How necessary is TIM Theater?
Meanwhile, a second month passed without a stage. We had been clutching at one last straw for quite a long time: a few performances in June as part of training for only 50 or so people each time. Maybe it could be broken up into even smaller groups, maybe by then training centers would have set up classrooms that were completely coronaproof, maybe....
But it was called off. Unnecessary meetings will be postponed to the fall, the advice says. How do you measure that? What is nócessary? "Communicating in difficult situations for household helpers," is that more or less necessary? In households where there are more people walking than usual, where there is fear or ambiguity about appropriate safety measures, or where a lone attendant walks around frustrated,...?
A performance that is not a performance
I myself did "perform" this week. In front of 165 people still. It was not a theater or Inspinazie assignment, but a lecture for my work at Hummus.
But giving a lecture in front of an invisible audience requires some imagination and acting skills! I drew little eyes on my laptop right next to the webcam, and imagined 100 pairs of other eyes behind them in the dark. (Not all 165 because I don't know who was watching Netflix or Wordfeuing via cell phone in the meantime).
That the eldest son let slip without any sarcasm that the slides looked really cool was a boost, yet I was as stressed as I was at my very first Inspinazie appearance.
But it remained a performance without a stage. Without being able to see or, even stranger, hear the audience. The thickest fourth wall of my career. Except for a panel. How pleased I was with that intervention to still build a kind of bridge this way, and alternate the lecture with some demos with that panel.
And as an ode to TIM / Inspinazie, I had put on my "play clothes." The result and the reactions were very good, and I am convinced that those playMode helped me in this, even more than a live lecture!
Analog discharge
Afterwards, I had a coffee in my kitchen and chatted with the organizers. That was nice, but it still remains unreal to be alone in your own home after such a performance. No chatting with fellow performers or fellow speakers. No unloading in the dressing room. No contact in the foyer with attendees. To play cards after and to talk about what else we are doing and, in the process, our cards with the beautiful drawings of Britt Raes handing out.
The TIM print materials were ready not long before the lockdown. We felt for so long that we needed analog public relations material in addition to our website and social media channels. The boxes are here ready to be emptied....
I can't wait to pass tickets from my hand into another flesh-and-blood hand. And mostly because of the thought that someday you can do such an operation back without the fear of overloading a hospital.
And I especially can't wait until we can make improvisational theater magic with the Inspis again!
>> For mixed audiences that may be a very long time away, but within organizations it is different. Know that we are ready with TIM XL, tailored to Corona transitions, read more here. In the summer or soon after, the first such meetings could possibly take place, perhaps in your organization as well?
>> We think about alternative products and also receive alternative requests: short performances as stops on a theater bike tour? Tailor-made films about human interactions as didactic material in training programs? A movement improvisation performance in the courtyard of a corporate site? Do not hesitate To brainstorm with us If you want to stage something special in your own organization. Art is heartening in these times!
>> In addition to performances and alternatives to them, most of us also provide communication training through improvisation principles. These are fortunately going to be able to take place much faster than performances. Moreover, the themes we cover in them are more important than ever: dealing with the un-for-seen (im-pro-visation), authentic interactions, appreciating the role of emotions, ... If need or interest, contact us!
Miljaar de nondeju
I yearn for you
I miss you
How you look at me
How you laugh at me
How you are silent with me
No one listens like thou
No one holds their breath like thou and then lets go again
Such an urge for that breath in my face
So much I want you close to me
So much desire to wrap you up
Time extends through desire
I wait, eagerly
I am waiting for you
Because someday
One day
Art thou there again
In the dark
And then I bow in reverence
And then ye clap again
I thank you with hand on heart
I am waiting for you in the wings
My love cherished
public
Elke Janssen, 24-4-2020