by Rick Curtiss, dramaturg
The times they are a-changin’ ― Bob Dylan sung that. I wouldn’t go as far as to attribute the quote to him. It seems too foundational to have been discovered in the twentieth century, and I wouldn’t be surprised if our first nation ancestors looked at the dwindling mammoth herds and shrugged ― The times they are a-changin’.
The times they are a-changin’ with MicroBurst Theatre Festival as well.
The director has changed. After being successfully spearheaded by George Nelson for two seasons, the reign has been passed to Roger Sorenson. The new director brings new ideas, and the new idea is new directors. Six student directors have joined the production. Then thirteen writers with thirteen short plays were fished out of a sea of submissions joining a design team, stage manager, two dramaturgs, and a partridge in a pear tree (if needed.)
The whole thing certainly feels festive.
Theater naturally migrates toward a production community, but MicroBurst demands it. It is bringing together different personalities, approaches, and aesthetics. All jobs are shared, and all jobs are important.
I get to coordinate with my fellow dramaturg, Janine; and the head director, Rodger; and the student directors; and the the writers; and did I mention one of the writers is Janine; and I also wrote one play; and have to interface with everyone in that capacity as well? It’s exhilarating, honestly. Maybe not to everyone’s taste, but all the moving pieces allow for unique ideas, and; full disclosure, more than a little anxiety. Mainly because we look at all the work to do and ask when are we going to find the
time?
And there it is again. The little four letter word that stands as the theme for this year’s MicroBurst. The plays direct time, and the directors play with time. It loops, and repeats, and stretches. It rushes, and stops, and segues. It lives and it dies. It changes. This year at MicroBurst time is literally a-changin’ which I don’t think even Bob Dylan could have anticipated.
