Daniel had asked us to collaborate on a new draft of Elephant's Graveyard, one that allowed more air into the play, that reduced the density of words and invited the actors to contribute their bodies - not just language - in performance. Putting every word in the play under a microscope was an eye-opening experience and resulted in many changes beyond the basic text.
In the spirit of this new draft, we want to continue to shepherd the script into the theatrical, to ferret out any remaining shreds of literary dressing. While the play is a form of story telling, inspired by this new draft and direction, we want the experience to be very much the here and now: electric, threatening. The audience cannot be lost or bored. We want to create a play that crackles with life, that is not “nice,” that feels like repeated blows to the face and gut.
In the current draft, we have rearranged the order of a few pieces to create a feeling of tension, possibility of salvation, and explosive pressure under the big-top. We have also changed the "Man Who Walks on His Head" to a Strongman, added more women into the mix, and experimented with moving the Hungry Townsperson's "lynching monologue" to earlier in the play.
The image we have of this play is one of those golden Swiss clocks, where every gear is not only beautiful but essential to the operation of the whole. As we move forward, one of our goals is for every character, every action, every word, to be essential to the function of the whole play.
For class on Tuesday, we plan on reading the new draft out loud for the first time with the cast and:
- judge how effective the new draft is overall
- find which systems listeners are aware of and are paying off
- note where the rhythm of the play breaks down or is stalled
- judge how the presence of a female among the mob affects the play
- judge how the new placement of the Hungry Townsperson pays off
Future sessions may include, but are not limited to:
- thinking about production elements of the play, such as scale, color, realistic v. expressionistic styles, and texture, to get a sense of what people enjoy imagining and what they want to see in front of them. We want to develop a vocabulary of production desires for what we are hoping to explore in the workshop, so that we will be able to more clearly advocate our vision.
- as we continue to work, one of our major goals is to make sure the scenes between Red's death and Mary's hanging are clear and compelling in their in-between-ness, not just an extended transition.
- explore the arcs of the individual Townspeople, charting and differentiating their stories.
By the end of the process we hope to have a living, breathing, complicated play in front of us, one that is both intellectually and emotionally stimulating.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Robert's Response to FEEL THE BEND
Affirmations
-I REALLY enjoyed being able to put one of our hair memories onto a blank card. It made me make a real deep connection with Anna. For me, It was hard trying to choose what memory I wanted to write down. Not because I had a lack of memories to think of (I had TONS!!!) but because I was just overwhelmed by choosing what memory to immortalize on that blank card. I can only imagine how it must feel for Anna who is trying to keep her memories.
-It's amazing to me how much hair has a HUGE part in our daily existence. We spend so much feeling, touching, sensing, smelling hair. This brings closer to Anna's situation. Writing down memories from my hair made me feel incredibly vulnerable. This vulnerability put me in another state of mind. I felt like I was lost in my memories. As I tried to think of what memory to write could visualize them slowly floating away in front of me. It was so powerful.
-The Betty/John improv with the colored cards was interesting. The whole exercise kept me intrigued. It was fun watching how as the characters developed they started to defend their ideals and answers.
-I LOVED the Betty/Carol office improvs we did!!! They were so much fun!!! I feel that this improv got me more and more closer to Betty and Carol. To be able to play and work on their relationship was a real eye opener. These improvs brought me closer to Carol. It makes me wonder what goes on in her life outside the office.
Questions
-Is Carol attracted to Anna in any sexual way?
-Why is Carol so hungry for friendship?
-What happens outside the office for Carol?
-Is Carol jealous of Anna's relationship with Jon?
-What would Anna and Carol's friendship be like if they had met at a place other than the office?
-How would Anna organize her memories?
-What is Kyle like at home?
-What does Carol eat for lunch?
-Is Carol desperate for friendship?
-What would Carol do if Betti showed up at the office?
Opinion
The Jon/Betti improv with the cards was a little distracting for me. It was a really cool and interesting experimentation but as it progressed it felt more a heated argument.
GREAT WORK YOU TOO!!! THIS SESSION WAS FUN FUN FUN!!! :)
-I REALLY enjoyed being able to put one of our hair memories onto a blank card. It made me make a real deep connection with Anna. For me, It was hard trying to choose what memory I wanted to write down. Not because I had a lack of memories to think of (I had TONS!!!) but because I was just overwhelmed by choosing what memory to immortalize on that blank card. I can only imagine how it must feel for Anna who is trying to keep her memories.
-It's amazing to me how much hair has a HUGE part in our daily existence. We spend so much feeling, touching, sensing, smelling hair. This brings closer to Anna's situation. Writing down memories from my hair made me feel incredibly vulnerable. This vulnerability put me in another state of mind. I felt like I was lost in my memories. As I tried to think of what memory to write could visualize them slowly floating away in front of me. It was so powerful.
-The Betty/John improv with the colored cards was interesting. The whole exercise kept me intrigued. It was fun watching how as the characters developed they started to defend their ideals and answers.
-I LOVED the Betty/Carol office improvs we did!!! They were so much fun!!! I feel that this improv got me more and more closer to Betty and Carol. To be able to play and work on their relationship was a real eye opener. These improvs brought me closer to Carol. It makes me wonder what goes on in her life outside the office.
