On The Table with Sojourn Theatre

willamette week article

2010-07-14T07:20:00.000-07:00

right here

Press is starting up...

2010-07-10T07:51:00.000-07:00

the Mercury pre-article

A baby elk was born yesterday at Rosse Posse

2010-07-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

and they named it Sojourn.

read this- we're on a cool blog.

2010-07-07T14:54:00.000-07:00

read me

ticket sales

2010-07-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

Team- we are light on sales

not just in molalla, but in portland as well.

our press coverage is holding off til just as we open
which is unfortunate
because our habit is usually
a light first weekend
and then we sell out and folks can't see such a short run...

we especially need help at next wednesday's free final dress
and the thursday pay what you can first preview

invite your housing hosts
use facebook
stop people on the street
spread the word

send them to this link
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/116609

i am using this language:

its the adventure of the summer
and the bus ride of a lifetime

take the trip!

go team!

photos from july 4 in Molalla!

2010-07-04T17:15:00.001-07:00

another interesting read...

2010-07-04T15:04:00.001-07:00

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/07/do-it-yourself_oregon.html

me, as always, trying to reiterate and clarify for myself the goals and thruline...

2010-06-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

what if our act 1
our lets pretend that
is pretending that through a search for characters, details and some story
we can get a handle on place
and root it enough that when we arrive at act 2
we think we have a sense, some moments of recognition, of the place we started
then act 2 works to complicate that
and act 3 asks- what if we agree together to wed ourselves to others as part of place making...?
what is the delight, the frustration, and the impossibility of that
and how/why is that effort worthy of our time and energy?
as neighbors, as well as a bunch of people in rooms together for this night...

Some discoveries/thoughts...

2010-06-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

ACT 3

A big discovery last night-

we were playing with act 3, and some wedding moments
and amidst an improv with james and rebecca, i asked them to describe to each other, potential spouses, why they had uncertainty about getting married.

And they spoke a lovely litany of fears and anxieties...
and it hit me hard later that night, in terms of our attempt to use wedding as a ritual/dramaturgy for a fantastical bringing together of community...

Living together is hard.
Change is scary

Marriage is when two people agree to be together, and take on those challenges, with intent and love.

In a community,
we live together
but not only do we never agree what that means,
we don't promise ourselves to each other.
We don't commit- certainly not publicly.
And yet we live together.
Bound by rules and tied together by resources, and some basic but vague sense of duty and shared responsibility..

All these things are at play when we share place,
same as when we share a life/home

This couple is getting married.

Living together is hard;
change is scary.

A state never has a comittment ceremony-
what is this event,
for this couple and for us...?

What can we ask this group of people from different places to help us make/accomplish that will help these two people make a commitment, and so doing, consider, in some unreal but meaningful way, what humans who live near each other might attempt if asked to be intentional and generous?

What does it mean to be wedded to strangers?
to place?

Also, act 1

A search for the meaning of place
via what we have been learning about Molalla and Portland...
we are seekers, curious and passionate about what place means- people, events, time, details...and trying to work that out in front of each other and this audience...

Act 2-
the changes in our state we must pay special attention to:

Population/demographic changes
Taxes
Environmental/timber conflicts
way of life/industry/jobs

and
welcome, interns.
We are just about all here now...

M

inviting an audience to help us succeed

2010-06-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

I don't want to play by a certain unspoken theatre rule on this particular project-

the rule i refer to is the rule that says
if we explain what we are doing, or why we are doing it
we have failed as artists because the work should speak for itself

but i think that rule only applies if we are attempting to make an event to be witnessed
to be observed and experienced thru a wall, beginning to end

if our event, to succeed, needs not just spectators, but participants
not just suspension of disbelief, but shared stakes

not just obersvation, but investment

and if we, the artists making/sharing the event have been talking about it for months and months
why not actually have the conversation about what we're trying to do
with the folks with whom we are trying to do it?

why should be the only ones who know what's going on, or why...?

i want act 1 to start with a clear, honest open ask-
an invite
a proposal

here's what we're going to try and do tonight
here's what we need from you
here's what we'll try and provide

you are here, so we're going to assume you want us as a group to succeed tonight
so let's try and do that together

i think we need the audience's generosity and trust and affection
yup, affection
by the time they get on those buses...

some act 3 thoughts from rebecca

2010-06-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

From rebecca martinez...

