Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2018 - 55

cause anxiety, such as a beginning stage
management student trying to deal with
a misbehaving actor in rehearsal, or so
mundane as to cause boredom, such as
an experienced professional designing a
show that was typical and routine in nature, were both situations that made flow
states less likely to occur.

Clear Goals and Feedback

Consider this scenario: The director presented his concept to the design team,
sharing a series of ideas and images that
defined the overall look and direction
desired for the production. After fielding
several questions and having an in-depth
discussion with the team, the director
ended the meeting. The costume designer went home to start rendering. He
knew where to start. After pulling a few
books off of the shelves and looking at a
few images online, the costume designer
started sketching. At the next production
meeting, the costume designer confidently shared his sketches with the rest
of the team.
Art requires a level of skill and keen
perception, which allows artists to set

IN ORDER TO CONSISTENTLY ENJOY
A JOB AND BE PRODUCTIVE, IT'S
IMPORTANT TO CREATE ENVIRONMENTS
THAT ARE CONDUCIVE TO ENJOYMENT.
BUT WHAT MAKES AN EXPERIENCE
ENJOYABLE?
their own goals and determine the level
of progress, and a healthy collaborative
environment facilitates flow by providing clear production goals and feedback.
Csíkszentmihályi describes the relationship between the arts and flow as reliant
upon self-awareness: "In some creative
activities, where goals are not clearly
set in advance, a person must develop
a strong personal sense of what she intends to do... a painter who enjoys painting must have internalized criteria for
'good' or 'bad' so that after each brush
stroke she can say: 'Yes, this works;

no this doesn't.' Without such internal
guidelines, it is impossible to experience
flow" (Csíkszentmihályi 1990, 55-56).
While a few novice theatre artists
struggle to set and evaluate their own
artistic goals, most experienced theatre
artists are quite adept at this step of the
process. In the above scenario, the costume designer was able to achieve flow
while sketching because they were able
to balance production goals and feedback from the director with their personal experience and internal resources; the
team and individuals were also trusted

Thinking
About
Studying
Abroad?
Join the School of Design, Management and Technical Arts
at Rose Bruford College in London, where you can study for
a semester or a year in one of the following specialisms:
*
*
*
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Theatre Design
Lighting Design
Lighting & Video Technology
Sound Design & Technology
Costume Production
Scenic Arts
Stage & Events Management

Equipment, Supplies, and
Technical Expertise

Gopher Stage Lighting
4141 Cedar Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55407
877.871.0138
www.gopherstagelighting.com

For more information and to apply visit

www.bruford.ac.uk/international
SPRING 2018

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THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

| 55
http://www.bruford.ac.uk/international http://www.gopherstagelighting.com
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