Freedom!

... to get some work done!

I'm off work: from my job-job at least.

So, where to start?

Am starting by reviewing my previously written material. Then character development. I found this set of questions online months and months ago (sorry, can't remember where, so no link). This seems as good as place as any to begin.

(yeah, yeah, character analysis 101, but what the hell.)

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Essential Questions about a Character:
(Always answer each question in the first person)

1. Describe yourself in three sentences.
2. How did you get your name? Do you like your name?
3. How old are you? Do you like your age?
4. Who is your best friend? Who are your enemies? What makes an enemy and what makes a friend for you?
5. Do people generally like you? How much money do you have? Are you happy with that?
6. Describe something significant that happened to you yesterday.
7. Describe something significant that happened to you in your past.
8. What do you want? What do you need? What is stopping you from getting what you want?
9. What do you like about yourself? What do you dislike?
10. Any religion?
11. If you could be someone else, who would you be?
12. Who is your hero? Who is your role model?
13. What is your favorite fairy tale?
14. What do you hope for in the future?
15. What is your greatest fear?
16. What is your greatest dream?
17. What makes you angry?
18. What do you worry about?
19. What is your ideal death?
20. What’s your worst death?
21. I am obsessed with…
22. I can still hear my mother saying…
23. I can still hear my father saying…
24. I am like …
25. My motto in life is …
26. I never have …
27. I always …
28. Describe your living environment…
29. What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
30. What do you see in the mirror? Do you like what you see?
31. How do you get ready to go out?
32. Are you loved?
33. Who do you love?
34. Are you happy with your life? Do you have the ability to change it?
35. What animal are you most like?

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Update: 4pm.

Okay, so I didn't use the above list at all.

Those questions are more general fine-tuning questions. My script problems are a little more broad than that. I might come back to these sometime later, but today I needed a more focused strategy.

I've started placing my script in real time, as in a start date and an end date for the story. Earlier drafts play with time, i.e. scenes are not ordered chronologically from first to last. Which I like and am planning to keep. However I need to have a really firm idea of what is actually happening in order to make sure everything makes sense.

Furthermore, my general wishy-washy attitude about time has resulted in wishy-washy characters. By firming up exactly what happens when will help me clarify each character's objectives for each scene. You can only know what you want if you understand where you're coming from...

I'm also discovering weaknesses in the plot. "Discover" is not really the right word, as I already knew that there were weaknesses in there... this is more like pinpointing them, I guess. It's a kind of unraveling effect -- just pulling on a string and the whole outfit is coming apart.

Now, this post may sound negative, but I'm actually relieved as I write this. Don't worry, I'm not throwing the baby out with the bath water. I feel like I'm making progress, and although I have a lot of work ahead of me, I feel like I can solve the problems that are unfolding in front of me. It's been a good day so far.

And I'm having fun, to boot.

Update City #2

Vacations, reunions, and gigs, oh my!

Just got back from a little trip back home to Alberta, mostly to see family. First to Calgary to see my in-laws, then to Edmonton to see my immediate family. I'd be lying to you if I told you I wasn't intensely homesick when we arrived in Edmonton... but then it snowed 15cm on the day we flew out, so I felt better.

This was a family trip, so I totally apologize to all my friends back home who are reading this, saying 'what the hell, why didn't you say you were back in town???' We were only in each city for 3 days, and had 2 Passover seders and an Easter dinner to attend. The rest of the time we spent digesting...

However, by pure serendipity, the core members of my (now-disbanded) Edmonton theatre troupe, the Etcetera Theatre Collective were all in town at the same time: me, Artistic Director Barbra French, and Company Dramaturge Heather Fitzsimmons Frey. We met for coffee at Heather's (the only one still in E-town), partly to catch up but also so I could return archival videos of our shows back to Barbra. She's getting a website done up, and is hoping to digitize and upload all our shows online. Once it's live, I'll be sure to post a link.

It was sure nice to see them again -- really, it's the first time we've been in the same space in two years -- and shoot the shit about life and, well, theatre. Both Barbra and Heather have been mentors to me, and it was really nice to chat with them about our craft. Especially now that I'm about to go into an intense writing period.

Speaking of which, I've booked two weeks off of my joe-job to focus on my REALITY play. Starting on Thursday of next week, I'm taking a week off, and then taking another week off at the end of May. The first week I'm going to be focusing on story and character development -- mostly on character development actually. (I'm very excited to leave the drudgery of "real life" for a bit and let my imagination play for a bit... er, right after we do our taxes this weekend.) Then, with a couple of weeks in between writing periods, I can get some distance on the script, re-focus and involve my collaborators in designing the play for both physical and virtual space.

