It has been five years since I've created a piece that has required me to take on multiple creative jobs. In the case of the current work, CORN PLAY... actor, director and writer. Navigating through these many creative roles is a challenge and, as always, I feel like one of them gets the short end of the stick.

There is something wonderful about having complete creative control over a new piece of theatre. There are no limitations with where the piece can go because you can simply change a sentence, a section, incorporate more elaborate movement to accommodate a new piece of text or vise versa. However... without a structure imposed by the work of another artist it is very easy to lose your focus or present work that makes sense to only 'you'. This is my primary struggle at the moment. The freedom has become dangerous.

As we approach our final week of rehearsals for CORN PLAY, the pressure of locking down ideas, blocking, dance and music is starting to build. With a work-in-progress, there is always a desire to explore further and further or even change the direction of a scene, but it can become destructive if you lose the original idea that got you into the scene or even the entire piece in the first place.

A sampling of SOSE's work in progress will be presented on Saturday, June 30 @ 10:50pm, as the final performance of the 12x12 Festival, a day-long festival of new work. Ticket info is available on our site and the Edge of The World site. Hope you can make it.

Navigating many hats...
Matt McCray