It's a Busy Time

I want to write so many things, but I fear my brain isn't really awake this early in the morning.

I have been hard at work getting Pericles going and, hopefully, finished. We go into tech in 2 weeks. I will admit I've been a bit lax about it, trying to let the other students involved (like my Props Master & Paint Charge) be, well, in charge. But I think we're going to have step up our game. The show is deceptively complex. The two rakes, large wheel and fabric make it seem like there's not much going on. But this show is going to be about the details. A Shakespearean Odyssey, Pericles visits at least 5 different locales during the course of the action, and we've got to make the audience believe with props and furniture (and costumes) that we've gone somewhere new despite the lack of scenic shift. Hopefully it will all come out nicely as this is my last scenic design in my foreseen future.

I'm also in the midst of the design process for Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams. I am, shock! amaze!, designing the costumes for the show and having a good time trying to infuse them with meaning and character. Below are my thumbnails for Lady, the main character. She has these three costumes and then we see her 2 other times in her nightgown/robe. The idea is that she begins in a drab, unflattering dress (much like the other characters in the town) as she has been forced to conform to the societal norms of this small-town (aka Hell). But as she blossoms under the attentions of Val (the wandering drifter) and attempts to recapture her father's wine garden, her silhouette becomes more rounded and fanciful. She becomes more feminine and womanly and happy, despite her possibly unhappy demise.




The other character that I thought I'd share is the Conjure Man, to me the most interesting character and costume. He is the only Black character in the show, despite the script being infused with racial themes. The history of conjuring and conjure men is a part of Black spirituality and religion that traveled with them from Africa and became infused with the Christian and Native American beliefs and religions they were exposed to. Thus, I have tried to layer upon the Black body (which itself has social and racial implications) notions of the Native American and Colonial influences, making the Conjure Man not of this world, something apart, and yet very much influenced by it. We are still working out the details of his coat (does it make him too attached to civilization?) but this is really close to what you're going to see, I figure.



Other than the two shows, I am working on my 3 presentations for SETC. I have the two shows that I am competing with: Oklahoma! and The Waiting Room. And then I'll be presenting my paper on Feminist Design as well. (And doing Job Contact, which is a crazy free-for-all of talking to potential employers). I have a feeling that my SETC is going to be jam-packed! And it is in only 4 weeks!

On that note, I'm going to go do some more work. Or yoga. Perhaps I'll do some yoga to start the day off right.

Feminist Validation

Almost a year ago I wrote a post I titledTempestuas Validation. In it I explored how not being named one of the winning entries at KC/ACTF had crushed my ego. It was introspective but fairly mopey. Since writing that I went to the SETC conference in Kentucky and was awarded second place in the graduate scenic design competition for my design for The Seagull. And I researched and wrote a paper about the ideas of feminist design. Which I submitted to three conferences. A few weeks ago, MATC sent me a rejection e mail.

Today, 6 weeks away from the 2011 SETC convention in Atlanta I received an e mail congratulating me on receiving the Young Scholar's Award for my paper on feminist design. Even before I get to the convention where I will have 2 designs in the design competition (Oklahoma! and The Waiting Room) I have already won. My work and my deep thoughts about design and the design process have been validated. I am going to present, to goodness knows how many people, about my search for feminist design. I have been having trouble sitting still and concentrating this afternoon...

I think the most rewarding thing about the news is not the $225 cash prize, but that I am starting to feel the crossover of my academic pursuits and thoughts and my artistic endeavors. I am starting to feel like an artist-scholar. I can show how theatre design doesn't have to be brainless and about making a pretty picture, but about dramaturgical research and in-depth analysis of how our world operates. This is exciting, and I am, admittedly, geeking out. I love all of the academic work I've had my hands in over the years. I honestly miss it when I have been told to just produce sketches. In a perfect world I would be able to do lots of research and mull things over before designing the scenery or costumes for a play. Sadly, theatre doesn't afford that kind of luxury (and very few people would take it if they could, instead cramming more jobs together in order to pay the bills).

All of this is interesting as I start work on my next and final design at UNCG, costumes for Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending. I'm very excited about the project because the director wants to break away from the expectations of it being a realistic play, instead delving into the illusions and motifs and the undertones of the Orpheus myth (and racial and economic commentary being made). As the costume designer, I really feel like I'm going to be able to apply some of the feminist design questions. Things, finally, feel like they are coming together. It is a good way to wrap up my MFA. Everything seems to be culminating and I'm having to bring all of my education and skills to bear. Hopefully with very exciting results.

Family, Feminist Design, and Finishing School

Whoa, it's Sunday. I'm updating! I must be procrastinating. No, I'm actually waiting for photos to upload to Facebook, which is the procrastination, I guess.