I had a conversation with Joaquin about it, he has family in Mexico who are very poor, who are culturally night and day from him and when he and his brother go to visit, there is always an education that takes place, so that they can understand each other, even though their lives are close to incomprehensible.

They relate on a fundamental level, about family, about how each other’s life is on a day to day level, about what the other does each day to get some sort of sense of the other person.

About what each person does to take care of their basic needs, such as food, shelter, etc…

Food is a big way they relate. He told me about his aunt who cooks on an old wood burning stove (which is all she uses) and with the simplest ingredients makes items that are amazing in taste and simplicity, but using just what she has on hand. The resources available, and how that changes and differs according to place. We've talked about it before, but is this one of the conversation starters?

(Also, we spoke about his plans for his company, and how they are structuring a meal around the evolution of a relationship, for example, a salad with several unique ingredients that are all visible on their own, but then are put together to blend, creating story in this. He is very interested in learning what the story/conflict can be in Act 3 to build the menu around that in a narrative and sensory fashion.)

The other thing, of course, this lead me to think of is that there needs to be a desire to connect with others in the first place, so I asked him. His response was that he is interested in where he comes from, where his father comes from - from the land.

Of course, most people in this country come from rural roots if you go back far enough.

It seems like we need to peel away the surface and get to the core of the matter, what is it that people relate to? What is it that will interest them enough to get them to engage with other who are different?

What speaks to people as a whole?

We also spoke about a time when he went to see a play at Sandy Actors Theatre with his dad, who heard it was such a wonderful play. Joaquin was in the front, all dressed in black and cynical, and hated the play and the acting was terrible, etc, etc, but the audience was weeping at the end because it so reflected their experience that it pulled him into their world. I was very interested in that moment, in figuring out with him why he suddenly became engaged in this sense of community when previously he was so opposite. What he said was,

“I’m so disconnected from connecting that I connect to virtuosity and talent instead of just coming together and letting the meaning being in that”

What is it that we can ask people to engage in that has a fundamental meaning?

Is it asking tables to create a toast about, not where to live, but what their ideal of a place to live would look like/be?

Is it asking them to create a toast to reflect the core values of those at the table as a way to give the bride and groom a way to guide their own life together?

Is there a fundamental difference between the couple that requires the collective brain and emotional power of 100 people to help them discover that at their core they are fundamentally compatible and the differences are superficial?

In the end, people relate to things that reflect them personally, and if they can see this on the ‘other side’, does that do anything?

It’s all very utopian, and I can’t help thinking about BUILT and the build your own city and I’m wondering if something of that on a different and expanded level needs to be in act 3.

Those are my thoughts….

Sunday morning, end of week 1...

2010-06-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

So I have been thinking the past couple days about our Act 1, and yesterday, we did some filming with Sadie and Ethan Seltzer (who were both great sports as we work to figure our act 2 content).

And of course as we keep exploring the conversation we want to have, we constantly have to decide what our focus is…what we host, that determines where the conversation is when we turn it over (in a way) to audience members in act 3…And I think I realized something-

Friday night in Molalla, the dramatist in me got sucked into a narrative that is not necessarily the way for us to go… I’ll tell you what I mean.

In several interviews Friday night, the conflicts in our state relating to progressive environmental policy advocacy and timber interests kept coming up…mainly in the form of Molallans relating to us how the town was negatively impacted by the environmental movement, by the spotted owl controversy- mills closed, logging jobs went away…a way of life was systematically dismantled- so, keep that phrase in mind…way of life.

So I got excited about the possibility of that event, that time, being foreshadowed in act 1…that the changes were coming…that that decline/tension was on the horizon, and that would make for good act 1 storytelling…and as a result, a batch of questions we asked in the rehearsal room, and some of our story development…it began to follow this premise.

But

When we interviewed sadie and ethan yesterday, what started to nag at the back of my mind, and what ethan spoke about, was the danger of framing the conversation we are inviting people to have, by using the same old narrative that frames the broad stroke understanding of or state’s recent history…that conflict, that battle between timber and policy, between jobs and wildlife, between rural needs and urban values, between way of lifes…it’s a misdirection.

