HOUSE / DIVIDED

By Francesca Spedalieri, Ph.D. Candidate, OSU Theatre

Summer in the city has been romanticized, painted, poetized. Personally, I feel that the best way to experience a hot (heat-wave hot!) summer in New York is to find refuge in a cool (in every sense of the word) theater. From July 10^th to July 25^th, the theater in question became that of the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City, which hosted The Builders Association’s Summer Residency Workshop for HOUSE / DIVIDED (formerly ROAD TRIP – as you may know, the title has been adjusted to better reflect the content of the piece).

During the two weeks spent with The Builders, fellow Ohio State student Phil Garrett and I were invited to glance at the inner workings of The Builders artistic family. As days passed, I was once again amazed by the dedication, malleability, and artistic creativity that flowed in the room while the group was constructing piece by piece a new piece of theater.  Creating new works is no task for the faint of heart: there are continuous revisions, grand unknowns, long discussions, and, in the case of HOUSE / DIVIDED, the great task of interweaving three major narrative threads while integrating video, live music, documentary footage, actors…and let’s not forget about the real, plaster-and-lath house that is waiting for The Builders in Columbus and that will make an integral part of the set and the story itself! Bottom line: there was a lot to do and think about.

With a preliminary script in hand, the company implemented months and months of research: composing music that would be played live during the performance, physically manipulating the set into different configurations, re-arranging and enhancing the structure of the piece, editing and superimposing video projections and documentary footage, integrating live-feed cameras on stage and working on character development were only a few of the tasks. Steadily, The Builders laid the foundation of what will become HOUSE / DIVIDED. In the meanwhile, Phil and I got to share in the experience. I had the chance to do a little research work for Marianne, the director; work with Pauline, one of the video artists, on some of the documentary footage The Builders shot in Columbus; be an extra onstage during rehearsals; and briefly work with Latoya, the actor playing Tammy, on character development. In addition to being an all-round go-to man, Phil managed to find some fantastic 1920s archival footage that was used in the workshop performance, and played the roles of CEO Bill Madigan and Senator on stage during the open performance of the workshop on July 25^th.

Having the opportunity to take part in this incredible experience was a fantastic opportunity to take a look at the ins and outs of devising in a professional multimedia company. Even if brief, during the residency I have learned a great deal to be treasured and applied in my own artistic/scholarly quest. I am excited to continue to work with The Builders in September, and I look forward to more incredible experiences as the company moves to the Thurber Theatre at Ohio State for the last portion of their devising before the October premiere, presented by the Wexner Center, of HOUSE / DIVIDED.