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.
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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!
