The concept of “Home Base” really struck…er…home with me today. With the news that WSC Avant Bard lost its home in Artisphere, and visiting with a dear friend in town from LA, the concept of a base grows more and more important.

I won’t lie, Avalanche likes art that I feel a lot of people don’t like, or perhaps would prefer to shy away from. We like difficult, emotionally honest work. It seems difficult because we deal with parts of ourselves, as humans, that most of us choose to deny. I’m not saying we by any means condone the behaviours in plays that we like. Quite the contrary; we think rape, abuse, cheating, and brutality are horrible. However, we don’t try to hide the fact that they exist.

But this art is not as widely accepted as I’d like, because we as humans find the existences of uncomfortable things…

In today’s blog, I thought I would try to explain one of the most curious facets of being an actor: Transference.

I call it Transference, because I can’t really think of what else to call it.  Transference, in psychology, is the phenomenon wherein one redirects feelings and desires, especially of those unconsciously retained from childhood, toward a new object. Actor transference is slightly different.

As an art-form, Theatre is inundated in psychology. Unsurprisingly, too, as Theatre is an artistic study of people. Theatre artists dive into the minds of characters written on paper, wading through the various muck with only the clues of the script to give us hints. We muck about in this pool of clues, gently piecing together a coherent character. Directors, Actors, Props and Costume Designers tend to delve into this world in search of putting together a fully functional, three dimensional person. We have many tools…

That’s right, folks. ATC is going corporate. Like, 501(c)3 corporate.

We’ll keep you up to date with this exciting process, which mostly involves us trying on different super- awesome looking suits.

So, first baby step happened last night: We filed and got our EIN!

What’s an EIN?

It’s a lot of discussion followed by a fairly painless birthing process.

It’s an Employer Identification Number, and it can be used for all kinds of magical, wonderful, totally not-boring things.

…Like filing more forms!

It’s that fun.

rumble rumble,

avalanche theatre company

My girlfriend and her mother were sitting shotgun and drivers’ seat, respectively.  The nighttime roads of the greater DC area were snaking by in their usual blur of grey and green, peppered with yield signs and do not enters and other signage rendered obsolete in the wake of DC’s vehicular bureaucracy.  I sat in the back, leaning forward, occasionally weighing in on the topic at hand.  You must understand, discussion with Mary and Joan is much like being a kernel in a popcorn bag, for the quips and the quotes pop up with such rapidity that to be a good kernel in the batch, one needs keep up.

We were discussing Mary’s latest vocal masterclass, which had been lovely for many reasons, chief among them one of the lessons taught by the visiting instructor.  The man’s name was James, the most accurate description for whom would be Donald Sutherland as…

Hey Folks!  Your friendly neighborhood Keegan here.  Figured you hadn’t heard from me yet, so I’d leave you guys with some thoughts on theatre, business, and amalgamations.

Background

The first time I ever thought about doing theatre, I was six, maybe.  At that age, everything is about wonder and magic and imagination, and theatre heightens the world through all of those avenues.  I remember even now the moments I first shared in the theatrical experience.  I loved all of it, making and wearing costumes, painting and coloring, acting on the stage, writing.  It’s no wonder that I’m so scattered on my resume – there’s no one thing that I love more than anything else in the theatre.

In high school, I began to help run theatre programs, taking on more administrative roles than I had before.  It was here that I found that my penchant for business, which had heretofore…

This post is inspired by a reader who writes,

“I believe that leaders make decision not based on what is right or wrong but what is relevant in the context.”

Most leadership decisions are about good, better, and best, not right and wrong. They aren’t moral.

Moral decisions aren’t compromised. Options,
on the other hand, are explored and modified.

Treating non-moral decisions like moral – right or wrong – choices, establishes adversarial relationships. Church people do this when they fight over methods, programs, or the color of the church’s front door.

Treating options like moral decisions makes
you look like an out-of-balance fool. Chill out!

Options have a good, better, or best. Explore, explain, and lobby for the option you think is best. Give reasons and data. Then make a choice.

Don’t be offended, but non-moral
choices can always be improved.

After choices:

Passionate implementation, not second guessing,  follows decisions…