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June 23, 2008

Dialogue has simply been part of this project, because the subject matter demanded it. Thirty-six years ago a black man died in a fusillade of bullets. Even now, after performing the story of the resulting march, neither Jules nor I know many details. People have told us much, but not those details. The matter, like the mule, had been paved over, but not forgotten. The pain of that time when guns and fear defined black and white remains.

June 19, 2008

Linda said to me, "I'm surprised you got away with telling so many moonshine stories".

Folks in these foothills are proud of their moonshine history. This is the welcome sign as you enter from the Swerving roads leading into (or out of) Gumlog. Thought you'd have to see it to believe it. Enjoy this welcome sign from the "Land of Spirits"

June 13, 2008

I wanted to share some stories of the people we're working with, and not just the stories of the place. It's quite a wonderful group, and I'm just learning more about them, as the nerves begin to wear off and we relax into the rhythm of the show.

I found out Peggy, one of our lead actors, has been appointed by four governors here to be the state's official cosmetologist and hair stylist. I wasn't even aware such a position existed. I found it out because as I was walking through the green room, I noticed her hair, perfectly done in a 30's do, with finger waves. It was stunning. I walked up and told her so, and that's when someone said "Well, she ought to look good" and then told me the story.

Zadie, from New Light church, a wonderful spirit, came in last night to the show. Not in costume. She said her knees hurt too bad. She's an older woman. She came to support the show, even though she didn't feel up to performing last night. "I was waxing floors all day long. I didn't have the strength to be in the show, but I wanted to be here". I told her my family would be coming for tonight's show, and she gave me a hug and said "I'm not gonna work so hard tomorrow. No, no, I'm not gonna work so hard tomorrow. I'm gonna do tomorrow's show."

Richard Bielski is a Pastor.
Robert Spencer is a Reverend.
Linda Barnes is a Pastor.
(It's kind of like working with the Mennos again!)

Our high school kids up in the sound and light booth finished school over a week ago, and they have been completely reliable and on time even though summer is here and the weather is nice. In fact, they came in yesterday at 10:00 am, when our new microhpones were delivered, climbed ladders to take the borrowed mic's down and hang the new ones (climbing more than 20 feet up) and doing sound checks all day until the show last night. Teenagers. Wonderful.

Barbara, one of our stage managers calling the show with lights, is also the editor of Hometown Neighbor's Magazine.

Ramblin' Tommy Scott is known across the country.

So many remarkable people. I have more to talk about but, Ooh, time is running short. I'm working with Jerry tonight, he hasn't been on since last weekend. I'm working with him at 4:00, then with Lynetta at 5:00. Just finished washing sheets, too, I'm rotating everything out because my family is coming in this evening and I wanted to have everything nice for them when they get here. Oh, now I really gotta go becauase the timer just dinged. I've baked two pies that need to get pulled from the oven. I Made the pies for Genny and Judy. They are the spearheads of this project and completely amazing human beings, too. (But I've already talked about them before.) Peach pies. Home made. Hope they taste good. I always sort of mess up on getting the crust to look pretty. Guess it's the thought that counts. I'll probably get a "Bless her heart" on the attempt. NIce, but...ugly. haha) We're up for a Friday the 13th performance tonight. Wish us well.

June 11, 2008

OK< so some big things, I'll do them in order of coolness.

I'm just back from an inspiring, charged, fun-filled speed through with the cast. Doing double time for the adults was a little mind-blowing at first, and then they found their pacing and started having fun- when they realized 'Hey, I DO know this stuff". The atmosphere was charged, they were easy with their dialogue. They laughed with each other, they got bold, some got outrageous and funny. I love speed-throughs for the ability to allow a cast to cut loose and be risky, take risks in front of each other, it gives permission to have fun. And when they have fun when no one is watching, they remember it, and can have fun when everyone is watching. So that was cool.

