Talking Without Words
Posted by Seth Bockley on 12/10/2009
(Seth Bockley is co-director and co-deviser with Devon de Mayo on The Twins Would Like To Say, part of the Visiting Company Initiative Garage Rep)
Ashleigh and Paige are flapping their hands—they seem to be saying ‘ta-ta for now’, or maybe they are pretending to pat the shoulder of someone in front of them, or maybe bouncing a ball, or flicking water off of their hands.
It just looks like two girls flapping their hands. But it’s a coded language.
We are rehearsing for The Twins Would Like To Say, a world premiere play produced by Dog & Pony Theater Co., devised and directed by Devon de Mayo and myself (alongside an army of extraordinary artists), and opening at the Steppenwolf Garage in February 2010.
Our show tells the story of June and Jennifer, a true-life set of identical twin girls who made a pact of silence at a young age, refusing to speak to anyone except one another.
One of our primary challenges in telling the story of these silent twins is to represent the girls’ ‘private language’. We want the twins to be enigmatic and mysterious to an audience, exactly as they appeared to the outside world. But how do we show their communication with each other?
Today in rehearsal we try creating a vocabulary of movement. Ashleigh and Paige are standing side by side, flapping their hands, pointing, touching palms; a set of gestures they invent that seem to suggest conflict, or comfort, or fear, or… what? Always they return to standing stock still, staring off into the middle distance, like statues or dolls. It’s a little creepy.
Devised work is made from experiments like today’s movement exploration. This can be daunting. Devon and I don’t have the ‘safety net’ of an existing script. What we do have is an outline of actions and images, an amazing team of actors and artists, and trust in each other.
And when our show premieres on February 28, I have a feeling this movement, this flapping gesture will show up somewhere—in a moment, or a few. It will be a single thread in a queen-sized quilt. But I think it’ll be there.
February 28th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
OUTSTANDING! I never knew of this story. And the way this cast, especially the girls, tell it is powerful! ! Great space, great cast,great story equals outstanding experience. Thanks Dog and Pony!