Focus: Flying Blind Theatre Ensemble

In Spring 2018, JSU drama students had the opportunity to present their work in the nation’s capital. Students in the Devised Theatre class formed the Flying Blind Theatre Ensemble and wrote their own show, which they presented in Washington, D.C., as part of the Capital Fringe Festival.

Their teacher, Dr. Michael Boynton, is an Assistant Professor of Performance in the JSU Drama Department. According to Boynton, “Last Spring semester, I was given the opportunity to teach an advanced 400-level Special Topics in Performance course, and I allowed the Drama Majors themselves to vote on what the course would be! In the end, they wanted a course on Devised Theatre.”

Devised Theatre, a new technique for developing plays and productions, has become popular in the past two to three decades. “Instead of a traditional playwright writing a play entirely on his/her own and then handing it to a theater company, the company themselves work together as an ensemble to write and create the production,” said Boynton. “It is very difficult and advanced theatre-making work!”

Boynton has worked on Devised Theatre professionally for many years in New York City, but this was his first time teaching a Devised Theatre course.
“It was a fun challenge for me,” he said. He claimed that most colleges and
university don’t attempt to take on this challenge (especially with undergraduate students), but that JSU is pleasantly different.

For the course, the students wrote, developed, and workshopped the play. They then created and ran their own theatre company. The goal of the class was “basically to push all the students out of their comfort zones and get them ready for the professional world by doing a lot of everything! Most especially, it forces the students to collaborate together for a big, actual, practical result, which is an important skill for theatre students
to have,” stated Boynton.

The culmination of this work was a show Boynton described as “a funky, funny, vulgar, modern adaptation of an old Restoration Comedy, The Country Wife.”

The Flying Blind Theatre Ensemble’s version is The Country Co-Ed. Set on a modern college campus, the play is a sex comedy about a guy in late-1600 London. The ensemble’s work was not limited to the challenging task of writing the play; they also produced and marketed the play. The students also did a lot of fundraising, in order to afford the costs associated with the production.

“Everyone also had to design and build the play—from scenery to props to
costumes, etc. Everyone had to act in the show as well, so we were all wearing multiple hats! An intense but exciting experience” described Boynton.

The ensemble ultimately applied to the Capital Fringe Festival and were very excited to be accepted. The students practiced and packed their bags, traveling to Washington, DC, in July for ten days. While their focus was their multiple performances in the festival, they also had the chance to explore the city, visit museums, and tour NPR headquarters with a JSU alumnus. They brought home with them not only these fun memories but also a great review from the festival’s main reviewing body, DC Metro Arts.

Yet, the class was more than a successful step outside of the comfort zone. “I
think one of the best parts [of the trip to D.C.] was the students realizing that they were smart and empowered enough to be able to travel anywhere and adapt and handle challenges and enjoy their experiences,” Boynton said. Two students who participated in this class and the trip, Jessika Holmes and Eric Wilkerson, shared their experiences:

Q: Why did you want to try a Devised Theatre class?
Jessika: “I had heard about the Laramie Project and that it was a devised piece. I was very interested in the challenge presented by creating a play with a group of people. I really had no idea what I was walking into, but I am so glad I did it. I never dreamed at the start of the class that it would culminate in my first professional theatre experience: performing in Washington D.C.!”

Eric: “I wanted to try a Devised class mostly because I had heard it is a class
that might only be offered once and not again for a few years, so I wanted to jump on that opportunity and try to educate myself on every aspect of theater that I could since I came into the Drama program so late.”

Q: What challenges did taking this class present?
Jessika: “The largest challenge came at the very beginning. We had such a hard time picking a subject! When you can do anything, it is very hard to narrow it down. We were very lucky to have Dr. Boynton to help us get started and guide us along the way.”

Eric: “I believe the main challenge was ironing out creative differences between everyone in the class. Since this is a devised class everyone has the ability to contribute creatively to the plot of the piece that we were going to write, but when it came down to finalizing our piece, the class was sort of split down the middle between two ideas. Writing the actual script presented its own challenges, but just the first three weeks or so coming up with the concept was the most difficult part of the process.”

Q: What was the best part about performing in D.C.?
Jessika: “Getting to meet other professional theatre artists and learning about how Fringe Festivals work! This was my first step into professional theatre work. I also learned a great deal about the production side of it. Coordinating the travel and transportation of 16 people was difficult! I cannot imagine how difficult it is for a large traveling show that needs a cast and crew of hundreds!”

Eric: “The best part about performing in D.C. had to be the fact that we were
getting professional acting credits that we can use for our careers, and since most of us are still getting ready to go out into the professional world, these credits will give us a leg up on someone else who may not have been able to work on something like this.”

Q: What do you love about the drama department at JSU?
Jessika: “We are one big family. We argue and bicker and laugh and have fun. We also challenge and push each other. The students and teachers in this department over my years as a drama major have constantly pushed me to do things that were above my level of capability. Through enough encouragement and belief in me (even when I didn’t believe in myself), I have learned that I will rise to the occasion. I have a relationship with all of the professors, and they know all of us students by name! I have spent more time in this department than I have with my own family in the past 4 years. I also lost my mom last December and was able to count on the people, students, and teachers (and our secretary, Mrs. Linda Adams), in this department to support me and my decisions…that really meant a lot to me.”

Eric: “The Drama department is filled with people who love what they do and are willing to put forth the effort to make sure a show the best that it can be. That’s something that you don’t find in a lot of fields.”