Questions
-Is Carol attracted to Anna in any sexual way?
-Why is Carol so hungry for friendship?
-What happens outside the office for Carol?
-Is Carol jealous of Anna's relationship with Jon?
-What would Anna and Carol's friendship be like if they had met at a place other than the office?
-How would Anna organize her memories?
-What is Kyle like at home?
-What does Carol eat for lunch?
-Is Carol desperate for friendship?
-What would Carol do if Betti showed up at the office?
Opinion
The Jon/Betti improv with the cards was a little distracting for me. It was a really cool and interesting experimentation but as it progressed it felt more a heated argument.
GREAT WORK YOU TOO!!! THIS SESSION WAS FUN FUN FUN!!! :)
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Erica's response to "Feel the Bend"
Affirmations
- I found both workshops very informative and enjoyable.
- I especially liked the John/Betty improv... it was a great way to get at Anna's character through the people who seem to dictate her life. John also became a much more compelling character as a result of this exercise.
- The characters you've built and the ties between them are very real and very messy and very exciting.
- I find the office scenes fun and fast paced and very easy to listen to
Questions
What is Anna's biggest internal fear?
When was the last time Anna was single?
What was Betty and Anna's relationship like at the beginning? How did they fall in love? What did they do for fun?
What does Betty love about herself? What does she hate about herself?
Does Carol have children? If not, does she want them? Did she ever?
Has Carol ever considered being with a woman?
Opinions
As I wrote the above questions and affirmations I thought only of the relationships and complications of human interaction in the play... these are very interesting and intriguing to me and ring very true. I am less interested in Anna's hair project/memory loss, as I can't yet find how it effects Anna's relationships (which are the heart of the play for me).
I love the contrast in the language between the office scenes and the more introspective poetic scenes/monologues... I really appreciate both types of language and think that they make a lot of sense in the places that you choose to use them,,, however at times the switch feels very abrupt and it takes me a moment to land in the new location/language. I'm excited to see how the various story lines and moods weave together as you continue to write. Lots of really exciting stuff going on!
-Erica
- I found both workshops very informative and enjoyable.
- I especially liked the John/Betty improv... it was a great way to get at Anna's character through the people who seem to dictate her life. John also became a much more compelling character as a result of this exercise.
- The characters you've built and the ties between them are very real and very messy and very exciting.
- I find the office scenes fun and fast paced and very easy to listen to
Questions
What is Anna's biggest internal fear?
When was the last time Anna was single?
What was Betty and Anna's relationship like at the beginning? How did they fall in love? What did they do for fun?
What does Betty love about herself? What does she hate about herself?
Does Carol have children? If not, does she want them? Did she ever?
Has Carol ever considered being with a woman?
Opinions
As I wrote the above questions and affirmations I thought only of the relationships and complications of human interaction in the play... these are very interesting and intriguing to me and ring very true. I am less interested in Anna's hair project/memory loss, as I can't yet find how it effects Anna's relationships (which are the heart of the play for me).
I love the contrast in the language between the office scenes and the more introspective poetic scenes/monologues... I really appreciate both types of language and think that they make a lot of sense in the places that you choose to use them,,, however at times the switch feels very abrupt and it takes me a moment to land in the new location/language. I'm excited to see how the various story lines and moods weave together as you continue to write. Lots of really exciting stuff going on!
-Erica
Response to "Feel the Bend"
Affirmations:
I found both days of the “Feel the Bend” dramaturgical workshops engaging and productive in terms of the narrative terrain they traversed. On the first day, I was most intrigued by the use of our “personal beaches” to evoke sensations and serve as a precursor to the categorization of our own hairs and memories. We spoke briefly in class about the difficulty of trying to encapsulate something as monolithic as the beach in a small container, and difficult as this may be, I found it paralleled the activity of selecting, defining, and naming our hair/memories. Just as creating a hand-held beach required excising and reducing many of its components, cataloging our memories required breaking the memory down into disparate elements and then selecting which elements would fit (or we wanted to fit), onto the card.
I was struck by how different my personal beach was from my expectations. I’m from the fine, soft beaches of Florida and I had not identified Anna’s beach as one of the colder, rockier beach environments. One would be hard-pressed to find seaweed, shells, or any other natural elements in the beaches of Florida. Everything about her relationship to the beach (and her and Bettie’s relationship to the beach) seems to coalesce more with this image. I think this seascape, rife with seaweed and shells, grains of sands of an array of sizes, holds some potentially exciting energy. What is it like to spend a day at a beach and not know exactly what you’ll find, to not know what lies beneath you?
The second workshop explored various levels of intimacy (as dictated by space and location) in Carol and Anna’s friendship. I was struck by the incredible spectrum of possibilities for their friendship, ranging from a Carol who pines for Anna’s slightest acknowledgement to two women who know one another better than they know themselves. The improvisation generated a wealth of material with which to explore their relationship.
Questions:
What is Carol’s marriage like?
Is Carol homophobic?
Does Carol have a particular investment in Anna’s success with one partner over the other?
