit me in my future studies and career in theatre.

Despite these somewhat clear initial goals, I am still unsure of which specific genre, topic, or approach I want to explore. I began by considering comedy as a potential theme, hoping to create a performance that would entertain audiences and showcase my sense of humour. However, as I continue to brainstorm and collaborate with my peers, I remaine open to exploring new ideas and approaches.

As we started our work on the project, we were tasked with forming groups to create our project. As I explored potential collaborators, it quickly became clear that most of the students were interested in creating fully physical or conceptual performances that did not necessarily align with my interest in a classical structure, and I didn't feel enthusiastic while speaking with them about the project. There wasn't a "spark". It also became evident that our class is going to divide into very small groups, up to 3 students.

After some searching, I eventually found a suitable collaborator in a Hungarian student named Lajos. While Lajos and I had different starting points for our performance, we shared an interest in incorporating comedy and agreed that improvisation would be an essential part of our devising process, as well as the fact that we want to transmit a social message through our performance. This agreement provided a strong foundation for us to begin working together and exploring new techniques and forms of expression.

Even though it seemed quite scary to complete the whole performance with only one collaborator, I accepted the challenge as I knew that it's better to work on something I am passionate about with only one person than on something that isn't appealing to me even with the full theater company. However, with this, Lajos and I accepted a way higher responsibility, as it was only us working on everything. Despite this, I felt that this was an incredible opportunity to develop myself as a person and as a thespian. By working on all aspects of the performance, from the theoretical foundations to the artistic choices and technical design, I knew that I would be embarking on a truly holistic theatrical journey.

My starting point for this work is an illustration from an artist Stephff(psedunym):

The illustration made me question the dominant narrative of economic growth as the solution to poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation. While at first, it seems that new economic strategies help to develop solutions to those global problems, in the eyes of this illustration, they actually cause so much more damage in those areas of our life.

I decided to explore this idea more by watching the sociological documentary "Fairytales of Growth" by Pierre Smith Khanna, which argues that infinite economic growth isn't possible and explores alternative ways of thinking about development that prioritize well-being, social justice, and ecological sustainability.

The documentary draws on the work of several influential thinkers in the field of ecological economics, including Herman Daly, Tim Jackson, Kate Raworth, and Amartya Sen. These scholars have all questioned the assumption that infinite economic growth should be desirable, and have proposed alternative frameworks for understanding the relationship between the economy, society, and the environment.

For example, Herman Daly argues for a steady-state economy, where the goal is to maintain a stable level of resource use and waste generation, rather than continuously increasing consumption and production. Tim Jackson emphasizes the importance of a "prosperity without growth" model, which prioritizes social and ecological well-being over economic growth. Kate Raworth's "doughnut economics" framework proposes a new way of thinking about the relationship between the economy and the environment, where the goal is to stay within the "safe and just" space for humanity. Finally, Amartya Sen's capability approach emphasizes the importance of expanding people's freedoms and opportunities, rather than simply increasing their income or consumption.

In summary, my starting point will push me to incorporate the idea of rethinking our current economic system and exploring alternative approaches to development that prioritize well-being as a foundation for our performance. As I embark on this project, I am inspired by the ideas and insights presented in the illustration and the film, and I am committed to exploring ways to apply these principles in the field of theater.

In the context of the theatrical framework, the ideas presented in the documentary can be contextualized within the realm of contemporary theatre and performance studies, specifically in relation to the concept of "post-dramatic theatre." This theoretical framework, developed by German theatre scholar Hans-Thies Lehmann, refers to a shift away from traditional, text-based drama towards a more visual, performative and immersive form of theatre.

Postdramatic theatre is characterized by a rejection of traditional narrative structures and a focus on sensory experiences and aesthetic experimentation. It often incorporates elements of dance, physical theatre, and multimedia technology, and places greater emphasis on the performer's body and presence than on the written text.

Having this in mind, as well as the fact that my partner's and my initial idea was to keep a classical structure, I want to use this as an opportunity to see how do some elements of Posttraumatic theatre work as a part of a broader project with more or less classical structure and straightforward story.

Already while exploring my starting point, I had a specific target audience in mind - the community in my international school in the Balkans. This school is known for its stressful environment, which embodies the values of neoliberal capitalism and constant striving for growth. While looking at my peers in the classes, I could notice the ideology critiqued in the documentary assimilated into their daily activities. Furthermore, I could notice that it severely distorts our well-being as a community, evident in different physical and mental health issues associated with the constant strive for growth, prevalent in our community. I also identified that this social issue is not discussed at all in our institution, despite it being showcased on daily bases. I, therefore, want to use our Collaborative project to create a space where the critique of growth ideology could be conveyed and hopefully resonate with the students, faculty, and staff.

