Graves in the Water
a generative theatrical pieceThe Latest – Summer 2010
So it’s been awhile since there’s been an update about Graves.
Alex and I have had life take us over. Children, other productions, work, houses, etc. You know, the usual stuff.
We both still mourn that Graves never got it’s first performance. And that mourning drives us to continue working on the piece.
I’m about to open a show at Spotlighters next week, but once that’s done it’s back to focusing on Graves and the other projects Alex & I have in the works. We’ve been missing working together more than words can describe.
We’re batting around a few ideas. I’m going to be working on a full blow website for the projects Alex & I work on. So lots of things in the works. We’ll keep you posted!
Paddling up the River.
It’s been awhile since there has been any news about Graves in the Water. With the holidays I think things got pushed to the side. We had a venue that wanted us to perform, but they didn’t have openings in their schedules for rehearsal and tech. So the saga continues…
Currently Alex is working on potentially securing a really beautifully intimate space. A 60 seat theatre which will allow the actors to really be there with the patrons. I’m also submitting the show to Spots for their 2010 – 2011 Season and keeping an eye out to see if there are any other theaters that may be interested in the project.
We realize that we can’t put all our eggs in one basket. We’ve got to spread it around and look for the opportunities that are out there instead of focusing on what we don’t have at this point (i.e. a venue to perform in!).
Onward!
Does space define your work?
It’s hard to be without a space, I’m not going to lie.
It’s hard to be without actors that started this project with you, but sometimes life comes before theatre. (amazing concept)
So the project gets pushed back & pushed back again. Sometimes it’s easier when you start a project with a secured space. You have a set date/time/rehearsal space/schedule/etc. It definitely makes life a bit easier. At the same time you can be bound by so much.
There are always other things going on at the theatre that you must work around.
If the space is rehearsing two shows, you have to be mindful & considerate of the other person.
It’s a catch 22. One option provides more security, one option provides more freedom.
C’est la vie! Always moving forward.
The voices have been a little quiet.
The voices that speak in the piece, not the voices in my head. I don’t have those. 
They’ve been a little quiet lately because of the snafu we ran into with our space for Halloween weekend.
Alex & I had settled on a second place to submit a proposal to, did it and have been waiting to hear back.
Just yesterday I found the response emails in my spam (I have such a crappy email client sometimes…) and looks like we’re pushing the project into the new year to make sure that we can have a week in the space before the show goes up.
On a sad note, we lost one of our actresses. She will definitely be missed, but totally realize that sometimes personal things take precedent over theatre (as much as we try to fight it). Alex & I wish Robin luck and hope we can reconnect with her in the future.
So looking for a replacement, or maybe someone to take on new voices within the piece. Which could totally change everything up. But that’s the fun, isn’t it?
~Lynn
I was told I was too young.
I’m tossing & turning tonight. Can’t sleep. Have had a migraine for almost 24 hours, not abnormal, but not a regular thing either. So I’m laying in bed thinking about all that has happened lately and I remembered my senior year at Cornish…
Fall semester I directed & produced Sweet Eros by Terrence McNally. I loved working on that show. It’s a story in essence about stockholm syndrome (when the person kidnapped starts to identify with the kidnapper, sometimes they fall in love, etc.) but the entire time the female is supposed to be naked on stage. And she doesn’t speak, only sings briefly. We get the whole story from the words of the kidnapper (we never learn his name if I remember correctly) and he takes us on a journey that is a range of emotions. It’s a heavy piece no doubt, but then I kind of enjoy the challenge that an intense piece of theatre gives me.
So second semester seniors usually have an internship or a senior project (where they direct/write/act in a piece & produce it). When asked what I was thinking about doing, I said I’d like to work on Sweet Eros again, I think I scratched the surface with the production and would like to try again. My advisors, cocking their heads, told me I was too young to do something like that. That is for old artists with much more experience than I. When you’re young you want to expose yourselves to as many projects as possible and get a wide range of experience.
I heeded their advice at the time, accepting a PR/Marketing internship at On The Boards and an “Assistant to the Director” internship at Intiman (because they don’t have “assistant directors” that are interns at LORT B theatres from what I’ve seen). I’m completely grateful for the way it turned out, I learned tons working with B.J. Jones of Northlight Theatre when I was at Intiman, he even gave me my copy of A Director Prepares, which I cherish dearly. At OtB I learned what it takes to market a theatre/performance space and a show, plus I got a healthy dose of experimental international performance-based (as I like to call it) art that I would have probably not been exposed to as much. My taste and sometimes my aesthetic tend to run on the experimental side, and working there taught me a lot about what I liked, what I didn’t and what an audience will put up with.
Now that I’m a few years older, I’m trying to strike out and do work that really means something to me. Alex Hewett and myself have been working on a project we call Graves in the Water (based on Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology), which is a generative piece. I guess some don’t fully understand generative art because there is no right & wrong in your process, it is all about the process. I love the discoveries we’ve made along the way, not knowing everything at the on-start may freak some people out, but to me I think it maximizes the potential of what one can do. So I’m not heeding the advice of those wise advisors I had in college and I’ve taken on a project that will be seen in many iterations. I’m excited to get it up in front of an audience for the first time and see what we learn.
Btw, sad side note: Graves was originally supposed to premiere at The Strand on Halloween weekend. Due to unforeseen circumstances the show has been canceled, but we’re in the midst of negotiating for it to be performed in December at another location. More info as it becomes available. I’ve truly been blessed on this project to work with a group of artists that are so supportive of every path that has been taken. Hope you’ll join us for the ride!
