A New Chapter: Interviews with MFA Cohort IV

Group 3: Justine Hince, Richard Martinez, Caroline Montes, Erika Whatley

We took time with the members of Cohort IV at this important and hard-earned milestone, asking them to reflect upon their journey up to this point and gaze ahead into the new chapter unfolding before them. We’ve published their thoughts in groups of three to four here in the ADALife blog. Group 3’s interviews are below. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to enjoy them. For Group 1’s responses click here and click here for Group 2.

Justine Hince

You’ve just completed the final final performance of 14 Lines in Arezzo. Can you describe how you felt afterwards?

Being able to perform 14 Lines in Arezzo was the perfect way to “end” the program. It was very bittersweet! This show was a true showing of ensemble work and I know that we are all glad to end on such a note. Arezzo has been our home for the past two and a half years so we all felt incredibly proud and honored to share this work with the Accademia and our friends and family in Arezzo. It was definitely an emotional night that none of us will ever forget.

Looking back over the past 2+ years what would you say you are most proud of about Cohort IV? How about of yourself?

From the very start, our cohort surprised us by the wealth and variety of skills. We are all so different in our backgrounds and interests as artists. And with such a large group, I think there was always a question of how we could all come together. Starting in our first week of the Italian intensive course with Giangiacomo, we all soon realized our ability to unify as a group, despite any differences or conflicts. I would say that I am most proud of this ensemble unity for our cohort. Continuo really put that to the test and we all became stronger and closer because of that experience. As for me personally, I think I am most proud of my ability to keep going, despite fears or setbacks. Even though I dislocated my ankle on the first day of FLIC, I still made the most of that residency and worked as hard as my injury allowed me. I worked outside of class to better the skills where I was lacking. I always yearned for that kind of discipline and readiness to face fears. It wasn’t easy and sometimes I can still let it get the best of me, but this program really instilled in me a drive and desire to continue to grow and learn. 

The next and final step in the program is writing your thesis. Can you give us a brief description? What started you down this path?

I am going down the deep dark path of horror theatre! Focusing mainly on the glory days of the Theatre du Grand Guignol, more commonly known as The Theatre of Horror, at the turn of the 19th century, I’m looking into the importance of comedy in horror and how this attracts the voyeuristic viewer. At the Grand Guignol, there was no such thing as a passive audience. So how can we learn from their conventions to provoke a modern audience to get past their de-sensitivity to violence and horror and actually feel a sense of action to address the real horrors of our everyday lives?

A few years before coming to grad school, I was introduced to the Grand Guignol through a San Diego based theatre company. I was instantly attracted to the gore and the quick wit. When writing a paper for Fabio on the grotesque and carnival, I revisited the juxtaposition of horror and comedy in the Grand Guignol and it ended up being the seed for my thesis!

What are your plans or aspirations for the next few months?

I’m planning to stay in Arezzo for the next few months, working on my thesis and hopefully finding some side work. I feel very inspired to create work after our residency with Continuo. I have a seed of an idea that I’m hoping to develop with some other ADA alums in the Spring! 

How do you anticipate the knowledge, skills and experience you’ve gained over the course of the program will inform your work as you move forward?

Before coming to this program, I never thought of myself as an actor-creator. I simply saw myself as an actor at the will of casting directors hoping to find that next job. Now, I am so equipped with not only a variety of performance skills but also a deep well of devising practices to generate material. Through our devising processes here, I’ve come to understand my aesthetic more and I have a greater understanding for the kind of work I want to create. This doesn’t mean I’ll leave scripted acting forever! But I feel confident knowing that I no longer have to rely on someone else to give me permission to perform.

Cohort V is now in the middle of Year 2. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for them as they continue?

I would remind them that it’s okay to be selfish sometimes! Meaning that it’s important to stay true to and believe in yourself. No one expects you to be an expert in all of the techniques we dabble in. It’s okay not to be good at something! But don’t give up on the process or yourself because of it. You have a cohort for a reason – to support, encourage, and be there for each other. Find ways to push yourself without relying on an instructor to tell you. Challenge yourself by trying something you’d normally say “isn’t you” – you might be surprised!

Richard Martinez

You’ve just completed the final final performance of 14 Lines in Arezzo. Can you describe how you felt afterwards?

I’m proud of the collaboration between me as the producer and Divadlo Continuo Theatre as the Independent Professional Company. We were able to put together a successful show, with full house and the acceptance of the people from Arezzo. 

Looking back over the past 2+ years what would you say you are most proud of about Cohort IV? How about of yourself?

I’m proud of the compromise, work ethic and never ending energy that the group put together to overcome obstacles and support each other. About myself, I would say that I’m proud how honest have been in recognizing my limits and my strengths, how much I have grown as an artist and as a human.

The next and final step in the program is writing your thesis. Can you give us a brief description? What started you down this path?

Been exposed to many experiences in Theater around Europe, South America, North America and the Caribbean I found the necessity for creating a Theatre, an art, an actor or performer capable of performing in any country, overpassing the language barrier.

This thesis arises in a moment where the Theatre is going through another crisis in which is loosing its audience. The connection with the people is becoming more and more difficult because people do not believe or identify anymore with what they are watching on stage. It is the research for that reconnection that motivates this project. 

Departing from the study of the energy and the tension in our body as marks left by different experiences during our entire life. These experiences are reflected through the tension of specific parts of our bodies and is this tension that the creator has to identify and be able to control. This way we can have a body on stage which is able to send a clear message to other bodies in the audience who respond with attention because it is another way of communicating without using the words.

