Working on the Assembly Book

Quick heads up from team Assembly! I’m currently cozied into Sarah Pearson’s house listening to the rain, and reading what people have had to say about the Assembly 2.0 project which we produced for the Montreal Fringe, July 2007. It feels like a long time ago.

We make a book as part of our process when we do this mad art relay thing (it was the second time Indyish had attempted this, with project manager Tessa Smith at the helm on both occasions.) This is something I’d like to do for all our projects, and for the Assembly it really makes sense. We keep everything we write during the project build up, and then pick the most interesting and useful stuff to include in a book with our advice for next time (for ourselves or whoever), our thoughts post-project, and as much of the participating artists content as possible. It’s quite the labour of love and Sarah and Tessa are well begun on making it awesome. Today we’re doing some arts and crafts. Here’s a sneaky preview excerpt of what’ll be included, this written by one of the Assembly 2.0 directors, Pierre Blais.

Peter Brook once said that a director’s work is so often wrongly associated with the work of an architect… the architect cannot afford to be experimental, if he were, there would be a substantial chance his buildings might collapse. The director on the other hand has the endless possibility of working without concern about the end result, mainly because in theatre, there is no way of predicting that result. For the director and the director’s actors, you simply do and discard. You do and discard. You do and… you get the picture.