Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, children of all ages! Step up, step up! Come one, come all! Sit back with a chilled glass of sarsaparilla and some Cracker Jacks and enjoy reading about Workshop Day 3 in the Companion Piece Blog Series!
[Hi guys. Shelley here. Did you like my introduction? I decided to go for some circus flair to introduce this rehearsal since we worked with a trapeze swing! I thought you'd like it.]
Wednesday was a short rehearsal that was primarily about playing with some really raw, rad technical elements. Whereas the rehearsal before it had been about discovering what was in the space, this rehearsal was about learning how to use what we'd found.
When I walked into the space, it felt completely transformed, but I couldn't figure out why. Finally, it dawned on me that it was the lighting! Whereas in the previous rehearsals, the space had been lit by natural sunlight streaming through the large, old windows on the side of a building, we were now using stage lighting for the first time! Lighting designer Gabe Maxson is working with a footlight effect to mimic the lighting used in vaudeville shows. It's a very cool effect, the way such lighting plays on the faces of the actors and the shadows that it creates. It was thrilling to get a glimpse at what the overall look of the show might be and a reminder of how rare and wonderful it is to have designers at such an early phase in putting together a show.
We're considering using projections in the show and we discovered that almost anything could be a surface on which to project a video image — a white door, an evening dress, the inside of an oversized umbrella — there were endless possibilities. The video footage we're using consists of clips from vintage vaudeville shows from the turn of the century. We played with how the actors interacted with the moving pictures in their space and discovered some hilarious juxtapositions between the real actors and the video actors that you'll have to see to believe!
We also did some circus-esque experiments by rigging a trapeze swing onto a giant metal beam that hinges out from the side of the stage space. Mark and Beth were the first brave souls to test it out! I considered posting pictures for you blog readers, but decided that such a gorgeous image will be best-saved for the show itself. Dangerous displays of awesomeness! Unrivaled, unbridled imaginations! Towering talent, mysterious magic! Go ahead and mark your calendars, folks. You're not gonna wanna miss this one.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
COMPANION PIECE WORKSHOP - DAY 1 & 2
Hey there, folks! Shelley Carter here, workshop assistant for Companion Piece, an exciting new devised piece of theatre from creative masterminds Mark Jackson, Beth Wilmurt, Jake Rodriguez, and Chris Kuckenbaker. This is the first of a series of daily blogs to take you through the journey of our rehearsal process.
The first day of the process on Monday was spent doing "table work," which is a chance for the director, performers and workshop participants to sit around a table swapping research and ideas. To familiarize the group with vaudeville, director Mark Jackson had everyone gather onstage to watch a collection of DVDs of vaudeville performances and the work of other interesting theatre ensembles. While we were doing this, we were also being videotaped for documentation purposes! This means that eventually, there will be a DVD that you can watch on your television of people on stage watching television of people onstage. Why do we do this, you ask?!
I suppose that in such an ephemeral art form, the ability to connect with our predecessors and to draw inspiration from the work that's been captured is incredibly valuable. Watching these videos gives everyone participating in Companion Piece a collection of references points to draw on in rehearsals, a context for the kind of work we're doing, and a common language with our theatrical ancestors and with each other. Though this piece been worked on for several years, for many of the participants (including myself) Monday was our first day. Taking the time to explore the research together ensured that everyone was embarking on this journey together.
Day 2 was about exploring the seemingly "empty" space of Theatre Artaud. I say "empty" because what initially seemed like an empty space, upon further investigation, became a veritable playground of opportunities. Instead of immediately bending the space to suit our needs, we tried to read what the space and the raw materials had to tell us. It felt a little like taking an eye exam, you know, "What do you see? How about now? A or B? And now?" Our conversations went something like this:
"Ladders parallel or straight on? Now spin the ladders? How about now? Now, turn in a circle while he's spinning you on the ladder. OK, now? Spin the umbrella? Now upstage? Now through the door? And put on the sparkly tights. With the white dress? With the striped dress? How about now? And add a hat on a stick? What do you see now?"
And not unlike an eye exam, there are moments, glimpses, of absolute clarity, where the fuzzy image suddenly clicks into focus. Everyone participating in the collective eye exam agrees that they've just seen a piece of the play dart out of the forest of the imagination and run across the stage. "Did you just see that?" It's an exciting moment because it's a shared moment. It's a shared moment of creation, which, it seems, is one of the very ideas that this particular play is all about.
The first day of the process on Monday was spent doing "table work," which is a chance for the director, performers and workshop participants to sit around a table swapping research and ideas. To familiarize the group with vaudeville, director Mark Jackson had everyone gather onstage to watch a collection of DVDs of vaudeville performances and the work of other interesting theatre ensembles. While we were doing this, we were also being videotaped for documentation purposes! This means that eventually, there will be a DVD that you can watch on your television of people on stage watching television of people onstage. Why do we do this, you ask?!
