Hi reader.
This is not acting 101. That's down the hall. This is acting 001. This is the class you should take before you approach the stage.
You probably know me in real life. Let's pretend you don't for a minute and I'll give you my qualifications.
I began my serious theatrical training as a kid at First Stage Milwaukee. It was also there that I began my professional career, working with directors and actors who were often the same actors that belonged to the Milwaukee Rep, the Spring Green Players, and other regional theaters. It must be understood that my early training came in the professional theatre, from those at the top of the game, and that I never knew that this wasn't the norm. The lessons I learned there should be the norm, and they're what you'll be learning today.
I have since gotten my B.A. at the University of Washington and been a professional actor in Los Angeles for the past 3 years. I also spent several years as a stage manager.
The following rules are so important that I would rather work with a pile of gloop who follows these rules than Meryl Streep if she didn't (though I'm sure she does). These rules are not made to be broken, they're made to create a safe space. Some call them etiquette, but that's not a strong enough word. These rules are fundamental to the trust necessary to make art.
In your professional life:
1. No touching (without permission)
We learn this in grade school. I know, your 101 teacher says, "Touch is communication." or something. Great! Grand! They aren't inherently wrong. Touch is powerful. BUT ASK PERMISSION.
Improv, for better or worse, is a huge part of the audition process now. I don't know how many times I see actors who have never met smack, kiss, push... LIFT... their scene partner.
First of all, if you don't ask permission, you don't know what's going on. MAYBE (and this isn't remotely unlikely) they have an ailment: recent surgery, chronic back pain, a compromised immune system. Maybe you even know them- know them well, even, but it just happened this morning that they twisted their ankle.
Listen. If you haven't asked permission of your fellow actor to touch them, and you feel compelled to, transform that frustration into something good for the scene without touching them.
DON'T TOUCH. Not gently, not harshly, not at all. Accidents happen, but they needn't happen as often as they do. Be spatially aware if you're flailing. Losing yourself in the scene is not a sign that you're really acting well... it's a sign that you're dangerous. It's why rehearsals exist. So you can lose yourself in a way that signals to your fellow actors that you're not truly lost and dangerous.
2. Is just a reiteration of 1. Listen, we're not soldiers or fire-fighters. Ability to overcome fear of physical danger should not be a part of our interview process. I should not walk into an audition and know that I'm going to have to list off my specific ailments because my scene partner might want to lift me, smack me, kiss me. If we're going in together, we should talk about whether or not any of those things might happen, and our level of comfort with them... and we still probably shouldn't because stage combat is choreographed by professionals to be exceptionally safe, and is not just a matter of "well, I like roughhousing with my buddies". Is two full rules dedicated to the NO TOUCHING rule enough? Probably not, but I can see there's a point of diminishing returns, so let's move on.
3. Take the note.
Listen to the note and try to incorporate the note into your performance. Take the note.
Don't argue with the note. Maybe later, if you're not feeling good, talk to the ASM, SM, AD, or Director about what's not working for you (but probably not), but don't ever waste everybody's time by arguing with the note while they're standing around listening and before you've even tried it.
MAYBE you have a clarifying question. Probably not. If you think you do, ask yourself, "Do I really?" and while you're taking the time to do that, they will have moved past you, and we will all be thankful that you didn't get to ask your question. Of course, if something feels unsafe, take it to an AD. If the note you got was "Slam your head into that wall made of glass shards harder."... talk to the ASM before you get to that scene. And call the police. All well and good. Though ideally, you can figure it out, and they can give you a new note if it's still not what they want.
Let's back up. What? This is 001. What's a note? There are many circumstances in which you get notes. The most obvious is when there's a notes session after a run-through. Then there's getting some sideline coaching: the director is talking to you as the scene goes along, pushing you towards some choices... or maybe it's some blocking direction. I DON'T KNOW; I'M NOT THERE IN THE ROOM WITH YOU. Or... I dunno, the writer has new lines. That's kind of like a note.
In the moment that you get the note, there is nothing to be gained by arguing. You haven't tried it yet. Plus, it's a waste of everybody's time. Take the damn note. And if you can at all avoid it, no questions. If you're unsure, make a strong choice with what the note might mean next time you do it. Now, if you're flabbergasted, and you've gotten the note a second time, find a time when it's just you and (preferably) the stage manager or (if necessary) the director, and ask your questions. But in the moment you get the note, the whole company is probably there. They don't all need the answer to your question. Only you do (probably). So leave it between you and the SM or note-giver.