Its real. But it’s part of the way we understand what has changed and what the challenges are-

its not actually the whole change, and its also not the whole set of ‘whys’…

What is a way of life?

How long can it last?

Are we bound to each other as members of a state by some contract of social responsibility?

The spotted owl controversy began in the mid 80s.

Jobs began to truly be affected by it in 86, 87…

If we move Act 1 to include that in our Act 1 storytelling, we move away from a truly epic almost poetic event of statewide connection (Mt St Helen’s erupting) in favor of a quite human and understood economic and policy based division…

And I think that weakens our event.

Act 1 is our chance to get at what Molalla and Portland have been like up to 1980…not to be about major community challenges, but about ‘way of life’, and history, and a bit of story…I think we are working too hard perhaps to paint family strife…I think the families need to be compelling complicated taes, but I also think Act 1 is an introduction- to place, and to some people….

And I think Act 2 is about change- change from a variety of points- political, economic, personal…and I think act 2 moves through the frames we know we usually look at our state dilemmas from…and helps us prepare to be somewhere else in Act 3…

Shannon, this has helped me think about Act 2 a lot- its about change, hosting the antagonisms, as you have said, and about a journey through frames we expect and know, ad landing us in a particular and less expected frame…

If you ant some more context for the particular events of timber/environment, click on these, and you will really know a bunch more-

A brief conservative perspective:

a brief description from a more liberal perspective

go here, and skim the preface and introduction…real helpful.

also worth reading re: Mt St helens

2010-06-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2010/06/susan_orlean_on_living_in_port.html

molalla history...

2010-06-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

http://molallapioneer.com/news/2010/June/03/Local.News/local.heroes.medicine.military.and.motherhood/news.aspx

what are wee doing in week one?

2010-06-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

you may be wondering...

well.

Saturday night, we have a gathering- a party.

A welcome. A start.

Sunday, there will be production meetings- liam, myself , bob Leonard and some of the design team.

Monday, our first session as a cast.

We’ll all be there except Joel, who arrives at the end of the week.

We will, in week one, focus on three main things:

Structure of the two memorial services- I will be giving structural assignments alongside character suggestions, and together we’’ll investigate how we want this story, this act 1, to get told, and we’ll see how characters and necessary narrative start to reveal themselves.

We will do some more researchy/documentary type collaborative and individual research for the Act 2 video. We will help Shannon and the video team get a jump on the bus experience.

We will begin as a core cast of 7 (8 when joel arrives) to do some fairly rigorous physical ensemble building- some sweating- with an eye towards some physical vocabulary that I am imagining for Act 3- we won’t spenda lot of time in week one developing Act 3, structurally or narratively- we’ll focus more on Act 1, and I have a feeling the pressure cooker of not dealing with it much will teach us some stuff as other areas of the show become clearer for us as a group.

3a)

we will do some research/engagement work in Molalla, focused on our timeline and community details.

A tour of all our sites will need to come soon, but we may wait for joel to arrive to do that.

I am going to try, really hard, to use our time in really focused ways- assignments, on our feet work- when we need to talk, and conceptualize, we will, but I’m really going to use time to keep that to a minimum, and also utilize outside of rehearsal time in hopefully smart ways to have lots of conversations there in smaller groups- the production group (designers), story conversations (which I’ve asked Jono to really focus in on with me on this show more than in the past, cause I think he’s a story big brain).

And finally, question on my mind a lot these days…what in Portland’s history and in its contemporary life mark it as a ‘city’…as urban? From a ‘resource within our state’ perspective, in terms of how state funding operates, and even how portland is perceived by the state, its clear. But I do wonder, as Bess’s family chose to stay in Portland, to stay in the city perhaps, what elements at what points have marked, and do mark, Portland a ‘city’…

Cannot wait to be in the room with everyone.

one week til first rehearsal

2010-05-30T06:49:00.001-07:00

In a way, our show is three one act plays.
Three short stories
that link by place, families and ideas...

