Photo by Alex Eisenberg


Call in to the Studio about 4.0. A large circle of students engaged. Ross is leading a discussion about how each element of a performance interplays with each other element. In composing an underscore for a piece of theatre he discusses the importance of leaving a space for the tonality of the voice - what sounded good in the studio may not work in the rehearsal room in combination with voices and other sounds. Even the presence of a figure on stage can make a piece of work seem cluttered.
Before finishing for the day, Ross asks the group for feedback on his approach to the workshops. A few report that they found breaking into smaller task-driven groups on the first day useful. Ross agrees to do more of this in the next couple of days.
From what I can see, Ross is leading a seminar on the subject of sound in the theatre - spread over five afternoons - a great opportunity for the students to learn from his experience and research, and become immersed in his subject. If I'm right, this a reasonably well tried and tested learning and teaching technique, in which the responses of the participants can influence the thinking of the seminar leader, but are unlikely to change it fundamentally. Nothing wrong with this excellent 'masterclass' approach, and I'm grateful to Ross for giving so much of himself and his time to it, but I would also be interested in inviting the practitioners to take a more radical and possibly more 'selfish' approach - if they wished - that is, to lead a more open-minded enquiry alongside the students, in which the outcome of the research would be less clearly known or determined in advance. Could this have the potential to be an equally exciting and stimulating way of engaging with the students - though at the same time arguably a riskier one? One of the few lectures I remember from my own university days occurred when the (well-known) philosopher lecturer became lost and confused in the logical argument he was proposing on a blackboard. Suddenly the students became genuinely engaged in the drama and interest of the situation, and began to appreciate more clearly how original thinking sometimes takes place - untidily.