BTW: notes are anything that would influence your performance, including suggestions, commands, hints, questions, leading questions, and gestures. Also other things. I hope you know a note when you see one, but only experience will teach you truly how to identify the wild and pernicious note in its natural habitat. I'm not entirely certain what pernicious means.
4. Keep your notes to yourself.
You have your own notes for another actor? Shut up. You want them to do X so you can do Y? Shut up. If you really really really really have a good idea... well, maybe you do. Let the SM, ASM or AD know. They'll take it to the director, and they'll decide if it's good and pass it on to whomever needs it.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL YOU GIVE NOTES TO ANOTHER ACTOR.
Under which circumstances? NONE. Nada. Nil. Not your f-ing job.
Why am I so angry? Because it's the internet. Shut up. I think it's funny when I tell imaginary people to shut up. I would never tell you real people to shut up. This is a thing I'm doing because it's the internet and all my subjects are imaginary. Shut up.
5. No one gives notes but the director (or Stage Manager, ASM or AD... you know).
Similar to 4, but don't take notes from someone whose job it isn't to give them. And by notes, I mean any suggestions or anything. See BTW of 3. I would even be wary of designers giving notes. Basically, any note you get, take it to your ASM as a question.
5.1 is "respect the chain of command", I guess. Director>Stage Manager (AD)>ASM>You
6. Be efficient.
I mean, seriously, don't follow my example in this blog. I haven't been remotely efficient. But you. You should be an efficient actor. I don't mean that as an acting note. I mean, that's often good advice, but it's not one of these etiquette rules. What I mean is: fine, you're late. That sucks. You shouldn't have been late. I should add that to the rules. But now that you're late, apologizing is just going to take up time. A quick, quiet, "I'm sorry" during a 5 minute break is considerate. Any more is a waste of time. Interrupting the work to apologize is inconsiderate. If you broke rules 1 and 2, stop breaking those rules, but leave it to the Stage Manager or Director to stop the scene. If you're working on your own, without an SM or D, I dunno. Stop? Hopefully you didn't break those rules. Hopefully your scene partner is confident enough to stop you and make sure they aren't more injured than they might be. But hope is for kids on Christmas Eve. So do stop, if you have touched someone in an unrehearsed way. Take it on yourself. You done f-ed up.
But otherwise: Be efficient.
7. Don't break.
Jimmy Fallon has made a career out of breaking. Wonderful. The outtakes on DVDs? Wonderful. Don't emulate them. It's part of 6, but also its own thing. Belief is... something we'll get to. But wait for "cut" to break. Even if you think the take is ruined because your scene partner broke, if they didn't say "cut", stay in it. This goes for stage work with sideline coaching in rehearsal, too. Or Whatever. I'm not saying "Method" or "Daniel Day-Lewis". I'm not not saying that, either, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying: Stay in the reality of the imaginary circumstances, even when that's difficult. That's kind of the point. Your director is yelling, "Pinker, pinker... I said PLAY IT PINKER!" because your director is kind of bad at directing, and your scene partner is cracking up, because they think this'll be a great DVD extra, even though it's just a read-through for a stage show... No Exit and the Beast (a Disney/Sartre mash-up), in fact- YOU STAY IN YOUR MOMENT. Screw them and their inability to make art. You are Gaston, and there is nothing funny about hell to you.
8. Be on time.
9. Always be willing to run lines.
This is less a rule than a personal preference. I, Brendan, get too few opportunities to be in the same room as my scene partners. So I like to use those opportunities to run lines. I get it. Everybody needs a break. So it's not a rule. But I certainly like running lines.
10. Know your lines.
11. Rehearsal is always good.
WTF is with people who are like "I don't want to over-rehearse"? That's not a thing. If you feel over-rehearsed, you haven't rehearsed enough. Get to a point where you can find new, exciting choices because you're so comfortable with the material, it's not holding you back. When you have rehearsed enough, you are always excited to do it again. If that isn't the case, consider a career in not-acting. There's no reason to be in this game if you don't love it. Even if you're making money at it, get out of the way of the people who love it. Rehearsing is acting (and auditioning is acting). Love it. Love it or leave it.
12. Leave it all outside (or inside).
Leave your magnificent morning or awful afternoon at the "there is a world outside of this" coat check. Or in your magical imaginary treasure box. Or whatever. This space you enter: the one where you make art? It is purely for that art. You have been shaped by your life. Your training prepared you to be here. But now that you're here? Trust that it's all there, and leave it all outside, including preconceived notions about your training. Beginner's mind is a thing. Look it up.
