MATT COSPER
Look for Machine Theatre's Thom Thom (if that bird won't sing) July 8-17 at the Duke Energy Theatre. It was written by Matt Cosper with creative input from all the core artists of the group. Visit here .....for ticket information. The following is Matt's bio and some questions he answered for ARTS à la Mode:
Matt has been working professionally in Charlotte’s theaters for the past decade, directing and performing for Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, Carolina Actor’s Studio Theatre, Theatre Charlotte, Barebones Theatre Group and Collaborative Arts. Matt was a founding artistic director of The Farm Theatre from 2000-2004 and now works as a core artist for Machine Theatre. Matt is based in Charlotte, NC with occasional jaunts to NYC and the Pacific Northwest.
1.) Tell us about your previous work, and how it led you to write this play?
With The Farm Theatre we focused a lot on creating new work from the ground up, so it’s something I’ve been doing since 2003 with World Without End. In 2007 I wrote a piece, Douglas Mery; Next to Nothing, with my friend Anthony Cerrato which was workshopped at the Collapsible Hole in Brooklyn and fully staged at Richard Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric Theatre in NYC’s east village. ThomThom… is the logical continuation of that work.
2.) What is the writing process like for you? Do you start with the idea, or just write until you find out what you are writing about?
I generally start with a title. The title comes to me and then there is a process of imagining what world that title might describe. After that it is a fairly quick process of sussing out the sort of people who would live in that world, and what sort of things they would do. A script comes out of that process, which I consider a blueprint for the work we do in rehearsal. The play really is developed in rehearsal, by the ensemble of artists who make up Machine Theatre.
3.) Why this particular story? What is it about "To Kill a Mockingbird" that made you think some of the characters could have another life?
The interest was in taking iconic characters from the southern canon and using them as the audience’s guides into an unfamiliar realm, like Virgil leading Dante into the underworld in The Divine Comedy.
4.) This is certainly a play with a more modern structure and futuristic theme.
The play takes place outside of time, in the afterlife, or the wastes that one must pass through on the way to the afterlife. We hope that the play is modern with a whiff of the ancient about it.
5.) Does the play express, to any degree, your experience with violence, madness, or the chaos of our present world? Or is it a story you wanted to share with your fellow travelers?
The art I enjoy most poses questions about the world we live in and what it means to be human. To me these questions represent an adventure into the unknown and an opportunity for spiritual growth. The blueprint we used when creating ThomThom certainly reflects some of my own pre-occupations. I think a lot of the work that Machine Theatre does is about that: the madness of being human, being in the world, and trying to navigate through that absurdity.
6.) How did you go about workshopping and casting the play? Who are the actors and director?
We workshopped the piece last fall and cast it by invitation. For this incarnation we kept some of the previous cast and held auditions to replace actors from before who couldn’t fit the show into their schedules. The cast this time is: Robert Haulbrook, Julia Grigg, Myself, Barbi Van Schaik, Jeremy Shane, Mimi Harkness and Berry Newkirk directed by Barney Baggett with original songs composed by Jon Lindsay. We try to cast our work as much as possible from within the company, but, we are always looking to expand our ensemble.
7.) What has the rehearsal process been like? Have you discovered things about the play you didn't know when writing it?
The whole process of rehearsal is a process of discovery. Machine Theatre focuses on creating what are called Devised Works. We may begin the process with a working script or blueprint, but the play is truly created on its feet. Actors, Director, Writers, Designers, a Composer and Technicians sweat it out in the rehearsal room to create a brand new thing together. This is the essence of the collaborative, ensemble process. To my knowledge, Machine Theatre is the only company in the region working this way.
8.) Tell us about Machine Theatre and what you are planning as your next project?
Machine Theatre is an ensemble of theatre artists who work together to create new works for the stage. We create work from out of thin air, as well as attempting to encounter classic texts with new vision. We do not assume that we have finished growing as artists, but rather push ourselves to grow further by training together. We work our voices, our bodies and our imaginations so that we become ever more adept fabulists and creators of theatre. We will be announcing our 2010-2011 season in our ThomThom…playbills, but I can tell you now that it will consist of new works (including a piece created and performed by members of Charlotte’s homeless community) as well as dynamic staging of classic texts. We are very excited about our partnerships this season, and the stories we will tell together.