As I am taking on the role of the playwright, my intention will be to use this play as a platform to critique the growth ideology on various levels: on the structural level of a neoliberal capitalist society that we live in, but also on a personal level, where I aim to encourage the audience to see how they can use their agency to combat pressure they encounter. Through the script, I aim to highlight the many flaws and injustices that are inherent in such a system, and to encourage my target audience to rethink how we uphold those values in our community and in wider society.

During the performance, I want the audience to relate with the character(s) as "growth pressure" is exercised on them. I want them to feel how important it is to be kind to themselves even when the whole world is strictly instructing them to prioritize profit/efficiency/other goals over personal well-being.

My ultimate goal drags me back to the starting point and is for the audience to reflect on the world we live in and to consider alternative systems that prioritize human well-being over profit as they watch challenges characters encounter. I hope that by the end of the play, the audience will feel a sense of urgency to take action and work towards creating a more just and equitable society.

The theatre company whose approaches I will be bringing to this project is called Ex Machina. It's a Canadian. It's is a renowned theatre company founded by Canadian director and playwright Robert Lepage in 1994. The company has earned a reputation for its innovative and multidisciplinary approach to theatre, blending elements of theatre, dance, music, and technology to create immersive and thought-provoking performances.

Ex Machina has created a diverse range of works, from large-scale productions like "The Dragons' Trilogy" and "Lipsynch" to more intimate shows like "The Far Side of the Moon" and "887." Many of their productions explore complex themes such as identity, memory, and the human condition, often using cutting-edge technology to enhance the theatrical experience.

Ex Machina has also collaborated with other artists and organizations to create unique and boundary-pushing performances. For example, the company worked with Cirque du Soleil to create "Kà," a production that combined acrobatics, martial arts, and storytelling to tell the story of a young prince and his sister's journey to save their kingdom.

The main thing that I will be bringing from this company to our project is the idea that theatre should incorporate the elements of recorded arts - filmmaking, video art and multimedia. This is particularly evident in one of their most notable productions, "The Image Mill," a large-scale multimedia projection show that was presented as part of the celebrations for the 400th anniversary of Quebec City in 2008. The show featured a massive projection of historic and contemporary images on the grain silos in Quebec City's port area, accompanied by music and narration.

I will incorporate this into our performance by using Al-generated voice digital characters that would take the role of representing the structure navigating the "growth-minded" system. As per Ex Machine, those characters would be treated as all other characters played by human actors in our performance. As a playwright and technician, I have two important tasks regarding those characters:

1. Incorporate them into the playwright as normal characters. The intention behind it is for the audience to notice that the boundary between personal agency and structure isn't strict, but rather blurred with parts of idiology living in us, and in people that live with us. In the playscript, those characters won't be treated as non-human - they will have their names, descriptions, actions... Finally, they will interact with human characters and primarily use those interactions how individuals working in favour of the structure impose it onto others.

2. Create them in the most realistic way possible. I will aim to explore several Artificial Intelligience softwares that could be used for this, and will use them in the devising process as well. If multimedial characters are part of our performance, they also have to be devised along with our acting devising process.

As we embarked on the devising process, we had only one clear idea - that our first scenes should represent daily lives of our characters. We didn't want to represent exceptional situations in life where pressure is evident, such as big exams or stressful life events, as our audience is already aware of the effects of such situations. Stressful and hard situations can happen to anyone - and can be out of control of those people. Going back to our intentions, we actually want to showcase the pressure excercised by the hegemonic ideology of growth. Therefore, we chose to show daily life routines and situations impacted by this mindset in our first scenes - and we may later decide to show how those routines can lead to extremely stressful, one-time events.

We have therefore tried to devise scenes from regular life actions: eating, playing, studying.. Our goal was to identify the presence and pressure of a "growth mindset" in those situations.

The primary challenge we faced was finding the right balance between humour and seriousness. We didn't want to make the scenes too heavy or too light-hearted, as that could take away from the overall message we were trying to convey. We both are lovers of comedy, which would often lead us in the wrong direction (compared to our intentions). This has, luckily, been identified by our classmates on the trial showing. They have informed us that the message they receive from such scenes is satirising and derision of our characters, which was the last thing we would want to achieve. Therefore, we have avoided it by agreeing on pre-set directions in which our scene would go - we would still devise it, however, we clearly decided the roles, relationships between characters and situations they are at. We have also consulted devising guidebooks by Joan Littlewood and Peter Brook, which have helped us in the process. The second one was particularly important as focuses on the simple and universal theatre - which perfectly goes in line with our decision to devise our first scenes as daily life situations.

