HAIR at Stanford

Last night I went to see STAMP's first full show that I had absolutely nothing to do with. So many new, wonderful people- hurrah for STAMP.

The show itself was interesting. Having it on the lawn of Stanford's hippie co-op, Synergy, definitely worked. The residents of the house sitting on the balcony watching added to the communal feeling of the show. However... it has next to no plot. Or at least, not that I was able to pick up on. I got the story of Claude, but were any of the other characters actually important? Did they change at all? The songs and dances were fun, and there was a large assortment of talent- Amanda Gelender was wonderful, as usual, that part was basically written for her. I also really liked watching Lyn and Liesl, although I wish that Lauren Hayes had a bigger part. The set was great, and the cast definitely gelled very well. I think walking away my biggest compliment would be for the ensemble, and the feeling that they really believed in the production. :-)

A bit unrelated, but I just watched the HBO movie Recount with Kevin Spacey and Tom Wilkinson (who are both great). Just thinking about it makes me want to cry, though. It's hard to believe it's been eight whole years. Can we have a democratic president come November? Please???

Both this movie and the new Indiana Jones end with the image of aisles of boxes. Granted Area 51 and boxes of 2000 Florida votes are not exactly the same, but its certainly that feeling of here is the end. I need to figure out how to end shows. It was one of the few really important things that Christopher Jenkins said in my directing class two weeks ago, which rang with me because I had issues with that both on Goliath and In Darfur. But I like the image of boxes. Damn movies for being able to do things like that.

Today I am going to pull out Drunk Enough to Say I Love You (by Caryl Churchill) and see if I can determine a 10 minute scene because that would be fantastic to direct. I wonder what I did with it.

My directing library currently includes:
A Sense of Direction by William Ball (founding artistic director of ACT), a book that I have already read and really enjoyed
On Directing by Harold Clurman, which so far I have read the introduction to
The Stage Director's Handbook from SSDC, which I have thoroughly perused and read all the essays for. Now if I only knew which path I wanted to pursue.
In Contact with the Gods? A collection of interviews with famous directors
The Empty Space by Peter Brook, which one day I will just sit down and read, I promise...
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, which is really interesting and I've read about a third of
and a couple others that I am forgetting.

The hard part about books on directing is that I don't actually think I can learn from them, but I read them in hope of being inspired. So I have to keep reading. I am resolved today to read more of the reader from my directing class, so that I can go in and sound smart tomorrow. :-) Or at least committed. And tonight I go to see Secrets of the Forest, a solo show by Stanford senior George Wyhinny. I've heard good things.

À bientôt!