How does this play change if the main relationship investigated is Carol and Anna’s friendship?
Does the script need to explicate the type of beach Anna frequents?
How far do they live from the beach?
Are Anna’s former relationships/lovers amongst her already cataloged memories? Or do they have yet to be catalogued?
When Anna adds a hair/memory to her collection, does she improve upon it by what she writes? To what extent?
Opinions:
I really loved the moment when Daniel (and Soo-Jin, I believe) were improving and Daniel grabbed a bit of hair off of Soo-Jin. I can’t help but wonder what it might be like if more of this were sprinkled throughout. Even if we don’t learn how/why Anna collects and catalogues hairs, what might it be like as an organizing principle or structuring device to witness “hair moments” in scenes throughout the play?
I miss the poetic language from the beginning of the play and its relationship to scarcity, isolation, and the beach.
One of the questions I had from the first time we read this play in class and still have now is, “Does Carol have a particular investment in either of Anna’s relationships succeeding/failing?” I entered the improv on Day 2 with this as one of my questions, and I realized how difficult a question it was to answer, but I also realized how relentlessly it came up. Just as much as I (playing Carol) wanted to know what Anna’s status was with John at every moment, George (as Anna) wanted to know WHY I wanted to know. This question emerged several times throughout both of our scenes and in the scenes of some of the other Carols and Annas. I can’t help thinking that Anna’s “choice” has a specific impact on Carol—what power does it hold over her? Can it confirm/deny her homophobia (if she is homophobic?) Does she want to live vicariously through Anna? What exactly is at stake for Carol in this whole process?
I found both days of the “Feel the Bend” dramaturgical workshops engaging and productive in terms of the narrative terrain they traversed. On the first day, I was most intrigued by the use of our “personal beaches” to evoke sensations and serve as a precursor to the categorization of our own hairs and memories. We spoke briefly in class about the difficulty of trying to encapsulate something as monolithic as the beach in a small container, and difficult as this may be, I found it paralleled the activity of selecting, defining, and naming our hair/memories. Just as creating a hand-held beach required excising and reducing many of its components, cataloging our memories required breaking the memory down into disparate elements and then selecting which elements would fit (or we wanted to fit), onto the card.
I was struck by how different my personal beach was from my expectations. I’m from the fine, soft beaches of Florida and I had not identified Anna’s beach as one of the colder, rockier beach environments. One would be hard-pressed to find seaweed, shells, or any other natural elements in the beaches of Florida. Everything about her relationship to the beach (and her and Bettie’s relationship to the beach) seems to coalesce more with this image. I think this seascape, rife with seaweed and shells, grains of sands of an array of sizes, holds some potentially exciting energy. What is it like to spend a day at a beach and not know exactly what you’ll find, to not know what lies beneath you?
The second workshop explored various levels of intimacy (as dictated by space and location) in Carol and Anna’s friendship. I was struck by the incredible spectrum of possibilities for their friendship, ranging from a Carol who pines for Anna’s slightest acknowledgement to two women who know one another better than they know themselves. The improvisation generated a wealth of material with which to explore their relationship.
Questions:
What is Carol’s marriage like?
Is Carol homophobic?
Does Carol have a particular investment in Anna’s success with one partner over the other?
How does this play change if the main relationship investigated is Carol and Anna’s friendship?
Does the script need to explicate the type of beach Anna frequents?
How far do they live from the beach?
Are Anna’s former relationships/lovers amongst her already cataloged memories? Or do they have yet to be catalogued?
When Anna adds a hair/memory to her collection, does she improve upon it by what she writes? To what extent?
Opinions:
I really loved the moment when Daniel (and Soo-Jin, I believe) were improving and Daniel grabbed a bit of hair off of Soo-Jin. I can’t help but wonder what it might be like if more of this were sprinkled throughout. Even if we don’t learn how/why Anna collects and catalogues hairs, what might it be like as an organizing principle or structuring device to witness “hair moments” in scenes throughout the play?
I miss the poetic language from the beginning of the play and its relationship to scarcity, isolation, and the beach.
One of the questions I had from the first time we read this play in class and still have now is, “Does Carol have a particular investment in either of Anna’s relationships succeeding/failing?” I entered the improv on Day 2 with this as one of my questions, and I realized how difficult a question it was to answer, but I also realized how relentlessly it came up. Just as much as I (playing Carol) wanted to know what Anna’s status was with John at every moment, George (as Anna) wanted to know WHY I wanted to know. This question emerged several times throughout both of our scenes and in the scenes of some of the other Carols and Annas. I can’t help thinking that Anna’s “choice” has a specific impact on Carol—what power does it hold over her? Can it confirm/deny her homophobia (if she is homophobic?) Does she want to live vicariously through Anna? What exactly is at stake for Carol in this whole process?
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Erica N.'s response to "Feel the Bend"
Affirmations:
- I LOVED thinking about the ocean in reference to Anna's character and the play more generally. I think the ocean is a wonderful idea and image to mine as you continue work on this play.
- I also loved the exercise of writing a memory on a card - it made me really understand the ways in which this action is both one of safety/preservation, and of danger/potential loss. The tension between these things haunted my experience of the rest of the script as we worked on both days.