As our improvisation/devised scenes progressed, it was time to formulate them into a script that we would follow. This was essential as it enabled us to focus on other aspects of our play, such as staging, rather than the action itself which was developed in the first place during our improvisations and devising. As I was truly scared that we would fail the assignment as deadline was approaching and my partner prioritised other assignments at that point, I productively transformed this fear into a motivation and wrote the script fully.

Reflecting on the process of writing the script, I found that the most challenging aspect was creating a compelling and engaging plot from the devised scenes that we had. I wanted to transform it into a story that would capture the attention of the audience and keep them invested in the characters and their journey, but also effectively transmit the overall social message rooted in it.

Once I had a general idea of the plot, I spent time outlining the story and developing the characters, as well as the last two scenes. I wanted each character to have a distinct personality and backstory, so that the audience would feel like they knew them personally. I also wanted to create conflict and tension throughout the story, so that the audience would be emotionally invested in the outcome.

As I began to write the screenplay itself, I found that I had to constantly revise and refine my work. I would often come up with new ideas or change existing scenes in order to make the story flow better or to add more depth to the characters. I also paid close attention to the dialogue, making sure that it sounded natural and reflected the personalities of the characters.

In this subsection, I will briefly describe the plot by summarizing the script, so that more context can be brought into this whole portfolio.

1st scene: A scene featuring a young baby(Tommy) and his mom, who teaches him words. She uses money as a way to persuade him to learn, by rewarding him with money every time he learns a new word.

2nd scene: The child(Tommy) is now in school, preparing for math competitions while his peers are out having fun. While at first, he isn't very passionate about it, his teacher mentions the prestige and material value of the awards to make him study harder. The teacher is also daydreaming about the awards and recognitions he is going to receive for his work with talented students.

3rd scene: The main character(Tommy) has now become a worker in a huge financial corporation. His boss congratulates me on the 2 million dollars that he has just earned the company - but already sets him a new goal worker has to follow. The boss is off to enjoy drinks with a smile on his face, while the worker is stuck with his work and a short deadline.

4th scene: Scene representing the main character's fight with the growth mindset in himself through tug-of-war. As per Ex Machina style, the character's age is switching very quickly thorough the scene, similar to coming of age plays. On one end of the rope, his will to live calmly and restfully is presented, while on the end, an inner self, played by another actor, is pressuring him to keep up with the goals and accomplishments. The scene is followed by intense music and dialogues are tailored in a way that suggests that whenever the character fulfils one goal, another obligation, deadline or task comes and doesn't allow him to rest or fulfil his physiological needs.

5th scene: A new character is being questioned at the police station. Through his conversation with the policeman (played by Al voice), we realize that the main character has killed himself. The policeman does not show any empathy for Tommy but focuses on doing his job as system and structure obligate him to do so Overall, I found the process of writing the screenplay to be challenging but rewarding. Creating a compelling plot and interesting characters is no easy feat, but I am proud of the final product and believe that it helped me further develop my playwriting skills.

Staging has always been a passion of mine, and I knew that it would be a crucial element in transmitting the social message that I wanted to convey through our performance. As a result, I took on the role of set and costume designer, as well as sound and light technician.

Throughout the devising process, I worked closely with my collaborator to create a staging that was both visually stunning and emotionally resonant. We experimented with different lighting and sound cues to create a dynamic atmosphere, and we paid careful attention to every detail of the set and costumes to ensure that they would contribute to the overall message of the performance, and to the specific emotion of the scene. As the scenes in our performance have significantly different emotions represented(quite positive and neutral emotions in the first three scenes, a tense fight in the fourth one, and a harsh scene at the police station, developing character movement patterns, set design and lighting has been different for each of them. In this section, I will particularly focus on our staging of the fourth scene, as it was the only scene we haven't devised prior to staging - and we, therefore, had a much more difficult time with it when the time for staging came.

This scene is filled with fear, anger, anxiety, adrenaline, determination, and in the end, exhaustment, so my stagining skills were really challenged as staging had to be very specific for it to be showcased.

As a set designer, I aimed to create an intense and dramatic atmosphere that would capture the audience's attention from the very beginning. I achieved this by empty atmosphere on the stage, with a bold red lighting scheme that immediately set the tone for the scene, as well as strong and loud conflict music that followed the scene's mood. The use of silhouette lighting of the men added to the visual drama of the scene and accentuated the tension between the characters, and helped my characters escape

By pitting him in contrast and a fight against the larger forces of society, I hoped to create a powerful and emotional journey for the audience, one that would leave them thinking and questioning long after the show was over, which of the characters(inner selves) they see undertake the dominance in their daily lives: do they give any attention to an inner voice asking for rest and wellbeing, or do they, as Tommy in our play, allow the harsh "growth mindset" voice in themselves direct their daily actions. As the scene progressed, I ensured that the lighting remained consistent with the tone and mood of the dramatic dialogue. The red lights served to heighten the tension, while the dynamic music added an extra layer of intensity to the scene.

