Monthly Archives: November 2007

L'Internet, TV

Having just

watched the first two episodes of Quarterlife, the Internet TV series from the producers of My So-Called Life, all I can say is that television on the Internet is still television.

But at least it’s replete with gratuitous women lounging around in their underwear.

“I don’t have to wear clothes around my own house if I don’t want to.”

I wonder if this is really what my generation seems like to other people. If so, we have an enormous image problem.

I have a lot of respect for the producers as producers, and I admire their wish to break free of the constraints of the medium. I just want them to break free of more of them.

Amina showed me Clark And Michael as an example of the medium working better.

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convergence, directing, theater, workstyle

Open Ithaca

In Ithaca, staying with Amina and David. It’s so beautiful here. We had brunch, then walked up the path from the gorges to Collegetown and were overwhelmed by the color yellow. I’m going to do that walk again today, I think, up to the Cornell library to get some chorus information for the Convergence.

I observed part of a Meisner-based acting class yesterday, with all sorts of exercises – the repetition one and the open scene in particular. I was pretty happy to hear beginning actors ask questions like “How ARE you supposed to make your lines sound natural?” and “What’s blocking?”

(In an open scene, you use the lines of a scene to just respond to your partner, and you aren’t supposed to worry about playing the action of the scene or the meaning of the lines. The one I saw reminded me of the technique where you ask actors to burlesque a scene – to play it at a much faster and funnier pace.) I saw Peter do a burlesque run of one of the seduction scenes in Tartuffe, and I’ve seen Ted do it in his acting class, too, but an open scene is a more extreme version of that.

Amina and I discussed, afterwards, what the uses of the “open scene” would be in working on a process with professional actors. We thought of three:
– at the beginning of a process
– at a blocked place in a process
– at an exhausted place (like you’ve been rehearsing a very sad scene for weeks)
All three to help relax the actors, get them listening again, and perhaps discover new areas of blocking.

Amina is considering Converging in February, as is David (her roommate, a filmmaker and actor).

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convergence, the chorus, Uncategorized

Thirteen Ways Of Looking At The Chorus

Here’s a sample from what I wrote about the Umbrella Project in process, for the 2008 Indy Convergence. It’s going to be an exploration of the chorus.

“The texts to be used are still under discussion, but will probably include one chorus from each of the major Greek playwrights – Aristophanes, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides – and one chorus created out of a text which is not a traditional chorus.

We will explore the nature of the chorus in all the different art forms represented by the Converging artists, with lots of emphasis on dance, music, and character acting – but also on using visual art and multimedia to stage the choruses.”

If anyone reading has opinions about what the best Greek choruses are to experiment with, for these purposes, please comment on the wiki for the project. Thanks!

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travel, workstyle, writing

Don’t Be A Stranger

I fly to Ithaca this morning. Like Odysseus. I’ll never return to Ithaca without thinking about him, and the way that he takes so long to return. My pilgrimages aren’t quite twenty years apart, but every time I go back there, it feels like it’s been too long. I have nothing but pleasant anticipation about all of it, except for transferring between airlines when I switch planes.

Packing gets easier every time – if you never unpack, you never have to pack.

Here’s something interesting my Gmail text-ads popped up: Six Sentences, a weblog of very short stories. I’m going to submit one soon.

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Germany, L'Internet, theater

Blogging in Broadripple

I drove Caitlin to work at DK this morning, and am writing from the kitchen in Broadripple, a suburb of Indianapolis. It’s gorgeous outside – enormous trees covering all the streets with fall leaves, and tall houses that look like bricks and gingerbread and Little Midwestern Riding Hood.

I’m working on a personal statement for Middlebury about why I want to learn German this summer. When I was twenty-one, a group of German actors asked me to direct a play in Berlin, and I didn’t know the language. I was scrambling to finish a major I’d switched to late in my career, and decided (stupidly) that I didn’t have room to add the language classes. It’s time to learn it now, and to go back, as soon as I can.

I also just made a “Get Involved” page for the Convergence’s new PBwiki. (It’s under construction, but let me know what you think – indyconvergence.pbwiki.com)

I hate it when theaters, or other arts organizations, don’t have an obvious “Get Involved” link right there on their front page, telling you who to contact if you want to be part of their work. It may be that a lot of organizations in this country don’t actually want a flood of college students emailing them. But how are you supposed to get the next generation to come find you? What’s the continuity of the things you believe in?

