plays

Macbeth, Religion, and Pain

Uncategorized

I’m playing a witch in Kathleen Akerley’s redux of Voodoo Macbeth.  Super stoked, the cast is all actors I know/ know of and highly respect, and the concept is really thrilling.  I’m honored just to be in the room.

Our big pitch for tonight started with the idea of creating a belief based on some parameters.  I chose my relationship to ‘what came before.’  And, as a philosophy hobbyist with friends of many faiths and lack thereof, I really enjoy the idea of pain as a basis for religion rather than a counterpoint to it.  So, I figured I’d make a belief based on pain.  

I figured, what if I am the pain of the thing that came before?  What if the ‘nothingness before everything’ felt that existence was a cancer – what if the void could feel and was being oppressed by existence?  This was kind of my starting ground.  One of the issues was that, whatever the relationship, we had to somehow glorify that ‘thing before’, etc, and create a method of worship.  So I had to simultaneously find a way to celebrate the thing I was, by existing, causing pain.  This lead to a huge philosophical game of point-counterpoint, of easily foreseeable schisms and sects within the belief, and… well, over all, I’m also a hobby gamer who plays Dark Eldar and Call of Cthulu, and really, it was a fun way to play off of those religious mechanics as well.

Image

Image Yeah, they’re pretty well understood.

So. Yeah. Great first rehearsal.  Looking forward to the rest.

Overall it really reminded me of the excellent imersiveness of the artistic process, and why I am so stoked to be working with Avalanche Theatre this coming year.  To help us out, check out my donate! page, or just follow this link here: http://kck.st/ULb8iX

What is Living Without…

art, Theatre Business

Avalanche Theatre Company has just posted their upcoming season!  Check out the info on my theatre company!

What is Living Without….

 

As always, thanks for reading.

-K

Getting Underway: The Art of Swift Feedback

Theatre Business, Theatrical Process

Producing a show is a pretty fun experience, but it makes one realize – for all the technology in the world, if you want quick, productive feedback, nothing beats face to face meetings. I can think of no place more productive in terms of time spent than in a face to face collaborative meeting.

Now, I know there are nay-sayers out there – I’ve read Dilbert, after all – but in a super-collaborative process like theatre, face to face is vital. Now, granted, it’s not AS productive as the time one spends by oneself getting a task done, but for hashing out details, straightening out confusion, and getting everyone on the same page, the meeting just does it.

Granted, I have comparisons that I can make – other modes of discussion, for example. I find that, if its in writing, people will take more time to respond to it. If a meeting is verbal, the response is much swifter, and allows for a quicker flow of ideas.

In terms of collaborative clarity, here’s my hierarchy (best to worst):

-In Person Meeting (if there can be food/drinks there, so much the better). Everyone can see full expression from everyone else in the group, and there’s a sense of general commitment that comes with physical presence and generates, so far, a positive feeling.

– Skype/ Phone conversation – This is radio communication, basically – remote discussion. Very useful, very clarifying, very immediate. Not as fun or as personable as the in person meeting, but still very useful.

– Email. This is kind of a crapshoot. The shorter the email, the less info. The longer the email, the less someone will read. The least investment makes for the easiest upkeep but also means that it will inevitably get lost in an inbox.

– Texting. This is pretty much a precursor for any other kind of collaborative process. Short, sweet, to the point, not as strong a medium as a phonecall, with even less commitment than an email. Also, a crapshoot. This and the email can take the most time to get a bounceback response.

Granted, all these aspects are useful for collaboration and planning. But seriously, I really enjoy the social aspect of the meeting. It’s a wonderful excuse for friendly business/ arts folks to get together and hang out, while still getting things done.

I think basically this is a giant rant about how much I enjoy working with my artistic staff and marketing team.