Time to Grow

It is time for this blog space to transition from a blog about one person to a blog about many people. Specifically, the artists, instructors and creative talent working with Onion Man Productions (OMP, www.onionmanproductions.com), as well as other invited talented creative types. The purpose being to relate the experience of artists exploring this mystery we called “creativity.” And since many of the artists writing for this blog will be related to the company, OMP, I thought this might be a good time to explain the name, Onion Man.

The “Onion Man” is a character in a play of mine by the same name. The character is a metaphor for the unconscious part of ourselves that will hold us to the truth of our experience and existence. In the play the Onion Man is specifically the reflection of all the things the father in the play refuses to recognize in himself. And the play goes on to use this character to explore how things are passed, unconsciously, father to son. In starting the company, it meant a lot to me to name the company Onion Man because in many ways it is a reference to my own father. But I also realized that the name would need to carry a “larger” meaning to represent an organization.

And there is more meaning in the name. One meaning is obvious – the peeling away of layers. And that is certainly intentional but not the only metaphor at work. Some other meaningful connections between the name and the creative experience – the firm, roundness of the onion, the thin skin that covers the body, the relationship between what is “natural” and the experience of “man,” the organic nature of creativity, and there are certainly other parallels that can be found in the meaning.

But, in the simplest terms, it is a metaphor for our unconscious self. And as an arts organization focused on developing new plays, working with the unconscious elements that emerge in new work and also from an actor or director bringing themselves to the experience, a crucial element is being able to parse out the fragments of inspiration and working to craft something wonderful from often the odd impulses from our “other” self. It is the way to create meaningful, powerful work

So it is my hope, that the people contributing to this blog will explore the experience of creativity. Because at its best, Onion Man strives to be a place where creative thought and energy can be made manifest on the stage in a manner that reflect both the individual experience in life but also the “big ideas” represented by a good old round onion.