Projects
Where’s my Oscar?
Sunday, June 6th, 2010 | Projects | No Comments
I’m heading back to the silver screen, in a manner of speaking. I used to go on a lot of commercial/film/etc auditions back in the day and I’ve decided I rather like doing that sort of thing. So, I’ve been sending my headshot off to all sorts of unknown film-ish entities to see what comes up. I’ve also been dredging up all the old footage I can find to see if I have enough decent stuff to put together a reel. I don’t think I do. But, in the meantime, I remembered that I actually shot something earlier this year. Very early in the morning, as exemplified by the awesome bags under my eyes and my very bored child who weaseled her way into the scene by nature of simply being there.
Hopefully, I shoot with these lovely folks again later this month on an entirely separate project.
Enjoy.
Risking Innovation Day Three: Perspectives on Reception
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 | Continuing Education, PictureBook Plays, The Meaning of Art | No Comments
Resistance Reconsidered: Feminist Theatre and the Challenges of Reception
Not surprisingly, the discussion started out strong and then branched back to the topic of women playwrights. I believe it is a result of Emily Sands study that has it in everyone’s minds, but I find it frustrating that we keep going back to the playwrights and leave no time for everyone else. Or, perhaps women playwrights are due for a good monopoly of discussion and I just felt left-out since I’m not one. Either way, that’s where it ended up. However, let’s start at the top.
First of all, the question was posed “How are we defining feminist theatre?” According to my notes, neither this question nor steps to answering it was visited for long. I found this somewhat disappointing because I run a theatre company that promotes the role of women in theatre, so does that make us a feminist theatre? Because we don’t exist to create one-woman shows about gender bias, or musicals about menopause. We exist to create dialogue and actively employ women so they can have career changing opportunities that will help them break through the glass proscenium. I’d like to know if people look at GAN-e-meed, think “feminist” and run away screaming.
The discussion continued to question whether specific marketing can devalue the content of feminist theatre and if feminist theatre is “unpalatable” to commercial audiences. Eventually, this led to the conclusion that it comes down to geography and local community: the context for audience reception. Which is the basis for building an audience in any theatre, not just feminists. Of course, no one said that. And then, of course, we came to the playwrights: It’s not about palatability, it’s about getting plays in the pipeline.
I have to admit, I think I tuned out a little as the session concluded because, as I noted earlier, a lot was said but very few Actions were proposed for making a difference. There was very little innovation in this session, although there were a lot of play titles being thrown about that I now need to go read. Huzzah.
Dramatic Lessons: Training Teachers in the Use of Theatre and Dance in the k-12 Classroom
To be honest, I looked at the first handout and almost left. But then it struck me that I could attend this session not as someone looking at publishing a book on pre-k theatre, but as a future professor who wants to teach this very topic. So I stayed. Learned some stats, played some games, and pretended to be part of the large intestine.
Here’s some stuff I learned and did:
- Goals for teaching pre-service teachers: 1 – Confidence in their own creative abilities, 2 – Help them become artists in the classroom, 3 – (Re)awaken their passion for teaching
- 93% of communication is non-verbal. What?! Really?! No wonder emails always get people into trouble.
- “Even the most reticent teacher will welcome a way to make their work more complete.”
- Know the curriculum for the school you’re in. Meet with teachers and find out what they need. Other arts teachers will be your biggest allies.
- Teachers are terrified of [theatre] and administrators don’t understand what we do and why it’s important. “They need the opportunity to learn the process.”
- Meet once a year and say “What do you need and what can we offer you?”
Risking Innovation Day 1: Directing, Debuting and Intelligencing
Risking Innovation Day 2: Nutshells and Photos
Risking Innovation Day 2: The Glass Proscenium
Risking Innovation Day 2: Writing & Falling Girls
Risking Innovation Day Two: Training Directors & Convincing Admins
Risking Innovation Day Three: Talk-Backs and Vulnerability
Next Up:
Day Four
Risking Innovation Day 2: Writing & Falling Girls
Monday, August 17th, 2009 | PictureBook Plays, The Meaning of Art | No Comments
Here we go again. More ATHE conference Day Two for you. Previous posts are listed at the end of this one.
