On the Road!

We are now in belle mead at Fuji-Farms. It has been a crazy couple of days, last night we got back from The Lamp Post at 2:30 in the morning. WHAT AN AMAZING VENUE. Bianca and her family have done such an amazing job creating a sanctuary for the arts. And we could not be more grateful.

We arrived in Wilkes Barre on tuesday afternoon and Bianca and her friend Chelsea greeted us at a coffee shop cald IBOP cafe.

We made our way to Bianca's space, which is couched inside a massive church full of artist studios. Bianca and Hannah have adjoining studios which have been painted and cleaned. They look so sharp and professional, we were very impressed. Tuesday was spent hanging all of our artwork and putting final touches on the space. The studio was filled with miscelaneous wooden chairs in rows and church pews on the side of the playing area. Hannah's studio was dedicated to displaying her video work called 100%. We also set up our lighting and wiring during this time.

Later that night, Bianca was gracious enough to give us time in the space in private to run Vacant Lots. It was late and it had been a long day, which meant that we were both tired. We found, however, that there were a lot of intricacies we wanted to discuss now being at the Lamp Post. We worked out specific places for our prop boxes, we found it useful to place a carpet in a spot where we could put down the clip lights quietly, we chose a place to tape on the the foot switches, and we talked about changing some of our text to specialize on the night. When we finally actually ran that slow went slower than we had anticipated. We looked at the clock and realized it was past 1 am and figured that we were just sleepy. This was by far the latest we had ever tried to run the piece. As tough as it was, the late night run allowed us to clear up a lot of questions and sharpen our focus. We were very glad to have decided to be present a day early.

Than night we also met the owner of the church, Gina. She is a woman that amazed us with her generosity, positivity, and creative spirit.

We spent the night at a camp run and owned by the Roman family, used mostly for weddings and reunions and things like that. Thanks again to all the Roman clan!

The next morning we did a quick, energy conserving, run and found that all our hard work the night before was paying off. Our focus was sharp and our transitions were smooth. For the rest of the day we just did our best to be helpful because the event was much larger than just our piece and there was a lot of things that needed to happen in order to fulfill Bianca's vision for the night. Various other artists and musicians filed through the space doing the preparatory work they needed to do. Bianca's father came and installed a sign that said "the lamp post", it looked awesome. We planned our introduction and post show speeches, bought some thai food, drank tea, and walked in circles (a Tina Cody pre-show ritual) across the street from the venue.

-------------------

TINA: Sooo... the show! It was great! It is kind of hard to explain it all in writing I suppose. Theatre is so live. So palpable. I'll do my best! We were rolling. High energy from the audience and from each other. We were SO ready to perform. It was time for this show to get a chance to do what it was meant to do! Our transitions were a bit sloppier than normal, but that was FINE. There is a reason why there is larger budget for theatre--it is really hard to have to worry about acting AND tech at the same time. It is one thing to just focus on yourself and your lines etc. etc. and have a stage crew do the really challenging work of making sure the set, props, lights, costumes, and sound are all in sync. Because it was just the two of us, we had a lot more to think about than just performing. So once we were in front of the audience, the transitions became a bit tougher than we anticipated. (which is all part of the process!)

CJ: Also, connecting with each other was a lot tougher than I expected. I found that being in front of an audience almost immediately sent me on a whirlwind of the ego and spectacle. I think overall the performance went well, but I am also critical of myself. I am learning that when the ego gets involved, it stems from a lack of confidence in the work that was done in rehearsal. Things change from how we did the show on our own because, for example, I felt insecure and wanted to get laughs from the audience in places that laughs were not necessary. It feels in the moment like i am caring for the audience in this way but in reality i am caring for myself. I am learning that the work we did in rehearsal was all about caring for the audience, and it takes discipline and confidence to stay faithful to our preparation in the heat of performance. The ego also stopped me from being able to connect with Tina and left her feeling abandoned at times, trying to make transitions happen on her own because I had lost track of things. Again, i must stress that i think the run went well, but in my personal journey, these are the things that I am working on and learning about.

