Exploring Styles

Monti Cerabino's projects testing and experimenting with different styles in theater

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post-modernism:

Post-Modernism is the rejection of “holy” art. This style posits that art is not a mirror of human life but rather a constructed representation of an individual reality.

In this video, I want to explore the relationship of commerce to art. Good and Plenty is a random but everyday object that has specific connotations to most people. In this video I focused on the “plenty” aspect offered by the corporate branding.

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absurdism:

Absurdism is about exploring a world that is devoid of reason and looking for answers in an answerless world. The absurd usually manifests itself on stage via anxiety, confusion, and hopelessness in reaction to a wild and unexplainable universe.

In this Instillation, Brennah Leone, Emily Betts, and myself wanted to explore the concept of searching for answers in an answerless world. We set up an obstacle course in a hallway with instructions on the floor such as “hop” or “sit.” When people passed we asked them to “do it.”

Most people engaging with the piece would ask if they were doing it right. I feel that this is a symptom of us as a whole searching for answers in an answerless world. There was no correct way to go through the obstacle just as there is no correct way to live your life.

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expressionism:

Expressionism in theater is about the deconstruction of the collective unconscious through presenting dreamlike, episodic narratives featuring shadows, disjointedness, anonymity, and shocking imagery.

In this installation, I wanted to make something that was a pure example of expressionism as presented in theater. Unlike my last installation, I was less focused on how the audience would respond to the piece and more focused on how the individual components built something that was inherently expressionism.

Combining shadows, crowds of anonymous forms, harsh angles and a disjointed playing space with both the shadows and the physical manifestation, I created a sensation of a nightmarish realm.

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naturalism:

Sarah Bruni attempting to overcome her heredity.

[monticerabino]

naturalism:

Naturalism posits in a very Hobbsian way, that people are doomed to their circumstances due to their environment and heredity, with no hope of escape. Naturalistic plays, such as Auguste Strindberg’s Miss Julie, demonstrate this on stage by playing out a very real taboo situation ending in ruin for the characters involved.

With my installation, I wanted to find a way to distill both the quality and the effect that heredity plays on naturalistic theater. In hanging a bottle holding individuals hopes and dreams just out of most people’s reach, I wanted to simulate the experience of these characters trapped by their heredity. In this case, the heredity isn’t class, gender, or race, but height. 

There were varying levels of success. Some easily achieved their goal and others passively tried and failed. The most fascinating attempts were those that opened themselves to the moment and put mental stakes on reaching the bottle. One person who couldn’t reach it asked to go again, insisting “with a running start, I know I can make it”. 

In an additional blog post below, I am posting the running start attempt. I hope you enjoy, that you for reading.