4, if you think aboout how act 1 is actually 2 separate acts, with a shared form but different content in each city

in a way, same with act 2
though i think act 2 on the buses will be pretty similar, if not identical

Taiga in some research she sent out this week brought to our attention something that i'm embarrassed we overlooked.
Our first acts will both take place on may 18, 1980.
Because this is the day that Mt St Helen's erupted.
8:32:17 a.m. on Sunday, May 18, 1980.

The memorial service in both places, Molalla and Portland, will be early AM events that will interrupted 32 minutes in...
or, in the language of our show
Sojourn will be recreating an 8 am event that sunday that was interrupted 32 minutes and 17 seconds in...this gives us some great science and time signatures to use to help with dramaturgy, and this eruption was a unique moment when everyone in OR, not to mention the Pacific Northwest, was connected; all aware of one natural event and its consequences...

This eruption will be what gets us out of the service, and out of the building, and onto the bus- not just in a oh, lets go outside and look (though maybe that too), but as the rupture we have been looking for to get us on to the next section- formally and content wise...

some research and some thoughts

2010-05-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

so, i've got a great document from jake and liz that gives some really great history of Portland and Molalla from the founding of each city through 1980. I'm going to be using it to (as will you) to create the act 1 scrapbook material that will be read by characters at the memorial service in both places. If you are interested in seeing this, just email me- its an 8 page word doc, and i don't know how to link it as a document here, and it feels too long to paste and post...they are still working on it. Its growing. And, they are moving forward with it, to 2010.

Next, separate-
thought 1...
at the benefit last weekend, we worked really fast.
We made something fun. Something delightful.
It wasn't, as a whole, a major work of Sojourn's- but it was filled with material and forms that were quickly constructed, and successful piece by piece. Rebecca's swift choreography was super satisfying to watch, and by the end of 5 performances, the scene work was feeling lived in, with some nuance and great listening. I was moving through the show as a narrator, and by the end of my third time, had basically learned what i needed to give, content and emotionally, to give the audience what they needed. I was able to refine, repeat and be present. The whole 36 hours was a great reminder to me of how, when focused with clear goals, we can make stuff that can stand up in performance very swiftly when need be. And I bring this up because, of course we always devise. We rarely begin with a script. But here, especially here, with so many moving pieces and elements of discovery that will occur over the summer, i feel like i want to do everything i can do as director, and as writer, to create structures where we are building and investing from day one, even though we may not settle on text or absolutely done choices til quite late. We need to be building preparedness for our event the whole summer, even though our score may be in our imaginations long before its in our hands.

Thought 2-
The other night, here in Evanston, I was on a panel at the public library. The city of evanston put out a call for poetry submissions. They are creating a new ramp up to the big central library's main entrance, and a public art commission persuaded them to stamp 5 locally authored poems of 50 words or less into the concrete. I was invited to be a judge. I have no idea why. 354 poems were submitted; we all read them, picked our top ten, and then met for 2 hours in a conference room on the top floor of the library.

It was fascinating.
I loved it.
And, it was really really helpful in terms of thinking about our act 3, and how we can engage 5 portlanders and 5 molallans in a conversation amidst the story of act 3.

There were 6 of us- me, a retired library director, a marketing lady in her 30s from a small evanston business, a senior citizen lady who had taken alot of poetry classes; a HS student, and a college student from somewhere who was from evanston, and was back from school for the summer.
Plus, a public art consultant dude who was there to watch, and the Evanston director of cultural affairs, who was our facilitator.

And we had the 25 poems that had gotten the most votes printed out for each of us.
And we had to sift through, talk about various factors, rank, then re-rank, and finally get down to 5 choices and 2 alternates.

I have served on grant panels before- at a national and local level. But in those, even though they shoot for diversity, there is generally a level of professional experience and familiarity with a fairly advanced vocabulary about the work- and, we all consider ourselves in those situations, experts.

Here, other than poetry class lady, we were all very aware we were not experts.
Nor did we have similar life experiences.
Or shared criteria for good art.
Or the purpose of these words on a ramp.
We liked different stuff; we hated different stuff.
We had to talk about point of view, voice, politics, aesthetics...about our own perspective. we had to listen, be polite while arguing at times.
Having those texts in front of us, to respond to, and to make choices about...
It made that conversation possible, and necessary.

