It's raining. A Lot. Apparently it's also raining even more in Jackson. And I talked to my mum in Seattle and it's raining there! AND IT'S RAINING IN KANDERN AS WELL!! So there you go, four different time zones, same soak-factor....not sure where I was going with this.
You would think I'd have learned to be prepared for something like rain, after my many successful years of life. Well, you'd be wrong. Did NOT grab an umbrella, so I spent much of today wet. Classes were great. Scene Study and Voice and Speech. After that I ventured outside only to find the city had turned into a giant dirt puddle. Gross.
One of my classmates and I braved the rain....at least as far as a nearby coffee shop, where we set up camp for a few hours. We read through the play we're partnered for in Scene Study, then we just talked and talked! It was so lovely. We talked a lot about how much we love our group. Everyone has an amazing humility about them. We all have our faults and quirks and habits etc, but we're all very willing to love each other and be vulnerable in our craft together!
After a lovely few hours with my classmate, I had to rush back to the studio, (THROUGH THE RAIN IN CASE YOU FORGOT IT WAS RAINING), to prepare for the second-to-last performance of "August: Osage County." It's been a great run, and I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to run the sound-board/help backstage! Heidi, the directer, is fantastic and lovely person. The cast is fun, hilarious, and crazy talented. My fellow board-op Artem, has braved, with me, the dark abyss of the Boards, for hours on end, and we've had excellent times together; turns out he's Russian by birth, and he's vacationed in Lithuania before!! What a beautiful little fact!
I'll be glad to say goodbye to the show after tomorrow night. It makes for some late nights in the city, and long treks home every night. Like TONIGHT for instance. Recall the rain. Yes, the same rain I've been whining about all along. Well, it was still there at the end of the show tonight (11:30 pm), so I stick up my chin, and speed-walk four blocks to the familiar sight of my subway station.....only to find the UNfamiliar sight of yellow tape barring the entrance and a sign that read (all subways closed)....
WHAAA????? unbelievable.
So.
I walked.
Fourteen blocks.
In the nasty rain.
At night.
Good times all around. Don't get me started on the grumpy cab driver once I FINALLY made it back to Scarsdale. I should probably adopt a more positive outlook, since I have to get up in a few hours and start this process all over again!
Coffee has become a dear friend. I can't believe it.
Love,
G
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Soaring with the Bats
The Bats. The Flea. Cupcakes. Antigone. Nurses. Adele. Murder.
What do these things have in common? Well I experienced them all in the production "These Seven Sicknesses"
This show, at the Flea Theatre, is an amazing compilation of ancient greek plays which takes the audience on journey through time and basic human instincts. The Bats are the 34 actors in this play, also the resident actors AT the Flea...and I have to say, I'm a fan.
Cupcakes? That's what we got for dessert!! But only after the first intermission when the actors passed out bowls of eggplant curry over jasmine rice :)
During both intermissions the actors mingled with us in the audience, talking freely, laughing, and serving food and drink. I got to chat with Alex, a Belhaven Alum, who invited me to see the play in the first place.
I'm still processing how much I loved this play. This event, rather! Alex explained to me that the director's vision for all his work has very much to do with this idea that the theatre is a collaborate bit of "play" between the performers and the spectators. The evening even began with a couple of actors informing the audience that they welcomed them us guests and wished to serve us during our stay.
That was awesome. Of course my mind is exploding with the satisfaction of seeing a piece of art that my own heart and mind connected with so immediately! I'll need a couple of days to process fully, but this has definitely inspired me!
-Ginny H.
What do these things have in common? Well I experienced them all in the production "These Seven Sicknesses"
This show, at the Flea Theatre, is an amazing compilation of ancient greek plays which takes the audience on journey through time and basic human instincts. The Bats are the 34 actors in this play, also the resident actors AT the Flea...and I have to say, I'm a fan.
Cupcakes? That's what we got for dessert!! But only after the first intermission when the actors passed out bowls of eggplant curry over jasmine rice :)
During both intermissions the actors mingled with us in the audience, talking freely, laughing, and serving food and drink. I got to chat with Alex, a Belhaven Alum, who invited me to see the play in the first place.
I'm still processing how much I loved this play. This event, rather! Alex explained to me that the director's vision for all his work has very much to do with this idea that the theatre is a collaborate bit of "play" between the performers and the spectators. The evening even began with a couple of actors informing the audience that they welcomed them us guests and wished to serve us during our stay.
That was awesome. Of course my mind is exploding with the satisfaction of seeing a piece of art that my own heart and mind connected with so immediately! I'll need a couple of days to process fully, but this has definitely inspired me!
-Ginny H.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
The Thrill
This is what I wrote RIGHT after class today (Adler Technique class):
"Basically I've been given permission to be completely open with people I don't yet know well! It's exhilarating! Terrifying of course, but mostly exhilarating and free. If I was trying to share openly with people I know well I'd be guessing, analyzing, noticing those I'm communicating with; instead I'm just letting it all out, no tension except in what comes from what I'm sharing. No mind clenched; and when my mind DOES seize up, I see it immediately and know it's a chance to unclench; to let go;to experience; to be free in my performance.
Now.....this is taking place in a class. In training. I know I have to be careful where I take this in life. I think what I learn from all of this, so far, is that; not only is being open with new people a risk worth taking, because of the end-result, but also because of the rare thrill of it!"
THAT is what I learned on this fine wednesday...that and also that I really LOVE my movement class....all the improvisation is tricking my brain into thinking it likes the intense workout before-hand :)
lata!
-Gin
"Basically I've been given permission to be completely open with people I don't yet know well! It's exhilarating! Terrifying of course, but mostly exhilarating and free. If I was trying to share openly with people I know well I'd be guessing, analyzing, noticing those I'm communicating with; instead I'm just letting it all out, no tension except in what comes from what I'm sharing. No mind clenched; and when my mind DOES seize up, I see it immediately and know it's a chance to unclench; to let go;to experience; to be free in my performance.
Now.....this is taking place in a class. In training. I know I have to be careful where I take this in life. I think what I learn from all of this, so far, is that; not only is being open with new people a risk worth taking, because of the end-result, but also because of the rare thrill of it!"
THAT is what I learned on this fine wednesday...that and also that I really LOVE my movement class....all the improvisation is tricking my brain into thinking it likes the intense workout before-hand :)
lata!
-Gin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)