The final moments of the scene were crucial in conveying the exhaustion and defeat of the main character. To achieve this, I designed it with only the silhouette of the exhausted man laying on the floor, symbolizing his struggle against all the societal pressures. The overall atmosphere was dark and sad, which contributed to the impact of the scene, as well as the fact that he was laying there for a few seconds before the transition to the next scene, giving the audience space to feel and process the message of the scene and his journey.

As most mainstream Al voices that are used for theatre plays are not open source and ask for a hefty fee for their services I came up with a creative solution of using a robotic voice instead of a "natural like AI voice". I utilized a free online text-to-speech converter, Sonantic, which is usually used for book narration, to generate the required audio, as per script. Later, I used a robotic filter and improved the quality by making further modifications using Adobe Audition and Audacity. Not only did this allow us to avoid using costly commercial Al voice makers, but it also helped me gain valuable knowledge and experience in music production. This was one of the components that consumed most of my time for this project, as I had to experiment for days with different software until I reached the perfect "sound formula ", but I have gained a lot of experience for my future theatre projects, so I am very satisfied with it. I believe that this shows the creativity and resourcefulness of the production team in finding a solution to a technical limitation, adding to the overall impressiveness of the performance.

Usage a modified robotic voice for the inspector character in the last scene has also adhered to the overall message of the play about the dehumanizing effects of the system. The audience may perceive the inspector character as more of a machine than a person, emphasizing the idea that the structure of the system has turned him into a profit-driven robot rather than a human being capable of empathy and understanding. This can make the message of the play more impactful and thought-provoking for the audience, as they see the consequences of a system that prioritizes profit over people.

In addition, during the transitions between the scenes, (open-source) news inserts that highlight natural catastrophes have been played. This was used with two goals:

1. Connect the characters of the play, that showcase "growth mindset" on an individual level, with structural changes that follow soiceties appreciating those values. Inserts about Arctic ice melting, Australia's fires and other catastrophes have showed irreparable consequences of growth.

2. Allow easier set changes, as otherwise, we would be pressured by time during changes between the scenes. This allowed us to create very smooth transitions between the scenes.

One of the key parameters of the success of a performance is the impact it had on the audience. Therefore, I and my collaborator organized a small feedback panel and conducted interviews following the performance, where we were looking for the impact and effect our performance had on the audience.

The audience has mostly received the message during the last two scenes, which seem to be the most impactful considering our intentions. Panilists and interviews have highlighted that the rope scene, despite its conventionality and untypical format, was perceived as very good. As one of the panellists highlighte "The scene with the rope made me question my own beliefs and if I prioritize my academics too much. If I do, who would tell me that I do when everyone else is obsessed with academics as well?"¹; One panellist has been particularly intrigued by the movement and rope dynamics during 4th scene: "And then when he lost rope from his hands, there was nothing he could rip of anymore, it made me wonder, how close is that point for all of us"²

However, it is important to note that first three scenes were important to get audience intrigued by the story. As one of the interviewees said: "I didn't understand what the play is about, until the rope scene came. Suddenly, everything I saw and heard so far made perfect sense, and I was mad at myself for not noticing how badly did Tommy treat himself before. It's the perks of the world we live in, we just think about progress."³

As we reviewed the feedback we received, we were almost crying from happiness, as our main intention has been fully fulfilled: we managed to make all of our audience critically approach the "growth mindset", especially on a personal level. When it comes to the structural level, most of the audience has actually received the message about it as well, as Emma argues "Voices from the TV were crucial for that". As one of the most important components of our performance was including approaches by Ex Machina, I have also asked the audience about it. While they weren't familiar with the company itself, when I described their practices they immediately identified them in our performance and highlighted a completely new layer that those approaches bring.

In terms of what could our performance develop more, the audience has highlighted that we could develop the multimedia effects even more and create a better link between the first three scenes, which we will definitely do during our next version of the performance, eagerly awaited by the audience.

Bogart, A., & Landau, T. (2005). The viewpoints book: A practical guide to viewpoints and composition. Theatre Communications Group.

Brook, P. (1996). The empty space. Touchstone.

Lepage, R. (1995). The seven streams of the River Ota. Ex Machina.

Lepage, R., & Théâtre Sans Frontières. (2004). The Far Side of the Moon. Ex Machina.

Littlewood, J., & Coleman, P. (2011). Theatre workshop: Joan Littlewood and the making of modern British theatre. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Smith Khanna, P., director. (2019). Fairytales of Growth [Documentary]. Baluarte Producciones.