Also leave it inside. When you leave that pure art space, leave it. If you take it with you, you'll muddy it. Still, you know, do your work, but always exit the "other world" space... This has left the etiquette rules bit and moved into esoteric theory territory. Let's leave it as: to make sure everybody is comfortable and safe, don't talk about what happened in rehearsal outside of rehearsal, and don't talk about what happened outside in life in rehearsal.
Like, they're two separate thoughts, really. To clarify:
Getting there and complaining (or celebrating) about your life violates rule 6.
Talking about what happened in rehearsal outside of rehearsal violates rule 16. (What? I haven't written that yet? Untrue. You just haven't read it yet.)
13. Go to the stage manager first (or ASM ... or AD).
Just... their job is to be the go-between between actors and production. They know best when to bring up things with the director so it doesn't slow anything down. Respect that.
14. Take your problems to someone who can do something about them.
If you have a problem with your paycheck, talk to payroll. If you have a safety issue, go to the SM. If you have a problem with... anything else I can think of, go to the SM. But don't complain to your fellow actors about something they can't do anything about.
15. Speak up.
In an appropriate fashion, if something makes you uncomfortable, tell the ASM or AD... unless they're the ones making you uncomfortable. Really. For all my ranting and yelling at imaginary internet people, your safety is paramount. Your comfort. Your ability to trust. Without it, you can't make art. Seriously. I mean, I guess there are legends of those incredibly awful sets that made good art... Like Kubrick or whatever... you know, there's this idea out there that suffering produces greatness, and if people weren't suffering before, they should be suffering because then they'll act better. I throw my hands up. I think people are capable of tremendous things. I think people perform better on all tasks when they have an environment they can trust. So if people are doing things that make you uncomfortable, tell someone in charge (or if it's the in charge people, call your union... if you don't have one, weigh the pros and cons of being a part of this production. You might still want to do it, but know that you won't be as happy with the outcome as you would like. Seriously. If it doesn't get better on set, you're not going to be pleased later).
You know what makes you uncomfortable better than me, so I won't give examples. But know that your small discomfort is worth letting someone who can do something about it know about it.
16. Be trustworthy.
And respect boundaries. I mean for reals. Keep secrets. Scoff at no one and nothing. If you have an idea that someone doesn't like something you're doing, stop doing it. And people share deep down moments and beauty with you when they're in the safe space. Don't violate that safe space by assuming (even in praise) that they want that shared elsewhere.
Showing posts with label weinhold. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weinhold. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Our Plans
Stina and I just took a nice, 2 1/2 hour long walk and found ourselves talking about the future. That talk turned into a plan, and that all solidified our goals. Stina, using the wireless internet that we just set up (thanks for the router suggestion, Tony!), is on my mom's computer, and I am on mine. She is researching some of our more solid plans, while I blog, and hopefully we will soon both be blogging simultaneously.
We paused under the Bur Oak tree, by which we plan to get married. We tossed the small Packers football around and watched the dog explore further west along the path towards the river. After some time spent calling her back, and seeing her seek out that path, we decided to follow. She led us into the woods, where we found no man made interruption but my father searching for sugar maples and briefly tossing the ball with us before he headed back over to the north slope.
As the wind blew in the trees above our heads, we found ourselves wondering what would happen after this big adventure and our wedding. We have many grand plans for our lives, but how do we fit them into such a finite period as one's life, and how do we reckon that with the ages and the hypothetical children and... and... everything.
Well, many of you know how I get. We couldn't be done with our walk until we had a plan. So I proposed we walk through everything from today on to get us revved up and in the right frame of mind to figure out our timeline. This part took so long, we forgot our reason for beginning the task by the end of the task. Luckily that was still foremost in our minds, so we stumbled upon it again. In as succinct a form as I can bear to put it, our plans are as follows:
(We skipped the initial stages that we already have planned, but I'll include those here for easy reference.)
Today: Get the telephone numbers of all the friends and family from whom we have not heard, and press them to come to our show on November 1st at my parents' farm in Wisconsin. I hope we'll also have a bit of a party afterwards, maybe with some football and refreshments, and certainly with some catching up and getting along.
During next week we'll rehearse, visit niece, Erin, whose birthday was yesterday, fix my computer's dvd drive, pack, buy any gear we might still need (a lighter, warmer sleeping bag, waterproof shoes, a better backpack for me), and solidify our first few months of plans with the people we hope to visit.
