Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2018 - 56

to complete the task independently.
Unlike the painter who works alone,
theatre artists operate as part of a group
that is working together to achieve a
common goal; this collaboration can
either enhance or impede flow. One designer who responded to the survey described the element necessary to achieve
flow "as a director who can paint a picture with broad strokes, but then trusts
me to fill in the details. There is still
very effective communication, but I feel
free to make decisions with confidence."
Conversely, this same designer said that
the focused enjoyment in her work necessary for flow was hard to achieve with
other directorial styles, such as "when I
don't have a director who trusts me, and
either wants to second-guess or micromanage. I love and value collaboration,
but at some point, we all have a job to do.
If I don't feel like my director and I are on
the same page, then I start second guessing myself."
Theatre artists require a situation
that is halfway between the predetermined goals and feedback needed for
typical flow activities and the freedom

inherent in most creative flow activities.
Achieving flow requires a delicate balance of externally imposed goals and
feedback, such as in sports where scores,
buzzers, and the rules provide immediate feedback, and there's a clear division
of responsibility, allowing the individual
to function as an artist with internalized
criteria for evaluating his work.

Complete Concentration

Consider this scenario: The sound
designer has had a rough week. Her
grandma was in the hospital, she had
a 20-page paper due, and she got a flat
tire on the way to campus. But this afternoon, she was setting sound levels. For
the next three hours, there was no room
to think about her personal life. The only
thing that occupied her mind was the
way the sound waves floated through the
air and bounced off the theatre walls.
The human brain can only process a
finite amount of information at one time.
When someone is having an optimal experience, 100 percent of her attention is
focused on the task at hand. Csíkszentmihályi addressed this, saying, "This fea-

ture of flow is an important by-product of
the fact that enjoyable activities require
a complete focusing of attention on the
task at hand-thus leaving no room in the
mind for irrelevant information" (Csíkszentmihályi 1990, 58). In other words,
when in flow, one cannot worry about
an argument with a significant other or
agonize over an upcoming French midterm. In flow, the only thing that exists is
the here and now. This requires that the
individual be able to selectively focus all
mental energy on the task at hand, and/
or for the task to be challenging enough
that it's impossible to focus on anything
else.
The survey respondents pointed to
this element of flow more than any other.
Among the examples was this description from a stage manager: "There can
only be a script and a watch, and that's
really all I need; [it] is easy to focus when
you are enjoying the rehearsal process.
[It] is a growing, evolving being. I don't
want to miss a single detail." Other examples include: "The world is just noise
and I'm just focusing on how the show
sounds and where my hands are on the

WHEN DO YOU
WANT TO THINK
ABOUT SAFETY?
Employers who are serious about safety base their hiring
decisions on it - or face increased risk of accidents. More
and more, these employers are using ETCP Certification to
fulfill their duty of care.
ETCP is launching a new certification for the Portable Power Distribution Technician. Computer-based testing is available now. For more information visit: etcp.esta.org
Be serious about safety. Whether you have entertainment
technicians on your staff or others bring them to your venue, insist on working with the industry's best. Insist on
having ETCP Certified Riggers, Entertainment Electricians
and Portable Power Distribution Technicians on your team.

Setting the stage for safety.

etcp.esta.org
etcp@esta.org

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR
TOP CONTRIBUTORS AND MEDIA PARTNERS
Top Contributors: IATSE, Live Nation,
Production Resource Group, PSAV, and USITT
Media Partners:
Church Production, Facility Manager, IATSE, Lighting&Sound America,
Live Design, Pollstar, Protocol, Technologies for Worship,
and Theatre Design & Technology

ESTA * AMPTP * CITT * ESA * IATSE * IAVM * THE LEAGUE * TEA * USITT

56 |

THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

SPRING 2018

http://etcp.esta.org http://etcp.esta.org

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