I got back from a whirlwind trip to California to see my family. My grandmother had took a turn for the worse in October and CT and I were finally able to get away this last week. Unfortunately, she passed away the day before we caught our flight. But it was good to visit with family and introduce their special kind of craziness to CT. I was reminded of my strong desire to move closer, even if it is just by a few states. This whole cross-country flying is not cool. The family that I am geographically closer to now I hardly see, so obviously moving West wouldn't put anyone out (and would get me out of the South!).

In the last 6 hours I have been working on a few things, including submitting my Feminist Design paper to yet another conference. It has now gone out to 3. I don't really care if it gets chosen (okay, I do, but I know that academic papers are not my forte) but it's nice to know that people are thinking about the problem of traditional design techniques, even if just for a second before they reject the paper.

Meanwhile, tomorrow is the first day of the last semester of my MFA. I am nervous and excited. I want this semester to go really well (the last one ended horribly). I don't want the doom and gloom of what happens next to hang over my head while I finish up two more designs, go to a conference (or two?), and take a very exciting academic class "Race, Gender, and Performance." I hope that as things rev up, it will be good. Spring semesters have always been better for me anyway (I think the conferences help to give me something to look forward to and take a break from the other stuff with).

Okay, back to the pictures from California. I am going to take more pictures this year and I started there. I'll leave you with one of my favorites:

2010

Okay, so, last year I started this blog as a New Year's Resolution to write more. It worked for a while, but petered out with summer and this fall semester. It seems silly to reinstate that resolution officially (unofficially I have said it in my head) so I won't. Instead, I will write today, even though it is not Sunday!, and talk about a few things I realized this last week.

The end of last semester was rough. I had a really bad review with my faculty when I was expecting good things to come out of it. I have been thinking about it, mulling over some of the things they said, and one thing occurred to me about the accusation that I've got a bad case of senioritis. Last academic year I was on fire. My personal life fell apart but I used all of that to fuel my hard work and creativity for the year. I was on top of everything and went into the summer of work at UNCG not thinking much of the emotional and physical toll that I would have to pay for not really taking time to deal with what had happened with my ex and my family. This last semester I had a reprieve from lots of work because I only had two classes I had to take for the rest of my degree (my Master Production class and an Academic class). I chose to split those two up and take the Costume Seminar I was expected to take and do an Independent Study to keep me drawing. However, my energy and drive began to peter out. Some of it was senioritis, for sure, and I know that is what the faculty and staff at UNCG felt my lax work ethic stemmed from. But, in hindsight, I believe a part of it had to do with just not having the energy anymore. I used up so much on making last year awesome despite everything that I had no reserves to tap into when things got rough. I also know that working at UNCG this summer meant I had no recharge time (financially or emotionally) from an incredibly emotionally charged environment.

The sad truth is though I've come to realize that my senioritis doesn't just stem from being a a third year student who is ready to just be done, I'm not sure how much I'm going to improve over this last semester. This is not to say I'm not going to be on top of stuff, but like letting go of my extreme desire to be perfect and get a 4.0 when I got to Grinnell, it's nice to not feel like my nerves are on edge all the time because I must, need, have to get stuff done. No one else around me has ever really been as dedicated to turning stuff in on time and awesome. It's nice to allow myself to be human and make mistakes right now, because the sad truth is that if/when I get a job, I'm going to have to go back to being on edge because it will be a constant worry about whether or not I am going to keep said job.

But, for 2011, I am going to strive to strike a balance between work and personal time. I need to, for the sake of the two directors that I'm still designing for and the professor from whom I'm taking my last class, give it my all. Here's to hoping I can rekindle a bit of the former glory but not give myself ulcers at the same time.

Wrapping Up Work

Okay, so I have 2 costume plates left to draw then I can paint them and be done with the surprise 13 plates I set out to work on last Monday and that are due tomorrow at 9am. And what am I doing? Yep, procrastinating!

I think that the end of the fall semester is the worst. Or at least right now it seems like the worst. Part of that has to do with wanting to do the whole holiday thing (and today Target was a lunatic asylum and I was just there to buy paper towels!) but also because we're working towards next semester shows as well. On top of this costume project I'm completing for Kushner's adaptation of The Illusion, I've also got to get Pericles designed and drafted before we leave for break. :( It has been rough.

But my work for The Illusion is exciting. See this fun plate below (my apologies for it's weird scan... the book is too big for the scanner bed):



The show provides for so much more than just a simple design because it has three plays within it. So each of the plays are in their own time period and color. And I've added elements of commedia in order to inform some of my choices. I've really enjoyed putting on my costumer hat again. Hopefully this will bode well for Orpheus Descending, the last show of UNCG's season for which I will be costume designer.

