Why a Laboratory?

What’s behind Infinite Spark’s LIRIOPE LABORATORY

There are four main reasons why we choose to create our work in the format of a theater laboratory.

• Process-centered:

  Whether we’re creating an original piece, or mounting an existing play, the work we make is developmental in nature—so we put time, space, and experimentation at center of our approach. Because our process is developmental, traditional-length rehearsal periods have always felt cramped—so why not let things unfold more organically? Then, once things have had the open space and flexible process they need to develop, we’ll present them to our audiences.

• Participant-Centered:

  In our opinion, no other developmental format is as inherently supportive of the artist and their process, as Lab work. All this means is that your ability to stretch out and explore isn’t subjugated to the pressures of “getting to the final product”. This frees everyone from the common pressure to “get it right before the curtain goes up”—a pressure which can cut off many layers of personal exploration and reduce collaborative freedom. So instead of following the clock and its deadlines, we follow curiosity and experiment! This creates the conditions in which you can breathe into your craft for the joy of it—for its own sake—without any rush. And since each person is working with their own raw materials alongside everyone else, competition takes a back seat to working together toward common goals. To that end:

• Collaborative:

  This is perhaps the most meaningful reason for Lab work. We believe there is nothing more generative, playful, community-building, and creatively enriching than working in a collaborative environment. In Lab, participants play together through the embodied and challenging puzzles that are unique to each theatrical expression. And, even when one person is leading a collaborative process, everyone in the room has a voice, and everyone’s instincts and abilities contribute to the overall process. Taking this route gives each piece, and each collaborator, the benefit of the collective’s insights and perspectives. In the end, we believe this process intensifies both the uniqueness, and the felt resonance of each expression when it comes time to present.

  And last but not least:

• A more organic approach to technique:

  Most theater processes start out with an organizing concept already in place (“I want to do the show this way, or in this style, or, this is the play’s tone”). And then, the team typically has 4-6 weeks to apply these ideas, using whatever techniques folks already have, or that can be imparted in 4-6 weeks—while also juggling blocking, etc. This can have the unintended side effect of rushing everyone’s incorporation of the techniques they want to use—like having to settle for first-draft choices, or taking other short cuts in technique just to get everything together before opening.

  With Lab however, the environment is designed for each project’s forms and techniques to be discovered, tried, and fully tested, before even thinking about production. There are no deadlines in the traditional sense: instead, the “barometer” is the felt sense that one has gradually achieved one’s desired forms and approaches, with whatever level of technique that implies. The focus shifts from just getting the show up, to taking the time to ensure that one’s creative questions and interests have been fully satisfied. Ideas and inspirations are put into motion from the ground up; everyone marinates on the puzzles and problems of each process; and then, over time, and in an organic back-and-forth (including mentorship from Jon & Rachel), the forms, approaches, and techniques for each project emerge and are incorporated.

  Lab is an excellent environment in which to gain experience in embodied skills like physical characterization, dynamic stagecraft, ensemble coordination, embodied imagination, creative intuition, etc.

  What a way to work and play! Who knows what creative and communal riches will emerge?