Bad Ideas / Good Ideas

In honor of being done with what turned out to be an amazingly simple show, a list of all the awful things I almost did:

• me shouting certain lines from the audience or balcony
• puppets (not a bad idea in itself, but something I know nothing about)
• inserting pauses after lines I think you should laugh at
• making the music as loud as the speaking, thereby cancelling out all words
• advertising the show on OkCupid

THANK YOU!

Many thanks to my creative team Megan Slater and Joo Won Park, to everyone who offered their own artistic input or support, including Sarah Gladwin Camp, Jen Cleary, Julius Ferraro, Katherine Fritz, Brian Grace-Duff, Liz Green, Dustin Hurt, Lisa Rothstein, Amy Scheidegger, Julia Taus, Meg Williams, JJ Tiziou, Rebekah Zhuraw's Sound of Words class, and Alison Hicks's Greater Philadelphia Wordshop Studio, to the wonderful women of Hybridge Arts Collective, and to all our Indiegogo supporters:

Thomas Blum, Jennifer Ann Cleary, Robert Emanuele, Maisy Grassie, Kathrine Hanna, Alison Hicks-Greifenstein, Babette Jenny, Jaime Konowal, Lisa Kraus, Janice Longo, LaNeshe Miller, Whitney Postman, Nava Szwergold, Julia Taus, Michael Tedeschi, Jacques-Jean Tiziou, Meghann Williams, and Anonymous.

I'm so thrilled with the support you've all given this project. We couldn't have done it without any of you. THANK YOU!

Fundamental Frequencies
premiered as part of the Blueprint Breakout Series

at Broad Street Ministry
October 28 & 29, 2013

Photos from Tech

We had a blast in tech this weekend. (Kelly says this is the first time in tech history of the world that anyone has ever said that.) We also managed to capture a couple moments that'll give you a sense of what things will look like tomorrow and Tuesday. Try to get as hype as I am. Just try.

Megan's view from the stage. You'll see the front of her.

A Selected Annotated Bibliography for Fundamental Frequencies

You know the drill.

"Tell All The Truth" by Emily Dickinson

This short poem begins "Tell all the truth but tell it slant, / Success in circuit lies." Uh, duh. I live for this shit. Fundamental Frequencies is my first presented work that doesn't claim to be 100% fact, but that doesn't mean it's not true. And if you saw True Stories, you know I find truth in repetitions and rehashings. Side story: I recently told Megan that the last line is the only true thing in the story. If you're looking for a sure-fire way to nearly lose an actress, that's it. Side side note: I recently read that writers direct because it's "easy." Like "the hard part is over." Ha.

Fundamental Frequencies: The Playlist

Well, this is kind of shameful for a project where I'm working with an actual musician, but I promised you an ungodly number of music puns. And boy, did I deliver. Happy final script to me.

Art is Hard

Okay, we're admittedly still figuring out what the hell this show is, which makes it especially hard to share and promote. This week, we came to the earth-shattering realization that the show is a response to the sort-of question, "Tell me about King."

This was after a whole conversation about how maybe Lucy, the narrator, is in a recording booth, or maybe things are set up tennis court style, or maybe there are a bunch of stuffed animals. (I perhaps wisely kept my previous idea about shouting out lines from the audience to myself.)

Art is hard, guys. But somehow JJ Tiziou managed to capture it visually.

This is a story about communication, how you don't actually know what other people are thinking if you don't tell them what you're thinking. How sometimes language can feel like a second rate method for getting anything across. What it feels like to find out you're not the only person manipulating a relationship, or the only person being manipulated. It's about being in control, or thinking you're in control, and how the words we use fit into that.

We've got roughly two weeks to make that all clear.

Fundamental Frequencies
will premiere as part of the Blueprint Breakout Series

October 28 & 29, 2013
tickets available at the door or in advance on Indiegogo

Real photographers use gourds

This week, the fabulous JJ Tiziou joined us for some photo fun. It's a little scary committing to promo images when you're still not quite sure what the show is, let alone looks like, which made me especially happy to be working with JJ.

If you're not familiar with his work, I'm gonna start you off with Everyone is Photogenic. It's his mantra, one of his big projects, and his current fundraising campaign to save the world. Maybe I shouldn't be highlighting someone else's crowdsourcing campaign while I've got my own going on (ahem), but stay with me - it's relevant.

Photos can be totally awkward frightening things, but JJ knows his shit, and it's not just about the gear he has. We ate cookies. We improvised light stands and colors. We all crammed into a tiny box that no one got locked into, not even once, I swear.

First rehearsals

We started rehearsals last week, and in the grand tradition of this blog, a quick recap of some of the hilarious and wonderful moments that are making this show possible. (Also I forgot to take any photos.)

• When I discovered the badass old-school PA at CCNH (photo to come)
• When Joo Won laughed heartily at the phrase "dope at keys"
• When I made Megan say "f*%k" like five sentences in a row, and she didn't bat an eye
• When there was a Batman poster in the ensemble room at CCP
• When we had to get up and walk around in circles shortly after I told Megan there were two unreliable narrators really
• When we spent half of rehearsal watching a wedding across the street (kidding, Hybridge, kidding! like a quarter, tops)

It's my process, people.

Fundamental Frequencies
will premiere as part of the Blueprint Breakout Series

October 28 & 29, 2013
tickets available at the door or in advance with donation here

True Stories on Youtube (& elsewhere)

I got this photo from True Stories in an email this week. It was taken by the wonderful Maria Möller when the show was up last fall. Christ Church Neighborhood House is using it in a bunch of their promo materials this season, which makes me feel incredibly proud and grateful.

On King

I recently made a big change to my original Fundamental Frequencies story by grafting a whole other character onto it. To give you a glimpse, dear Reader:

What's next?

A lot of people, what you may call fans, have asked me what's next. Okay, maybe not really. But you're reading this, so I'll bet you're wondering.

Well folks, I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be learning from the amazing crew over at Hybridge Arts Collective as their Fall 2013 Blueprint Breakout Series Resident Artist.