look at aaaall this art.
Things/mediums/art/people/voices that I focus on when Iām burnt out from theatre.
Crane Wife - by CJ Hauser, artwork by Daniel Gray-Barnett
āTen days after I called off my engagement I was supposed to go on a scientific expedition to study the whooping crane on the gulf coast of Texas. Surely, I will cancel this trip, I thought, as I shopped for nylon hiking pants that zipped off at the knee. Surely, a person who calls off a wedding is meant to be sitting sadly at home, reflecting on the enormity of what has transpired and not doing whatever it is I am about to be doing that requires a pair of plastic clogs with drainage holes. Surely, I thought, as I tried on a very large and floppy hat featuring a pull cord that fastened beneath my chin, it would be wrong to even be wearing a hat that looks like this when something in my life has gone so terribly wrongā
A lot of this stuff is focused on narrative for me - how it subverts or enhances the audienceās experience. I am obsessed with the suspension of disbelief across different media. A lot of these videos are an exploration of how changing the audience contract draws you in.
This essay by Josh Sobel is the direct inspiration for a New Play Festival that I produce. I wanted to be a part of Directors Haven to see how it supports creatives and how the structure was built to port it over to Pocket Theatre VR with a focus on new work development.
The Directorās Haven - Creating Space for the Next Generation | Written by Josh Sobel
āSuch structured development opportunities are few and far between for directors, and the experience solidified a question Iāve been asking myself for a couple years: Shouldnāt we develop infrastructure for early career directors in the way we develop it for early career playwrights?ā¦ The emerging infrastructure to support the work of playwrights is hugely necessary and we must continue to do more. Itās simply that there are more structured opportunities for [their] work than there are for a developing director such as myselfā¦ A moderate search of the Internet creates a list of four to six director-centric residency or fellowship programsā¦ Conversely, I can search similar criteria for playwrights and end up with almost a full year of month by month deadlines for residencies and fellowships. There are also the internships, fellowships, and apprenticeships that offer the chance to work in the day to day dealings of a theatre company sometimes in exchange for money and often in exchange simply for the experience. While there are certainly benefits to this exposure, even an institution offering an āartisticā internship is often heavy on time at the photocopier and light on the artistic mentorship.ā
whatās up with all these playlists?
In 2016 I started an art project based on a question: āif my siblings passed me the aux, what would I play?ā My favorite number at the time was 21 so I capped each playlist at 21 songs. The result is a playlist series that tracks my music taste through life. Please donāt judge my music taste in 21A, I was literally 18. Click on them to give a listen! (start with 21V, I think itās the best. Iām sure Iāll hate it in a year).