I am thinking a great deal about this in relation to the task of our act 3, amidst a meal, amidst a story in 2010 unfolding, amidst a couple bringing their families and communities together...

somehow connected to the choice of where this new family/unit should live...of what is to be treasured and overcome with regard to urban and rural...with what the conversations are.

What is on that table. What is the task. What is the text.
I'm working on this- just thought i'd share.

Notes from a Molalla interview Liam and Rebecca conducted...

2010-05-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

Here are the thoughts from Preston...the guy we spoke to at the Spring Fling....about George and Molalla and the show:

If he was born in 1898, and died in 1980, that would make him 92 years old when he died.

He would have worked in the lumber yards and timber industry. Specifically, he would have likely been a lumberjack in the Mt. Hood wilderness.

He would have had about an 8th grade education. “He would have had trouble verbalizing his thoughts, but he wouldn’t be dumb” He would have worked on his parents farm growing up.

Food eaten at the turn of the century well into the 80’s was venison and vegetables.

He might have had a tree fall on a leg at some point, which would have prevented him from going to war. But he still could have worked in the forests, even with a lame leg.

If he were a “tough old buzzard” he could have worked as a tree topper well into his 60’s.

He would have worn suspenders and sagged off pants, cut off around the calves to prevent them from catching on tools and downed trees. He would have worn big ol boots.

In his down time, he’d hunt elk in Eastern Oregon. Alcohol was a massive part of the 1900’s in Molalla. People were drunk a lot of the time, and it played a huge role in the society. Alcoholism was the norm. If you ran into someone you knew driving down the road, you’d both stop, pull the bottle of whiskey out from under a seat, and drink on the side of the road before continuing driving. There would almost certainly be a bottle being passed at the service. Preston actually said it would be very strange to do a show about Molalla and not talk about the role alcohol played in the community.

The White Horse tavern was the center of the community.

He would not have been well traveled except maybe the occasional hunting trip to Eastern Oregon.

He might have also been on the road crew in the Mt. Hood wilderness. Miles of road being built through the wilderness.

He would have been a big fan of Hank Williams music. Early country music would have been big in his life. The funeral would NOT have been any sort of celebration of life. It would have been a somber affair. At most, someone might have played an old country song.

PRESTON’S grandfather was born in 1894 in Colton.

In the late 70’s into the 80’s the sawmill and lumber industry began its decline because of the rising environmental movement. This was the most significant thing to happen in Molalla. The closing of this industry.

Preston was interested in the conversation between the environmentalists and the lumber industry. He specifically wanted Bess to be an environmentalist.

Our Bixwood Manor benefit Saturday night

2010-05-24T18:09:00.001-07:00

just want everyone to know-
Carole Morse hosted a Sojourn benefit for us this past saturday in Portland
to help support OTT...

we netted 11,000$.
which is significant, in terms of what we need to support this ambitious project.

Everyone worked real hard.
Alisha, kimberly and hannah arranged it
shanon, liam and courtney made design happen
rebecca did excellent choreography
and the performers
jono, hannah, kimberly, james, courtney
did a great job
I wrote it, and played a narrator figure, bix beiderbecke, jazz great.

100 folks came thru the three story house and saw our 20 minute site specific piece
which we repeated 5 times in 4 hours.

and, everyone left with a card for OTT
and excited about what we do...

more on OTT to come soon.
and, photos from the benefit to come as well.

M

A Story Development.

2010-05-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

Some story developments

I have already written about the cast split tween portland and molalla.

So, see if this makes sense-

In Mollala, we are at the memorial service for George.

James Hart is an actor in the Portland Act 1.

Which means the Mollala audience will not see James Hart live in Act 1.

So, there will be a photo of James Hart, as George, center stage in Act 1 in Mollala.

So, the audience in Molalla will come to attach Georgeness to james Hart through this photo (of George as a young man)

This audience will get on a bus, and spend act 2 driving towards Oregon City.

And moving forward in time.