On November 1st, we will have that event we're planning, and then bid adieu to my parents and everybody and travel home with Katie-Come-Lately to Waukegan near Chicago. We'll spend about a week in the area, a few nights with Katie, a few with Heather and Peter, a few with Jon Sabo (though he doesn't know that yet), maybe a few with some party members if we still feel the need and have worn out our welcome elsewhere. Claudia Hommel is a French singer and her partner Cappie (Kappie? Cappy?) and she have stayed here, and they've always been enthusiastic about supporting my performeriness.
After Chicago, we'll book it in a roundabout way traveling a bit further east than necessary to get to Jocelyn in New Orleans. We'll stay with my grandma and aunts along the way in Kentucky and Tennessee. Stina knows some folks along that route, too, I think, and then end up in Louisiana on the 8th or 9th.
We'll spend much of November accompanying Jocelyn's incredible tambourine and kazoo show that she does for all the cadavers at Tulane. (Don't deny it, Jocelyn, I know you do it when no one's looking.)
On November 23rd when Jocelyn heads to TN, we'll head to Fort Worth (actually Plano) for Thanksgiving with Stina's cousin Michael and Danielle and their children. Along the way to and from there, we hope we can stop by Mike and Stacey in Houston and Cassandra in Waco, and a few other TX friends. Perhaps we can extend the radius of our visits and go up to visit Kassie and Dan in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
One of those things that I mentioned Stina researching is a program for us to join whereby we exchange Spanish lessons for English lessons somewhere South of the U.S. My mother mentioned a program that we want to look into that involves volunteer work from us and free room and board to us.
We plan to spend December traveling around eastern Mexico and into Central America (perhaps ideally spending Christmas either in that program or with a friendly Couchsurfing host). Then January in Brazil (maybe we'll see a rainforest... maybe we can help save the rainforest... Who knows!?!), February will see us traveling down the eastern seaboard to the very southernmost tip of South America (maybe), and March will see us move back up the western side and through Central America to wind up in California in mid-April.
While in CA, we'll visit with Ca and Melina and Tai and Kira for a week or so (unbeknownst to them) and with Stina's San Diego clan for a week or so (also heretofore unbeknowing). Maybe we'll spend a day or two in L.A. (see how we're feeling). Then we'll head North and spend a day or two with Silas, and then we'll spend a day or two in Portland (Hi Kaitlin!) and Olympia, and finally end up in Seattle in early May.
Seattle will be a bit of a rest for us. We'll perform frequently, but it'll also be a time to visit with friends we've missed, see something happening at YTN, and recuperate.
From Seattle in June begins phase 2. We'll book it through Canada to the East Coast and tour NYC, the eastern seaboard, and parts of the south, probably down to Virginia, where we'll stay with Stina's people, and maybe see if we can visit with Emily Chilko in WVa if that's where she is right now (anybody know?). We will have found the cheapest flight we can from the U.S. to Europe in late July (probably a bad time of year for cheap flights...hmm). If all goes according to plan, we'll spend the whole month of August in Ireland.
Then in September, a week in Great Britain (mostly Scotland), a week traveling through France and Belgium (maybe 2 nights and a day in Paris?), a full week in Amsterdam (gotta see where in the Netherlands Anna and Lotte are living nowadays), two weeks traveling through Germany (visit Berlin for a few days, find some castles - mit Jungendherberge: e.g. Stahleck im Bacharach, rediscover Rothenburg...berg? It has a city wall!), and the rest of October through mid-November in Austria and Hungary, end of November in Greece and Italy, December in Southern France, Spain and Portugal, January in Morocco and northwestern Africa, February in
OOP! food's ready... time to eat. I'll finish this later. My father just pointer out that we could hit Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg) after Finland (which'd be part of the Scandinavia tour I neglected to mention and should be inserted between the Netherlands (Den Haag, Utrecht, Amsterdam) and the bulk of our Germany tour) which I haven't even mentioned... so until a moment from now your time, and an hour from now food time. See you then.
Well... delicious chili time is over.
On to Africa: We don't know how good busking will be in much of Africa, having never been there. We're considering... more than considering, we're hoping to find a program or organization to join in Africa volunteering and getting comfortable with the place. Maybe something environmental or political. We'd like to see if there's a youth conference attended by the SWP as there has been in the past. We want something, anything, really that can help us feel more comfortable in a new place to begin with. Maybe Couchsurfing has a program through which we could help in Africa. We're looking for short-term commitments, maybe several 2-week or month-long commitments while in Africa that we could jump one to the next. Stina wants to go to Kenya at some point. I'd like to see what South Africa is like (I've heard truck drivers that I've hitched rides from talk about it, and I want to know what it would seem like from my own perspective). We'll probably leave Africa from either Egypt or Ethiopia.