TINA: It is all about growth. Everything is a journey. We had wonderful conversations following the show and realized that for many in the audience, this was their first theatrical experience! They were amazed at our vulnerability. They felt as if they were a part of something genuine. One woman explained that one moment in the show helped her recall childhood memories that she had long forgotten, simply by my commitment to exposing my inner child to her as an audience member. It think for me, I am working on believing that my art is valuable and worthy of support. I often talk down my work and I would like to get better at conversing with others in a way that is still humble, yet clear--I do know what I am talking about. I do know how to make theatre. Things like that.

CJ: There is a sign that Tina put up in her room in DC, which is where her collage art was born, that says, "My art is worthy to make and to be shared." We will continue to work and grow. We could not be more thankful to Bianca for the gift she has given us. I will never forget our night at the lamp post.

TINA: Agreed. Incredible experience. Incredible people. Incredible space. We are truly blessed. To switch gears a bit, today we are back in Belle Meade and have a whole lot of work to do. We need to contact all of the people who are attending our show tomorrow and make sure they have the address and time, prepare our props, laundry, and above all RUN TRANSITIONS. Our show tomorrow includes a big table in the middle of the space, which changes our tech completely. We've been practicing for this, but we just need to refresh it in our bones. Busy. Busy. Busy!

CJ: We are in the midst of the peak for the process! Stressful, exciting, inspiring, lesson filled, and life-changing. We will keep you posted!

Day 24 & 25

The show has arrived! The Windham, Tranquility Base, phase of this process is officially over. Tomorrow we take a much needed day of rest and than we begin performing this show wherever we happen to be at any given moment including: bellemeade NJ, wilkesbarre PA, and Manhattan NY.

Yesterday morning we began with a "blitz". We ran the whole show as fast as possible, including transitions and monologues. Our goal was to take the show to the point where it is being done TOO fast so that we could then scale back and chose our moments to take long silences and use dramatic patience. It worked, the show was cut down by 15 minutes and then when we ran yesterday night we were able to maintain that sense of urgency and energy while taking the time we needed to hit the most important moments. The "blitz" turned out to be a great way to shake things up and light a fire under our asses, which is important considering the fact that we do not have dress rehearsal audiences.

This morning was the best run of our show yet. We both felt fresh, clear, and focussed. Our characters are taking on a life of their own and we could not be prouder of our work. Tonight was- honestly now- a little less fantastic. Maybe it was the chinese food we ate, or maybe it was the logistics of the next week dawning on our fatigued brains, but it was a little tougher to focus in. Tina said, "this is good." This is the perfect way to move into our next phase. We now know how vulnerable this show is, and how much focus it will require from us to give this gift to audiences. Although we have a lot to celebrate, we cannot afford to get sloppy or cocky. If anything, this is the time when we most need to sink our teeth in. The show deserves our best. These audiences deserve our best. And the time has come to release this beast.

We will spend the next few days in transit, practicing wherever we get the chance. We will also be packing for our MOVE TO DETROIT. (Which is actually a real thing, not just something we're talking about in a play.)

We spent some time today reminiscing and reflecting on our journey here at Tranquility Base. We compiled a list of things that worked and things we would change. We will include this and further reflecting in the coming posts. I don't know if we'll be posting every day anymore BUT we will certainly be posting about our journey to see Bianca and Hannah Roman, and everything that goes down there as well as our jaunt into the big city. Merde.

WE MADE A PLAY!

                                                                                              -Tina and CJ

Day 23

Looong day and an even looonger story short: We ran the show twice today.
Worked out lots of kinks and messy parts.
It is still a bit too long for our liking, but it is just a matter of practicing transitions over and over and over again...
we spent the day memorizing and went for a long run today with the dogs which was a fabulous way to get out of our heads.

life is good, we are exhausted. we need to start thinking about cleaning this place and packing up!
It feels surreal!

I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a theatre artist and why I want to be an artist. I am searching for something that I can not quite yet name or explain, but somehow it feels as if theatre and self reflection are my tools to get there.

