helka-maria.kinnunen

Towards collaborativity in theatre-making
Helka-Maria Kinnunen 2009
Abstract

The starting point for my dissertation, Stories in the artistic process of theatre-making, was a production, where storytelling was used as means of producing material for the manuscript and also of delving into collective theatre-making. Having started my doctoral studies I was filled with experimental ideas. I was very much affected by and feeling invited to the possibilities of narrative means in theatre practice. When reflecting on the artistic work afterwards, several questions were aroused, the main problem having occurred during the process: instead of a free and playful collaboration the process got dim and complicated.

In this contribution I ask those questions again: What kind of abilities or preparing the group would need to have, to be able to share a practice where storytelling and bodily action alternate? How to lead this kind of process and how to avoid a traditional director’s authoritarian role in the group? Where does the borderline go between artistic and other communication, when and how should the storytelling be conducted, and who would have the right to conduct it?

I discuss the target of the artistic work and how it changed during the process. As a conclusion I characterize artistic processes as collective and transformative journeys containing breaks or jumps that always tend to lead to an unknown result. As a conclusion on utilising narrative means in researching my own artistic practices I describe narrative perspective as a strategy of confessions that constantly break through. It works as a fruitful medium for inviting material from practice into writing.