Perpendicular to the Aristotelian: The Speculations of Mac Wellman

SPECULATIONS ON MAC WELLMAN

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  • SPECULATIONS ON MAC WELLMAN ‹ Undermain Theatre
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  • SPECULATIONS ON WELLMAN, PART TWO

    • From a geometrical perspective, this is obviously true, and is illustrated nicely by an overhead view of the ancient Greek theatre theatron.

    SPECULATIONS ON MAC WELLMAN ‹ Undermain Theatre

    A point moving through this space is indeed continuously changed and changed again by its simultaneous motion through the invisible lines of space and time. Could it be that a vertical narrative is one that moves along only one plane space or time, but not both?

    Only the wicked walk in circles. So, to summarize we may say: Augustine first takes the line to mean that the ways of the wicked are circular by binding them to paths that will lead them nowhere. As opposed to some religions, Hinduism for example, that see existence as repeating cycles, Augustine sees Christianity as a religion with a beginning, certain key acts that will only occur once the life of Jesus , and a final end in the eternity of God.

    So why is monologue demonic? I find that hard to accept. Drama takes place in phase space.

    Mac Wellman's Dracula: Hippodrome State Theatre 2010 Set Design

    The continuum of phase-space is to time as time. Drama takes place in phase space, which is a highly fancy read: In other words, think of drama as existing in a space where, yes, anything is possible.

    More than that, there is a place in this space for each possibility. Much the way x runs perpendicular to y on the Cartesian plane, and z must run out perpendicular to those in order to add a third dimension, phase-space is going to burst out perpendicular to time. Not exactly a novel proposition. The charm of using the word charm is that it allows Wellman to define his hooks broadly. A hook need not be immediately accessible or conventional — though he does not deny, for the moment at least, that it may be.

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    And, like the Strange, Charm is not confined to one event on-stage. It exists throughout the experience as the attractive, magnetic force. Allow a further metaphor on Bachelard and designed space.

    Non-fiction books about theatre

    You walk along a street until you see a house. Ordinarily you might pass it, but the house has a certain character on its surface — an eccentric sash of ivy — that compels you to walk towards it. Furthermore the door is open and a light is on.

    SPECULATIONS ON WELLMAN, PART TWO

    This, too, is a kind of Charm. Once you are inside, you notice the space is giving you a certain feeling.

    On inspection, you find that each of the physical objects of the house — the shelves, the sconces, the doorknobs and doorways — possess a quality somehow indescribably related to that feeling, and that your interaction with these objects and your broad sense of the space are reinforcing one another, strengthening that initial feeling. The feeling is thicker, more complex than the compulsion you felt on seeing the ivy outside, but without the ivy you would never have come in.

    Obie Award recipients

    In modern drama, the Strange is often challenging and at least initially unclear. It needs Charm to support it. In the course of his discussion, Wellman alludes to scientific developments which have influenced his understanding of the creative process, such as relativity, chaos theory, and fractal theory.

    Wellman has received extensive recognition for his work over the last thirty years, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and three Obies Off-Broadway Theater Awards , the most recent of which was a Lifetime Achievement Award in From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations.

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