The Curiouser

  This morning I was singing a song by LL Cool J, well, the chorus of a song as I recalled the music video from the 90s. Actually, I had to look up the actual artist who performed it, because beyond the hook of the chorus I don't know the song at all.  And this got me thinking about music and identity.  What does identifying with music as you grow up connect you to inside yourself, and when do stop listening to new things? And by listening, I mean that kind of knowing that is so intertwined with your soul that it's going to be with you your whole life.  For me, I think that started when the artists started being younger than I was.  "Oh, that's not for me," was what my head said as I dismissed to sounds. At some point that became this thing that I knew about the music without even really listening. But the radio and the videos still played, because inside me was this lyric and the voice of LL Cool J even tho I couldn't have named the artist five minutes ago. T...

 One of the big questions on playmakers minds is where is a space?  Theater is space dependent, and requires a live viewing and performance component. Many small theater events take place in small, borrowed spaces. Theater craft is often about borrowing.  When large venues and other public use spaces are constructed, we need to advocate for consideration of the community theater space. How the public space might function as a performance option can be part of the planning. As we reopen our public gathering areas, how can organized performance be a component of the process? 

  My birthday is on May 1st.  Last year was a birthday under lockdown. This year it is still going to be from a point of physical distance, I am planning to close the emotional gap with a month of my very favorite thing in the universe, STAR WARS.  This story is bonded to my sense of being. It landed for me when I was thirteen and facing a series of losses in my family and way of life.  Star Wars became  a friend and a place of refuge for me, I spent many hours each week earning enough money to see it at weekend matinees as it was held over for a year.  In this spirit remembrance and fun, I am constructing a month of Star Wars centric viewing. The start of the month will be a weekend of the original trilogy of films: A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. The second weekend will be for some of the Star Wars Stories: Rogue One, Solo, and the animated feature Clone Wars. The third weekend is back to the saga with a look at the prequels: Phan...

I'm working on a play. After putting a few pages together and figuring out most of the characters and a few of the major scenes, I'm puzzling out the rules that will govern the world of the play. This particular play is an adaptation of Oedipus at Colonus, and I have been thinking about it for a number of years. While the original material is a tragedy by Sophocles, my version will be a comedy. It will take place in a small pizza parlor, with a counter and one or tow tables. Through the story several Greek myths will unwind. It will be like a crossroads of stories that pass thru the tale o a refugee and his daughter living under a curse.  I am working to determine how the world will move. Will it all be in the confines of the pizza parlor, or will some of it take place outside? If it does move location, how will it be presented? These are some of the aspects of play-world plasticity that I am thinking thru. Besides being a playwright, I am also a designer. In order to compose a...

 Theater as an industry was broken before it went dark. We all knew it, but the teetering, guarded mess was too tangled and wobbly to fix.  As we reopen, the indoor venues will unfold last, and they won't be the same.  What is the opportunity for reinvention? What will theater in a decade even look like? 

  Last week I colored a handful of eggs to go into a blue bowl on our table for Easter Sunday. As the weather turns warmer it has me missing the cold nights and the lights and preparations for those chilly air holidays. And this has me thinking about the secret visitors that we invite into our homes. The magical beings who bring toys and foods and fix shoes... In this year of not bringing other people into our homes it seems that the magical beings have extra meaning this year. Wrapped into the traditions is this place we set for the ones we do not see, or the place for the honored guest left open at our feast. This year most of the places are left open.  What part of us does the magic creature feed? How is our own presence felt thru absence? In this place not filled there is hope and remembrance. 

The lock loves the key The key is bound to the ring The door keeps secrets.

 When we talk about the work of others, what are we saying about ourselves? Why not start championing the work of the people around you? When you bring up the positive difference people on your team are making, you can also reenforce the strength of the team. An added bonus is that you begin to build your credibility as a person who sees talent.  Be a champion of others as often as possible.