By theater [object] we mean:
1. “theater as an object,†as in the state of contemporary theater (about which we offer no opinion)
2. “the object of theater,†as in why do it at all? what are the aims? (we don’t know but might care)
3. “a theater of objects,†as in the materials of theater above and beyond the “imitation†of “realityâ€
The object of theater [object] to present, in an ongoing series of one-night shows, 5 or so 15-20 minute lo-tech performances of new or in-progress works of experimental theater. What’s “experimental theater�
The playwright Mac Wellman once referred to the mainstream theater as the “theater of the already known.†It’s the theater for audiences who already know what “theater†is — what a plot is, what a character is, what a moral of the story or a “message†is, what it means to be sad, what it means to be happy, what it means to sing in key, etc. — and who more or less get that when they go to see theater. Experimental theater is any theater that is not that theater.
Outside of that, we don’t aim to be prescriptive. Theater can also be performance art, dance, music, improvisation, monologue, film and video, puppetry, poetry, polemical rants or documentary so long as it is none of those. That is, theater must care about theater as an object and the object of theater, and not mainly the object of some other form of art-making, and especially about the theater of objects (especially language as an object) to be this theater. See?
If you are a writer, director, artist or performer with a new project and are interested in participating in the first theater [object] event (we’re aiming for a February 2013 premiere), please write an email describing your idea along with samples of previous work. We’ll take it from there.