About 5 minutes out from their final destination, towards the end of Act 2, the bus will stop, and pick up James Hart, now in character as George’s grandson in the year 2010…and on his way to meet his bride to be/partner, the granddaughter of Bess. James Hart, as this character, will then pick up and complete the narration in Act 2 for this audience, and guide them into Act 3.

He’s the Molallan going to meet his new Portland family/community…

In Portland, we are at the memorial service for Bess.

Rebecca Martinez is an actor in the Molalla Act 1.

Which means the Portland audience will not see Rebecca Martinez live in Act 1.

So, there will be a photo of Rebecca, as Bess, center stage in Act 1 in Portland.

So, the audience in Portland will come attach Bessness to Rebecca through this photo (of Bess as a young woman)

This audience will get on a bus, and spend act 2 driving towards Oregon City.

And moving forward in time.

About 5 minutes out from their final destination, towards the end of Act 2, the bus will stop, and pick up Rebecca, now in character as Bess’s granddaughter in the year 2010…and on her way to meet her groom to be/partner, the grandson of George. Rebecca, as this character, will then pick up and complete the narration in Act 2 for this audience, and guide them into Act 3.

She’s the Portlander going to meet her new Molalla family/community….

I think this idea uses our challenge of a split cast to great narrative advantage, and allows us to build some investment and a bit of magic in terms of the time jump…lots of fun contrasts and relationships to play with…

More to come.

Is OTT social practice?

2010-05-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Shannon and I, representing Sojourn
gave a lecture at PSU

We were invited by the MFA in Art program, and we were of particular interest to the students in the relatively new MFA in Social Practice Arts program

The same folks who have hosted the conference just finishing up in Portland-

read this.

OTT has at its core, like many Sojourn projects, a bridge impulse...
but this sone goes a bit further-
like BUILT, but different-
make spaces and activities that ask for, invite, and actually need shared presence and participation to function as the events they want to be...
anad that bring strangers into engagement with each other...

Is our theatre social practice..?

not that it matters...
maybe it matters...
just wondering.
And, trying to lure Shannon out of her blog silence...

Sunday- getting closer...

2010-05-16T16:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Saturday

Liam and Rebecca went to Spring Fling in Mollala to represent Sojourn at the Mollala Arts Commission booth, and to do some informal interviewing…

Here are some texts I received from them during the day-

“We thinks its important that a couple local Mollala actors have some participation in the show”

I agree.

Then, in this order-

“So, according to a third generation Mollala resident, george should be a tough old buzzard who eats venison and potatoes all year- he probabl”

“ y worked into his 60s topping and then in another part of the industry until he retired. He has an 8th grade education, couldn’t express himself that we”

“ll but was smart. And drank a lot. Our interviewee seemed quite fond of george by the end.”

“We are now eating pulled pork sandwiches. They are delicious.”

awesome work, liam and rebecca, for making the trip- thank you.

Also, Shannon and I are playing phone tag
And are having a good talk tomorrow about story.

Its becoming clearer to me how strongly I feel that story needs to take us thru this event. Relationships, narrative…Act 1, even though we’ll be framing it as research presented by a theater company- it needs to get into rich family and community dynamics, fast.

Act 2 needs to get at ideas, but needs to not lose story.

And act 3, no matter how poetic/magic it gets, no matter how formally adventurous it goes, it needs to bring the story from act 1 back, 30 years later, and it needs to have an occasion as clear as the memorial service in act 1 at its heart. Story is going to give our audience something to connect through, and on, not just issues. Its got to be more GOOD than BUILT in its core, even if formally it’s a real mix.

Thanks to all who have replied two posts ago- if you haven’t yet, I’d sure love to hear from you on that post. And, do note the cool entry from Dave L, our sound designer/composer…exciting to have him onboard and contributing.

More soon.

A meeting in San Francisco

2010-05-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

Shannon, Liam and I spent 30 hours together in San Fran this past Sunday/Monday.
We were there because Sojourn is the keynote guest/artist in residence at the American Association of Theater and Education Conference in August, and the three of us were meeting with the hosts at the conference hotel (Parc 55) and choosing 4 sites in the hotel for our site specific workshops/performances with conference participants.