In March, we'll make our way from Egypt through Israel (I'd like to visit Iran, and I may have friend living there (Hi Zhiela!), but we'll see) and Turkey and Uzbekistan (I wonder if anyone from the UW drama department knows anyone we could meet there). There's a lot of ground to cover in this time as we're trying to make our way over to southeast Asia.
It's hard to know what's "unsafe" and what's truly unsafe. Since we're trying to do it land travel-wise, and we're trying to follow laws and be safe, there seem to be some places that'd be hard to get to. Like India... Are Afghanistan and Iran saafe to travel through for an American? I imagine so, but I'm sure there are those who'd say no. And Pakistan. I mean I'm all support for oppressed peoples of the world, but I'm also all American. Am I silly to worry about things like these? I point out, and rightly so, that we still believe in philosophy of trust... but you also hear about scary things happening "somewhere over there". Where is this somewhere? Is it as dangerous as they all say? Do other nations hear about how dangerous the U.S. is with all its many gun violences each year? I guess I'm mostly afraid that because I will be less familiar with everything going on, I will be less able to deal with dangers. Like deadly spiders and snakes. We just don't have enough of them to worry about in WI, but I know they exist. Oh, bah.
Anyways, after March, we hope we'll be able to visit Thailand. Then we'd like to see if Ca and Melina and kids could join us and visit Ca's family in Vietnam. And then we'd like to see if Mimi can recommend places to visit in Japan (not to presume, but maybe we could even visit your parents, Mimi, whom I've met a couple times... Maybe you, Philip, and Yuki would like to come visit us in Japan in May of 2010 if conditions are right...?). And then we'd like to impose on more of our communities' extended families in the Philippines. Peter, do you know anyone we can visit? How about you, Manny? And then, finally (and really finally this time) we'll end up in Seattle in mid-June 2010.
But wait! There's more! Oh yeah, this was all just the rev up to the discussion of what we're going to do AFTER the big trip...
Well, as most readers know by now, Stina and I plan to be married on 10/10/2010 at my parents' farm in Southeast Wisconsin by the big Bur Oak tree that's one of the oldest trees in the county. Our friend Alissa has gotten ordained as the Reverend Princess Mortenson (RPM for short), and will marry us in whatever way we and she please.
After a tropical honeymoon of some sort (Australia perhaps? Only one continent left to go after that!... maybe we should stop by Antarctica while we're in Chile), we hope Stina can get into a 2-year grad program in Galway. I'll try to work as an actor in Ireland, but if not, I can surely find some work there. I may even start another theatre company to add to my list (WC 4-H, Klichet, RBP, RAT, and so on - you folks are welcome to join me out there). During the semesters off, we'll teach English in Vienna and brush up our German. After Stina's a master, then I'll hopefully be able to attend a university in Vienna and study Austrian and German theatre. I'd really like to someday be known as a political theatre scholar, and I think Brecht'd be a great place to start (maybe I can find Boal while we're in Central America).
Backing up a few years, Stina and I have talked about having a kid or 2 in our early thirties, so around the time I'm done with grad school we hope we'll have a one-year-old and another on the way... or something like that.
Around that time (about 5 years from now... well, 6 really, but who's counting?), we'll probably resettle in Seattle... at least that's where we're leaning. If everyone we know and love has packed up and moved away by then, maybe not, but since that's where so many people we love live and where they're likely to stay, it's currently in first place for a "settling down" place. I'd certainly enjoy trying to make it as an actor, but have long thought that opening a used bookstore/coffeeshop/gamestore would be a delight. Stina would like to write and teach at a community college.
On our 50th year or thereabouts, when the kids are in their early teens, or late teens and early 20s, or on our 20th or 25th wedding anniversary, we'll either take the kids out of school for a year and take them on or, depending on their age, challenge them to an adventure around the world very much like the one we're planning now. The world will have changed considerably, I imagine. Perhaps we'll be able to take public transportation all over... or maybe we'll have flying cars that run on tiny nuclear fission batteries.
Anyhow, after the kids are grown, and after we've taken 10 years to help get them started in their new home on a colony on Mars, I imagine someday 50 years from now, perhaps (since 60 is the new 40 now, I imagine in 50 years, 75 will be the new 40). When my parents are 115 and a 111 and will have escaped to become gnomes in the woods and swamps, we will come live here, in this place, on this farm. And we will raise those sheep I talk about, and I will teach occasionally at Kewaskum High School, and our grandchildren will visit their gnomish great-grandparents in the woods, and I will found a terrific new theatre company in West Bend, and we will perform in the basement of the Tri-county building. We will also use the farm as a Bed and Breakfast, and once a year our friends will all come for a month (during the off-season, of course) and we will play and celebrate our lives together. On weekends, folks will come from miles around for the fine ambiance and delicious food at the Stonehill Cafe. And urban artsy folks will come stay for a night on the farm, and contribute something to the artistic output of our community.