I suppose that in such an ephemeral art form, the ability to connect with our predecessors and to draw inspiration from the work that's been captured is incredibly valuable. Watching these videos gives everyone participating in Companion Piece a collection of references points to draw on in rehearsals, a context for the kind of work we're doing, and a common language with our theatrical ancestors and with each other. Though this piece been worked on for several years, for many of the participants (including myself) Monday was our first day. Taking the time to explore the research together ensured that everyone was embarking on this journey together.
Day 2 was about exploring the seemingly "empty" space of Theatre Artaud. I say "empty" because what initially seemed like an empty space, upon further investigation, became a veritable playground of opportunities. Instead of immediately bending the space to suit our needs, we tried to read what the space and the raw materials had to tell us. It felt a little like taking an eye exam, you know, "What do you see? How about now? A or B? And now?" Our conversations went something like this:
"Ladders parallel or straight on? Now spin the ladders? How about now? Now, turn in a circle while he's spinning you on the ladder. OK, now? Spin the umbrella? Now upstage? Now through the door? And put on the sparkly tights. With the white dress? With the striped dress? How about now? And add a hat on a stick? What do you see now?"
And not unlike an eye exam, there are moments, glimpses, of absolute clarity, where the fuzzy image suddenly clicks into focus. Everyone participating in the collective eye exam agrees that they've just seen a piece of the play dart out of the forest of the imagination and run across the stage. "Did you just see that?" It's an exciting moment because it's a shared moment. It's a shared moment of creation, which, it seems, is one of the very ideas that this particular play is all about.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
If Merle Haggard and Keith Richards had a tranny lovechild
This week's guest blogger is Sean Dorsey, Artistic Director of the Fresh Meat Festival. What's the Fresh Meat festival, you ask? Dorsey explains:
There are a million demands on our time during Pride Month, so I will cut to the chase here: if you haven’t yet experienced the Fresh Meat Festival – you MUST check it out this year (but get your tickets in advance if you can, because these shows sell out in a hot tranny minute!).
The Fresh Meat Festival is an annual festival of transgender and queer performance. Fresh Meat attracts enormous, sold-out crowds and national attention for good reason: it features stellar talent and is the only event of its kind in North America. And this year, the outrageously popular festival is bursting at the seams with world premieres.
The 2010 Festival boasts Fresh Meat’s biggest lineup ever. From modern dance to hip hop, freestyle to folk, ceremonial music to roots rock, this year’s festival offers a top-notch roster of transgender and queer trailblazers. Sri Lankan, Middle Eastern, Appalachian and Mexican-American voices come together in the acclaimed Festival that is still the only event of its kind in the nation.
Some of the world premieres this year include:
- Anthony Robbins, move over! Always-outrageous performance maverick Annie Danger dons a headset and becomes the ultimate life coach. PowerPoint will never be the same again. (world premiere)
- The Barbary Coast Cloggers (the world’s only all-gay Appalachian clogging troupe) dance the story of Jeanne Bonnet, who lived as a man and rescued women from Barbary Coast brothels in the 1800s. (world premiere)
- Sean Dorsey Dance mines Craigslist ‘Missed Connections’ personal ads for a dance theater exposé on queer and tranny online love. (world premiere)
- SoliRose calls on ancestors from Lebanon, Turkey and West Africa to create a gorgeous mix of storytelling, live oud (Middle-Eastern lute) and song. (world premiere)
- The GAPA Men’s Chorus (Gay Asian Pacific Alliance) woos us with odes to queer love – including Vietnamese folk songs, Tagalog pop hits and doo-wop with a twist.
- After bringing down the house last year, hip hop champs Allan Frias Productions (of So You Think You Can Dance fame) returns and fuses their signature juicy hip hop with old-school vogue performance. (world premiere)
- If Merle Haggard and Keith Richards had a tranny lovechild, it would be sultry rocker Shawna Virago, whose new songs explore the adolescent roots we would all rather forget. (world premiere)
Fresh Meat Productions is the nation’s only arts organization with year-round transgender arts programs, which include the Fresh Meat Festival, Artistic Director Sean Dorsey’s award-winning dance company (Sean Dorsey Dance) and film and video events. Fresh Meat Productions was founded in 2002 to foster the artistic development of transgender artists, build community and audiences for transgender and queer artistic expression, and to promote dialogue and understanding through the arts.
The Fresh Meat Festival runs June 17 through June 20 at Z Space. Buy tickets now!
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