A champion for ensembles

Jeffrey Mosser (he.him) grew up on a steady diet of Laurel & Hardy, punk rock, and putting his cart back at the grocery store. Driven by a desire to destroy the fourth wall, his work, in all facets, creates connections and decreases the distance between the audience’s senses and their heart.

Principally a director, he employs ensemble-based devising techniques throughout generative and iterative processes using his training with Augusto Boal, Liz Lerman, Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training, the Center for Performance and Civic Practice, ImprovBoston, Dominique Serrand, Giovanni Fusetti, Double Edge Theatre, and the inmates from Shakespeare Behind Bars.

A devising expert, Jeffrey is driven by the power of ensemble-based theatre. He co-founded Project: Project Theatre Ensemble, where he led the creation of immersive, site-specific performances that blurred the lines between performer and spectator. The company’s explorations of form, aesthetics, and the role of the audience pushed theatrical boundaries, blending traditional methods with new ways of seeing and experiencing theatre.

Jeffrey’s favorite directing credits include Shiver: A Fairytale of Anxious Proportions and How May I Connect You? (Or, Scenes in the Key of D:\), as well as T: An MBTA Musical at the American Repertory Theatre, which won Broadway World Best Musical and Best Director. His work has also been seen in productions like 44 Plays for 44 Presidents at Bad Habit Productions and Secret in the Wings at the National High School Institute.

As a producer he oversees the artistic details for multiple productions each year at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, multiple seasons of his From the Ground Up podcast, and has welcomed the first United States tryout of Ontroerend Goed’s Handle with Care.

In addition to his directing, Jeffrey has contributed to new play development at major theaters like Lookingglass Theatre, Actors Theater of Louisville, the O’Neill Theater Center, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, working alongside directors and playwrights such as Anne Bogart, Michael Friedman, Lauren Gunderson, Mike Lew, Aaron Posner, and Mary Zimmerman. His diverse background in puppetry, physical theatre, and devising has helped him shape a distinct artistic voice that thrives on collaboration, creativity, and risk-taking.

As a producer and host of HowlRound Theatre Common’s From the Ground Up podcast, he connects audiences to Tony-award winners, TED-talkers, MacArthur Geniuses, and internationally known collaboratively creative companies about how they sustain their ensemble-based work artistically, financially, and socially.

All of which he employs as a lecturer and mentor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and as Director of Training for the Emerging Professional Residency Program at Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Jeffrey is a proud member of the Network of Ensemble Theaters and a hobbyist pumpkin carver — which is not on his current CV. MFA Directing — Northwestern University

And now, a list of beliefs to be completed by a Performer in the dark to an Audience with a flashlight.

[To optimize your experience, print this out first.]

(The PERFORMER invites an AUDIENCE of one or more into a room that can be completely dark. They ask an AUDIENCE member to hold a flashlight. The PERFORMER then turns out the light in the room and begins a strenuous activity to be maintained throughout the piece (i.e., push-ups). The PERFORMER then reads the following:)

PERFORMER:
Audience, can you please turn the flashlight on?
(If they don’t turn the flashlight on, the performance is over. If they do, please continue.)
Can you please shine it on my paper?

I believe that the medium of theatre is culture.
I believe that every human condition is a culture worthy of art.
I believe that there is transcendence in transparency.
I believe that humanity is best explored through fantastic events.
I believe fantastic events can be ordinary made extraordinary via theatrical qualities and human virtuosity.
I believe that humans are virtuosos and I am fascinated when you are fascinated.
I believe that the mundane has tremendous untapped potential.
I believe that theatre can frequently accomplish a better connection with Lo-Tech/Hi-Energy. Thanks for holding the light.
I believe that every rehearsal room is the chance to create a utopian society.
I believe that my sleeves should always be rolled up because there is always work to do.
I believe that no art happens without a time limit.
I believe that the act of touching is an act of giving life.
I believe that the fourth wall is fucked up.
I believe that anyone who says improv isn’t art because it can’t be repeated isn’t someone I want to have over for dinner.
I believe in the fantastic, the post-dramatic, and the anachronistic as ways for the audience to not only see themselves on stage, but understand themselves in context with themselves.
I believe that we all have the ability to express ourselves. That everyone can write, that everyone can create. I believe that generation and performance is possible by and from everyone.
I believe that all theatre is about three relationships: Actor/Actor. Actor/Audience. Audience/Audience.

I believe that Viola Spolin was right when she wrote:
(Hand this text to AUDIENCE member and kindly ask, “Can you read the highlighted part?”)

AUDIENCE:
“The role of the audience must become a concrete part of theatre training.”
[Thank you, AUDIENCE. Please hand this text back to The PERFORMER to finish reading.]

PERFORMER:
In fact, I still cry sometimes when I read pages 12-14 in her book Improvisation for the Theatre.

I believe that every audience member’s role is unique, just as every character played by every actor.
I believe that the audience wants the play to succeed. Their role, the work they do as the audience, is to support the outcome that they hope for. I want to put the audience into this place of engagement. You do want me to continue doing push-ups (or other physical activity), yes?
I believe the imagination of the audience is more powerful than the electricity powering a lighting instrument.
I believe that every moment on stage is bigger than it is because it is exactly what it is and simultaneously representing something greater. And if it isn’t, then I am disappointed.

Please turn the light off.
(The AUDIENCE assistant ideally turns off the flashlight.)

I believe in the dark, we become more human because we know anything can happen.
I believe we can attain this in the theatre.