I did something else interesting, which I hadn't done before. The kids, age 8-17, didn't do a speed through- they did a slow motion run through, in which they all had to say their lines at s-l-o-w speed. Fascinatingly enough, it sounded like regular speed to everyone else, who CHEERED for the kids, who's speeches we all finally understood. So, kids like Marilyn and Kaitlyn and Evan will be doing them SLOW MOTION tomorrow night at performance, too.

the night got a little crazy in some areas, but I let it ride. The funny man, Jeff, who gets caught where he shouldn't be-- usually he comes running out with a suspender down, while a faceless woman's hand waves a hankie at him. TOnight, he came running out holding hands with Owen, saying "Oh, you're so good Owen" and the cast roared. John, usually the straight man, comes out, and instead of his speech that starts "The electronic age, my grandchildren understand it" He instead came out with "The Viagara Age..." People howled. Normally straight laced people were going for it. Even 91 year old Louise was doing her best to speed through. Tommy Scott drove right through his piece too! We howled. So, that's cool

Genny said at her Board meeting last night, the mayor and the city manager couldn't stop talking about it. Tickets are selling really well, and she said people at the meeting said it's the biggest thing to hit Franklin COunty. When i pulled into the chamber of commerce building today, Vivian was selling tickets ala curb service. She was actually outside with a car that had pulled up to get tickets. People are calling to buy tickets, instead of waiting to get them at the door because the word is out that they might not have any left at the door on the night of the show. So, that was cool.

The coolest thing I found out today, though, was that the "Bump in the road" was the subject of the sermon at church on Sunday, at Kitt's church. She said the ministeer talked about the play. She said he even named me as the playwright- but kept calling me a "he". (My alter ego is a very short frenchman with a moustache who smokes a pipe. That's the other Jules Corriere) Kitt said four ladies in the front row corrected him and said "she, she" every time the preacher called Jules a "he". The bump in the road was the sermon. Margaret said she was in a meeting the other day, fussing about how the trees in her yard got cut down so short, when the powerline people came through, and she said someone in the meeting said 'Oh, Margaret, just get over that bump in the road". The theme and the language of the play is- oh, what's the right word- permeating throughout the community. I wish Richard were still here, he could write about the effects so much more eloquently than I. The best way I know how to say it is that it's seeping in. And--- people are talking about the bumps in the road. They have an access point for dialogue, now. People are talking about the march. People are talking about the economy, people are talking about what is in the play, and what is in their lives right now-- at town meetings, at churches, at home. It's happening. Good googly moogly, it's exciting. I'm so glad i came back this week to feel this sense of awe that is going on through the community. They are standing in awe of what they have created-- what we together have created here. Wish i could say more, but a thunderstorm is starting and the already difficult internet is about to go. More later.

June 08, 2008

I flew home today to spend a couple of days with my family- Ian graduates from elementary school, Cassidy finishes middle school, and I didn't want to miss that. I fly back to Franklin County on Wednesday morning, and will hold a brush-up speed-through with them that evening. We perform on Thursdays, Fridays, and two shows on Saturday here, rather than the typical Fri-Sat-Sun mat.

The cast is strong and gathering strength. They are also new. And while I trust that the show will continue to reach new heights, I want to ensure their trajectory. Are they ready to handle this baby? Yes, they are doing a marvelous job. Will continued support help them handle this more strongly? Yes. it will. Which is why I've decided to stay on for an extra week. They are only just finding their power. I want to be there to help the continuum. My eyes know what to look for- including a certain fatigue that can settle in once we've gotten over the hump of the first performance. The last two weeks have meant daily rehearsals, several hours each day. I can even feel in my own body today the slump of relief, the first time in weeks when I haven't had to be anywhere, doing anything. If nothing else, I want to cheerlead everyone back into the rhythm of this show.