                                                                                     -Tina

Day 22

It looks like we're planning a bank robbery in this living room. There are now four clip lights each mounted on a chair, two foot switches, notes on every wall, and a table in the middle of the room with two chairs. We've created two playing areas using the clip lights and we are using a little square table to imitate the large long banquet looking table that we'll have at the IAM space. We placed the foot switches in the places they'll be on the night and we used a lamp in the back corner to represent the house lighting.

This morning we worked out all lighting cues and we planned the journey of the table throughout the play. We could only guess at lighting cues because we didn't have all the lights yet but we promptly bought two more lights and a new foot switch to make our lighting dreams come true! We have worked out the journey of each prop at least in a rough way. Tomorrow morning we'll write out the preshow setting and type out the tech cues we've ironed out at tonights rehearsal. (Tonight we stumbled through the show and checked to see that our lighting cues would actually work. For the most part they did.) Also, we've made final changes to texts.

THIS MEANS: within the next 12 hours we will have set every detail of the show. Perhaps some small changes will occur in lighting or something like that but the point is that all we have to do is run this show as much as possible. What a great feeling. The thing is made, we just gotta execute.

                                                                                              -CJ

Day 21

This morning we had a specific list of moments and instances to work on from the run last night. It was SO helpful to have a really well defined goal list for rehearsal. It may sound obvious, but it resulted in way less tension between the two of us and way more productivity...except...for the dreaded blanket dance. Last week we improv'd the whole show with fresh material. In the improv we did an EPIC on-the-spot dance that we literally cannot seem to recreate again! We watched the video of ourselves quite a few times and decided that it would be best to choreograph a small chunk for the run and work the rest tomorrow morning. Frustrating. but we will nail the blanket dance eventually!

The rest of the day was super quiet and relaxed. Maybe it was the grey skies? I took a LONG nap. I don't know what it is. Maybe this cabin has a sleep spell on it, but I feel like all I do is rehearse and sleep!

The run tonight was really good. I think I was still in my stumbly/nap/rainy day mode, but luckily CJ was super focused, which really kept me centered. The only thing is that the show is really slow right now. All the material is there and set, but it is taking way too long...as our professor once said, "We need to drive that train!" Aka pick it up!  (and seriously work tech and transitions)

On another note, the dogs (Ben & Jerry) have FINALLY picked up on the fact that we are rehearsing. They no longer enter the stage in the middle of a monologue to lick our toes. We're really going to miss having dogs around :(

So yea, we're feeling really on target. There is positive pressure in the air! Feels like tech week!

                                                                                     -Tina

Day 20

This morning we storyboarded the show, and started working out the kinks we knew we needed to work before our FIRST FULL RUN.

One of the moments we worked is called four arm blanket dance. We know that it looks cool because we've seen it on camera but it feels rediculous to do. To add to the trouble, we've improvised it in the past and we are now trying decipher our video recordings. However, the dance is cool because its impossible to tell whats going on with out arms... so it was a difficult and kind of foolish time trying to work out that moment.

I will say however, that deciding on our storyboard for the show was surprisingly easy. I think Tina and I were both a little tense over breakfast because we knew that today was the day we had to make our final (ish) choices. It turns out that the beginning, middle, and end of the show were all found in good form in our notes from previous rehearsals. Most of the time was spent working out the kinks in between. Also, the workshop elements of the show seem to be flowing nicely from our content, which is vital when experimenting with extra-theatrical audience participation stuff.

So, on to the run itself. I'd say it went as well as could be expected. Lighting and costumes were a mess, but we are only just now in a position to work those problems out, so thats okay. The middle section of the show is really crisp, and it has existed in this form for a while so its in our bones pretty nicely. The ending feels a little- something... unjustified perhaps? The thought is there but we need to work into it more smoothly from the middle.

This part of the process is all about refining our material. We are now able to look at monologues in the context of the show's arc and say that certain details are unnecessary and other details need to be stated more clearly. Every line, gesture, and decision has a purpose for the show. In many cases, moments overstep the purpose for the show and they need to be checked. In other places, the show is asking for what is obvious to us actors to be stated clearly for the audience. It feels really good to be working to widdle down, rather than reaching out in the dark for more material. CLARITY IS KEY.

