I spent the last two weeks of July at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival as a PA on Dominic Orlando's Danny Casolaro Died for You, directed by Kip Fagan. I got to direct two short pieces with half an hour of rehearsal each: Prom Queen by Erin Phillips and The Waiting Room by Elijah Guo, and I saw two readings: Safe House by Geetha Reddy and every tongue must confess by Marcus Gardley.
I met some wonderful people in the process. Kip Fagan is a wonderful director and really nice guy, and Dominic is wonderful. As is his girlfriend Julie, who is an incredible actress. She played the young girl in Safe House, this crazy play about an extremely paranoid family from Menlo Park, which I absolutely loved. Amy Mueller did a fantastic job of staging it as well- I didn't need any more than what she gave us in the reading for a full production. For The Waiting Room I got to work with Bex White, an actress from New York who comes home to the Bay Area for the summer, and I really hope I get to work with her again because she's ridiculously talented. I also got to see her in every tongue must confess.
I am also going to be reading scripts for Berkeley Rep! Need to make it up there sometime this week to pick them up. The literary intern just graduated from Brown and we talked for several hours at the party on Sunday night.
Danny Casolaro Died for You is a crazy play because all of the people and events in the play are real- all the conversations actually happened, and I've been convinced to accept all of this government conspiracy stuff that seems just ridiculous but at the same time is totally believable. So in that sense the experience and the play did their job... :-) The actors, particularly Kevin Karrick and Lance Gardner, were great. Six men... someone in the audience the first week brought up having an issue with it being all men, but it's such a male thing- the whole government conspiracy shebang, especially in the 80s... and Danny's relentless pursual of the story, it seemed necessary. Lance Gardner is playing the lead in Yellowjackets at Berkeley Rep, so I'm excited to see him there.
I might be stage managing Jonathan Spector's show, Current Nobody, from October-December. I just need to hear back from the Public first... tomorrow I'm going to e-mail or call them and see when they're looking to hire someone by.
And that was the Bay Area Playwrights Festival! Woohoo! On to Ashland...
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Kennedy Center Wrap-Up
I am currently sitting in the hotel lobby- the option was hang out outside at the Foggy Bottom Metro station for two hours... or walk a block and sit in the lobby of the hotel with power and wireless.
The week is over, which is kind of sad. I ended up running sound for Tigers Be Still yesterday, and there was a union crew there so I got to sit up at the sound board and it ran through the sound system which was just pretty awesome. Met John the sound guy who got out of the business several years ago and is now a realtor. And looks 17. The last week has proven to me like a dozen times that you cannot judge people's age by their appearance.
The show went extremely well, which was particularly surprising given how seemingly badly the rehearsal had gone the day before. I really think that the fact that they were performing on a real stage made the actors really shape up and get their shit together. So I actually think it benefited the show, even though Kim was worried about it. And it came off great. She is really a fantastic writer.
And after the show there was an award ceremony for Zelda Fichandler, the founder of Arena Stage and head of the acting program at NYU from 1984-now. What an inspiring person.
And now... I get to relax for a few days. See DC. Chill with Betsy. Good times. Probably won't update until I get back to Palo Alto, so until then!
The week is over, which is kind of sad. I ended up running sound for Tigers Be Still yesterday, and there was a union crew there so I got to sit up at the sound board and it ran through the sound system which was just pretty awesome. Met John the sound guy who got out of the business several years ago and is now a realtor. And looks 17. The last week has proven to me like a dozen times that you cannot judge people's age by their appearance.
The show went extremely well, which was particularly surprising given how seemingly badly the rehearsal had gone the day before. I really think that the fact that they were performing on a real stage made the actors really shape up and get their shit together. So I actually think it benefited the show, even though Kim was worried about it. And it came off great. She is really a fantastic writer.
And after the show there was an award ceremony for Zelda Fichandler, the founder of Arena Stage and head of the acting program at NYU from 1984-now. What an inspiring person.
And now... I get to relax for a few days. See DC. Chill with Betsy. Good times. Probably won't update until I get back to Palo Alto, so until then!
Friday, July 4, 2008
Kennedy Center Day 4
Spent the first half of the day in Picked, which is a dystopian fairytale play that I liked to begin with but has gone from being an interesting concept to something quite a bit cleaner and more poignant. I've also gotten to know Stephanie, the playwright, better over the course of the day and she is a sweetheart.
I also actually talked to Seth Rozin for half an hour, and he e-mailed me two of his plays to read- now I can't wait to have some time. Also he wants me to come out to Philadelphia sometime when Interact has a show.
Back in Toymaker's War for the 2nd half of the day... I seriously think this play is going somewhere. The director does too, and I made sure to tell Jennifer that when it's available I will be knocking down her door to get the rights.