A big side result of the trip (and actually a reason we wanted to do it now) was to have a day together to also work on OTT. We get alot done together, us three. Ginger Ale, tea and lobby snacks not withstanding, its all work for us on the road.

First, thanks to those of you who have shared responses to the post before this one. If you haven't, please, go to it, read it and reply in the comment section. Its really helpful.

Some sharings from our meeting in San Fran, mixed with discoveries/decisions i've been having/making:

Act 1- we continue to explore how these memorial services with the meta research angle are what they are, but also have some mystery of intent held within them...something that isn't as simple as "we are here doing this thing and this thing alone.." There has to be space for the end of act 1 to include some kind of formal and content 'rupture' (to borrow shannon's term)...we can't simply end Acct 1 and then like tour guides, say- everyone on the buses...very unsatisfying. So we are searching for that idea, that will no doubt be connected to the framing of Act 2, and the reason Act 3 needs an audience to actually accomplish its task.

Act 2- we have buses, and a good price. Sadie, well done. Liam, great work on this with Sadie.
We had some really good conversations about how the video on the buses maybe wants a relationship to the scrapbook of Act 1...that the film we watch was made by an Act 3 character as a history of the family/community/state...but we also don't want to follow a scrapbook with a scrapbook, even if the medium has changed...that is it has to be more than that formally...and if Act 1 was the scrapbook, almost unfiltered in terms of its perspective at the memorial (almost), the act 2 document has to be more complicated...it has to prepare us more for how perspectives on urban and rural collide, and even contradict each other...for instance, the mollala bus watching a film made by the portland side, but with an actor as a mollalan on the bus countering it at times for the mollala audience...this is an incomplete thought, but we are thinking...and wanting to get a head on this soon so our awesome video team (brian and scotty) working with shannon can start some pre work.

Act 3- we lost the crater.
I know, the video got me excited too.
But the company that owns it is starting construction july 1, and we lost it.
Take a moment, mourn a cool possibility gone, and as we have, move on.
We spent time in that San Fran lobby poring over google earth and looking at other sites; Liam has already documented some others, and goes back this week. We will not settle- we will not try and duplicate the crater. We will find something new that is dramaturgically exciting, with clear opportunities and clear discoveries to be made... our strongest interest right now is actually a HS football stadium and the lots and field and bleachers around it...more to come.

Other details-
Design...especially regarding costume and sound...i have been thinking about how 1980 is not the 80s...its really the late 70s...especially in rural OR and even Portland.
And I have been listening to some ELO...especially Telephone. And for some reason, Miles Davis' classic "Kind of Blue"...

keep watching this blog.
Read and reply to this, but especially the entry before.

Best- M

Act 1- Read and Respond (and enjoy!)

2010-05-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

Act one-

So Act 1 in our show is a memorial service
Is 2 memorial services, actually.

In Mollala, a 78 year old man named George died in 1980.
He was born in 1902 in Mollala and lived his whole life there.
He saw 4 major American wars, the transition from horses to cars; he lived through the introduction of radio, television and phones in every household.
He didn’t go to college; his life/work had some connection to the land.
He had children, and grandchildren and knew many people. He wasn’t necessarily beloved, but he was fairly respected. He died suddenly.

He had, without anyone knowing, been working in his later years a scrapbook of sorts; a history of Mollala. It was filled with three sorts of entries- newspaper clippings, journal entries about eras and changing times, and lore he collected from folks over coffee and at work about key moments or stories in Mollala’s history. The book was found amidst his things when he died.

At this memorial service, called by a family member or friend (I’m not sure who, called it, and to be clear, its not a funeral- that was a few weeks before), people will stand and eulogize him. And, people will read from this book. We will, at this 30 minute service, learn about him as we meet his family and friends, and we’ll learn about the place, Mollala, through this book.

We, the Sojourn team, will acknowledge our participation here- we will treat this man as a real man, and we will, as ourselves, tell our audience that we researched him, and that we are recreating, before their eyes an actual memorial service from 1980. (we will also somehow, with playfulness and perhaps some strategy I’ve not yet figured, gentlymake clear that this is all a fiction- that the woman wasn’t real, but we are using this fiction- asking everyone in the room to agree to go on the trip with us)…so in this act, we will be us, be the characters we are playing, and we will ask audience members to help us by playing some of the memorial attendees and we will ask several of them to read aloud entries from the ‘book’.