Speaking of virtual space, does anyone remember this notice that the CAEA e-newsletter sent out a few weeks back?

Audition call for one female and one male performer for a 15-20 minute co-production between the Drama Department of the University of Waterloo and Christie Digital Inc., a Waterloo-based company involved in the research and manufacture of innovative data projection systems. Most recently Christie Digital demonstrated their projection capabilities during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and for Robert Lepage's Le Moulin à Images on the occasion of Quebec City's 400th anniversary. The production will be presented (a) at a showcase for theatre entrepreneurs to be held in Toronto in early July (exact date TBA) and (b) 6-8 trades shows during the subsequent year. Performers will be asked to sign a retainer for the subsequent trade shows.

I've been offered this gig, so it looks like I'll be doing a little more hands-on research in the coming weeks on incorporating multimedia into performance. I'm hoping to share the experience with all of you while I'm at it, but I'm not exactly sure how much I'll be allowed to talk about because of this:

Since the co-production involves a new video display technology, performers must be willing to sign a binding Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

What does this mean? I'm not exactly sure since I'm still waiting to see a contract. Who knows, this all might just end up being pie-in-the-sky in the long run... (keep your fingers crossed for me that it's not, k?)

Assuming that it all works out, and even though it's not a full-on actual production, I'm still looking forward to dusting off my performance skills and getting in front of an audience. And since it's technically a tour, I'll be sure to let you know where I'm going to end up. If I'm in a city near you, let's grab a beer or two, eh?

In the land of the blind...

...the one-eyed man is King

My wife said this to me a couple of weeks ago as we walked by a little food shop advertising the “Best Seafood Schwarma in Toronto.”

(Blek!)

Good laugh, but it also got me thinking about my REALITY project, and my penchant for ‘innovation’ in theatre, in general.

In other words, I got a little scared.

My little bone-chilling thought went like this: what’s the point of experimenting with new technologies in theatre if nobody cares?

I’ve written in past blog posts about the dangers of marketing experimental theatre. And yet, I keep coming back to it. The basic experimental premise of REALITY is how to use multimedia to present the work in two spaces: a physical space and a virtual space. This essentially means that the production requires two designs, and the challenge is ensure that the designs compliment each other, rather than distract from one another.

However, a larger concern should be: “Is there even an audience for that kind of work?”

I’m convinced that digital technology and the web is going to become more and more integrated into theatrical work. Many of the theatre blogs that I follow focus on incorporating social media into marketing plans for productions. A smaller number of them focus on using digital technology to enhance design elements, like lights and sound.

I’ve read very little about integrating the web into actual production… but I think that’s going to change.

Consider the success the New York Metropolitan Opera has had in screening its productions in HD in movie theatres. Canada’s Stratford Festival has also tried doing this with last year’s Caesar and Cleopatra.

Stratford has actually jumped on the internet train by broadcasting web interviews with creators and stars of its productions. (I also heard a rumor that they’re planning to broadcast a couple of rehearsals too, but I can’t confirm if that’s true or not…) Both of these initiatives are remarkably brave considering how terribly theatre can translate onto video or film… (And, moving forward with my project, this is a challenge that is particularly daunting.)

You can call this marketing, or you can call it “alternative revenue streams,” but I’d like to think that it’s also a design trend.

The internet is changing how people work, relax and relate to one another. There’s a lot of fear out there that this is negatively affecting theatre: that the web encourages people to stay at home rather than assemble to witness a live event.

(Well… so does TV.)

The thing is, I don’t think that combining the two platforms is going to give me any kind of competitive edge. A theatre audience will come out to a show – if it’s exciting, fresh, marketed-well, and ultimately good – regardless.

If I’m going to have a second, digital-based platform to share my work, it should be designed specifically for the intended audience: web-heads.

It should be designed for an audience who may not be interested in going out to watch a show, but rather enjoys surfing, watching new You-Tube vids, Facebooking, blogging, downloading, connecting with friends on social media sites, etc.

I don’t necessarily want to broaden the appeal to an existing audience (although, that would be nice, if it happens). I want to expand my work so that it appeals to entirely different audiences.

Consider this: I currently live in Toronto. The bulk of my career was spent in Edmonton. I also lived in Germany for two years, and have friends and family there too. Not to mention, this blog has had comments from people who live all the way on the west coast.

If I get REALITY produced, I could conceivably share my work with all these people who would have no chance of getting to T.O. to check it out. They could share the live experience, and the communal experience, in a virtual way. Online. On a platform designed specifically for them.

That excites me. And so we move forward… shivering with fear, or not.