An Opening Night

Over this summer I have been lucky enough to intern at Book-It Repertory Theatre. While my official title is "Management Intern," I really have taken on a variety of tasks. No matter how you slice it, I love Book-It and what they do.

Saturday night was the official opening of The Cider House Rules: Part Two. This was my first official opening night as an attendee. (I did work the opening night for A Doctor in Spite of Himself but I didn't get to attend.) I always love the feeling of an opening night. While most professional shows do at least a week of previews, there is always something very special about the official opening. The heart beat in the room is palpable both for the performers and the audience. Everything feels so new and exciting.

Cider House is a special show for Book-It because it was one of their first shows as a company. They brought it back for the 20th Anniversary and I don't think they could have made a better choice. If you want a crash course in the Book-It style, which is a whole language in and of itself, Cider House is the show to see. Here's a little glimpse into the night (photo, of course, by Cassandra Gallagher):

For a more complete glimpse into the opening night party, visit Cassi Gallagher's photo blog. You can at least see the free food we were able to indulge in.

I will admit, as I have been for months, watching the show made me miss doing the creative part of theatre. I know I'm only a few months out of college and I've found myself in a very good position: to be working at all in theatre. Now, I'm just searching for a creative venture. And it's becoming a very active search.

It's time...

to put this degree to good use. I am craving craving creative interaction. Everyone always says to create your own theatre. And that is exactly what it is time to do.

So.
Be on the look-out for that.

Stalled

My writing is a bit stalled these days. The ideas are constantly going through my head but so far nothing is find it's way to paper. I wonder if my missing acting has anything to do with my supposed "writer's block." I think writer's block is a bad term for what I'm experiencing but it is the only thing I can think to call it. (Funny, right? A writer with a lack for words.)

Although, I was just asked to write a monologue and a scene for someone. Hopefully, it will be a good exercise in writing towards a specific person and working towards an end goal. Right now, everything I write has an eventual goal (to be produced) but not necessarily a goal for a specific person to use. This will change that.

If anyone else would like to commission me to work on something with them in mind...I could do that. :)

The Last Tree

The play is not working for me. All I want is for it to work for me. Maybe it's time to go back and start over?

Also make sure to see Ruined and Spelling Bee if you are in and around Seattle. Both promise to be very good.

That is all.

Working with a degree.

I have to say I almost don't believe it. About a month after graduation and I am working in two different theatres in Seattle. And *gasp,* that's what my degree is in. Okay, I have to modify that statement: I'm interning in a theatre (Book-it) and working at another (the Intiman). At this point I am no great professional. I am an intern and a ticket representative. But we all have to start somewhere right? Well, this is where I'm starting.

Yet, in all the hubbub, the moving and all that, I have yet to work on anything new. I haven't acted in awhile (since Miracle Worker) and none of my scripts have seen any great work since two weeks ago up in Bellingham. I am almost constantly thinking about my writing. The script that continues to plague me is "The Last Tree" - the one about the adopted girl and her birth mother. It has stalled. I know what I want to say and where I want to go but I can't figure out the right words to say it in. I'm hoping showing the beginnings of the script to a few people will help me work that out. I think my friend Emily and I plan to read it out loud together to work on it at some point. Until then, it is always on my mind.

Other writing updates (these are mostly for the future):
Dawn - a few more edits are to be had although I do think it is in a really stable place at this point.
Car Parts - good right now. Yikes! I need to remember to email the Annex this week. (Thanks again E. Ray for the introduction!)
Bathtub Safety - probably another to email the Annex.
Regarding Eden (part of the Apocalypse Plays series in case you forgot) - I think I'm finally ready to revisit this one. It is time to look at the conversation between Eden and the boys right after she is introduced. I'm sure there is more character interactions to mine there. (Christy Denny, I think you'll like this one.)
War and Cigarettes - an oldie but a goodie. I definitely need to go back and work on this one. I think the last year and a half of experience as a playwright will inform the way it moves. Plus I can get rid of the superfluous secret fiance. Silly me.

That is all for tonight. Nothing too terribly exciting. I did finish my thank-you notes to the Seattle Rep-ers finally and emailed and sent those off. It made me miss that week up in Bellingham. I'm so glad that got to be my final good-bye to my home of the last five years. It was a good closure and push towards my life in Seattle.

Hello Seattle.

Photo Evidence

Here is the photo evidence of the great week we had with the Seattle Rep-ers in Bellingham. Look at all our lovely, smiling faces. (And thanks to Sarah Petty for the photo!)
Now to send a lot of thank you letters, emails, and general good feelings.

Expect a post about my writing soon. (This statement is mostly for myself so that I actually do it.)

Seattle Rep Wrap-Up

Once again...over a month since I last updated. I know, I know. Shame on me. But this brings up my new goal. As new young urban professional (without a job), the plan is to update this thing more often. I'm hoping the blog will keep me motivated to write, act, create art so that the passion, the drive, and the necessity doesn't die out. Not that I think it would...but something to hold me accountable as well couldn't hurt.

This Sunday (June 27th) I officially moved to Seattle. I packed up (almost all) of the rest of my stuff in a friend's car, turned in the keys to my Bellingham apartment and changed my address. It is very exciting but I haven't really had any time to think about it. I spent my first day in Seattle unpacking and watching the Pride Parade and on Monday (well, yesterday) I began my internship at Book-It Repertory Theatre. Although I'm only on my second day in the office, I know I'm really going to like it here. You can expect many more blogs to come about my experience but that is not the purpose of this here blog post. The purpose is to wrap of my experience last week at-

The Seattle Rep New Play Program at Western Washington University
Yes, last week I had the pleasure of observing, mingling, playing kickball, karaoking, and creating art with a group of 20 professional Seattle theatre types. What a great week it was too. I feel like I have so much to say about my experience but my words are stalled. (That doesn't happen very often.) In short, the people we met, the plays that were read, our own work was all fantastic and I am so happy I slept on an air mattress for a week in an empty apartment to participate in this program. The hours were long but the reward was well worth it.

I had the joy of serving as the student playwright for the week, shadowing Stephanie Timm as she worked on her play Asleep in the Mouth of a Crocodile: An American Dream. It was interesting to watch someone else's process as a playwright. Since the play was in the early stages, we really saw how she went about developing the plot, the characters, basically the entire thing. I think I picked up some tools for the future, some that I may use on a play I started recently called (for now) The Last Tree. That play has stalled and I need it to get moving again.

We watched the professional process during the day and spent the evenings working on student work. We did staged readings for two of my plays: a completed one act called Dawn and a ten minute play called Car Parts. Dawn is a play that I have been wrestling with for a year now. It all started with a short scene that contained only a slap and has morphed into something, I feel, could be really great. I had a fantastic director and readers (thanks to Danny Kam, Ashley Johnson, Jessica Young, and Miguel Vila) who staged a very good reading. I think, in my naivete, that it is nearly ready for a production. So the question now is "how?"

This move/change/new chapter of my life is the start of a process of questions. My explorations through Seattle which consist mostly of "how?" I'm ready to navigate the river but I must admit I am ever so slightly frightened. (I think it is good to acknowledge fear, accept it, use it, and move on.) Mostly about this whole nonsense of finding a day job and what not.

Through all of this, however, I need to remember that I am a theatre artist - not just a writer. I am an actor, playwright, writer. I have capabilities to work in all sides of theatre. (These are my affirmations for the day. You may steal them if you like.)

Here we go.

And once again, thank you so much to everyone who participated in the Seattle Rep Program. It was invaluable experience for me and I only have gratitude for it.