We opened pretty well on Wednesday night. It was the first time we actually ran through the entire show without stopping, and we did so in front of a VIP audience, with Senators, Mayors, Community Arts folks, storytellers, financial contributors, town and city council members, etc. etc. That was us starting up the engines. We made some course corrections, mainly to the end of the show which bunched up a little. We removed some of the black umbrellas from the march in the Rain song, so we could see the choreography more clearly. We solved our sound problem. Now our actors can be heard much better. And we brought in another memory voice character to explain Doc Tommy Scott's appearance at the end of the show. I'd written some lines for Tommy, but he knows his own bit by heart and was doing that. He's 91 years old, by the way, and was slinging that guitar around like a kid. AND, great as he was, we weren't quite clear why he was there when he didn't say those crucial other lines. I put the missing dialogue into the mouth of his predecessor, Old Doc Chamberlain, as a "memory voice" calling him back. We incorporated those changes Friday, hit a little turbulence on Saturday afternoon, but then we zoomed past it on that Saturday night. Saturday's show was stunning. And the Swamp Gravy cast was there to see them perform their best show to date. I only expect it to become more and more exciting. I always encourage a show to grow in it's power. not to simply maintain. Never to maintain. At the Yoder Barn, people would always tell Richard, "Oh, i wish you'd have seen our last weekend, you missed our best show". I, being there, knew it was true. Sad for Richard, that he didn't get to see it at it's sharpest, but also, as it should be. I know that same sort of thing is going to happen here. I watch them grow more powerful and confident in their performances each day. They are flying now.

They left in great position to come back to perform on Thursday. And...I know what can happen in that between time. There's a discipline to this work. They need a brush up, but not in costume with lights, and certainly not at usual pace. Speed-throughs are great for many things- it refreshes the dialogue, of course, and it also forces them to take out the pauses. As they do the speed throughs, it builds confidence that "yes, I do know these lines" and it also teaches new beats-- how certain speeches might sound should some (unneeded) dramatic pauses be removed. And also, after all of these great crowds they've been playing to (the smallest being Saturday Afternoon after graduation) they are used to being fed by applause. Lacking that, there will be a certain tendency to let down. But speeding through, having fun, letting loose, they'll drop that need for the nourishment of applause and cheers and tears of appreciation. They'll be laughing with and cheering each other on as we charge through the rehearsals at double time speed. (Except for choreography.) It's been of great benefit to the projects we work with, and who commit to this weekly speed through. It keeps people fresh, on their toes, and if there are any concerns, we don't have to wait until a few minutes before show time to address them. And, of course, I will still be here, to give notes, make any minor adjustments, and help the cast begin to look for those things that Richard and I have been reminding them of. To help them with the pattern of community performance. Doubles being by the stage while partners perform. Being mindful of dressing the set should any cast members be absent. Notice where energy is great and give praise and encouragement. Notice where energy is low- and give praise and encouragement. It's pretty easy stuff, once you're in the habit of doing it. Ahhh, I'm tired. I'm going to enjoy being home for a bit. Out for now. I'll be back with more later.

The mayor of Lavonia has come three times, the chief of police twice, Harold, a city council person and project leader has come twice, his wife three times. Margaret Ayers, widow of the courageous mayor who created the interracial council, has been to four out of five of the performances. It's a very powerful show, but people are coming for more than theater when they come this often, they're coming for nutrition. The play is feeding spirit, in the Land of Spirit.

We've opened and played three performances. The show is a major success. The chief of police told an assembly on Thursday that the show "will knock your socks off." The mayor could talk about nothing else and came back two nights in a row. The second night had 60 tickets sold in the morning, by showtime there were only 16 seats left. Even graduation night, last night, two of the three seating banks were full and the third one was half.

June 03, 2008

Barbara said she wanted time for a meeting. She arrived at rehearsal with a slim middleaged woman whom she introduced as Peggy Hunter Haley, the daughter of the man who was shot. My daddy did not die in vain, Peggy told Jules and me, because of his death we have representation on the city council and the police force. However you want to tell the story, she said, is fine with me.

Saturday culminated with an amazing runthrough, the energy for which seemed more than human. When we finished a group of ordinary townsfolk, children to the very old, had been there twelve hours straight. And at the end we were dancing in jubilation.

