Partly Cloudy, 64°
Beginning with a series of ape-like screeches and ending in a tearful circle, a theater warmup for the cast of Production Workshop’s December show was just a demonstration of the unrestrained, primal id.
“We started by walking around the space while making eye contact to connect and noises to loosen the vowel-space,” actor Julie Graham ‘22 said of the exercise which serves as a psychological demonstration of what human beings are capable of should they be free of all social and moral conscience, motivated only by base desire. “We then do a ‘waterfall of sound,’ getting quieter and louder as a group, thinking and acting not as individuals, but as one cast.”
“Then we explore our emotions: screaming in joy or crying in anger as guided by our director,” Graham said, futilely attempting to put into words what terrible illogicality occurs in a period when humans are given a respite from the crushing pressures of society and act upon the instinct present in the shallow recesses of their minds. “Honestly, we listen to her so intently in the warmup that I probably would kill someone if she were to tell me to.”
At press time, audience members have reported that the show itself — a devised multimedia movement showcase — is similarly a demonstration of pre-societal subconscious urges.
