After only being in Glasgow a short while, I was brought on board to join the Visiting Company’s cast of “Panorama” for the Arches Live Festival. “Panorama is a vibrant, moving, musical and inventive large-scale experiment which captures the extremes, inbetweens and possibilities of who we are, individually and together.” I had a wonderful time working with the artists and sharing the work with audiences.
My Fulbright is in full force and the first week at the National Theatre of Scotland has been inspiring. The project I’m working on is in the early stages and hasn’t even been announced yet… so I can’t really talk about the specifics, even though I want to! But the preliminary meetings have been incredibly exciting! I’ve gotten the chance to tour the city as we’ve scoured different public locations for the new piece, learned all about their community based performance work, met with a ton of artists and administrators to understand the process for creating new projects here, and even got to observe/participate in development on a new show being directed by Artistic Director, Laurie Sansom. This company places its focus on truly serving the people of Scotland; collecting their stories, honoring their history, and engaging communities in conversations around the future of Scotland. They often refer to themselves as a “theatre without walls” because they are purposefully itinerant so that they are truly bringing theatre to the people. Pretty heroic if you ask me!
Simon Sharkey presenting at the Scottish Learning Festival
Yesterday I attended the Scottish Learning Festival with the company as well and was delighted by how much focus is placed on creative learning and the arts. Many Scottish organizations are providing opportunities for young people to further their skills not just in academics, but in citizenship, leadership, and art making. NTS plays a present role in the education system as well. Their production of Jump, directed by Simon Sharkey, took young men in Glasgow and Fife and worked with them to create a show that utilized the values in parkour (critical thinking, self-discipline, determination, and teamwork) to tackle their own stories about transitioning from boys into men. The experience resulted in these young men developing ways to express themselves physically and vocally, building bonds between the boys in the ensembles, and instilling a strong sense of pride over creating this valued performance. These young men went from sliding under the radar at school to having a drive to gain more for/from themselves. You can read more about the project and watch the documentary here. Having watched the actual production, it’s moving, honest, and smart. The success of this project has put into motion the creation of a comparable show for girls transitioning into women. Cool, right? I’m looking forward to that project being put into motion and the kinds of effects it will have on the young women involved!
The Miami Herald recently wrote a blush inducing article about my theatre accomplishments and upcoming Fulbright adventure. As a native of Miami, it was a real honor to be featured in this fantastic publication. Check it out!
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/16/3630959/palmetto-high-almuna-lands-fulbright.html
And I’m over the moon! This is truly a dream come true and I couldn’t be more elated.
I’ve been contemplating how to study devising when no MFA actually existed in this style of theatre making. So, for my project proposal I broke down the components of what course work would constitute an MFA in devising and found the most amazing theatre companies that specialized in these areas… site specific work, ethnographic research in performance, non-verbal communication (gesture work, music, visual images), ensemble, playwriting, and directing. And now, come September, I will be packing my bags and heading to the UK for a year to study, make art, meet people, drink tea, and go on some adventures!
It was a wonderful summer of great theatre for me! Last Meal Man was a huge success. Audiences and critics loved it and now we’re in talks about developing it further into a full length piece. I’m incredibly proud of our devising work and am hopefully that it will have more life.
The remount of Ren Faire: A Fistful of Ducats came up next. It’s always a joy to perform on the Factory stage. The show was smart and funny with a cast of brilliant comedians. It was a nice treat to live in that world again and revisit my character of Emma after 4 years. The costume still fit perfectly!
Playing the Musical Saw at Salon-a-thon
The rest of the summer was sprinkled with theatre camp productions I directed, storytelling performances, Noble Horse shows/riding, and teaching. Oh! And I’ve been rockin’ out on my musical saw. I love playing it and am getting better and better. I played it this summer at Salon-a-thon and will be performing with it again this December at the final Cabaret Vagabond event at Martyrs.
Karla Faye Tucker
So far the devising process has been incredibly exciting for The Last Meal Man! This piece will be part of Sketchbook at Collaboraction and is all about prisoners on death row and their final meals before they are executed. As a result, I’ve been spending a good deal of time researching my character, the infinitely fascinating Karla Faye Tucker. She was a former motorcycle riding, rock groupie, prostitute turned Jesus loving, religious zealot. She brutally murdered two people with a pick axe. Her last meal was a garden salad with ranch dressing, a banana, and a peach because it was good food and she was a good person.
Check out our video from rehearsal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8rY90xEECA
The Story Story team!
I’ve been playing with puppets and projections and music for this beautiful, wordless, spectacle based show! It’s a special piece with an amazing team of artists. Lacy Katherine Campbell has created the project and is our fearless leader. It’s not to be missed!
Fable Festival
– May 17 @ 8pm (Francesca’s 1039 W Bryn Mawr)
– May 19 @ 4pm (Senn High 5900 Glenwood)
Strawdog’s Hugen Hall
– May 20 @ 7pm (3829 N Broadway)
TimeOut honored the MilkMilkLemonade team for our fantastic work on this production, naming us one of the best ensembles in 2011. “The fearless fivesome of Matt Farabee, John Zinn, Cyd Blakewell, Jessica London-Shields and Sarah Rose Graber embodied the whacked-out inhabitants of Joshua Conkel’s daring comedy”
You can read all about it here: http://timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/theater/15056523/twelve-outstanding-ensembles-in-chicago-theater-2011-in-review
It’s official! I will be performing in Adventure Stage Chicago’s spring production of “The Giver,” by Lois Lowry and Adapted by Eric Coble, directed by Brian Bell. Find out more about this project at www.adventurestage.org
Pavement Group’s annual Amuse Bouche festival was a hit. I got to perform opposite the talented Gabriel James Franken in “I’ve Always Liked Your Band” written by Mallery Avidon.
"I've Always Liked Your Band"