We love you!
Brendan (...and Stina)
We paused under the Bur Oak tree, by which we plan to get married. We tossed the small Packers football around and watched the dog explore further west along the path towards the river. After some time spent calling her back, and seeing her seek out that path, we decided to follow. She led us into the woods, where we found no man made interruption but my father searching for sugar maples and briefly tossing the ball with us before he headed back over to the north slope.
As the wind blew in the trees above our heads, we found ourselves wondering what would happen after this big adventure and our wedding. We have many grand plans for our lives, but how do we fit them into such a finite period as one's life, and how do we reckon that with the ages and the hypothetical children and... and... everything.
Well, many of you know how I get. We couldn't be done with our walk until we had a plan. So I proposed we walk through everything from today on to get us revved up and in the right frame of mind to figure out our timeline. This part took so long, we forgot our reason for beginning the task by the end of the task. Luckily that was still foremost in our minds, so we stumbled upon it again. In as succinct a form as I can bear to put it, our plans are as follows:
(We skipped the initial stages that we already have planned, but I'll include those here for easy reference.)
Today: Get the telephone numbers of all the friends and family from whom we have not heard, and press them to come to our show on November 1st at my parents' farm in Wisconsin. I hope we'll also have a bit of a party afterwards, maybe with some football and refreshments, and certainly with some catching up and getting along.
During next week we'll rehearse, visit niece, Erin, whose birthday was yesterday, fix my computer's dvd drive, pack, buy any gear we might still need (a lighter, warmer sleeping bag, waterproof shoes, a better backpack for me), and solidify our first few months of plans with the people we hope to visit.
On November 1st, we will have that event we're planning, and then bid adieu to my parents and everybody and travel home with Katie-Come-Lately to Waukegan near Chicago. We'll spend about a week in the area, a few nights with Katie, a few with Heather and Peter, a few with Jon Sabo (though he doesn't know that yet), maybe a few with some party members if we still feel the need and have worn out our welcome elsewhere. Claudia Hommel is a French singer and her partner Cappie (Kappie? Cappy?) and she have stayed here, and they've always been enthusiastic about supporting my performeriness.
After Chicago, we'll book it in a roundabout way traveling a bit further east than necessary to get to Jocelyn in New Orleans. We'll stay with my grandma and aunts along the way in Kentucky and Tennessee. Stina knows some folks along that route, too, I think, and then end up in Louisiana on the 8th or 9th.
We'll spend much of November accompanying Jocelyn's incredible tambourine and kazoo show that she does for all the cadavers at Tulane. (Don't deny it, Jocelyn, I know you do it when no one's looking.)
On November 23rd when Jocelyn heads to TN, we'll head to Fort Worth (actually Plano) for Thanksgiving with Stina's cousin Michael and Danielle and their children. Along the way to and from there, we hope we can stop by Mike and Stacey in Houston and Cassandra in Waco, and a few other TX friends. Perhaps we can extend the radius of our visits and go up to visit Kassie and Dan in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
One of those things that I mentioned Stina researching is a program for us to join whereby we exchange Spanish lessons for English lessons somewhere South of the U.S. My mother mentioned a program that we want to look into that involves volunteer work from us and free room and board to us.
We plan to spend December traveling around eastern Mexico and into Central America (perhaps ideally spending Christmas either in that program or with a friendly Couchsurfing host). Then January in Brazil (maybe we'll see a rainforest... maybe we can help save the rainforest... Who knows!?!), February will see us traveling down the eastern seaboard to the very southernmost tip of South America (maybe), and March will see us move back up the western side and through Central America to wind up in California in mid-April.
While in CA, we'll visit with Ca and Melina and Tai and Kira for a week or so (unbeknownst to them) and with Stina's San Diego clan for a week or so (also heretofore unbeknowing). Maybe we'll spend a day or two in L.A. (see how we're feeling). Then we'll head North and spend a day or two with Silas, and then we'll spend a day or two in Portland (Hi Kaitlin!) and Olympia, and finally end up in Seattle in early May.
Seattle will be a bit of a rest for us. We'll perform frequently, but it'll also be a time to visit with friends we've missed, see something happening at YTN, and recuperate.
