Next week, senior Ana Freeman plans to perform part of her thesis, which involves writing an entire play from start to finish in seven hours. The performance is open to everyone and her work will be projected up on a wall while she writes.
The presentation is a mixture of two different types of performances: performance art and theater. Freeman is a Comparative Literature major with a concentration in Theater here at Colorado College and describes the theater aspect of her performance as “theater that is theatrical, that is aware of itself as theater and is over-the-top dramatic.” This contrasts with performance art, which is more realistic and less focused on acting.
“I just wanted to put those opposing performance concepts into the conservations, so that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing,” Freeman said.
The idea for her thesis is completely original and spurred from the aforementioned theories, as well as a performance workshop she took over winter break where she learned about what performance art entails.
“I think it’s interesting that obviously a play, when it’s put on, is a performance, but what if we think about the performance of it starting right from the writing?” she said.
Preparation for the performance has been intense, according to Freeman. She’s currently in the middle of an independent study block with Theater professor Idris Goodwin, who has been giving her reading and writing assignments throughout the block. She has also been brushing up on her Spanish, as the play will be written bilingually.
“I’m really nervous and really excited,” she said.
Another aspect of Freeman’s performance is its endurance. She plans to write for seven hours straight and won’t take any breaks whatsoever.
“It’s a big part of it because part of the tradition of performance art that I’m working in is the endurance performances and long durational performances,” she said. “It changes the sense of temporality in the performance and changes the state of being of the performer… But I am a little nervous I’ll pee my pants or something.”
Freeman also mentioned her discomfort with her writing being projected on the wall for everyone to see.
“It’s terrifying…I love writing… but it’s such a private thing for me, and it’s usually only through layers and layers of editing that I’ll let someone see my work. So this is a huge step for me,” said Freeman. “That’s part of what performance art is, it’s about pushing yourself to your limits, whether physical or whether it’s more mental and emotional, which I think mine really is.”
Monday’s performance is only half of Freeman’s final thesis project. During seventh block, she plants to write a paper analyzing the performance and it’s theatrical components.
The performance is scheduled to take place on Monday, March 9 in Cornerstone Main Space.