In Portland, an 82 year old woman named Bess died in 1980.
She was born in 1898 in St Louis and moved with her family to Portland in 1908 when her father wanted to take a chance on a new industry and the American Dream.
She saw, in addition to 4 major American wars, the transition from horses to cars; and the introduction of radio, television and phones in every household- she saw Portland change from a frontier city over the course of her life to a town eclipsed by seattle and san fran all the way to being on its way to growing as her life ended…
She didn’t go to college; her faith was important to her( don’t know what it was, but this memorial service is in a church).
She had 3 children; a fourth died in childbirth. Her life had its share of tragedy- She was in love with a boy who died in WW1. Her husband died in WW2- she remained a widow and unmarried the rest of her life. Her oldest son was injured in the Korean war and died of alcoholism in the early 60s…her other children, a son and daughter, gave her grandchildren. One of those children has lived East for a long time; one is who she lived with in her final years in NE Poartland. She was beloved in her community- active, loving and very present.
And, she loved Portland.

She had, without anyone knowing, been working in her later years on a scrapbook of sorts; a history of Portland. It was filled with three sorts of entries- newspaper clippings, journal entries about eras and changing times, and lore she collected from folks over coffee and at church about key moments or stories in Portland’s history. The book was found amidst her things when she died.

At this memorial service, called by a family member or friend (I’m not sure who, called it, and to be clear, its not a funeral- that was a few weeks before), people will stand and eulogize her. And, people will read from this book. We will, at this 30 minute service, learn about her as we meet her family and friends, and we’ll learn about the place, Portland, through this book.

We, the Sojourn team, will acknowledge our participation here- we will treat this woman as a real woman, and we will, as ourselves, tell our audience that we researched her, and that we are recreating, before their eyes an actual memorial service from 1980. (we will also somehow, with playfulness and perhaps some strategy I’ve not yet figured, gently make clear that this is all a fiction- that the woman wasn’t real, but we are using this fiction- asking everyone in the room to agree to go on the trip with us)…so in this act, we will be us, be the characters we are playing, and we will ask audience members to help us by playing some of the memorial attendees and we will ask several of them to read aloud entries from the ‘book’.

So
HERE IS TODAY’S PROMPT-
TO ALL OF YOU READING THIS, FOR THE COMMENT SECTION
PLEASE THINK/IMAGINE AND REPLY-

Fill in some story.
Who are the family members at these services?
Who are the friends?
Who feels what?
Who is broken up?
Who is funny?
Who is angry?
Who has a secret?
What points of view are represented at the services…?
I invite you to daydream/imagine fun story ideas for this act 1
And I invite you to cast yourselves in this exercise…

Right now, here’s what we know
In George’s world
In Mollala
Our cast is Jono, Ty, Rebecca & Nikki
Plus one or two interns and possibly some other special guests

In Bess’s world,
In Portland
Our cast is Hannah, Courtney, James and Joel
Plus one or two interns and possibly some other special guests

You can see, small casts for running an event with 45 people in the audience and lots of story/info to share.
Much of this we will work on together, believe me.
But as you can tell, with the info I’m providing here, you can put story, fact, history proposals and characters into the mix now, and I may write it in as we foundational stuff…if we get one idea that I end up moving forward with, out of your responses here, that’s a good thing…its all about building our world and event.

Spend some energy imagining and thinking…
Even fill in some of the story details in the George and Bess narratives i left open...

I look forward to your thoughts

An interesting link

2010-05-07T05:55:00.000-07:00

especially the links within it to advocacy and point of view campaigns in other countries...

just got me thinking about persuasion, perception and story...

Welcome to On The Table

2010-05-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

Sojourn's Summer 2010 project.

Weve been working on it for about a year and a half.
I'm going to use this space to post links i'd like collaborators to read, to write messages to the team, and to reflect on where we're at in our process.

More to come soon
including me going back and posting a bunch of links i've sent out over the past year.

For now, welcome
and watch this space.

Oh yes- plus, a link i just found that i thought was interesting...

Michael