NET Summit: Saturday, June 20

Performance Responses:
Matt and I thought the performance response for Pretty was today… but it wasn’t. Which means I could have (and should have) slept in. So we sat in on the discussion for Faust. It was a good discussion and made us want to see the show. That’s about all I got from that. I was trying really hard to focus but it wasn’t happening.


Catalyst Conversations: Rhodessa Jones
I LOVE THIS WOMAN. She is the epitome of cool and classy. She is the co-artistic Director for Cultural Odyssey and is the founder of the Medea Project. She performed a few of the spoken word pieces created by people who have been through her program. Very moving and powerful stuff.


Morning Session: Ensembles in Transition: Juene Lune in conversation.
Dominique Serrand and Steve Epps talked about their experience of the evolution and unfortunate downfall of their company. A lot of the downfall had to do with their differing opinions with the board. They talked about how as artists we need to be critically honest with each other. And how in the US we have low expectations because there is not a lot of great theatre that has had the time and development put into it. To summarize: we need higher expectations and more honesty.

Early Afternoon Session: Bridging Ensembles: Politics and Aesthetics
So I was a little frustrated by this session. We all gathered together and threw up issues that we’re all dealing with and need to talk about. Then from all those ideas we chose the top four and then broke up into those four groups. I was in the group that basically discussed racial and cultural inequality. The group got a little heated about diversity and how inequality affects the arts and artists. One point that was brought up was how ensembles are even formed. On one hand there’s the people (usually the white privileged) who graduate from university and form an ensemble (SOSE would go under this one. Then there are the ensembles formed through community and social justice – they are formed out of necessity. These ones don’t have the money or resources to focus on aesthetics whereas the “white privileged” do. I come from a lower working class background so I empathize with the social justice route but I am also a college graduate going into ensemble theatre – and I’m as white as white gets. During this session I basically just kept my mouth shut for fear of saying the wrong thing and then being attacked (it happened to someone else in the group). Some one said something that really resonated with me: We work together as artists to counter the hostility in the world. That is why I am an artist – to help change the world and fight inequality and hate. We all have stories to share and I think that’s the point of talking about the “white privilege.” There was a lot more discussed that I’m not going to get into.


Late Afternoon Session: Collisions
So today was our last opportunity to work together and prepare something for the showing on Sunday. We did a free write session where we wrote for 2 minutes about the things we’ve discovered through our process thus far. Then we paired off and went through gestures that resonated with us. Then we went had the pairs do their sequence of gestures while another pair read their text from the free write. It was really interesting – especially while JP and I read it eerily matched Ben and Bellamie’s gestures.
Then we tried to piece together things we had discovered for the showing. All in all we felt we had an idea of what to do.

Shows:

Butchlalis de Panochtitlan: The Barber of East L.A.
This play is about a Chicana Lesbian in East LA named Chonch who fell in love with another woman. She was beat up and left el barrio, the neighborhood. She returns and opens a barber shop. I really enjoyed the performance. It was presentational with clear and inviting characters. It was also a strong story simply about a barber and the affects home and neighborhood, can affect a person.

Fool’s Proof Theatre: Je suis Dead
This was a very interesting piece to say the least. In the program it says it’s about “identity and the invisible ties that bind us.” The was present in some parts, but overall the piece was too convoluted to really grasp. It felt so jarred that any story or connections were lost. That being said, I thought the acting and characterization were extremely strong and captivating. Ben Phillips (who’s in my Collisions group) has a child like curiosity in him as well as an intensity to him that I find both refreshing and compelling. The other two actresses (yes I still say actress) were equally as strong.

After:

A bunch of us went back to the dorms for a “dorm party.” We drank some beers and there were a bunch of peeps playing ping pong. I chatted with Bellamie and Farrah. Jacquelyn (from Neo-Futurists New York) joined us. Here is an excerpt dialogue that I think is worth sharing:
Jacquelyn to Farrah: What do you do?
Farrah: Uh, I’m a sign language interpreter…
J: And?
F: That’s it.
J: Wow, I’m so used to people having multiple jobs. Like, you’re a sign language interpreter, a bartender, and… a burlesque dancer.
F: Yes, I’m all those at the same time.

So that was a running joke between us. I’m now seriously considering become a sign language interpreter – apparently they make bank!

We also taught Jacquelyn how to sign “I love my sheep.” And Erica (also from Neo-Futurists NY) how to sign her dog’s name: AFoxDog.