Computer all but unable to get on.

Last night, church night for many, Wednesday. We gave ourself the luxury of three hours on moonshine. The scene will be a comic gem in the play, the great height before the profound passage into the valley of "March in the Rain," and the song, "We Marched in the Rain."

Computer all but unable to get on.

Last night, church night for many, Wednesday. We gave ourself the luxury of three hours on moonshine. The scene will be a comic gem in the play, the great height before the profound passage into the valley of "March in the Rain," and the song, "We Marched in the Rain."

June 02, 2008

Two days and counting before we open, and I'm making yet another change to the script.

For many and various reasons, I chose to use the image of the piano to stand for a death in the community. Those reasons are too big and to varied to even begin to write about in a blog. To say it, we are handling a very difficult story, in a first time project.

What I held artistically in my head and on the page as a good working image, months ago when i wrote this, has, in the process of creating the theater of it, become something of a struggle as we have deal with it off of the page and onto the stage.

One part of the community felt we were saying too much with how we described and worked with this piano. And One part of the community thought we were not doing enough. I am grateful to this whole community that they have come, and spoken up, not after the process, but during it, to help us guide it- to co-produce the best and clearest way to tell the story. It is important, I can't say how important it is--- that NO ONE has come to us and said "you cannot tell that story". People from all parts of the community believe the story should be told. Which is in itself strong. We are now, through the process of talking, holding authentic conversations, rehearsing, reworking, rehearsing, and re-HEARING, how we can best tell this story for everyone.

All week, I was just watching us try to work and work and work with this image. In all honesty, I used the image of the piano instead of the actual man because *I* was actually at the edge of my comfort zone writing this one. (It's a dangerous story to handle in so many ways.) It took all of my own courage to put this one on paper. And for weeks, I'm watching us try to work this image and I'm thinking, we're just working too hard at this. If we're working this hard, then face the facts, Jules--- The image is just wrong. We talked last night and all agreed. And we open in two days.

We were in discussions, sitting around the table at the Greek restaurant last night first, then went home and sat in the living room continuing it, and then...it comes. Clarity. I see the picture of what is to be,, I start hearing in my head the words that need to be said and I grabbed my computer, thumping the keys into life. I'm writing it and thinking, gee, Of course. It's so simple. Why didn't I see it sooner? But I think we had to go through the difficult in order to get to the simple. The simple is this: It was a death. of a man. It was also the mistreatment and removal of people, but the catalyst, the thing which made people say "no more" was the man's death. And there are only so few ways we can speak this, in the way it needs to be spoken. I was trying so hard to be careful. We all were. When we got to the point where we could actually talk about it, the hard part, then we could move forward and talk about the simple part-- the fact and the history of this event.

I cut 3/4 page of dialogue that spoke about the piano and what happened to it. And then I added two simple phrases to the story which was already written- the part of the story which no one had trouble with-- which dealt with the fear of that night. The piano references are gone. Jane begins to speak her usual lines about singing together as a community, and that's how you build a community, you sing together. The she says:

JANE
And then something happened.

JANE
We won’t be marching alone.

Most of this scene is exactly the same. With the omission of the piano reference, replaced with the simple clear reference of the man: "If it could happen to him, it could happen to me"

I believe the whole truth is spoken, simply, clearly, and in many ways, safely. And in most ways, still on the edge of the comfort zone of all involved. We speak the truth of the event.

The use of the piano image was, all along, a safety measure. Perhaps we were trying to be too safe. I was trying too hard to be safe. Or, Perhaps, we (I) had to start in a safe place to get to the real, simple truth. I read it to he boys last night. Brackley, Iega, Joe and Richard all thought, "yes, this speaks the story, it is clear that a man died, it was clear that people were afraid for themselves and their community". This is the heart of the story. it came to clarity. Finally.