Meanwhile, I'm still on the hunt for a job. :( I was kind of seriously considering another masters program (a 2 year one in another field) but, really, that would have just been hiding out from real life again. I am ready to have a job and make more than $1000 a month (for 8 months). I am ready to be able to afford holiday gifts and all that. Yep, I'm ready to be an adult for real.

But I guess I should pass my costume seminar first...

Theatre Without Merit

Okay, I may regret this blog post, but there really is no benefit in not giving honest feedback. I just saw UNCG's production of Alice an "urban, techno remix" of Lewis Carroll's classics Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. And, I'm sorry to anyone who I offend or disagrees with me, but it was horrible.

To begin with, the sound was too loud. My ears were hurting during the pre-show and at the top when Alice's mother is yelling at her. My 7-year-old cousin had his hands over his ears. He asked to sit in the lobby before the show because he didn't like the loud noise. Later in the show, microphone use was inconsistent and garbled. Much of the talking couldn't be heard over the soundtrack and I left with a headache.

But the worst part was that the Carroll's story was lost. It appeared that the goal was to re-imagine the characters in a hip-hop style while ignoring the fact that Alice has to have a journey to find herself as a young woman. All too often the stage was muddled with action and visual stimulation. I couldn't tell what was going on, where we were, nor did I care. At no time did I feel for poor Alice. All I could think was, when will this be done? And while my 7-year-old cousin had moments of excitement over some of the spectacle (unicyclers and jugglers) he generally looked at me with confusion. Perhaps because he isn't old enough to have any frame of reference for much of the updates (a LOL-Cat as the Cheshire Cat, for instance) but isn't our target audience younger people? Shouldn't they get what we're talking about?

I will give credit to the production team: the costumes were fascinating. The props and puppets intriguing. The set interesting. And the lighting mesmerizing. But I felt that too much of the show was about spectacle. Sure, kids these days are more interested in Wii and movies than they are in old-fashioned theatre and story-telling, but, really? Do we have to perpetuate that? Do we have to assume that all our young audiences want is glitz and glam without substance? And for the poor parents and adults in the audience, sure we got the references to the classic book, but I doubt many adults really felt like it was money well-spent for them to sit through. A show for children should inspire kids to want to play make-believe and dress up, not pander to their dulled imaginations and attention-spans. And it should be something that the adults will say more than "Well, the kids liked it" when asked about it later. Truly, this production was not worth my time. Nor am I really happy, as a theatre-maker, to have shown this to my cousin as an example of my chosen profession. And I know I'm about to make a lot of people irate, but I'm a little embarrassed by the whole mess. UNCG can and does do better work (especially in the TYP program). I hope that we learn from this and strive for better, more-substance-filled, theatre with merit.

Two Weeks of Thoughts

My apologies for not having posted in the last two weeks. I've not had much to write about and my Sunday schedule has changed enough that I don't find myself sitting at the computer thinking, hey, write on your blog.

For now I have a few things of note, things that have been happening and the thoughts I've had:

1. I have started applying for jobs. I feel like a fraud, in part because the jobs I want I don't look qualified for on paper. These jobs are in the artistic department as Artistic Assistant or Artistic Associate. They are also jobs that want to be filled before I graduate in May. The other jobs I'm applying for are teaching jobs. That feels fraudulent too because I know that I'm applying more because I look somewhat qualified even if I feel like a professor of theatre design should not be directly out of graduate school. But I've got to pay the bills, right? Hopefully something good will come of all of this.

2. I am going to NYC in 2 weeks. I'm excited and nervous and financially strapped. I probably will only get to see 1 well-reviewed show (and perhaps one by Village Light Opera) because I'm just too poor. Oh well. Museums Museums Museums.

3. I have been stitching for Triad Stage's Christmas Carol. It makes me nostalgic for Portland. But I am enjoying these bursts of simulating real employment. And I like to help out a theatre that I care about and want to see succeed.

4. Speaking of Triad Stage, I saw Educating Rita last night. A wonderful play and I'm so glad I got to see it. I loved the set design and the premise, Pygmallion updated so you don't think that the Eliza Doolittle character (the aforementioned Rita) is really a sodding idiot for falling for her teacher. The whole play is a fascinating discussion about the power of choice and education, how people change and don't. I can't even begin but really, you must read or see the show (not at Triad as it just closed, but you get the idea). Powerful, powerful stuff.

Alright, told you it wouldn't be terribly exciting. I'm off to get ready for a mock interview for class. I'm sure it will be helpful, but I'm definitely not looking forward to it (I'm fairly unprepared). And to send off my application to the Goodman.