What are your plans or aspirations for the next few months?

In this moment I’m preparing to participate in an International Festival in Croatia next November. Also, next November I will be in the International Lydia Biondi’s competition with my mask work as an actor in Rome. Then I will keep working on projects as a producer with Divadlo Continuo Theatre from Czech Republic and setting my own space on Perugia to start working on what I like to call Human Theatre.

How do you anticipate the knowledge, skills and experience you’ve gained over the course of the program will inform your work as you move forward?

These skill, experiences and knowledge gained over the course of the program are going to help me to have different points of view and are going to be sources that will help me to get to bigger audiences. 

Cohort V is now in the middle of Year 2. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for them as they continue?

When you feel lost, trust in yourself. When you feel tired, there is always more. Risk. Experiment and fail; this is the moment.

Caroline Montes

You’ve just completed the final final performance of 14 Lines in Arezzo. Can you describe how you felt afterwards?

After completing the final performance, I felt great. It was a hard road to bring the show from our tour in the Czech Republic back to Arezzo, but after we did it, it felt right. We ended where we started and showed the community what this program is and why we do it. 

Looking back over the past 2+ years what would you say you are most proud of about Cohort IV? How about of yourself?

Looking back over the two years, I am most proud of the musical progression that we have made. All of us wrote the melodies that were used in our final show and I was very impressed with the outcome. For myself, I am most proud of the connections that I have made over these two and a half years. These are what I will keep with me now that program is ended and what will help me progress in my professional life. 

The next and final step in the program is writing your thesis. Can you give us a brief description? What started you down this path?

My thesis is a research into the roots of the traditional Japanese dance theater, Kabuki, and how it bares similarities to American burlesque theater. Specifically looking into the females who forged the paths for both of these theater forms. This was a paper that I had written for our Asian Theater class and I will be extending it into a full length thesis.

What are your plans or aspirations for the next few months?

My plans for the next few months are to rest, while still maintaining my physicality, as well as working on my thesis.

How do you anticipate the knowledge, skills and experience you’ve gained over the course of the program will inform your work as you move forward?

The knowledge and skills that I have gained in this program will inform my work because now I know myself as an artist and my own aesthetics better. I now know better the kind of work that I want to contribute to and create. 

Cohort V is now in the middle of Year 2. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for them as they continue?

If I had to give some advice to the students in Cohort V, I would say that when you feel most lost and confused, go outside of yourself instead of inwards. Make decisions for the good of the group and for the good of the work. Try to listen to your instincts and not your ego. This will always lead you down the right path. 

Erika Whatley

You’ve just completed the final final performance of 14 Lines in Arezzo. Can you describe how you felt afterwards?

In a word, accomplished. I felt that I’d helped create something and shared it with a community of people I cared about. It’s the dream, really. To make something beautiful and to share it with the people who helped give you the tools to create.

Looking back over the past 2+ years what would you say you are most proud of about Cohort IV? How about of yourself?

I’m proud that my cohort was able to stick together regardless of differences, and in the face of uncertainty. I’m proud of myself for staying with this program regardless of injury and regardless of whether I felt “included”. This is the program that I knew was right for me since I learned about it. Having finished the classwork, I am certain still that I made the right decision in undertaking this MFA when I did and for the reasons that I did. 

The next and final step in the program is writing your thesis. Can you give us a brief description? What started you down this path?

My thesis itself is ever evolving, and ever changing. What I want to discover is the similarities between the theatrical arts, specifically nonrealism in Russia around the Bolshevik Revolution period. I’m reading a lot about Stanislavsky, but focusing intently on Meyerhold. I want to find the parallels between that period of political turmoil and the current American political climate in an attempt to see if a nonrealistic or abstract approach to theatre could be a necessary way to work now.

What are your plans or aspirations for the next few months?

Recently, I became one of Howlround’s World Theatre Map Ambassadors, which is a part time experience where I undertake research for the Map, promote outreach, and help others find ways to utilize the Map for them. Besides that, the thesis is my main goal. As well as finding another job to make money. I’d love to teach workshops and find ways to work as a facilitator for new devised work. I’m keeping my eyes peeled for new opportunities. It’s beautiful to have this ability to cast a wide net and see where the wind may take me.

How do you anticipate the knowledge, skills and experience you’ve gained over the course of the program will inform your work as you move forward?

I’ve already noticed a huge shift in my personal philosophical approach to theatre. I struggle to see myself in scripted work and am eager to find a collective to work in. I have been well prepared to be an ensemble-artist and I’m grateful for that. The skills that I have gained have helped me to see the work around me in a new light, and to listen in a new way, especially aesthetically. I hope that these skills and this knowledge will help me to become a socially-aware artist and help me to create works that can be shown internationally, regardless of language.

Cohort V is now in the middle of Year 2. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for them as they continue?

Oh my sweet summer children, hold on to your hearts. Let this knowledge live in your body like a new language. Let your body and being be open to learning the vocabulary of your comrades and create a new language together. Respect each other by listening to each other. Work for your partner, not for yourself. Love the work, even when it is difficult.

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Interested in intensive training in Physical Theatre or Dance? Check out the 2018 Summer Physical Theatre Intensive and 2018 Summer Dance Intensive, both held June 25 – July 21. Don’t miss the Early Bird Discount of 5% off for those who register by December 1! Click here to get started!