Even the ones that do have “Get Involved” often just have a link for volunteers, and nothing about what actors and designers are supposed to do. I suppose they think if you can’t figure it out, can’t get your foot in the door, you don’t deserve to be part of the in-crowd. But speaking as someone who has “figured it out,” or part of it – I don’t think we gain anything by keeping the doors to our theatres more closed than they already are.

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L'Internet

The Internet: Not Exclusively For Porn

Joy, a CD who I met when their office started handling OSF’s LA casting, just sent me something about a new Internet series they’re working, quarterlife. It premieres Nov. 12 on Myspace. Apparently it’s both a series and a social network. I’m less interested in another social network than in just more good, independent programming, but I’ll take it.

Here’s an article by one of the QL creators on why he’s no longer working for network TV. It’s fascinating.
“After 20 years and five series, including “thirtysomething” and “My So-Called Life,” my partner, Ed Zwick, and I have — for the time being at least — stopped producing television programs.”

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convergence

This is really going to happen

There really will be, if anyone asks you, a Convergence of experimental theater Makers teaching workshops and presenting choruses, in February, in Indy, laying the groundwork for future Convergences.

I. SUSHI IN INDIANAPOLIS
is better than I would have expected.

II. THERE’S MY AUNT!
We’re driving down the main drag in Broadripple and Caitlin sees her aunt, and we do a U-turn to meet her.

III. WALKING THE DOGS
Rob and I have been walking Macy and Marley on the nearby trail, appreciating the fall leaves, and talking about possibilities for the Convergence, our upcoming conference of experimental theater makers in February. Keywords (all from Convergence brainstorming of late): Original dialect Shakespeare, everyone (all the participants) teaching their own workshops or running their own sessions, visual arts / dance theme, 13 Ways Of Looking At A Chorus, Chorus Variations.
We talk about exploring one chorus from each of the 4 major Greek playwrights, plus a 5th devised one we come up with on our own. Possibly from a Neruda story.

IV. ALL MY DJ EQUIPMENT IS AT OUR DISPOSAL
Do we want a Wiki? A Blog? A combination of both? We can redirect theconvergence.com to whatever it is we have. Everyone could be editing their own pages on their growing workshops and collecting information prior to their February workshops.

V. I’M TRYING TO CONVINCE HER TO WATCH 1408 ON THE BIG SCREEN
We buy Boddington’s, Bitburger’s, and Rogue Dead Guy Ale, in memory of Ashland, and the brainstorming begins. We have a meeting tomorrow afternoon. Tonight we work the details out, and we’re going to watch some of Caitlin’s Graham videos and my DVDS of past productions.

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moving, travel, workstyle

I’ll…Fly Away…

Yesterday I met with Professor Martin (we talked THE WASPS, Aristophanes, choruses, epics, Albert Lord…) and Katie at the Bechtel Center to discuss some scholarship applications. This morning I downloaded HIS DARK MATERIALS on audiobook. This afternoon, I’m meeting with Aaron Davidman one last time – hopefully to process the reading of A JERUSALEM BETWEEN US. I’m also going to try to sneak in a visit to Ellen if I can. And tonight, I fly to Indianapolis.

I’m very excited about November. I think I may finally be embracing this lifestyle, whatever it is. It was easier to pack than it has been in the past, and I woke up feeling good about the day.

I think the key is that travel days have to be days off, not work days – you have to do things that make yourself relax. It has to feel like a gift, not a chore, to be in an airport for 16 hours straight.

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theater

Standrama

I had a meeting on Friday with Professor Weber. Keywords: THE TRIAL OF LUCULLUS (Brecht’s radio play, the Paul Dessau opera) the Humboldt grant, Heiner Muller’s PHILOCTETES, the Festival d’Avignon, the Schiller marathon, the Schaubuhne, Moliere, the Comedie-Francaise. We also talked about THE INVESTIGATION.

JoAnne Akalaitis is on campus for the next week, in residency with the Public Theater, working on THE BACCHAE.

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