- It was so clear in the Betti/John improv that there is a lot at stake for these characters and that they are more than willing to fight for what they want - the fact that all of us wanted to fight hard (and sometimes dirty!) for Anna shows that your script has really made those needs and desires tangible.
- It was great to watch the relationship between Carol and Anna change especially in terms of BOUNDARIES. This seems like really rich territory - when does boss/employee relationship become a way to distance yourself from a friend when boundaries are crossed? What are the boundaries of a work relationship and how do we use the roles of "boss" "employee" or "co-worker" to our advantage?
Questions:
- How does the very realistic reality of of the office world interact with the more magical elements of the story? Is the play commenting on the non-magicalness of an office environment? Are we supposed to read the hair magic as delusion or heightened reality? How do the office scenes influence the way we as an audience read those moments?
- How does Carol's relationship with Kyle parallel, reflect, or serve as a foil to Anna's relationships with Betti and John?
- How are Anna's lost memories related to the changes in her romantic relationships?
Opinions:
- I'm still not convinced that Carol needs to be in this play. I loved exploring the relationship, especially thinking in terms of "spheres of friendship." Still though, I think there's something about the love triangle as impenetrable that's really exciting for this play.
- Related to that, I'm really struck by Daniel's comments in class about the office space dissipating the energy of those scenes. I agree with that, and would love to see what happened if the world of work was confined to Anna's office, as in, one room. How would the energy and tension around her relationship with John build up if rather than hearing about John form Carol or talking through Anna's feelings toward him, we see their relationship grow, change, etc through a series of moments in her office - door open, door closed, who sits where - the issues of power, boundaries, and the way that those things shift are all really potent in a single office rather than a more generalized reception/work area.
- I LOVED thinking about the ocean in reference to Anna's character and the play more generally. I think the ocean is a wonderful idea and image to mine as you continue work on this play.
- I also loved the exercise of writing a memory on a card - it made me really understand the ways in which this action is both one of safety/preservation, and of danger/potential loss. The tension between these things haunted my experience of the rest of the script as we worked on both days.
- It was so clear in the Betti/John improv that there is a lot at stake for these characters and that they are more than willing to fight for what they want - the fact that all of us wanted to fight hard (and sometimes dirty!) for Anna shows that your script has really made those needs and desires tangible.
- It was great to watch the relationship between Carol and Anna change especially in terms of BOUNDARIES. This seems like really rich territory - when does boss/employee relationship become a way to distance yourself from a friend when boundaries are crossed? What are the boundaries of a work relationship and how do we use the roles of "boss" "employee" or "co-worker" to our advantage?
Questions:
- How does the very realistic reality of of the office world interact with the more magical elements of the story? Is the play commenting on the non-magicalness of an office environment? Are we supposed to read the hair magic as delusion or heightened reality? How do the office scenes influence the way we as an audience read those moments?
- How does Carol's relationship with Kyle parallel, reflect, or serve as a foil to Anna's relationships with Betti and John?
- How are Anna's lost memories related to the changes in her romantic relationships?
Opinions:
- I'm still not convinced that Carol needs to be in this play. I loved exploring the relationship, especially thinking in terms of "spheres of friendship." Still though, I think there's something about the love triangle as impenetrable that's really exciting for this play.
- Related to that, I'm really struck by Daniel's comments in class about the office space dissipating the energy of those scenes. I agree with that, and would love to see what happened if the world of work was confined to Anna's office, as in, one room. How would the energy and tension around her relationship with John build up if rather than hearing about John form Carol or talking through Anna's feelings toward him, we see their relationship grow, change, etc through a series of moments in her office - door open, door closed, who sits where - the issues of power, boundaries, and the way that those things shift are all really potent in a single office rather than a more generalized reception/work area.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
CK Feel the Bend
Affirmations:
Your workshops (to me) speak to the strength of your collaboration. I feel like you have both really listened to the play and seem to be on the same page as to where to go/explore. Michael--it was wonderful to see how comfortable you were running the workshops--I could see you thinking on your feet and altering the workshop to be most productive for you both. Overall, you seemed well prepared to garner feedback and information in several different ways: writing, performance/movement, and speech (smart of you to record!)
The first workshop was a lovely way to capitalize on the poetic elements/nature of the play. Interacting with the hair and cards as well as with the sand and ocean sounds made these elements much more accessible and layered. Michael's comment in the second workshop that it seemed "too personal" to look at what we had written on the cards underscored how powerful this (convention? image? experience?) is. I'm completely enamored of the memory/hair/pulling out by the roots. Hair is really interesting in those ways: its dead, but attached to you at the living root. And it is very satisfying to pull it out cleanly (you can hear a tiny little pop inside your head like unplugging a cord).
Being able to participate in the different spaces of the play (confrontation/courtship, the ocean, the office) brought home how different these places feel and how differently one would act in each space. I found Soo-Jin's comment that being in the Jon/Betty space to be more about winning then anything else useful.
Interesting to think about tracking relationships through other relationships: seeing Jon/Anna escalate through Anna and Carol; seeing Anna through Jon and Betty.