I read it for the two leaders this morning, who were also having trouble with the scene. They liked it. I read it for Barbara this morning, she is the one who had given me the story. She said she was OK with it, but she was also OK with the piano, because it distanced the death of the man for her- he was her neighbor, and his daughter is her neighbor. She is speaking to his daughter today. We'll put the new scene in the show tonight, and run it several times, and then check in with the cast to see if the temperature is right.

But through it all I say Good God. Or God is Good. We are talking with and communicating with each other, we are co-producing at deep, deep levels. We are not turning each other into villians. It so often happens that deep into process when the stress is so great, we being to lose sight of who we, each other, are to one another. When things get difficult, or something is misunderstood, in these difficult times, I am often no longer seen as loving caring Jules, but some jerk trying to impose my politics on the group. When, in my truth, I'm really feeling like I'm doing what is being asked of me. And in these stressful times, they are not stubborn or resistant, I have just misunderstand what they are asking me to do or not do. Stress often creates misunderstandings, and blurs our true intentions with each other. HERE, in this project, as misunderstandings arise, we are talking them through. They are coming to us to talk them through, while we are in process, while there is still time to do something about it. They know we are for them.

All along, we have tried having open communications, regularly, consistently. We have done community readings and check-ins, and have continued to have regular meetings. And after our discussion with Iega last night, we've decided it MUST be a CPI protocol, to have not only rehearsals, but also weekly forums, or check-ins, as a vital part of this process. We are building more than theater, and we need to create and build the space in this process for that other part. To provide a forum to speak into whatever is arising through the process of creating community together. Iega agreed to be our forum facilitator. It's exhausting and exciting, and we're looking at the future of where our work will lead us.

Before, we would address issues if they came up, or if anyone took the time out to talk about it. But now we are going to be proactive within our process from day one, to provide this space, this forum, to address goals, issues, both personal and community-wide, to truly work at being community performance- a community performing itself.

the talks, the removal of the piano, the changing of the script two days before opening, it is all good. It is all right, it is all part of the process. We must never be too afraid to face something by saying "It's too late for that". It's never to late to get it right.

And just to say it, a few prayers said our way wouldn't hurt right now, either.

June 01, 2008

That's how long our tech ran yesterday. Twelve and a half hours. We worked through the whole play, scene by scene, first. Then, they reached down, and WE reached down, and did a complete run through. We had to. RIchard and i were both feeling like we were still 2 run throughs behind where we needed to be. Some how, they reached down, starting at 7:30 pm, and ran through. The first act took 56 minutes. With all the missteps and stops. The second act, which had a couple of technical booboos and stops, took 57 minutes. We'll get each act down to about 45 and 45 easy. In their final number last night, they reached deep, deep, deeper down, and at full force, performed the dickens out of their number. When it ended, there was JUBILATION, they cheered, began dancing with each other, not just the kids, but the adults, too. Kitt started playing a piece of our moonshine number to accompany the freestyle jigs that were taking place throughout the theater. After 12 and a half hours, they were dancing, not leaving, rushing to the doors, but dancing and cheering, whooping and hollering, young and old, black and white, men and women, mules and chickens. Richard and I looked at each other like "No freakin' way". The moonshine song came to a close and they all sang it together and cheered, we took hands in a circle, and had a prayer that lasted 5 minutes or longer, from the cast, who could finally see it, they could see the horizon, they had a mark. THe run through wasn't perfect, and they saw what it can and will be, and greater than that, they found that they had each other to be a resource in these hard times leading up to the show- they were leaning on each other, keeping each other up. Meanwhile, I was exhausted, hungry, I worked through the dinner break rehearsing scenes, and missed food at the potluck in the back room. Then I went home and was too tired to cook. I drank a few glasses of wine and wished I hadn't in the morning, or not as many as I had. Brackley went to get me a coke (ah, nectar to my aching head.) and made it in the rehearsal room today, at 2:00, to do final choreography review, and then another run-through. We'll run until about 6:00 tonight, unless Richard adds another reharsal this evening. What i need right now is another 12 and a half hours. To sleep.