The Virginia Informer

Giving Art a Pulse

By R.C. Rasmus, Arts & Entertainment Editor

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            I’m sitting in the theatre lab right now, waiting to report on a meeting presided over by a mannequin. She is dressed like Pierrette and is holding her Styrofoam head in her lap. On the blackboard behind her is written the word “MEATING”. Someone has crossed it out and scrawled “VEGAN” on the board underneath it. Welcome to the world of The Collective, William and Mary’s newest, most interesting, most random, most exciting performing arts group.

            I learned about The Collective purely by chance. I was standing in line at the Sexchange last month, waiting to pay for my sushi, when I was accosted by a flyer-wielding dude that told me to come out and see the group’s first show. Later that night, in the Commonwealth auditorium, I watched the stage come alive with color and sound. Stepping janitors, build-a-bear babies, guys in tennis ball masks, and talking buildings came at me from all sides. When I walked out of the UC after that show I found myself asking, “What the hell was that?”

             So who are they? What do they do? Anything and everything. Part circus, part theatre production, and part variety show, the Collective has something for everyone. “We invited a bunch of people of all different disciplines to come together and decide what they would like for a new performance organization,” says co-founder Adam Stackhouse. What they ended up with was a spectacular mosaic that incorporates everything from interpretive dance to poetry to short films. Roshan Patel explained the evolution of the program: “We wanted to showcase as many different genres as we could, so we did something that involved music and something that involved dance. Just all sorts of things.”

             I asked the group if they could explain the concept of their show to someone had never seen their work. The basic answer was “living art.” “Part of the program is to illustrate how art doesn’t have to be some sort of permanent, fixed thing in a building,” said Stackhouse. “I think what makes it exciting is that the performers where all reacting to one another, feeling the beat, being in the moment,” said Sara Strehle, another artist in the group.

             Out of this seemingly random and chaotic chrysalis rose The Collective. Now, after their triumphal first engagement, they’re off and running. The group’s first audition sheets filled up quickly, and garnered a fascinating set of artists. Whether they came with guitar, sitar, business suit, Japanese parasol, or carnival mask they each got the same treatment. First, they filled out an application. At a glance it looked pretty normal: “What do you bring to The Collective?” “If you had to plan a segment of the next show, what would you do?”…then they got to question #7. “What do you see in these two inkblots?” After puzzling over the paper, they would hand it in to one of the company members and go on to part two. The applicants were unceremoniously escorted to a room, empty save for a table, a piano, and a video camera, and were told that that they had five minutes to show off their talents.

             This new crop of Collective members will have a lot to look forward to. With preparations for an end-of-the-year best-of show already underway and plans for a DVD being drawn up, the inaugural season of The Collective looks more and more interesting by the day. If you missed The Collective’s first show, don’t worry. There will be plenty of opportunities to see them at work throughout the year. Plus, the company is revamping their website so that you will be able to view past productions online at www.wm.edu/so/collective. Do yourself a favor. Whether it be online or in person, make sure that you check The Collective out. You’ll thank me.

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