Moment Work: Tectonic Theater Project's Process of Devising Theater

A detailed guide to the collaborative method developed by the acclaimed creators of The Laramie Project and Gross Indecency—destined to become a classic. A Vintage Original.

Moment Work is an impassioned argument for moving beyond the stale conventions of realism and naturalism that modern theater has been stuck in for more than a century. Twenty years ago Moisés Kaufman and the members of his Tectonic Theater Project set out to find an art form that speaks to us today, that uses new forms to express new ideas. Rather than thinking of theater as merely in service to a text, they wanted to find ways to fully exploit all the other elements of the stage in creating a play—making use of the narrative potential of space, light, sound, props, costumes, and an infinite variety of other theatrical elements. The technique they developed to do this is called "Moment Work," in which they build a play by first constructing "Moments," or units of theatrical time. The technique has led to the creation of startlingly moving and affecting works—ranging from Gross Indecency and The Laramie Project to 33 Variations and I Am My Own Wife—has been used in restaging classic plays, and has inspired theater artists around the world.