I have to re-iterate that I really liked reading the part of Betty in your initial read through. I rarely have this experience (acting makes me nervous)--
Questions:
-I don't understand the shift in Carol's feeling toward Jon and Anna. Is it a game (given how boring the office is for her) that goes too far?
-How well does Carol know Betty?
-Why doesn't Betty ever come to the office? Is this about Anna keeping her personal life personal or about keeping B personal? Was there ever a time that Betty came by the office?
-What exactly is Anna's job? How "incharge" is she?
-What are you trying to acheive through the very different settings/(and i would almost say genres) in the play (the office, the beach, the apartment/inside characters' heads and thoughts). I see quite a few possibilities but wonder which way you're wanting to go.
-I want to know more about Jon's Marie.
-Why is Anna's hair falling out (it is right, aside from when she pulls it out?)
-Why does Anna stay with Betty?
-Does Anna believe that Betty is safe from her curse because she is a woman? If so, what does this say about the gender/sexuality issues in the play? Does this shift when Betty dies?
-Is Anna the same Anna with each of these people? In each of these spaces?
-Who or what are opposites in this play?
-What are the conventions of inside and outside--do we need the office to provide an outside?
-What does it look like when Anna lets go?
-What is the definition of "love" in this play?
-what is Anna trying to control (you can see that I think she is)
Observations/Opinions/More pointed Questions
-I honestly forgot about the "curse" that Anna's boyfriends die during the two workshops--this may be because it comes out toward the end. I didn't miss it.
-If Anna is linked to the sand, Betty seems to be linked to the water and Jon to wind--sorry, I've been reading about "elemental dramaturgy" This seems to be a neat fit for these characters however.
-I am going to re-iterate my comment about the sense of control I associated with putting memories onto cards and being able to organize them--
-I had forgotten, until I went back to the play, that Betty is the one who actually likes to swim and likes to *be* at the beach
-In the first set of improvs, Jon really did seem to have the upper hand, he also seemed to provide Anna with something she wasn't getting elsewhere--what is it?
-I'm not really all that interested in the office right now.
-I think I'd like to learn the "rules" of this play earlier--or for their to be fewer really cool and interesting facets (does that make sense) I feel my attention pulled in too many different directions
-The nature of Jon's, Carol's and Anna's jobs seemed telling: the traveling salesman, the receptionist (in charge of communication and in charge of access to Anna), the one who "processes" things.
-By now i think you've grasped how much I love the hair, I'd be happy for more on this, more memories--i found that i had a hard time keeping my own memories discrete when we did the activity--my memories were all balled up/attached to one another--how do we delineate between what makes a discrete memory?
S'good for now? I can't wait to see what you do with the input and exploration!
Your workshops (to me) speak to the strength of your collaboration. I feel like you have both really listened to the play and seem to be on the same page as to where to go/explore. Michael--it was wonderful to see how comfortable you were running the workshops--I could see you thinking on your feet and altering the workshop to be most productive for you both. Overall, you seemed well prepared to garner feedback and information in several different ways: writing, performance/movement, and speech (smart of you to record!)
The first workshop was a lovely way to capitalize on the poetic elements/nature of the play. Interacting with the hair and cards as well as with the sand and ocean sounds made these elements much more accessible and layered. Michael's comment in the second workshop that it seemed "too personal" to look at what we had written on the cards underscored how powerful this (convention? image? experience?) is. I'm completely enamored of the memory/hair/pulling out by the roots. Hair is really interesting in those ways: its dead, but attached to you at the living root. And it is very satisfying to pull it out cleanly (you can hear a tiny little pop inside your head like unplugging a cord).
Being able to participate in the different spaces of the play (confrontation/courtship, the ocean, the office) brought home how different these places feel and how differently one would act in each space. I found Soo-Jin's comment that being in the Jon/Betty space to be more about winning then anything else useful.
Interesting to think about tracking relationships through other relationships: seeing Jon/Anna escalate through Anna and Carol; seeing Anna through Jon and Betty.
I have to re-iterate that I really liked reading the part of Betty in your initial read through. I rarely have this experience (acting makes me nervous)--
Questions:
-I don't understand the shift in Carol's feeling toward Jon and Anna. Is it a game (given how boring the office is for her) that goes too far?
-How well does Carol know Betty?
-Why doesn't Betty ever come to the office? Is this about Anna keeping her personal life personal or about keeping B personal? Was there ever a time that Betty came by the office?
-What exactly is Anna's job? How "incharge" is she?
-What are you trying to acheive through the very different settings/(and i would almost say genres) in the play (the office, the beach, the apartment/inside characters' heads and thoughts). I see quite a few possibilities but wonder which way you're wanting to go.
-I want to know more about Jon's Marie.
-Why is Anna's hair falling out (it is right, aside from when she pulls it out?)
-Why does Anna stay with Betty?
-Does Anna believe that Betty is safe from her curse because she is a woman? If so, what does this say about the gender/sexuality issues in the play? Does this shift when Betty dies?
-Is Anna the same Anna with each of these people? In each of these spaces?
-Who or what are opposites in this play?
-What are the conventions of inside and outside--do we need the office to provide an outside?