Also had a great metro ride with Lori Fischer, the NYU playwright, who offered her flat for when I come to visit NYC in the future and said she'll come out and see anything I direct... what a sweet woman. She wrote the Astor Place Starbucks into her play- and an event that is an exaggeration of one she actually witnessed in the Starbucks... crazy.
Tonight went with Jeff and a bunch of the playwrights to see "This Storm is What we call Progress" by the Rorschach Theatre- a crazy play with a fantastic set... although the play needed to be slightly bigger to earn the fantasticness of the set. I was way more interested in the set than the play for the most part, which was unfortunate. The acting was great though and I felt that it was a pretty unique experience.
And suddenly it's 2:30 in the morning and I'm performing tomorrow...
Happy 4th of July! I will celebrate by rehearsing a war play, presenting said war play, and sitting in the audience for another war play. Neither of which are American, but nonetheless. Then hopefully I will find something fun and patriotic to do with my evening. I am, after all, in Washington D.C.
I also actually talked to Seth Rozin for half an hour, and he e-mailed me two of his plays to read- now I can't wait to have some time. Also he wants me to come out to Philadelphia sometime when Interact has a show.
Back in Toymaker's War for the 2nd half of the day... I seriously think this play is going somewhere. The director does too, and I made sure to tell Jennifer that when it's available I will be knocking down her door to get the rights.
Also had a great metro ride with Lori Fischer, the NYU playwright, who offered her flat for when I come to visit NYC in the future and said she'll come out and see anything I direct... what a sweet woman. She wrote the Astor Place Starbucks into her play- and an event that is an exaggeration of one she actually witnessed in the Starbucks... crazy.
Tonight went with Jeff and a bunch of the playwrights to see "This Storm is What we call Progress" by the Rorschach Theatre- a crazy play with a fantastic set... although the play needed to be slightly bigger to earn the fantasticness of the set. I was way more interested in the set than the play for the most part, which was unfortunate. The acting was great though and I felt that it was a pretty unique experience.
And suddenly it's 2:30 in the morning and I'm performing tomorrow...
Happy 4th of July! I will celebrate by rehearsing a war play, presenting said war play, and sitting in the audience for another war play. Neither of which are American, but nonetheless. Then hopefully I will find something fun and patriotic to do with my evening. I am, after all, in Washington D.C.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Kennedy Center Day 3
I would regret that there is no Day 2 entry but I was quite busy schmoozing. After which I am now on a spend-as-little-as-possible budget until I hit New York.
But it was totally worth it to go out to a wonderful Vietnamese dinner with the director, playwright and dramaturg of Mother Mennie post-reading, and then go out to meet up with the latter two among others with one of the other directing fellows. We hit it off really well and I can see us keeping in touch down the line and seeing where we end up. It's really really nice to talk to someone in the same stage of their career as me.
I have endeared myself to practically the entire hotel with the ability to get them onto the internet. I'm planning a backup career in tech support.
I have also unintentionally connected with all the Bay Area folk, including two professional directors in the area to be in contact with... hurray!
But the real story, the real amazing story, is that I was sitting right in this chair two hours ago, after helping David Goldman's wife get the internet. And I thought to myself hey wait a second, I bet David Goldman knows Seth Rozin, the director of Lebensraum (see 5 directors entry). So I tell David Goldman about looking up Seth Rozin. David says (paraphrased) "I'm supposed to call him anyway, let me go call him and tell him about you". Twenty minutes later he comes downstairs and says "here's his number- his phone battery is about to die so call him now and set up a time to talk to him". That man is incredible. And knows everyone. And I'm going to be talking to Seth Rozin tomorrow.
One final note: there is a job opening for directing Arcadia at Johns Hopkins and a job opening directing Copenhagen at the Stevens Technical Institute in New Jersey. Time to jump on the ball.
But it was totally worth it to go out to a wonderful Vietnamese dinner with the director, playwright and dramaturg of Mother Mennie post-reading, and then go out to meet up with the latter two among others with one of the other directing fellows. We hit it off really well and I can see us keeping in touch down the line and seeing where we end up. It's really really nice to talk to someone in the same stage of their career as me.
I have endeared myself to practically the entire hotel with the ability to get them onto the internet. I'm planning a backup career in tech support.
I have also unintentionally connected with all the Bay Area folk, including two professional directors in the area to be in contact with... hurray!
But the real story, the real amazing story, is that I was sitting right in this chair two hours ago, after helping David Goldman's wife get the internet. And I thought to myself hey wait a second, I bet David Goldman knows Seth Rozin, the director of Lebensraum (see 5 directors entry). So I tell David Goldman about looking up Seth Rozin. David says (paraphrased) "I'm supposed to call him anyway, let me go call him and tell him about you". Twenty minutes later he comes downstairs and says "here's his number- his phone battery is about to die so call him now and set up a time to talk to him". That man is incredible. And knows everyone. And I'm going to be talking to Seth Rozin tomorrow.