From Seattle in June begins phase 2. We'll book it through Canada to the East Coast and tour NYC, the eastern seaboard, and parts of the south, probably down to Virginia, where we'll stay with Stina's people, and maybe see if we can visit with Emily Chilko in WVa if that's where she is right now (anybody know?). We will have found the cheapest flight we can from the U.S. to Europe in late July (probably a bad time of year for cheap flights...hmm). If all goes according to plan, we'll spend the whole month of August in Ireland.
Then in September, a week in Great Britain (mostly Scotland), a week traveling through France and Belgium (maybe 2 nights and a day in Paris?), a full week in Amsterdam (gotta see where in the Netherlands Anna and Lotte are living nowadays), two weeks traveling through Germany (visit Berlin for a few days, find some castles - mit Jungendherberge: e.g. Stahleck im Bacharach, rediscover Rothenburg...berg? It has a city wall!), and the rest of October through mid-November in Austria and Hungary, end of November in Greece and Italy, December in Southern France, Spain and Portugal, January in Morocco and northwestern Africa, February in
OOP! food's ready... time to eat. I'll finish this later. My father just pointer out that we could hit Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg) after Finland (which'd be part of the Scandinavia tour I neglected to mention and should be inserted between the Netherlands (Den Haag, Utrecht, Amsterdam) and the bulk of our Germany tour) which I haven't even mentioned... so until a moment from now your time, and an hour from now food time. See you then.
Well... delicious chili time is over.
On to Africa: We don't know how good busking will be in much of Africa, having never been there. We're considering... more than considering, we're hoping to find a program or organization to join in Africa volunteering and getting comfortable with the place. Maybe something environmental or political. We'd like to see if there's a youth conference attended by the SWP as there has been in the past. We want something, anything, really that can help us feel more comfortable in a new place to begin with. Maybe Couchsurfing has a program through which we could help in Africa. We're looking for short-term commitments, maybe several 2-week or month-long commitments while in Africa that we could jump one to the next. Stina wants to go to Kenya at some point. I'd like to see what South Africa is like (I've heard truck drivers that I've hitched rides from talk about it, and I want to know what it would seem like from my own perspective). We'll probably leave Africa from either Egypt or Ethiopia.
In March, we'll make our way from Egypt through Israel (I'd like to visit Iran, and I may have friend living there (Hi Zhiela!), but we'll see) and Turkey and Uzbekistan (I wonder if anyone from the UW drama department knows anyone we could meet there). There's a lot of ground to cover in this time as we're trying to make our way over to southeast Asia.
It's hard to know what's "unsafe" and what's truly unsafe. Since we're trying to do it land travel-wise, and we're trying to follow laws and be safe, there seem to be some places that'd be hard to get to. Like India... Are Afghanistan and Iran saafe to travel through for an American? I imagine so, but I'm sure there are those who'd say no. And Pakistan. I mean I'm all support for oppressed peoples of the world, but I'm also all American. Am I silly to worry about things like these? I point out, and rightly so, that we still believe in philosophy of trust... but you also hear about scary things happening "somewhere over there". Where is this somewhere? Is it as dangerous as they all say? Do other nations hear about how dangerous the U.S. is with all its many gun violences each year? I guess I'm mostly afraid that because I will be less familiar with everything going on, I will be less able to deal with dangers. Like deadly spiders and snakes. We just don't have enough of them to worry about in WI, but I know they exist. Oh, bah.
Anyways, after March, we hope we'll be able to visit Thailand. Then we'd like to see if Ca and Melina and kids could join us and visit Ca's family in Vietnam. And then we'd like to see if Mimi can recommend places to visit in Japan (not to presume, but maybe we could even visit your parents, Mimi, whom I've met a couple times... Maybe you, Philip, and Yuki would like to come visit us in Japan in May of 2010 if conditions are right...?). And then we'd like to impose on more of our communities' extended families in the Philippines. Peter, do you know anyone we can visit? How about you, Manny? And then, finally (and really finally this time) we'll end up in Seattle in mid-June 2010.
But wait! There's more! Oh yeah, this was all just the rev up to the discussion of what we're going to do AFTER the big trip...
Well, as most readers know by now, Stina and I plan to be married on 10/10/2010 at my parents' farm in Southeast Wisconsin by the big Bur Oak tree that's one of the oldest trees in the county. Our friend Alissa has gotten ordained as the Reverend Princess Mortenson (RPM for short), and will marry us in whatever way we and she please.