-What does it look like when Anna lets go?
-What is the definition of "love" in this play?
-what is Anna trying to control (you can see that I think she is)
Observations/Opinions/More pointed Questions
-I honestly forgot about the "curse" that Anna's boyfriends die during the two workshops--this may be because it comes out toward the end. I didn't miss it.
-If Anna is linked to the sand, Betty seems to be linked to the water and Jon to wind--sorry, I've been reading about "elemental dramaturgy" This seems to be a neat fit for these characters however.
-I am going to re-iterate my comment about the sense of control I associated with putting memories onto cards and being able to organize them--
-I had forgotten, until I went back to the play, that Betty is the one who actually likes to swim and likes to *be* at the beach
-In the first set of improvs, Jon really did seem to have the upper hand, he also seemed to provide Anna with something she wasn't getting elsewhere--what is it?
-I'm not really all that interested in the office right now.
-I think I'd like to learn the "rules" of this play earlier--or for their to be fewer really cool and interesting facets (does that make sense) I feel my attention pulled in too many different directions
-The nature of Jon's, Carol's and Anna's jobs seemed telling: the traveling salesman, the receptionist (in charge of communication and in charge of access to Anna), the one who "processes" things.
-By now i think you've grasped how much I love the hair, I'd be happy for more on this, more memories--i found that i had a hard time keeping my own memories discrete when we did the activity--my memories were all balled up/attached to one another--how do we delineate between what makes a discrete memory?
S'good for now? I can't wait to see what you do with the input and exploration!
Soo-Jin's Response to "Feel the Bend"
Affirmation
I really enjoyed the first session. It was like being taken "Behind the Scenes of Feel the Bend" while it is still being created.
I loved the Boal technique you used where we had a chance to play as "Betti" or "Jon." I'm glad you gave us the choice of playing both. I loved watching people from class tackle the issues between them. Very juicy place.
In the draft we read at the beginning of the semester, I felt engaged almost always with scenes at the beach or about the beach when Anna or Betti mentions it. I am just drawn to those scenes like the beach is a living entity. Primal and unpredictable but home to the love life of Betti and Anna.
I loved touching and feeling and smelling my private beach. I felt close to Anna when I did this even though my memories of the beach were being mixed with my knowledge of Anna from the play.
I was very nervous having to improv as Carol and Anna. Just cause I'm scared of acting on my feet. But I think I owe the nervousness in a good way to being given a challenging scenario. Carol being in the thick of knowing what's going on with Anna and her love triangle. Carol having to either be indifferent, supportive, or having a negative opinion... It challenged me to pick something and see what happens. I felt that Carol played an important role in Anna's life when I had to play best friends with her (2nd round). I felt I was in a difficult position being her closest confidante and challenging her to make a choice. I think those places are moments of interesting heat.
Questions
Just things for you to chew on and not necessarily answer point blank in your play. You may if you feel like it.
(Anna and Betti)
1. Why can't Anna lose Betti? (or what will she lose if she does)
2. Why can't Betti lose Anna? What does losing Anna mean to Betti (vice versa)?
3. Have they broken up before? If so, when and why was it initiated, who initiated it? (I'm just curious about their history)
4. In the beginning of their relationship, who pursued who?
(Anna and Jon)
1. What is something that Anna gets from Jon which she doesn't or can't get from Betti?
2. Has Jon ever broken up somebody else's relationship? Does he feel any guilt?
(Anna)
1. Does Anna secretly enjoy at all the drama she is causing by being the vortex of this love triangle?
2. What pisses Anna off the most about Betti?
(Betti)
1. How far would Betti go to keep Anna?
2. Does she know about Anna's history with her (male) lovers dying? Did she know this before they became a couple?
Opinions
During the Boal exercise, I got caught up in Betti and John's back and forth so much--in the fight for Betti--that sometimes I forgot about Betti (and why they must individually have her--i.e., the personal stakes each had in that naturally, we don't like things that belong to us stolen from us but suddenly when somebody else wants it, we want it more.) I wondered if Anna was single, would both stay crazy about her and want to keep her? Or does that rival presence make wanting to end up with Betti more delicious--following forbidden fruit is tastier notion.
As a participant, it was more about winning the competition for me. Like Betti and Jon could've been fighting over the last margarhita but having to deal with this tension, too, because they are both involved with Anna which includes underlying resentment, fear of loss, hurt, etc.
What was freeing about doing that Boal exercise and what I learned from it was that Betti and Jon seem like victims more than Anna. Others have said the opposite. Before when I was introduced to the script in its previous incarnations, I sympathized with Anna--for being stuck in between two people. That perhaps she wanted to feel alive again and these relationships with these people were tools to get that. Also, in this exercise, I saw Anna for the first time as the one responsible for the love triangle mess and Betti and Jon having to sort out the aftermath. Overall, a great exercise!
The presence of the beach makes me like Anna. In other scenes, whether they are office scenes or bedroom scenes or just home scenes, I feel like she's more passive. I am not sure what Anna specifically wants strictly from the script but in your second session with the Anna and Carol scenes, I learned Anna possibly, I mean, really fell in love with Jon. I felt this when I was doing the improv with Daniel in the first round.
