Friday's Odds and Ends

Another week has flown by, and I keep wondering where the time went. I remember when my grandmother told me how the days and weeks and months seem to shrink as you get older, I didn't believe her. But then, I was just a 12-year-old girl. Days were endless to me then, and I was sure they would always be.

Now I have to often remind myself to stop. Enjoy this moment. Make this moment count. This morning there was another spectacular sunrise. As I was walking with my dog, I stopped and admired the cloud formations, some looking like wisps of cotton pulled so thin the color of the sky could be seen through the threads. Colors that ranged from a deep orange to a light yellow, blending into a pale blue.

Beautiful.

Of course, I did not have my camera. But I do have a picture I took last year that I can share. We do have beautiful sunrises and sunsets here in Texas.

How many of you cheered when news of the settlement between Congress and President Obama was announced? I didn't cheer. I just said, "It's about damn time." Throughout this prolonged mess, all I could think of was two junkyard dogs facing off to protect their part of the domain.

Sad, and enough said.

On Monday I said I would report today on how the book promotion went, offering Boxes For Beds free for a few days. I'm going to put that off until next Friday so I can include some information from a couple of other authors on how their promotional events have worked. I found out that Stacy Juba had a special this past week also, and she has agreed to share some of her results with us.  I first met Stacy when she invited me to write an essay for her book, 25 Years in the Rearview Mirror, a collection of stories from a number of authors looking back to 1985. Stacy is a terrific writer and a great supporter of other authors, and I am looking forward to hearing how her promotional efforts went. She is so good at marketing, too.

 It's been a while since I shared a Literary Lesson, and I thought this one appropriate considering the mess our government is in. This is the Stage Manager in Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" speaking. The play was written in 1938, but not much has changed.

"Whenever you come near the human race, there's layers and layers of nonsense."

And lets finish with a joke. Can't end on a downer:

What did the math book say to the other math book? 
Boy do I have problems.

Friday's Odds and Ends

The image of that terrorist standing on the London street and justifying his atrocious attack on the English soldier is hard to shake. I guess that was the first time I saw such hate and such mis-guided religious fervor in real life. I have purposely not watched the many videos uploaded on the Internet over the years by terrorists. I simply do not want to hear what they have to say.

This time, however, the terrorist was on the evening news shouting that he had a right to hack that poor man to death because British soldiers are killing Muslim women and children in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kudos to Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, a cub scout leader and mother of two, who got off a bus and tried to reason with the attackers after she tried to help the victim lying on the street. According to a report on Fox News news, the woman kept talking to the two attackers before police arrived at the scene.  When one of the attackers told her that they wanted to start a war in London, she responded: "It is only you versus many people. You are going to lose."

Speaking of terrorists, I did not know that the man arrested in the Fort Hood shooting spree, Major Nidal Hasan, continues to be paid his salary and has earned more than $278,000 since the shooting in 2009 that resulted in 13 deaths and 32 injuries. I probably should not label him a terrorist because, according to a story in The Lookout, that is a designation that the federal government has not assigned him and the reason he can collect his salary, while the victims and families of victims struggle to pay medical and other bills. Because the government called the shooting an act of workplace violence and not an act of combat or terror, those injured don't receive additional pay or Purple Hearts.


Not only is that an insult, it is a blatant example of injustice and skewed thinking. How could anyone justify the situation?

This has nothing to do with the subject matter. Just thought you would like to see something pretty.

 On a lighter note, here is a cartoon from Baby Blues:  Dad and Hammie are walking down the street. Dad says, "Hammie, you have to learn to pay attention to your school work so you can get a good education. Otherwise you could end up digging ditches."

Hammie says, "Ditches? What kind of ditches? He twirls around. "Big ones? With a bulldozer? Tunnels, too?"

Dad says, "I think you're missing the point."
  

Literary Lesson:  "I guess we're all hunting, like everybody else, for a way the diligent and sensible can rise to the top and the lazy and quarrelsome can sink to the bottom. But it ain't easy to find." Editor Webb in Thornton Wilder's play Our Town. Written in 1938, but still applicable today.

A to Z Challenge - P is for Proscenium

Unless you have had any association with live theatre, you probably have no idea what a proscenium is. I know I did not before I started playing on stage, but simply put it is the area at the front of the stage facing the audience. The arch over that area creates a "window" around the scenery and performers. In Roman theatre there was no arch, and the term proscenium just meant "in front of the scenery".

The interior of the Auditorium Building in Chicago built in 1887. The rectangular frame around the stage is the proscenium "arch".

The front of the stage that faces the audience is referred to as the the fourth wall, which places an invisible barrier between the actors and the audience. Most plays respect that fourth wall, never involving the audience in what is going on, other than as spectators. However, there are some, like Thornton Wilder's Our Town that breaks that fourth wall, a process that is sometimes referred to as "breaking the proscenium."

When we staged Our Town recently, I was faced with a number of challenges as a director. First, we have no proscenium, and many of the suggested stage movements called for the character of the Stage Manager to use a proscenium pillar as a resting place when his monologue was finished and action was about to take place. So my assistant director and I had to figure out where the Stage Manager could go and be out of the way.

The talented John Milligan as the Stage Manager. He found a place to stand.

We also have a very small stage, so that presented another challenge in terms of having two homes set up for the Webb's and the Gibb's families, as well as areas for other action to take place without having to do set changes. We did manage to get it all worked out, and it is to the credit of my wonderful cast and crew that we were able to do tribute to Mr. Wilder's fantastic play.

