“THE INFALLIBLE PROTAGONIST” A STUDY OF COMPLEXITY THEORY AND REHEARSAL DYNAMICS IN MONODRAMA

Abstract

Monodrama is a work for a sole protagonist, utilising both sung and spoken vocalism over a cathartic narrative. Developed as a subgenre of opera relatively recently, monodrama emerged in the era of Freudian psychology. Monodrama aims to convince the audience of the authority and infallibility of the protagonist’s point of view. An operatic monodrama rehearsal is a unique sociological dynamic, one that functions as a complex adaptive process with director, conductor and performer as principal agents. The effective functioning of this dynamic causes beneficial coherence, measurable by successful performance outcomes (Snowden, 2012).

An interesting phenomenon is observed in monodrama rehearsals, divergent from traditionally hierarchical rehearsal dynamics found in opera. The singer has increased agency in rehearsal, effectively transforming the dynamic from a negotiation between stage director and conductor, as occurs in opera, into a collaboration of equal yet distinct roles. Director, conductor and performer form a triumvirate of mutual respect, exhibiting porous boundaries of roles and responsibilities (or linkages). Monodrama rehearsals comprise a series of “safe to fail” experiments, repeating acceptable patterns with mutual agreement of three principal participants (or nodes), and creating unique norms leading to successful performance. The relative agency of each participant in a rehearsal, changing notions of authorship, and the success of this complex collaboration are discussed in detail, showing the possibilities for adaptive rehearsal structures in a traditionally conservative art-form.

Primary research is conducted through participation as director and singer in three monodrama production rehearsal periods: “Pierrot Lunaire” by Arnold Schoenberg, “The Seven Deadly Sins” by Kurt Weill, and “The Pomegranate Cycle” by Eve Klein. Industry professionals’ perceptions of the dynamics in monodrama and opera rehearsals are also studied through semi-structured interviews and surveys with thirteen subjects (N=13), four directors (D=4), four conductors (C=4) and five singers (P=5), considering self-reported “successful” performance in opera and monodrama. Both the performance practice research and qualitative research herein supports the hypothesis that a monodrama rehearsal is a collaborative triumvirate functioning as a complex adaptive system, contrasting with the power structures and dynamics commonly observed in opera rehearsals.