Dostoevsky going off in my face
So, after a rocky opening (see last entry), some of the things I was hoping for are starting to happen and Chicago may be on the path to begrudgingly accepting me, instead of constantly trying to kill me (or just prevent me from ever returning a truck).
To begin with, I'm reconnecting with theater-Miamians here in the city. Alas, several more of them are clearly already on their way out, or have their sweaty, rapidly clenching and unclenching hands posed over the ejection seat lever.
I was talking about this situation just this evening with my friend Bryan, and he told me that in undergraduate theatre classes, the profs would always say, "Look around you. Only ten percent of the people yo see will actually end up working in theater." He said he always poo-pooed it at the time...
So attrition is starting to set in, but there are still a goodly number of dedicated folks who are definitely making a go of it, and I'm trying to wedge myself into their orbit. Indeed, I'll be lending a hand to a small ensemble comprised of quality Miamians who graduated in '07 and are now working on their sophomore production this fall. My contribution will be low-impact, front of house stuff, but these guys have the eye of the tiger and are walking to walk, so it will be nice to just hang with people who are actively doing the kind of stuff I want to do.
Speaking of which, when I meet with Bryan (class of '08) today for coffee, we made a handshake agreement that we need to work together. And soon. He's looking to direct and I'm looking not to. A match made in heaven! Plus, he's another guy who is clearly really and sincerely trying to do this theater thing, and has been rapidly piling up the contacts in the theater community since he moved here 18 months ago.
Plus, he's kept in close touch with all the ex-Miamians. He was one of the people who wanted to try and pull a bunch of the other Chicago-based '08s together to generate a show last year, but, when nobody wanted to be the writer, the project quickly evaporated.
I want to be the writer.
We'll see how it goes. We both agree that having an actual script in hand can do wonders for peoples' confidence.
Although it does depend of the script...
Meanwhile, after we shook this momentous handshake, Bryan got me into (free!) the preview for a show he helped to dramaturg. It was put on in a storefront-turned-theatre space by a tiny ensemble (non-Miamians) called the Bruised Orange company. They presented an original play that a member of their company wrote based on Dostoevsky's novel, The Devils.
And it was fabulous.
I was reminded of the opening of Henry V, where Shakespeare (somewhat disingenuously) apologizes for the fact that the small, anemic "cockpit" of a stage can never fully convey the majesty and sweep of of the Battle of Agincourt. And then he does it anyway.
Same here.
Somehow, ten performers filled a theatre the size of my apartment with plots, sub-plots, massive exposition, aristocrats, peasants, thieves, politicians, soldiers, drunks, lovers, schemers, revolutionaries, self-doubting intellectuals, and intellectuals who don't self-doubt, but should. The ten actors doubled-up, tripled-up, quadrupled-up on characters, and yet, added by nothing but fun quick-changes and great acting, always kept all the balls in the air and effortlessly employed a massive cast of characters. And since the theatrical space was so intimate, those characters were in front of you, beside you, behind you, and all around you.
It was an entire 900 page Russian novel going off right in your face. And, yet, it always stayed coherent, funny, poignant, and deeply compelling.
This play was a masterclass in what a bunch of great, energetic actors, armed with a good script and very smart direction can do with no budget, in a tiny space. It was an arresting and, dare say, inspiring show and it beat the living crap out of both things I most recently saw in New York.
Go Chicago.
To begin with, I'm reconnecting with theater-Miamians here in the city. Alas, several more of them are clearly already on their way out, or have their sweaty, rapidly clenching and unclenching hands posed over the ejection seat lever.
I was talking about this situation just this evening with my friend Bryan, and he told me that in undergraduate theatre classes, the profs would always say, "Look around you. Only ten percent of the people yo see will actually end up working in theater." He said he always poo-pooed it at the time...
So attrition is starting to set in, but there are still a goodly number of dedicated folks who are definitely making a go of it, and I'm trying to wedge myself into their orbit. Indeed, I'll be lending a hand to a small ensemble comprised of quality Miamians who graduated in '07 and are now working on their sophomore production this fall. My contribution will be low-impact, front of house stuff, but these guys have the eye of the tiger and are walking to walk, so it will be nice to just hang with people who are actively doing the kind of stuff I want to do.
Speaking of which, when I meet with Bryan (class of '08) today for coffee, we made a handshake agreement that we need to work together. And soon. He's looking to direct and I'm looking not to. A match made in heaven! Plus, he's another guy who is clearly really and sincerely trying to do this theater thing, and has been rapidly piling up the contacts in the theater community since he moved here 18 months ago.
Plus, he's kept in close touch with all the ex-Miamians. He was one of the people who wanted to try and pull a bunch of the other Chicago-based '08s together to generate a show last year, but, when nobody wanted to be the writer, the project quickly evaporated.
I want to be the writer.
We'll see how it goes. We both agree that having an actual script in hand can do wonders for peoples' confidence.
Although it does depend of the script...
Meanwhile, after we shook this momentous handshake, Bryan got me into (free!) the preview for a show he helped to dramaturg. It was put on in a storefront-turned-theatre space by a tiny ensemble (non-Miamians) called the Bruised Orange company. They presented an original play that a member of their company wrote based on Dostoevsky's novel, The Devils.
And it was fabulous.
I was reminded of the opening of Henry V, where Shakespeare (somewhat disingenuously) apologizes for the fact that the small, anemic "cockpit" of a stage can never fully convey the majesty and sweep of of the Battle of Agincourt. And then he does it anyway.
Same here.
Somehow, ten performers filled a theatre the size of my apartment with plots, sub-plots, massive exposition, aristocrats, peasants, thieves, politicians, soldiers, drunks, lovers, schemers, revolutionaries, self-doubting intellectuals, and intellectuals who don't self-doubt, but should. The ten actors doubled-up, tripled-up, quadrupled-up on characters, and yet, added by nothing but fun quick-changes and great acting, always kept all the balls in the air and effortlessly employed a massive cast of characters. And since the theatrical space was so intimate, those characters were in front of you, beside you, behind you, and all around you.
It was an entire 900 page Russian novel going off right in your face. And, yet, it always stayed coherent, funny, poignant, and deeply compelling.
This play was a masterclass in what a bunch of great, energetic actors, armed with a good script and very smart direction can do with no budget, in a tiny space. It was an arresting and, dare say, inspiring show and it beat the living crap out of both things I most recently saw in New York.
Go Chicago.