Potential for Positivity

Today I had an interesting revelation. I'm an assistant stage manager right now in a production of As You Like It at WaterTower Theatre in Addison. I'm also in a play here, Trouble in Mind. I am also in a student musical, UrineTown. I don't say this to complain but to set up the scenario:

Tonight was our 7:30 show of As You Like It, and, driving home about 11 pm, I knew in the back of my mind that my UrineTown rehearsal was still going on till 12 but my director thought I'd be at As You Like It until 12, so technically, I was off the hook. And I mean, at the time the last thing in the world I wanted to do was go from the show to another rehearsal. I would much rather have gladly bathed in magma.

Begrudgingly I told myself to go and dragged myself out of the car and on to the rehearsal, as unwillingly as a child to the dentist. So I'm in the rehearsal:

Here's the cheese at the end of the tunnel, to borrow a turn of phrase from my acting teacher-my UrineTown rehearsal, the absolute most negative-seeming thing for me at the time turned out the be quite the opposite! It was a great rehearsal with good, succesful work. My friends were there with me performing, too, and one positive after another kept popping up! Walking home from rehearsal I felt absolutely refreshed and eager, hopeful and optimistic (I had, by the way, been in a foul mood for much of the day).
So often we do this! We look at a thing as an absolute negative, a dead end, when, if we'd only check it out, it might be a most wonderful opportunity, an eye-opening experience, or that one last push of encouragement you needed! I mean, this sounds like an ultimate cliche, but its true nonetheless. I needed the reminder tonight.

Think-

how many amazing discoveries do we pass by every day simply because we don't dare to drag ourselves out of the mire of normalcy or comfort?!

Racism in Mind

So I'm in a play right now called Trouble in Mind, by the African-American playwright Alice Childress. It was written in the 1950s, right before the burgeoning of the Civil Rights movement and actually was almost the first play written by an African-American woman to be produced on Broadway (it was beat out by Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun instead because when Childress' producers asked her to change the play's ending to make it 'nicer' and less racially charged, she refused). The play takes place in the 50's 'behind the scenes' of an anti-lynch play being produced but all we see is the rehearsal process of the play-within-the-play. Centered around Wiletta, the play's protagonist, a middle-aged African-American actress who's had to compromise all of her career playing stereotyped 'Black Mammy's and the like, the play itself tackles racial tensions on the sides of whites and blacks in the cast and confronts the most insidious form of racism that even exists today-that of subtle and silent 'acceptance' of the 'other'.

Okay. So enough exposition. My first post about this show is a concern of mine, I suppose. Naturally in the cast there are white and black members and we're all honestly friends with each other. Going into this play about a cast of a multi-racial cast going into a play in which they feel themselves 'above' racism is a little wierd. All of us in the cast have to confront our prejudices, hidden as they may seem. It's a very humbling experience and also a very vulnerable one, which is the brilliance of Childress' writing then-she's written a trap! Anyone in the show absolutely has to confront their racism, their prejudice, their stereotypes-and the best part is, we all get to do it together, on stage, out in the open. Tonight was rehearsal one for this show so we'll see where it goes! I'm excited.

Check out the showdates and please plan on coming out to see it! It's in the Greer Garson theatre (if you don't know where it is, ask me. It's on Meadow's 1st floor). It's only 5$ for a good reason.

Wednesday, February 27- 8 pm
Thursday, February 28- 8 pm

Friday, February 29- 8 pm

Saturday, March 1- 2pm and 8 pm

Sunday, March 2- 2 pm

Ryan

Learning to Draw?

SO: today I read on in Creative License by Mr Dan Gregory because I love the book. It just makes me feel happy and gives me a sense of refreshment. So I started to "learn to draw" by the book and I completed part one: draw a chair, a mug, a table, and a person without crossing them out, with pen, and without tearing them apart. So here they are. I'm an okay artist. I had fun and I hope you can read my captions.

the whole SHABANG

CHAIR

MUG and TABLE

PERSON

p.s.-here's an emporer I drew in class today. I was inspired by Dan G's simple use of lines so I tried to copy. Plus I'm terrible at drawing people so I thought I'd give it a shot.

It's strange, but doing these drawings today has really left me feeling happier, calmer, and not so stressed out in the midst of all that I'm doing. The excitement of getting to do drawings has moved beyond doodles, I suppose. In any case, I had a good time. I hope you like them.

Ryan

Driving with Jon, pt. 1

Today I drove in the car to rehearsal with my friend and fellow assistant stage manager Jon. I thought, listening to his soft, guitar-plinking music, as I often think, of how theatrical our conversations seem to be. For minutes at a time I will stare at the reflection of an encroaching cloud front on the windows of blue office buildings as Jon will sing terribly off key and wind in and out of rush hour traffic. Suddenly, when I'm struck with a thought, I vocalize it to Jon, expecting a topical reply. Most times, Jon poses a question to me about something in a completely different galaxy of topics. Instead of answering, I am driven simply to make another remark, perhaps about the altitude of the clouds I've been watching, to which Jon tells me of his loathing of particular meat products.
It seems as if we speak to one another in a language of broken sentences and thoughts and yet I hear and I know Jon hears every word that is said. It's a dynamic that is hard to capture in words and yet oftentimes as we pass through the grey light of evening I feel as if I've had some of my favorite conversations.