                                                                                     -CJ



P.S. Here is a horrible quality photo of an awesome project I've been working on. (Kudos to Mako Fujimura for coming up with the original idea). Yes, it is a bird nest donation box.
                                                                                    -Tina

Day 19

Today was a loooong time coming (for CJ) he FINALLY sat down and typed out his improv'd monologues. It was tough for him to solidify his words (even though nothing is set in stone yet). I practiced my monologues in our rehearsal space using some of the inspiration from our character work yesterday...then...

WE DROVE TO NYC TO VISIT THE SPACE! CJ drove almost the whole way there! (This is a big deal because he is new to driving and new to stick shift!) I took over in the NYC area for some serious traffic and crazy drivers. Long story short, stressful driving, no parking, and an overpriced parking garage later we made it safe and sound without any damage to my beloved car. More importantly, we made it to the IAM space ready to go. There we met Meaghan, who was beyond awesome in answering all of our questions about lighting, tables, chairs, and blocking out windows. There is a beautiful big window in the space that is awesome in every other way (except when you are trying to do a theatre piece with cool lighting and you can't get full black out from the city streets). She showed us that we could pull down the projector and save a lot of time and effort by using the huge projector instead of buying literally a TON of fabric. We feel great about the space and the set up...it is becoming real. We really are doing a show!!

On the way home we stopped at handy dandy WalMart to get the best and most important gadget in the whole piece: tap on/off extension cord. This literally makes our piece completely conducted by us! Part of our goal with creating Vacant Lots was to find out if a theatre piece can be made and performed by 2 people on a low budget, and this gadget is really helping us achieve that goal! This takes us one step closer to being able to do our own tech while acting! Here's a picture just so you get the idea. Basically we can tap this button with our feet and get both of our lights to black out without having to perfectly time and count silently "1, 2, 3, light off." EPIC. We were so excited the second we got home we tried it out just to make sure it worked (and it did!).


                                     Also, we're taking tomorrow off. Relaxation (and peach pie).

                                                                                                          -Tina

Day 18

Character Day!

We focussed on character... duh. The morning had us doing small exercises like finding centers for each of our characters (Tina and I are both playing 4 or 5 different characters.) We worked to find out triggers, like colors or objects, that can allow us to snap in and out of character quickly. We were also trying to flesh out the characters that seemed more cartoonish. We want all of our characters to be intricate and lifelike.

At night we did character interviews on four of our characters. For this we worked specifically with the characters that carry the most weight in the show. Most of these characters are based on real people, so a large part of the interviewers job was to shake the actor away from the people they know and allow them to submit to the character they are playing.

Partway through the day I had an artist moment and started feeling all strange so I went outside and ran what felt like 10 miles... probably more like 1? It was amazing.

                                                                                             -CJ

Day 17

Today was a mix-up, mash-up kind of day. We started off the morning by trying old moments in new sequences. This was fascinating because depending on string of vignettes, the meaning of each moment changed! Even though we were not generating new material, it felt as if we were seeing these moments with a new set of eyes. This is critical in this stage of the process--this idea of expansion. Even though we are approaching the end of our rehearsal process and violent decisions need to be made, it is critical that we do not make them too early to limit ourselves and our thinking. (Tough balance, right?) There was one point in this morning rehearsal when we were tempted to sketch out an order for the entire show. My gut screamed "noooo, not yet!" because I wanted to keep a new perspective on the moments we've created. We know the basic form and structure of the piece at this point, it will just be a matter of plugging in the moments like puzzle pieces.

We spent the rest of the day buzzing about the house. We also seem to have a fly infestation which is definitely mimicking our busy-high energy mood.

This evening we came prepared with completed homework: 1 new random mash-up order of moments and 1 potential ending for the show. Interesting--CJ and I came up with the SAME ending! We really must be on the same page! (or the show is really speaking for itself!)

Thanks to everyone who has supported us! We can feel your good vibes :)

                                                                                               -Tina

Day 16

We have crested some sort of wave. The deadline today was huge for us. We prepared a full show run as well as a preview run. My dad came and we had the most amazing time with him. We showed him the preview run.