- Writing About Theatre Practice
This may be old hat for the professional writers out there, but I’m a lover of writing, not a pro so this little panel held a lot of useful info, even though I walked in late.
- “Nostalgia” for discoveries and experiences (as a teacher, director, whatever) can be a hindrance because these things need to be re-examined and formulated into scholarly language. In other words, take a step back and take your heart out of it just long enough to see what’s there for others who don’t have your personal memories.
- Get a couple of samples of the journal first before submitting. I’ve heard this before, and I have yet to do. I guess I will now since it’s been said to me so may times!
- Articles need an argument and a theoretical exploration. “reframing an experience in terms of an argument.” Right, that would be why all my ‘essays’ read like poetry; I rarely have an actual argument. Ha!
- Journals to explore: Theatre Journal, Theatre Topics, Players Journal
- Don’t worry about cutting things down because it could be the case that “the thing that you have to cut from this article is the kernel of the next article.”
- Only peer-reviewed journals will be considered for a tenure track.
- “You must eliminate every word in that sentence that doesn’t deserve to be there…good writing is good writing and scholarly writing doesn’t have to be baroque.” -Robert Barton
- Risking Theatre for the Very Young – Art, Education or Experimentation?
This presentation was a delightful introduction to an educational program at University of Wisconsin-Madison spear-headed by Manon van de Water. She discovered a script that was then translated into English for children called “The Falling Girls.” Two girls fall from the sky into the dessert. There is a girl in the dessert who draws them pictures. The two girls fight and try to figure out how to get back to their planets. I only saw excerpts and haven’t read the script, but is certainly reminiscent of The Little Prince.
The goal, as described by the musician, Jonathan Brooks, was to “provide a landscape where very young children can making meaning for themselves.” And, it appears they did just that. The set was vertical, with many places to climb, swing and grab. The three girls, dressed all in white were deeply physically engaged, having spent months working with improvisational movement techniques like viewpoints, Meyerhold, and Grotowski. The children came to the theatre and went through a pre-show sensory/aesthetic experience that lead them into the theatre: a tunnel with textures, a “Hamster disco,” and lights. At each point, children could choose to take another path around the sensory experience if they wanted. They were empowered to make their own choices.
On entering the theatre, the actresses were already on stage, a disco ball rotated on the ceiling and the children could slide down a plastic slide before taking their seats on fuzzy faux fur mats. Unlike traditional theatre that has a clear beginning, the beginning felt blurry, allowing the children, through various empowering sensory experiences, to slide effortlessly into the role of audience member.
One actress said the challenge was “combating adult preconceptions of what children enjoy and what is appropriate for them.” And then the two actresses, in costume, did a gorgeous movement presentation for us.
What I found the most exciting about this project is that although the production was supported by an education team that worked with the children and created the pre and post-show experiences, the show itself was created by artists with very little knowledge of early childhood education. Just enough humanity to understand that kids are smart, receptive, curious, and genuine, and that was enough to push this project forward with might.
Next Up:
- Risking Innovation in Directing Training: A Presentation of Manifestos on the Academy’s Approach to Training Directors for the Future
- Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Theatre: Support for Model Programs; Research Findings; and Collaborative Opportunities
Previously in Day Two:
Fundraising: Learning the Ropes
Friday, July 17th, 2009 | Lessons, Projects, The Meaning of Art | No Comments
I am shy.
I don’t like calling people I don’t know.
I don’t like calling people I do know.
I don’t like walking up to a stranger and trying to start a conversation.
The thought of having to deal with insurance companies and cable companies who want money I don’t owe them practically makes me puke.
And yet, I’m an actress who rarely gets stage fright.
And yet, I’m currently trying to raise close to $30k for the opening show of GAN-e-meed.
None of this really adds up: until I had tea this afternoon with an old friend and was reminded how much I love improv, and how I learned to settle the jitters by putting on a character, leaping on to stage and just talking. How I learned that failure is okay. How I learned that listening is okay too. How I learned that the people around me, for the most part, want me to succeed, and as long as I remember that, I’m okay.