For me so far, the question of the play (also, the question I am most interested in) is what does Anna want. In a way, I am OK for awhile seeing her float from one person to another. Perhaps discovering that want. But I don't get to discover with her clearly yet. If I had to make a guess at what she wants from the script, I'd say it is to be with Jon, her new love interest...only 'cause he's new not so much because he is really her cuppa tea. He still feels like a fling to Anna. Not that he's ideal fling material. I think Jon has a good heart but has had bad relationship luck.
I felt the beach was a place that belonged to Anna and Betti, not Jon. Just cause I think he'd be out of place there. (as if he is too slick for the beach) I feel like he belongs in a fancy strip mall or a BMW. Not a naked beach.
I'm curious what Anna and Betti's sexiest moment was together. I'm wondering what they're like when they're hottest for each other. I wonder what kind of circumstance or condition or ritual would flare that hotness up for them--if even for a brief moment.
One last word about the office improv between Carol and Anna. Before we did that, I would not have missed Carol if she was not in the play. Mostly 'cause Carol seemed to help set up the story--how Anna and Jon met and their office courtship...but not much more after that. However, in the improv, she definitely brought interesting tension to the world...being so different from Anna and especially when they got to talk about Anna's affair with Jon.
You guys did an awesome job and I'm looking forward to more.
Soo-Jin
I really enjoyed the first session. It was like being taken "Behind the Scenes of Feel the Bend" while it is still being created.
I loved the Boal technique you used where we had a chance to play as "Betti" or "Jon." I'm glad you gave us the choice of playing both. I loved watching people from class tackle the issues between them. Very juicy place.
In the draft we read at the beginning of the semester, I felt engaged almost always with scenes at the beach or about the beach when Anna or Betti mentions it. I am just drawn to those scenes like the beach is a living entity. Primal and unpredictable but home to the love life of Betti and Anna.
I loved touching and feeling and smelling my private beach. I felt close to Anna when I did this even though my memories of the beach were being mixed with my knowledge of Anna from the play.
I was very nervous having to improv as Carol and Anna. Just cause I'm scared of acting on my feet. But I think I owe the nervousness in a good way to being given a challenging scenario. Carol being in the thick of knowing what's going on with Anna and her love triangle. Carol having to either be indifferent, supportive, or having a negative opinion... It challenged me to pick something and see what happens. I felt that Carol played an important role in Anna's life when I had to play best friends with her (2nd round). I felt I was in a difficult position being her closest confidante and challenging her to make a choice. I think those places are moments of interesting heat.
Questions
Just things for you to chew on and not necessarily answer point blank in your play. You may if you feel like it.
(Anna and Betti)
1. Why can't Anna lose Betti? (or what will she lose if she does)
2. Why can't Betti lose Anna? What does losing Anna mean to Betti (vice versa)?
3. Have they broken up before? If so, when and why was it initiated, who initiated it? (I'm just curious about their history)
4. In the beginning of their relationship, who pursued who?
(Anna and Jon)
1. What is something that Anna gets from Jon which she doesn't or can't get from Betti?
2. Has Jon ever broken up somebody else's relationship? Does he feel any guilt?
(Anna)
1. Does Anna secretly enjoy at all the drama she is causing by being the vortex of this love triangle?
2. What pisses Anna off the most about Betti?
(Betti)
1. How far would Betti go to keep Anna?
2. Does she know about Anna's history with her (male) lovers dying? Did she know this before they became a couple?
Opinions
During the Boal exercise, I got caught up in Betti and John's back and forth so much--in the fight for Betti--that sometimes I forgot about Betti (and why they must individually have her--i.e., the personal stakes each had in that naturally, we don't like things that belong to us stolen from us but suddenly when somebody else wants it, we want it more.) I wondered if Anna was single, would both stay crazy about her and want to keep her? Or does that rival presence make wanting to end up with Betti more delicious--following forbidden fruit is tastier notion.
As a participant, it was more about winning the competition for me. Like Betti and Jon could've been fighting over the last margarhita but having to deal with this tension, too, because they are both involved with Anna which includes underlying resentment, fear of loss, hurt, etc.
What was freeing about doing that Boal exercise and what I learned from it was that Betti and Jon seem like victims more than Anna. Others have said the opposite. Before when I was introduced to the script in its previous incarnations, I sympathized with Anna--for being stuck in between two people. That perhaps she wanted to feel alive again and these relationships with these people were tools to get that. Also, in this exercise, I saw Anna for the first time as the one responsible for the love triangle mess and Betti and Jon having to sort out the aftermath. Overall, a great exercise!
The presence of the beach makes me like Anna. In other scenes, whether they are office scenes or bedroom scenes or just home scenes, I feel like she's more passive. I am not sure what Anna specifically wants strictly from the script but in your second session with the Anna and Carol scenes, I learned Anna possibly, I mean, really fell in love with Jon. I felt this when I was doing the improv with Daniel in the first round.
