We started our day with another round of scenes we were assigned to create.  Katie, Allison, Jess, and Alex went off on their own to develop pieces related to Atalanta's choice to pick up the apples during her final race.  As with the previous assignment, we were each given a motivation for the decision that we were to use to inform our pieces.  We returned after our time apart and showed what we had come up with.  Jess was to write a piece that assumed Atalanta picked up the apple because it was fated.  Hers was a playful piece involving placards and an orange thrown at her head.  Katie took her scene outside, running herself to exhaustion and eventually taking the apple as nourishment.  Her task was to demonstrate that Atalanta stopped for the apple because she was hungry and tired.  Working from the thought that Atalanta chose to lose the race so that she could have a child with the victor, Allison performed a moving piece in which she strung together a number of well known songs.  I (Alex) wrote another section of a song based on the thought that Atalanta picked up the apple as an act of defiance. 
    After we showed our pieces and discussed them, we headed off for lunch on lovely second street in Belmont Shore.  After our feast at an Indian restaurant, we split up into pairs and interviewed people on the street about issues related to the themes we'd been exploring.  More people than I expected were willing to participate, and we got some great responses.  We video recorded all of the interviews, and we might end up using some of the material as part of our performance!  The interview experience was capped off by my discovery that I had a giant rip down the back of my pants.  I hope I didn't scare of too many potential interviewees...
    Once we returned back home, we watched the interviews that we'd recorded and then jumped into our next series of assignments.  We again broke of individually and wrote material relating to Atalanta's choice to pick up the golden apples.  This time, though, we were given some restrictions that required us to challenge ourselves a bit more.  Katie ended up writing a lovely song on the guitar.  Jess performed a rather enticing piece on the floor involving a clementine tied to a string.  Try picturing that!  I wrote a stream of consciousness monologue, and Allison wrote an aleternate reality-type jailhouse seen.
    We ended our day talking about what we would be doing for our workshop performance.  We were able to clarify what we wanted to get out of the workshop, and we made some headway in terms of understanding where our piece was heading.  Though all were exhausted by the end of the discussion and the day, I think we all felt we'd gotten a lot done.  Looking forward to a beautiful and productive Sunday!  We'll let you know how the workshop ends up going.

So it began...


Several of us are here in sunny southern california to spend 6 days working on developing our newest project.
I couldn't be more thrilled to be embarking on adventure # 2 with all of these amazing artists, some familiar faces from Crossed Wires and some new faces as well.


Debby, Alex, Katie G, Jess, Allison and Katie J are all here in Long Beach; Katie T is participating from London; and Colin, Joe, and Krista couldn't make it out for this portion of the process...


We're staying at my parents' house and using the Fellowship Hall of their church to work, rehearse and develop.  I am continually amazed by and continually grateful for the generosity of my parents and all of the people in their church and neighborhood who are making room for us in their lives.


We started this morning in a state of dashing to and fro as we got ready to leave my parents house and head over to the huge hall for rehearsal...computer problems delayed us well...me and then we were off.  We spent a lot of time talking, throwing around ideas - figuring out what the heck we're doing....and then we embarked on an adventure, provided by the lovely Katie T who asked us to learn about some of the characters in this story by doing a long movement improv.  It was a great day that ended with an awesome show by a band that an old elementary school friend of mine plays bass and trumpet for...they were so wonderful that we all started dancing...just the kind of fun needed to get us in the mood for another day of work!


Below are three of my favorite pictures from the day...

Blog 2

Reading looking listening remembering…doing?

The second day, filled with expectations often feels frustrating.  Questions seem to pose more questions rather than a product we are all so desiring. That said, today sparked inspiring ideas: stories told in different time periods, the importance of an image that only becomes symbolic as the play moves along, the ever meddling Aphrodite, and temples lots of temples.  I am reminded to enjoy the process and allow the product to come from play. That is what we are producing, right? A play.  Miriam joined us today with just the enthusiastic energy we needed. Although starting the day with a body tingling yoga session led by Katie Gould was also the jumpstart I craved.  Jenny is our constant leader, and Allison always finds the balance between creative thought and inspiration.  Alex’s honesty proves the barometer to empty ideas, and Debby keeps it all together.

     I hope to find the humor in this piece- Pandora’s box falling  and wiping her out, Atalanta tripping over the seductive apples, or a traditional chorus speaking lines from the contemporary interviews we are holding. 

Here’s to playing, to small miracles, and to my friends my artistic wonders creating something we believe in.   And here's some pictures"