One Year Lease and its Mission:

One Year Lease recognizes that the theatrical medium is rooted in a variety of cultures, traditions, environments and historical periods. OYL’s international ensemble of artists and designers come from the US, Greece, New Zealand and Australia. Each member of OYL’s ensemble brings a wealth of life experiences and training to create performances that cross the bounds of Western theatre.

OYL’s company travels and works in Greece so our actors, designers, and production team are able to fully immerse themselves in the theatrical experience. After four years of rehearsing productions in New York City, we realized the necessity of creating an environment where performers and designers could fully commit themselves to the process of creating theatre. From the early stages of rehearsal to the finalized production, OYL chose to work in the village of Papingo, Greece to create a living community where text can truly become a living entity.

“We return to Greece to remind ourselves of the history of our work—its roots. Nestled among mountains that take your breath away, in a veritable theater of rocks, Papingo immediately conjures the spirit of antiquity. The Ancient Greeks built their amphitheaters on sloping hillsides opening up to great blue skies, mountains and trees to remind them that they were part of something larger than themselves. The first time I arrived in Papingo I thought ‘Oh yea. That’s what they are talking about…’” -Amanda Culp, OYL Dramaturg

Recognizing that many facets of our work resides among Greek myth, history and traditions, we return to Greece to fully embrace its culture. Papingo, Greece provides a unique experience to the process of making theatre. Situated in the north, Papingo is part of the Vikos-Aoos National Park. With a permanent population of 75 people, Papingo and its residents maintain the daily traditions of Greek culture. The center of the community resides in its mesochori (central square). This multifaceted space is a hub where children gather to play, where adults meet to discuss the community, and where everyone participates in traditional celebrations such as Summer’s panigeri (summer festivals), which date back centuries. The village inspires our artists to absorb the landscape and culture and to bring the energy of that experience into the work — creating a vibrant palate of emotions and design ideas to the finalized production. In our sixth year returning to Greece we learn more and more how the theatrical environment can enhance the process of creating theatre.

Overview of our Collaboration with Apprentices

This summer OYL is offering a one-month apprenticeship for ten to twelve students interested in furthering their practical study in performance, directing, stage management, or design.

Students will work together as the Junior Ensemble of OYL. Embracing the legacy of OYL’s work in Papingo over the last five years, the Junior Ensemble will spend three weeks developing, rehearsing and designing a piece based on a classical myth and text provided by OYL. The last week of the residency will be spent touring this project to 5 different villages in the Zagorohoria region of Northern Greece.  OYL embraces an aesthetic based on two major components: our ensemble and our audience. We are constantly seeking to find and produce work that not only challenges and compliments our ensemble, but that will appeal to and excite our growing audience base. These same objectives will be applied to the Junior Ensemble, focusing on the strengths, talents, and interests of all apprentices. In addition to building its own project, the Junior Ensemble will participate in daily activities that will engage its members with our community and surroundings. Daily Greek lessons will facilitate apprentice’s communication skills with village residents, many of whom speak little to no English. These lessons will be put into practical application once or twice a week, when the apprentices are given the opportunity to work with and teach theater games to the children who live in Papingo. In past it has been very important to include these children in the final village performance, integrating them into the work in the last week. Working with them from the start, and fostering those relationships will not only provide the apprentices with the opportunity to practice their new language skills, but will further facilitate the inclusion of the children in the final performance. Apprentices will also participate in scene study from the Classical Greek Corpus. A text will be selected by OYL that ties into the myth being used for the original project. This will further the apprentice’s understanding not only of the myth in question, but of classical performance style and aesthetic. Apprentices will have the opportunity to select both scenes and monologues from the chosen text.  They will also be given the opportunity to explore the Zagorohoria and surrounding regions of Northern Greece, with activities like hikes, horseback riding, and day trips to such historic sights as the Theater at Dodoni and the Vergina Musuem.

The Junior Ensemble and OYL will meet together every morning for Yoga and Greek lessons. The two companies will then continue to intersect for open rehearsals on either end (apprentices will be invited to watch some of OYL’s rehearsals, and vice versa). In addition, each apprentice will be paired with a mentor from OYL with whom they will meet on a bi-weekly basis to discuss the project, scene study, or other questions or revelations each apprentice might have.  The companies will also have a working dinner twice a week, during which apprenctices and OYL ensemble members will have the chance to speak about all things theater, from furthering the dialogue about the day’s work to the way the business works in NY to a great play that you just have to read! These shared communal moments will allow performers and designers the chance to share their life experiences.

Timeline

For the summer of 2010 OYL will be asking the Junior Ensemble to look at the myth of Thyestes. Patriarchs of the House of Atreus, (famous from the Oresteia), the story of Thyestes and his brother Atreus gives us critical insight into the roots of this famous tragic family, as well as a dark glimpse into the human impulse toward revenge and punishment—both on others and on ourselves. For an introduction into this myth, and the ways it has been rendered, feel free to look at both Seneca’s original, as well as Caryl Churchill’s more recent adaptation. The scene study to correspond to this project will be chosen from The Oresteia, to deepen the apprentice’s understanding of and familiarity with the House of Atreus and the far-reaching affects of the initial act of violence portrayed in Thyestes.

Week 1
Introduction
Readings: Seneca and Caryl Churchill’s Thyestes, and The Oresteia.
Apprentices will begin to immerse themselves in the cultural life of Papingo, and to familiarize themselves with the company, its members and its aesthetic. The ensemble will develop and participate in preliminary exercises that explore the myth of Thyestes, allowing apprentices to learn and feel comfortable with their fellow artists. Questions that will begin to be addressed are: How does one become a part of an ensemble of actors and designers? How does one begin to establish a relationship between the community they live in and the art they create? How will the life-setting of one’s work translate to the practical work?

Weeks 2 and 3
The Landscape of Text, Environment and Performance
Readings: “Despoiled Shores” Heiner Muller’s Natural History Lesson” and “Space” from Environmental Theater
In an article about Heiner Muller, Bonnie Marranca once observed: “Muller’s writing fiercely acknowledges natural history as part of the history of the world, until now one of the many histories whose narrative has been left out of History. That knowledge suggests an entirely new perspective on theatrical space, the behavior of character in relation to environment…” Though Muller and Churchill are quite unique playwrights in their own rights, think of Marranca’s writing on Muller as the ensemble begins to build its own unique perspective of the theatrical space and performance of Thyestes. During the first weeks of work, the ensemble will explore the various landscapes within and bordering Papingo, Greece. Thinking with a designer’s sensibility, the ensemble will choose three specific locations that most inform the world of Thyestes, as they have come to understand it, to rehearse the project in development – putting into practice Richard Schechner’s concept of whole space. Apprentices will gain an understanding of how the landscape can provide invaluable insight into and resources for the development of their project. Using the environment to find sounds, construct props, explore the landscape with camera (video and still), and building costumes, apprentices will participate in the construction of the finalized performance.

Week 4
Performance
What does it mean to perform for a community? In college, student groups are given a great opportunity to perform and create a relationship with the community of which they are a part. As students leave this built in, supportive network, one of the most challenging aspects of the business of Theater they will face is to transpose those skills to the new communities they move into. In this final week, the ensemble will perform its piece for the various communities with which it has engaged. By bringing their work back to these villages, apprentices will begin to understand the relationship that can exist between performance and a community.