After this nice reminder (not to mention a really nice visit with a really nice gentleman) I headed over to betahouse for a mixer/orientation for The Awesome Foundation. As far as I can tell, a bunch of friends now numbering an even dozen have all gotten together and created a foundation. Every month they take in applications for Awesome Projects, chose one lucky project of awesomeness, and hand over a $1000 grant. Their definition of Awesome? Hard to tell. They eventually admitted that they have 12 different definitions of Awesome, but it did also come down to innovation, community involvement, and a finite ability to accomplish something. The application process is through the use of online text fields: no budgets, no back story, just 500 words to sell them on your project. This is exactly the kind of innovative way, particularly in this–as they say–”economic climate” the community should be getting together to create opportunities. Very awesome indeed.
So, I walked in with my improvisational groove on and let it be known that I, too, had an awesome project. I met several of the trustees and a whole bunch of other applicants with their own awesome ideas. I think I actually had more fun finding out about their projects than pitching my own. However, I also took away some great lessons on how to pitch an idea well.
- Start with a hook, just like writing. Something clear, concise, and easy to understand. Make sure the hook leaves them wanting to ask for more.
- Know your facts and use them.
- Make sure your audience is ready for facts before you use them.
- Don’t be afraid to tout your own credentials when asked and be able to do so concisely.
I also gave myself a pat on the back because I brought my biz cards and handed them out with abandon.
So, I’ve got me some new tools, I’m feeling good about developing these–sorry to be repetitive–development skills, and I may, indeed, actually be able to pull of raising this massive sum of money. It will be very worth it.
Embrace Rejection? Or Change the Standards?
Saturday, June 20th, 2009 | Projects, The Meaning of Art | No Comments
As a theatre artist who began as an actress, you’d think getting rejected would role off my back the way ice cream drips down my daughter’s arm…effortlessly and sweetly to be licked up and blithely swallowed before going back for more.
I wish.
I still hurts. I don’t cry. I don’t stomp around. I don’t think the world looks dark and endlessly dreary, but it still hurts. I get a little red in the face, the heat prickles my skin from the inside and my stomach does a sad little flip.
I got turned down for the New Hampshire Individual Artists Fellowship. It’s my second year running. I was really proud of my personal statement this year, but my understanding is that the panelists use your primary visual presentation first, then turn to secondary things like your personal statement only if they feel it’s needed. Who knows if they read mine.
But, out of sincere curiosity, I did go look at this year’s award winners. They all look like fine artists and very deserving of the credit. What bothered me, however, is that none of them were theatre artists. I clicked through to see the winners for the past 9 years: not a single theatre artist.
The NH State Council for the Arts requires that theatre artists send a video of their work to be used for primary judging purposes. Let’s face it: videos of theatre performances suck. Plain and simple. One cannot get passed how the lighting is misrepresented, sound is wavery, footsteps are pounding, faces are fuzzy, and emotional/social expressions are over-blown and just plain weird looking. Even professionally produced pieces such as those done by the BBC stink: the lights are flat, the acting is too pronounced (because it’s not for film) and the sound is off (again, because it’s not meant for film). I can only hope that the panelists (including three representing performing arts: musical theatre, opera, and jazz/folk music) remember this when making their assessments. It’s far too easy to let things like that get in the way of truly assessing what matters in directing projects and, considering the number of theatrical award winners, I doubt that they really truly ignore them.
I suggest that those who use certain visual criteria for judging the creations of theatrical artists (including NH) take a long hard look at their requirements. As a working theatre artist for over a decade, it is clear that still photos of plays more strongly represent the visual story-telling of a play and should be considered as vital to the judging of quality of craftsmanship, as should the director’s statement of purpose in a project and the final design concepts. Theatre is a three-dimensional ever-present ever-dynamic art and cannot be captured by a video camera, but a closeness can be captured by multiple medias together.
I’m not saying this because I was passed over; I’m saying this because there has not been a single award given to a theatre artist in at least 9 years. And rather than place the blame on unknown biases or faulty videos, it would be in the best interest of the community at large (in a state that is decidely lacking in quality professional theatrical opportunities) to reevaluate the evalutation process itself.
NAEYC – November – DC
Thursday, May 14th, 2009 | PictureBook Plays, Projects | No Comments
I just found out that my proposal to present at the annual NAEYC conference has been accepted! “PictureBook Plays: Saying Yes! to vocal and physical theatrical expression with your preschoolers.”
We (my mom and fellow colleague) will be in DC in November.
Hope you’ll join us!
SerahRose
