Getting to Know Caleb Howe

by Sam Mullen

Sam had a chat with Caleb Howe about a new piece he's performing and on the development of Voetstoots, the duet he choreographed with Nicole this summer!!

---

Sam Mullen: You will be performing a new (to you) piece in this show.  It was choreographed by Nicole Harris and originally performed by Caitlin Meehan.  As you worked on making the piece your own you developed a rather extensive backstory of your character, Fred.  How did that come about and how did it change how you viewed the piece?
Caleb Howe: ​As an exercise to help me with Noumenon, Nicole asked me to fill in a lot of the backstory that goes unsaid in the piece.  With whom is the character texting?  Why?  Where is he?  In a couple cases the specifics of the backstory became part of the piece.  His aunt's habit of calling at inopportune times was incorporated into the choreography.  But the exercise wasn't just about informing specific moments in the piece, but also finding all the ways that the character *isn't* Caleb.  Because the piece is rooted in a personal moment that we've all experienced it was easy to become self conscious about the movement.  Inventing a substantial backstory for the character helped separate his motivations, movements and decisions from my own.

Photo by Clayton Raithel

SM: You and Nicole developed a duet, Voetstoots, (your choreographic debut!) for the first version of re{ACT} re{BUILD} re{COLLECT} in July. It has changed some since that first performance. How have audience responses from different concerts helped develop the piece? 
CH: I'm not sure how much we've incorporated from the audience as we've developed the piece.  I think both Nicole and I went into the July performance knowing that we wanted to do a lot of work on the piece afterward.  More than anything we wanted time to get past rehearsing the movement and work on the other aspects of the piece - the characters, the dynamic between them and the acting.  That said, because the piece is so narrative, it has been fun to hear audience members interpretation of the story.

Photo by Clayton Raithel

SM: How does your background in theatrical design influence either the development of the umbrella piece or how you perform in general?
CH: I used to do stage carpentry for a theater group in the bay area.  The best analogy I can draw to working with Monkeyhouse is that when I was building sets, someone else was giving me a design and it was my job to fill in the gaps and make it work within the constraints of the space, the materials and the budget.  Much of what I've done with Monkeyhouse follows a similar pattern - whether it's Musings where the leader has an idea and I'm trying to interpret it, or the umbrella piece where the physical prop was the starting point and everything evolved from there.

---

You can catch Caleb at
re{ACT} re{BUILD} re{COLLECT}
on March 29-30th at the
Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge, MA

Get your tickets today for
$5 off the door price!