He was a unique perspective for a couple of reasons. For one thing, he is not a theater artist himself, so he is able to see the show from the eyes of a naive viewer. On the other hand, he is an artist and an expert in beauty, so he was able to articulate his experience as a viewer clearly and productively and he was able to provide unique surprising suggestions. He also has a lot of experience with event planning and was able to put a perspective on the night that went beyond just the piece itself. He had us thinking about what this event means for our lives and for the lives of our audience. THANKS DAD!

After the morning session with pops we both fell asleep for a much needed processing nap. In our night rehearsal we decided to shake things up a little bit. After spending some time tying loose ends on a couple texts I had talked about but never written, we abandoned everything in our library of material. We decided that after converging on a possible show we wanted to take this chance to expand one last time before we really don't have the time to do it anymore. We wanted to revisit our piece on a macro scale as if we were starting from scratch. So, Tina suggested that we improvise a version of the show from scratch, entirely new moments, but try to capture the essence of what we are actually saying. The result was amazing to watch (thank god we took a video!).

For me, improvising brought out my training in comedy improv. I felt I was able to let go of inhibitions and follow my instincts. I found myself tapping into emotional reserves that I had yet to inhabit until tonight. And I was reminded of a White Lotus line, mistakes will make us reign.

As for both of us, the improvised version of the show allowed us to uncover ideas that were brewing beneath the surface, unsaid. Watching the video, it seemed like we were seeing the ideas we have been working with revisited and re-imagined through a more developed lens. Thats not to say that our work until now should be scrapped, but I think we can now see more clearly what we have been going for this whole time. Or maybe its just that the show is making itself more clear as we go along.

Day 15

We made a video entry but it isn't uploading for some reason so here's a quick debrief instead (also i'm totally typing with one hand due to my wrist scenario which is slowing everything down!)

1. We answered a bunch of interview questions (handwritten--how cool?) for Bianca Roman's zine for the performance at The Lamp Post-Chaper 1.

2. Just to clarify (we are performing the show in two different locations-- The Lamp Post-Chapter 1 (Bianca's incredible space in Wilkes-Barre!) (Shout outs to Bianca for making all of this possible!) and at the IAM space in NYC! We are truly grateful for these incredible opportunities!-- Needless to say we had lots of emails to send and phone calls to make today.

3. We got a printer and ink! Finally printed out all of our text material so we no longer have to desperately flip thru our notebooks every time we do a scene!

4. We tried a run of preview show for CJ's dad who is visiting us tomorrow. We chose some of our favorite moments and some of our confusing moments so we can get his perspective and advice.

5. and we had lots of FUN! Making a show can be really silly :)

                                                                   -Tina

Day 14

Oh no! Tina has been having some trouble with her wrist and we got it checked out today. Luckily nothing is broken but unfortunately there isn't really much to be done about it other than just wait and see if it gets better or worse.  Sparrow Theater Company hopes it'll get better soon!

After our visit to the ICU we had time to work out some more kinks in our working order of moments. It looks like we're close to having all the standard theatrical moments we'd like to include and our sights are gradually turning to the other elements of the show, such as workshops.

As we prepare for the week to come (so much for a day off!) we are trying to stay on our toes. As soon as we run the show through tomorrow we'll start shaking it up and changing it around! We are trying to be sure that we don't get locked into anything just because we've done it that way already. We can always resurrect sequences that we miss but if we keep what we tried the first time we might miss out on a lot of cool stuff.

We are also engaged in work outside of the piece itself. Bianca Roman, who is hosting our piece in Wilkes Barre at The Lamp Post- Chapter One has invited us to take part in a zine publication. Interestingly, she would like our answers to the questions she has sent us to be written out and published in our own handwriting... cool! Can't wait to see how it turns out Bianca! Thanks so much for having us in there and at your event.

Its a good thing we finally got a printer up here (with a scanner) because we can take care of the zine responses as well as printing out scripts out. We've been flipping through our notebooks like mad people every time we try to do a run. This will give us a chance to comb through our text thus far and further tweak and hone the material we are working with. Plus, it might make our runs a little smoother and less... frantic.