One final note: there is a job opening for directing Arcadia at Johns Hopkins and a job opening directing Copenhagen at the Stevens Technical Institute in New Jersey. Time to jump on the ball.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
The Kennedy Center Day 1
Today was my first full day in Washington D.C. where I am working as a Directing Fellow for the Kennedy Center MFA Playwrights Workshop. It's an exciting environment, with 8 directors, 8 playwrights and 8 dramaturgs from all over the country. And two other fellows, one of whom graduated from Columbia in 06, the other of whom is graduating from Clemson this summer.
I spent today at two rehearsals, the Many Means of Mother Mennie, by Dan LeFranc, and the Toymaker's War by Jennifer Fawcett. I think both plays are fantastic, although in completely different stages of life. One of them is 240 pages of ideas and Brecht and David Lynch and sex and gender and class and an abstract concept of war and Southern California in the mid-90s, the other is a powerful two act play about Bosnia and a young journalist's experience and effect there. I don't like that description at all, because when I hear "play about a journalist in x war zone" i immediately flinch. However, this play deals with the issues so well- we neither make the journalist the hero nor the villain, and she's not impossible to sympathize with like Maryka. We also see the real world, 13 years later, which allows us to step out of the Bosnian world, something that I think is really important (alienation, anyone?) And the doll world... I think it's the surreal/magical elements of both plays that endears me to them, far more even than their subject matter, even though that is what initially draws me to them.
The director of Mother Mennie, Chris Smith is a fascinating Bay Area director that I really hope to keep in touch with beyond this week. I will also be working with Madeleine Oldham (the literary manager at Berkeley Rep) at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival in a couple weeks, as well as on Mother Mennie.
They were just read-throughs today, but the discussions were fascinating, and I'm sad that I can't be a part of the entirety of all of them, although I will see Mother Mennie through to the end, since its last day is tomorrow. And I'll be back with Toymaker's War on Wednesday.
I met Adrienne Thompson, one of the associate directors at the festival who saw Goliath and loved it- I need to make sure I keep in touch with her. Also the dramaturg on Peacock Men, Faedra Chatard Carpenter, got her Phd from Stanford only a couple years before I left. :-) And Kim Rosenstock, one of the playwrights, produced the Ars Nova Wikipedia Plays (one of which I was in/organized interns for) last summer. The world only gets smaller...
Play to look up: The Monument by Colleen Wagner.
On that note I need to crash because I have coffee at 8, but I would also like to mention that I have become the expert at getting the internet to work on macs. I can explain it in theory to people with PCs... It was definitely worth the hassle of figuring it out, besides just getting it to work, to have people appreciate my help. :-)
Goodnight!
I spent today at two rehearsals, the Many Means of Mother Mennie, by Dan LeFranc, and the Toymaker's War by Jennifer Fawcett. I think both plays are fantastic, although in completely different stages of life. One of them is 240 pages of ideas and Brecht and David Lynch and sex and gender and class and an abstract concept of war and Southern California in the mid-90s, the other is a powerful two act play about Bosnia and a young journalist's experience and effect there. I don't like that description at all, because when I hear "play about a journalist in x war zone" i immediately flinch. However, this play deals with the issues so well- we neither make the journalist the hero nor the villain, and she's not impossible to sympathize with like Maryka. We also see the real world, 13 years later, which allows us to step out of the Bosnian world, something that I think is really important (alienation, anyone?) And the doll world... I think it's the surreal/magical elements of both plays that endears me to them, far more even than their subject matter, even though that is what initially draws me to them.
The director of Mother Mennie, Chris Smith is a fascinating Bay Area director that I really hope to keep in touch with beyond this week. I will also be working with Madeleine Oldham (the literary manager at Berkeley Rep) at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival in a couple weeks, as well as on Mother Mennie.
They were just read-throughs today, but the discussions were fascinating, and I'm sad that I can't be a part of the entirety of all of them, although I will see Mother Mennie through to the end, since its last day is tomorrow. And I'll be back with Toymaker's War on Wednesday.
I met Adrienne Thompson, one of the associate directors at the festival who saw Goliath and loved it- I need to make sure I keep in touch with her. Also the dramaturg on Peacock Men, Faedra Chatard Carpenter, got her Phd from Stanford only a couple years before I left. :-) And Kim Rosenstock, one of the playwrights, produced the Ars Nova Wikipedia Plays (one of which I was in/organized interns for) last summer. The world only gets smaller...
Play to look up: The Monument by Colleen Wagner.
On that note I need to crash because I have coffee at 8, but I would also like to mention that I have become the expert at getting the internet to work on macs. I can explain it in theory to people with PCs... It was definitely worth the hassle of figuring it out, besides just getting it to work, to have people appreciate my help. :-)
Goodnight!
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