TO PLAY, IS TO MAGIC….

The scope of my work is primarily focused in the examination of black generational storytelling while using movement, poetry, and dance as a lens through which I can express these stories. 

I am most interested in ensemble-based ritual theatre and pieces that rely on movement as a necessity, rather than an interesting overlay. The best way that I can put it is, in the same ways that characters in musicals must express themselves through song, characters in most of my work must express themselves through movement; it is how they communicate when there are no words left.

I believe that the page should be treated as a blueprint for the stage, rather than just something to be read (after all, plays are meant to be performed…. right?). Format could also be an informant of movement and character. For example, if one character’s lines are always in cascading text while another’s lines are always in traditional straight format, what does that say about either character and the way they relate to the world?

By disregarding the “right” way to write a play I am free to explore and make space for more black stories outside of the traditional cannon.

I am uninterested in “perfect” English, Aristotelian structure, or “proper” formatting. If I use any of these tools, trust, it is on purpose and is more me using them as my playthings to explore character and form rather than following any “rules”.

There are no new stories. Only brave and unique ways of re-telling them. I believe that by truly committing to the idea of what it means to “play” on the page, we can begin to cultivate magic on the stage.

As an artist, my primary goal is to create a wider scope of what the theatre can hold for black bodies by disregarding the rules of tradition.

I.e If you are looking for a play about slavery you have come to the wrong place.

-kristen I. Spencer