Are you familiar with other staging configurations?  What do you think an "alley" stage is? Have you been to a "Black Box" theatre?

A to Z Challenge - D is for Design

Set design can range from extreme minimalist to building intricate rooms and buildings. I first learned about minimalist when my kids were studying theatre in high school and entering play competitions. Here in the United States high schools and middle schools compete in University Interscholastic League (UIL) competitions, and the sets, costumes and props are all minimalistic. That puts the focus on the actor and his or her ability to portray a character.

Perhaps that is why I have been drawn to plays that call for little set design. I love to watch a character come to life through sheer talent. In our current rehearsals for "Our Town" is has been wonderful to see the characters emerge as the players are no longer just spitting out lines, but making little magical moments happen on stage.

But I digress.

A directors dream is to be invited to the International Thespian Society's annual festival. Texas Theatre Director Luis Muñoz directed a group of 90-plus students from around the state in the production of "Coram Boy" for the All-State Thespian company, and the show was invited to the national festival.

Image Courtesy of The Leaguer - UIL Official Publication

This picture from a rehearsal of "Coram Boy" is typical of a bare-stage production for the UIL competitions.

While most of the staging I do is minimalistic, I do appreciate a beautiful set and admire the set designers who can bring a scene to life that way. Doing some online research,I found an article in The Guardian that shows the ten best theatre designs in pictures, and those sets are amazing.

A top set designer is Rae Smith who works as a scene designer for theatrical productions all over the world. For her design of "War Horse" she won a 2011 Tony Award for Best Scene Design.

 

Having seen the movie, I couldn't imagine how anyone could have brought those scenes to life on a stage, but that is what a good set designer can do. From this picture, I can see why Smith won the Tony. This is amazing.

When you go to plays do you prefer an intricate set design, or something simple?

A to Z Challenge - A is for Act One

Before I share my word for today, I want to give a shout out to Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out   From what I understand, it was Arlee's bright idea to start the challenge a few years ago. This is my second time to participate, and I must admit it is a challenge, but it is also fun.

I toyed with a number of possible themes for my posts this month and nothing really energized me, until I thought of trying to find words that are associated with live theatre, acting, and plays. That seemed a natural since I have been in rehearsal for seven weeks for a production of "Our Town" at our local community theatre. I am directing and playing a role, which is especially challenging, and I may never do that again.

"Our Town" is a classic three- act play written by Thornton Wilder in 1938, and theatres across the country are celebrating the 75th anniversary with productions. Set in the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners, it could be the story of any typical small town's citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives. The story is set between the years of 1901 and 1913 and convey the ordinariness of love, marriage, and death. 

Act One of "Our Town" begins with a monologue by the character of the stage manager, whose role is like that of the chorus in some of Shakespeare's  plays. The stage manager talks directly to the audience, introducing the town, the characters, and the themes of each act.

The play is performed with a minimal set, which suits our small performance space nicely, and the actors do not use props. Instead, they mime their actions, and that adds an extra layer of challenge to any performer. The character of the stage manager acts like the chorus in some of Shakespeare's  plays, talking directly to the audience with narration that moves the story along.

For those of us who like to "play" on stage, mounting a production like this is quite a thrill.

Do you enjoy live theatre? Have you ever had the urge to be on stage?

Monday Morning Musings

Our little town of Winnsboro. Texas is filled with creative people who love to share their artistic talents. We have singers, musicians, visual artists, actors, writers, photographers and many, many folks artists, who are all responsible for the vibrant downtown area that has live music every weekend, exhibits, and of course our plays at the art center.

One of the really fun events is the 3rd Friday Art Walk that was started when we were named an official Cultural Arts District by the State of Texas. Each month has a different theme - sometimes it is Steampunk, which draws a lot of people from all over the state. This past weekend the theme was Pioneer Days, connecting to the history of Winnsboro that was featured in an exhibit of old photographs at the Winnsboro Center For the Arts.

Also at the center, was a reception for the 10th Anniversary of Winnsboro being named a Main Street City, and people met there for refreshments before heading out to parade around town in costumes. We go into businesses and restaurants and talk to people, assuming the character we are dressed as. I went as Mrs. Gibbs, the role I'm playing in "Our Town." She was not really a pioneer woman, but close enough.

I had great fun with Doc Davis, a local actor and historian, keeping him in line because he started proposing to every pretty woman he saw.

Photo Courtesy of Michael Alford

 When we come in and start engaging people, most of them join in the fun after the initial shock wears off. We are hoping that they go back to Dallas, or wherever they are from, and tell their friends, "You have got to go to Winnsboro and see these people who dress up and parade around town. It is so much fun."

Since I had company most of last week, I did not get much writing done, nor was I online much, but we had a good time visiting with our daughter and her husband, and our son and his wife.

Being with the kids made me remember those years when they were little and I never knew what to expect from them. Maybe that is why Sunday's Baby Blues strip made me laugh out loud. The strip features Hammie, who is excited about his upcoming field trip at school. In the first panel he is telling his mother, Wanda, "Mom, I get to go on a field trip in two weeks!"

In the subsequent panels, he is still excited, telling dad or mom how many days are left. On the final day Wanda comes into his bedroom to wake him up. "Wake up, Hammie. Today is your field trip."

He bounds out of bed and starts digging through his backpack. "Oh, that reminds me..."

He hands Wanda a paper. "...a doctor needs to sign this before I can go."

Moms, how many times has that happened to you?