Hello Flying V Fans! It is I, your friendly neighborhood dramaturg/actress reporting in. Our first week of rehearsal was absolutely fascinating. We delved into our dreams and darkest fears. We wrestled with what makes a hero and what makes a monster in our modern world. We explored with our bodies how to create giant beasts, how to transform, how to feed, how to lure, how to destroy. We dove into myth, legend, popular culture, and our own personal stories to find what we aspire to be and what we dread we will become.
A common theme arose: that every human has the potential to be a hero or a monster. Often, in the stories we love, a person goes through a traumatic event and in order to process and heal, they turn to saving the world or destroying it. Two people, faced with the same tragedy, could make completely different choices. The human soul is our blank canvas on which these stories play out.
Another idea that emerged is the need humans have to take courage and comfort in stories. We gain strength from the stories of the heroes and stories of monsters funnel intangible fears into something we can fight.
We discussed the real heroes and monsters we face every day walking to work, in our families, and on the news – the solid, every day, often unnoticed heroism of a small kindness and the subtle monstrosity of quiet cruelty.
This week was a week of exploration, wrestling with ideas, and poking iconic images and tropes to see what new discoveries we made. Out of these discussions and exercises came the ideas for 30 theatrical pieces. Next week, we will solidify which 12 or 13 are the most important to us, the stories we most want to tell, and begin to go in depth. We will confront what is most heroic and most monstrous about ourselves.
-Megan Reichelt