Okay Deuces.
                                                                                                 -CJ

P.S. We have just received word the the rehearsal space we are using is officially titled Tranquility Base - and aptly so! It has been just that for us. In fact, I think today is the first day we have managed to get through the whole day without taking a nap. Anyways, thanks so much to Stephen Cody for letting us use his wonderful Tranquility Base. Also, today we parted ways with our first ever Sparrow Theater Company intern- so thanks a lot Morgan! We'll miss ya!

Day 13

Today we complied a HUGE draft sequence for the show. Currently it is divided into 3 parts: Fear,  untitled phase 2 (something about saving the world/sugar/overconfidence) and acceptance. This is by no means our final string together of all the moments, but it is a start! Our goal is to "romp" through this draft by Monday night. Tuesday morning Mako Fujimura is coming to visit us and we're planning a special preview sequence for him. Since we've spent a lot of time alone with this show, we're hoping to share with him some of the moments we are struggling with.

As for the rest of today, we took a much needed break. We visited the Celtic Festival on Hunter Mountain where we saw an incredible band "Celtica Airs Rock". The music was great, but the most invigorating part was experiencing a well crafted live performance. The show had many elements we are interested in: audience interaction, surprises, revelation of space, and succinct/tight show. It was clear that they were so well rehearsed. Each song had a choreographed moment--whether it was fire shooting out of their guitars at the same time or gathering on stage for a rocking motion. The performers were unified in costume, presence, and enthusiasm. We noticed the impact that such a tight show had on the audience. The crowd was comfortable and excited, even though they were all different ages and demographics. What an incredible influence to have on us while we are knee deep in our process!


 (Also we came home and our dogs stole my fresh baked bread off the table) (very sad, tragic indeed.)

                                                                                                      -Tina

Day 12

Today we tried to run a sequence of moments from a section of the show about fear. It was a little bit of a train wreck. No worries though! It was a very raw run of moments that we haven't worked enough yet, but we are gaining perspective on the rhythm of our piece and the messages we are sending. 

Our goal from the start has been to create a short piece that is as tight as possible, packed and dense with meaningful material. The only way to achieve that is to run this material through our hands over and over again, sifting the extra pieces out and strengthening the parts that we'll keep.

We are now in a phase of the process that has us working with sequence and themes. We are asking the question that the audience will ask: how do these pieces all come together? We are working with icons such as color or props that reappear throughout the show and trying to clarify for ourselves and for the audience what these icons represent within this context. We are assigning meaning to these objects, colors, characters, and texts. The content is in front of us, but the meaning will take some teasing out and clarifying.

The show has taken on a critical mass and it is now carrying us along with it. Earlier in the process Tina and I worked hard to come up with ideas for what directions we should go. Now our direction is revealing itself to us through necessity. 

Anyways, enough business. Heres some photos from the day!

Me monologue-ing my face off:

Me and Morgan Cody (Sparrow Theater Intern) working on our communication skills... with teacups:

Me doing a very impressive dance that could never be fully captured on film... with pigtails:

                                                           -CJ

Day 11

We are devising this show. To me, devising means creating theatrical material in a group where everyone is the writers, directors, actors, designers, stage crew etc. etc. In devising, more so than traditional theatre, there are moments that feel like crashing into a huge stone wall that is impossible to climb over or bust through. I'm not sure exactly why this happens. Perhaps it is because we are creating the show from scratch and sometimes it feels like it will never ever work. Perhaps there are so many moments of pure unknown and uncertainty that it feels as if a show will never be defined?

Regardless, today CJ and I experienced hitting a wall. It was this overwhelming, emotional ordeal that ended in tears and self-doubt. It was one of those things that just wasn't working and we both couldn't figure out why, which makes it even more emotional kind of thing...in that moment I pushed us to doubt ourselves and each other rather than the show. In that moment it felt like the show was this little vulnerable child that if we spent time second guessing,  she will run away and hide.

It feels as if this show already exists, like pieces of a rubix cube, and our job is to figure out how it already fits together.

