Questions, Session 1

Thursday, September 29th, 2016
What are the most important aspects of Senseless? The “justice” that the play is constantly leading up to; the viewer’s desire to see Alex get her revenge against Taylor Colt.

How does “testing out” versions of the script build and change the end result? It allows the benefit of hearing the lines/ideas read out loud, for the sake of knowing whether or not said drafts make sense, if the scenes flow well together.Also lets drafts slowly evolve with the cast’s particular voices, and leads to lines being written with the personality and delivery of each actor in mind.

What have you learned about performing horror, and how? What led you to discovering the necessity of “not breathing” when acting in a suspenseful show? When I read descriptions of the Theatre du Grand-Guignol, there were always people who would faint during  Performances. I thought part of this might be due to the fact that they weren't breathing, caught up in the suspense of it. As performers, we can absolutely manipulate the breath of the audience, and in doing so ratchet up the tension.

What are, in your opinion, the similarities of horror and comedy?
They’re essentially the same thing; Tension is  a knife edge. Horror balances on it carefully every step, Comedy comes from falling off.

What is the intention of including more “abstract” or “profound” language in horror? (example: Megan K’s final monologue in senseless, surreal phrases from Taylor Colt…)
It helps build the world. The plays are reflections of reality, while these “weirder” lines and phrases help establish the crookedness of the world we’re looking into. They also help “hijack” an audience’s brain- language as a tool to weave the world around an audience.

How does staging horror differ from filming horror, and delivering horror as a movie? We’re all in the room together. The actors in horror theater need to be just as potentially terrifying as the characters they are playing… The actual relationship between audience and actor becomes much more profound. More real.

Do your own shows scare you? What would a live horror show have to do to scare you?
Not after hours and hours of rehearsal, although I'm occasionally surprised... the thrill comes from 
succesfully terrifying audiences. 

What is horror’s relation to beauty?
There is absolutely room for beauty in horror. It's so fragile, so fleeting... (Examples we discussed were The Cell using beautiful imagery as a way to clash and twist against the ugliness one might expect to see in a psychopath’s mind. And, Dracula, which is simply a gorgeous horror film.)

Would you ever consider developing a horror show about aliens? Or a “monster”?
Short answer: Yes. Long answer: It would be REALLY hard to pull off effectively. Not impossible, just really hard. 

Has Dangerous Productions ever created a “ghost story” play? No, not yet. This would also come back to the issue of audiences knowing that live theatre is fake, and the characters are only actors. “The possibility of ghosts would have to be just as terrifying as if the drama was being caused by people.

Does the typical/modern audience limit the possibilities of scare and fear to only common/relatable themes of horror? Does it bother you to play with “pop/modern” fear?
[It’s not a bother to work with the public’s collective fears; and it’s important to remember that DP and all of its members are an active part of that collective. In horror theatre (and horror in general) anything can be done. The medium grants very few limitations in terms of how weird and outlandish a story gets.]

Are you ever afraid of people seeing the repeated tricks in Dangerous Production horror plays (using flashlights to set up jumpscares, blood, strange physicalities, etc.) as gimmicks or crutches? Does it matter?
Short answer: No. Long answer: As long as the tricks of live horror continue to elicit a scare from audiences, they’re worth including. “If it serves, it serves.”*** 

***Side note; incredible motto for a drag queen.

~“No tea, no shade: If it serves, it serves, mama.”
    •    Queen Simmons~

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