After a tropical honeymoon of some sort (Australia perhaps? Only one continent left to go after that!... maybe we should stop by Antarctica while we're in Chile), we hope Stina can get into a 2-year grad program in Galway. I'll try to work as an actor in Ireland, but if not, I can surely find some work there. I may even start another theatre company to add to my list (WC 4-H, Klichet, RBP, RAT, and so on - you folks are welcome to join me out there). During the semesters off, we'll teach English in Vienna and brush up our German. After Stina's a master, then I'll hopefully be able to attend a university in Vienna and study Austrian and German theatre. I'd really like to someday be known as a political theatre scholar, and I think Brecht'd be a great place to start (maybe I can find Boal while we're in Central America).
Backing up a few years, Stina and I have talked about having a kid or 2 in our early thirties, so around the time I'm done with grad school we hope we'll have a one-year-old and another on the way... or something like that.
Around that time (about 5 years from now... well, 6 really, but who's counting?), we'll probably resettle in Seattle... at least that's where we're leaning. If everyone we know and love has packed up and moved away by then, maybe not, but since that's where so many people we love live and where they're likely to stay, it's currently in first place for a "settling down" place. I'd certainly enjoy trying to make it as an actor, but have long thought that opening a used bookstore/coffeeshop/gamestore would be a delight. Stina would like to write and teach at a community college.
On our 50th year or thereabouts, when the kids are in their early teens, or late teens and early 20s, or on our 20th or 25th wedding anniversary, we'll either take the kids out of school for a year and take them on or, depending on their age, challenge them to an adventure around the world very much like the one we're planning now. The world will have changed considerably, I imagine. Perhaps we'll be able to take public transportation all over... or maybe we'll have flying cars that run on tiny nuclear fission batteries.
Anyhow, after the kids are grown, and after we've taken 10 years to help get them started in their new home on a colony on Mars, I imagine someday 50 years from now, perhaps (since 60 is the new 40 now, I imagine in 50 years, 75 will be the new 40). When my parents are 115 and a 111 and will have escaped to become gnomes in the woods and swamps, we will come live here, in this place, on this farm. And we will raise those sheep I talk about, and I will teach occasionally at Kewaskum High School, and our grandchildren will visit their gnomish great-grandparents in the woods, and I will found a terrific new theatre company in West Bend, and we will perform in the basement of the Tri-county building. We will also use the farm as a Bed and Breakfast, and once a year our friends will all come for a month (during the off-season, of course) and we will play and celebrate our lives together. On weekends, folks will come from miles around for the fine ambiance and delicious food at the Stonehill Cafe. And urban artsy folks will come stay for a night on the farm, and contribute something to the artistic output of our community.
We love you!
Brendan (...and Stina)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Rehearsal: We're getting there
Today we started with some 6-ball partner juggling, and found our rhythm and a new attention-getting starting-it-up getting in sync kind of thing. It's slow, this 6-ball partner juggling, but I'm hoping one day we'll have a major breakthrough, and it'll just happen.
We're making great strides in the field of stilt-walking (pun intended). Stina walked without me all around Jose (P. Rizal's bust), and then...
***Classified Information***Top Secret***
...and juggling.
And then! We walked home side by side on stilts. Yes, Ladies and Gents, we did. We're good. I mean Goooood. Be proud to know us, those of you who do. Stina, who'd never been on stilts before yesterday, is now navigating curbs and uphills, and I, who hadn't worn them for 16 years, walked down our whole hill to the ID today (and got many thrilled people waving!)
Love and juggling! (that's a command to love us, not a complimentary close, btw)
P.S. If you'd like to find out what happened in the censored areas, come to our show on September 27th at 3 pm in the Jose P. Rizal Park on Beacon Hill
Facebook will make you log in, but everyone's on Facebook nowadays anyways, right?
We're making great strides in the field of stilt-walking (pun intended). Stina walked without me all around Jose (P. Rizal's bust), and then...
***Classified Information***Top Secret***
...and juggling.
And then! We walked home side by side on stilts. Yes, Ladies and Gents, we did. We're good. I mean Goooood. Be proud to know us, those of you who do. Stina, who'd never been on stilts before yesterday, is now navigating curbs and uphills, and I, who hadn't worn them for 16 years, walked down our whole hill to the ID today (and got many thrilled people waving!)
Love and juggling! (that's a command to love us, not a complimentary close, btw)
P.S. If you'd like to find out what happened in the censored areas, come to our show on September 27th at 3 pm in the Jose P. Rizal Park on Beacon Hill
Facebook will make you log in, but everyone's on Facebook nowadays anyways, right?
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