So we decided to doubt ourselves and each other instead of the show and did other diddys for the rest of the day. I really would like to work on my languaging in rehearsal. I find that I am speaking in definites and often trying to make moments "right" instead of letting them breathe and be. I also find myself using violent/definitive language towards CJ which I would like to stop immediately. But as I said, we did other things for the rest of the day. Took a drive. Walked the dogs. Made some more bread. At one point in the late afternoon we found ourselves on the couch staring at our list of Moments and casually sequenced a few moments together that seemed to flow nice. When we tried that same exact sequence later in our evening rehearsal it was STUNNING. The best part is we somehow broke through the wall without even realizing it! It just feels so nice to have a piece of the show out in front of us. Its growing in size and momentum. It really is happening.

poster!

Day 10

WE'VE BOUGHT SOME PROPS!

Pretty exciting. We have a whole pile of blankets, fabrics, hats, jackets, and shirts. We found a wonderful thrift store nearby and managed to strike a couple deals, which is important considering the fact that we're balling on a budget here at Sparrow Theater Company.

I had a chance to speak with Kali Quinn, a director I worked with last spring. Her and I talked over the phone while I cooked up some orange tofu for dinner. It was invigorating to hear her brief take on what I had told her about the work we're doing on Vacant Lots. It really made me realize what a professional she is. She was able to bring fresh air and positivity over the phone line.

More generally, I think it showed Tina and I how important it is to break out of our small two person circle during this rehearsal process. I can't wait to share this project with others.

We also sat down to decide our invitation list today, which was a little grueling. We have a very specialized format for the show and it requires that we have a small number of audience members. I think the format is exciting and it will allow for a rich theatrical experience but it is difficult to chose who will be there! The struggle is this: there are loved ones who would love to support us and we would love to have their support, but we can't allow the whole audience to be family and friends. It is vital for us that the audience be diverse both as individuals and in their relationships with us as actors. We hope to perform this piece more than once, but for now we have to make some difficult choices about how to shape this premier audience.

-CJ

Day 9

Sorry this is late! We didn't have internet last night in our little cabin!

Here’s our space! I thought it was about time you guys saw where we are working! It is impossible to see in this pic, but right off of the deck is a beautiful view of a mountain. This is such an inspiring rehearsal space surrounded by nature and    FRESH AIR.

This is CJ, deep in thought creating some kind of magical moment. Today he focused on Mike Huckabee (not the Mike Huckabee you are thinking of)—Detroiter Mike Huckabee, the man who runs a beat-making school for youth in Detroit. All of our moments today also focused on FORM—what is the role of the audience in this moment? Are they members of a town hall meeting? Are they screaming what they are afraid of? Are they eating bread?

Speaking of bread… …

I baked my first loaf of bread today! This is not your typical domestic goddess bread, it is “Bread and Puppet Theatre” kind of bread. (Cheap Art Manifesto) A theatre company with a rich history and a simple philosophy: Art should be cheap and for the masses. Art is meant to be shared together. 

                                                                                                    (like bread!)

                                                                                                               -Tina

Day 8

This is a picture from our night rehearsal.  We've worked some old moments with new lighting. We've settled on a couple exercises that we like to run every morning. There is one in which we make a scene using elements drawn from a hat. This allows us to improvise with characters and concepts that are involved in our show. We have also been finding success working with repeated conversations or games between characters. And of course, we are involved heavily with moment work. We are finding threads in our collection of moments and we are beginning to see sections that the show might have.

We've brought on Tina's younger sister as an intern on the project! She's visiting from long island and has already made a huge difference in the process. She is the first set of eyes other than our own that has seen this material. She has been daring enough to point out a few things about improvisations that Tina and I would not have noticed on our own. She has also helped us document our process, as you can see from the photo above. We are thrilled to have her on the team.

Tomorrow we plan to work a night heavy schedule because we are finding the night time to be the most inspiring for generating material. The night allows us to work with lighting which helps us get our creative juices flowing.  We're feeling like we are in a good place, which is encouraging considering our day off one saturday turned into a two day weekend. Back on that grind!

                                                                                                                               -CJ

Day 7

VACANT LOTS:

An Exploration of Fear, the Unknown, and Detroit