Goals for "Feel the Bend"

Our primary goal for the semester is to get to the essence of the story of Feel the Bend in order for Priscilla to write a revision that will add dimension and clarity to Anna.

We intend to explore Anna by coming at her from different directions: through the other characters, through her use of internal language and space, through in-class exercises and other discovery processes between us. We want to learn: What Anna wants, what motivates her, who she is, how she defines her relationship(s) with men and with women, what she has lost, and what she learns in the world of this play.

During out explorations of Anna, we also hope to learn more about Jon and Betti and their motivations and wants. How they feel about Anna--and each other.

Poetic language is a key element of Feel the Bend. During the semester we want to explore how this works in the play, the proportions of it in the play, the effectiveness of it.

We want to explore the use of the office scenes in the play and the character of Carol. As written, these don't live up to their potential and the character of Carol seems confusing and contradictory at times. We intend to explore the function, placement, language, plot, and necessity of the office scenes. Additionally we want to learn about Carol: Why is she in the play? What does she want to tell Anna? Does she serve the play well? How could she be developed to better do this?

All of these feed into the larger goal of us being open to the process--open to the discoveries that help us to answer the questions that take us to the next level in the development of Feel the Bend (and that lead us to the new questions.) We intend to have both dramaturgical exercises and in-class readings that work toward these goals and that lead us to a place where we are comfortable and ready to turn the play over to the outside director for her exploration of the work. We want to be at a place where Priscilla can begin her next journey in the development Feel the Bend. Our final class session will be designed to bring a certain sense of closure to this phase of the development of the play and to create a place from which Priscilla can launch this next journey.