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