Megan Louch: L ~ O ~ V ~ E

Inquiry: Understanding interdisciplinary skills within a Musical Theatre Production.

During module 2 I discovered that 'collaboration' and 'relationships' were key components of interdisciplinary skills and the creative success of a production. This from previous literary sources:

https://meganlouch.blogspot.ie/2016/12/literature-review-advancing-social.html
https://meganlouch.blogspot.ie/2016/11/so-due-to-fact-ive-never-written.html

I'd spoken to then module 3 student, Tom Hullyer, who was looking a lot into collaboration and communication and who recommended Robert Cohen's, 'Working together in Theatre: Collaboration and Leadership'.

So far in this literature Cohen has spoken about successful, theatre ensembles who share the same theatrical goals and dreams:

"Ensemble is a long term relationship; a day-in, day-out collaboration in shared living, thinking and creating."

I'm currently, in my working role, what you would call an ensemble member of the cast. However, the above implies a much broader meaning of the word. If the French translation is 'together', then the entire company are effectively an ensemble. Particularly being on tour where we not only create the show every day, we live and socialise with one another.

He talked about ensemble in relation to AMATEUR THEATE COMPANIES. I grew up in amateur theatre societies and would argue that being a part of them hugely influenced me toward the training/career path I decided to take. I had always loved dancing but had taken up singing and acting later on when I discovered 'musical theatre' was what I wanted to do and was informed that being proficient in the 3 disciplines was essential. Amateur societies were also where some of my strongest friendships and social circles lied. Cohen informs us that the word 'amateur' comes from the French word meaning 'lover' which I never knew but makes so much sense! It is effectively a group of like minded individuals coming together, who share the same interests and have a huge passion and love of theatre! They often come together once or twice each week to produce a piece of work and have a jolly good time. It implies everyone is of equal status one works together as a team. I think, based on this idea of ensemble and amateur groups, that interdisciplinary practice is definitely an effective approach during the production of a show. I think it is good to remind ourselves that we are all here because we love what we do; we are all working to commmon goals and have the ability to help one another.

Charles Isherwood said in a review of 'August: Osage County' for The New York Times: "knowledge of one another's rhythms, styles, and strengths is without a doubt among the many factors infusing the production with a cohension that is crucial to its effectiveness."

Therefore I feel that the purpose of my inquiry, i.e. Having a greater knowledge and understanding of the other departments and what their roles entail, is crucial to the success of both me as a practitioner and the company as a collective when producing a show. This increased awareness and appreciation will aid toward good interdisciplinary practice and stronger relationships.