For me so far, the question of the play (also, the question I am most interested in) is what does Anna want. In a way, I am OK for awhile seeing her float from one person to another. Perhaps discovering that want. But I don't get to discover with her clearly yet. If I had to make a guess at what she wants from the script, I'd say it is to be with Jon, her new love interest...only 'cause he's new not so much because he is really her cuppa tea. He still feels like a fling to Anna. Not that he's ideal fling material. I think Jon has a good heart but has had bad relationship luck.
I felt the beach was a place that belonged to Anna and Betti, not Jon. Just cause I think he'd be out of place there. (as if he is too slick for the beach) I feel like he belongs in a fancy strip mall or a BMW. Not a naked beach.
I'm curious what Anna and Betti's sexiest moment was together. I'm wondering what they're like when they're hottest for each other. I wonder what kind of circumstance or condition or ritual would flare that hotness up for them--if even for a brief moment.
One last word about the office improv between Carol and Anna. Before we did that, I would not have missed Carol if she was not in the play. Mostly 'cause Carol seemed to help set up the story--how Anna and Jon met and their office courtship...but not much more after that. However, in the improv, she definitely brought interesting tension to the world...being so different from Anna and especially when they got to talk about Anna's affair with Jon.
You guys did an awesome job and I'm looking forward to more.
Soo-Jin
Jenny's Response to "Feel the Bend"
To start, something that is neither observation, question, nor opinion. I mentioned, after we talked about the beach, a poem by Elizabeth Bishop that I thought might resonate, or that resonates for me when I think of the play. Here it is -- "Sandpiper."
The roaring alongside he takes for granted,
and that every so often the world is bound to shake.
He runs, he runs to the south, finical, awkward,
in a state of controlled panic, a student of Blake.
The beach hisses like fat. On his left, a sheet
of interrupting water comes and goes
and glazes over his dark and brittle feet.
He runs, he runs straight through it, watching his toes.
--Watching, rather, the spaces of sand between them
where (no detail too small) the Atlantic drains
rapidly backwards and downwards. As he runs,
he stares at the dragging grains.
The world is a mist. And then the world is
minute and vast and clear. The tide
is higher or lower. He couldn't tell you which.
His beak is focussed; he is preoccupied,
looking for something, something, something.
Poor bird, he is obsessed!
The millions of grains are black, white, tan, and gray
mixed with quartz grains, rose and amethyst.
Something about the hair, and the grains of sand, a question of magnitude, the idea
of details and what catches our attention.
OBSERVATIONS
1. Really great work in your workshops. It's prompting me to start my own blog,
just keeping track of the exercises people invent. The one that really grabbed my
attention was the first improvisation, where we imagined ourselves as Jon and Betti.
Again, I think what I liked was the chance to play with that idea of "the one who isn't
in the room." Because usually it's one of THEM who's not in the room, whose presence
is still in the room, and in this case, it was Ana.
2. The hair exercise, coupled with Daniel's plucking the hair off Soo-Jin, really
helped me internalize how powerful that image of a single hair can be, especially once
we realize what the hair represents or holds. It's a very arresting thing, that single
hair.
3. I really noticed, in doing the workshops, the different levels of reality on which
the play is operating for me. It feels like at least three distinct worlds that Ana's
inhabiting; (1) the public, and for me very recognizable, world of the office (2) the
world of relationships, with all its byzantine twists (3) the incredibly personal world
of each strand of hair, and the journey on which that is taking her. I have a question
about this below.
4. I noticed that none of us really tackled the question of Ana's bisexuality when
we were doing the Jon/Betti scenes, at least not in a direct way. Interesting.
5. I noticed that we didn't devote any of the workshop time to Ana's history of "killing"
men.
QUESTIONS
1. Is Ana the single connection between the different levels of reality I discussed in
observations? Or am I just not registering the other connective tissue at work?
2. Is Ana's bisexuality important to the story you're telling? Why and how is it important?
This is not a veiled opinion, I promise.
3. How are the specific memories Ana has in the play "working" for you right now?
4. What was Ana and Betti's relationship like six months ago? Six years ago? What did
their courtship look like and how did/didn't it resemble the Jon courtship.
5. What does Jon see as the goal of his relationship with Ana?
6. What is Carol's primary function in the play? Secondary function? What does
Carol want?
7. There is a lot happening to Ana. What does she want?
OPINIONS
1. I think that beach imagery is incredibly powerful. Can be, sometimes, overpowering.
Some of that, Priscilla, you know is just because I grew up on the Atlantic...so take
it with a grain of...you know.
2. It's funny, I don't think that bisexuality is necessarily something that draws much
of my attention in real life, but on stage, the fact that a relationship is bisexual
draws a lot of my focus. I guess I'm still not sure whether you want (1) to make
Ana's bisexuality a non-issue for your audience (2) for us to be paying attention
to her bisexuality (3) something else...
3. There are so many places I want to turn my attention in this play -- to the budding
relationship with Jon, to the problems with Betti, to the Carol/Ana relationship, to
the mystery of the hair, to the beach. I want to pay attention to all of it at once.
That's hard. I think do-able though. Do you want my attention in all of those places
equally?
4. I think this play is really beautiful and complicated.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
George's Blog about "Feel the Bend"
Great work, you two. Michael, you remain a smooth, unflappable master of ceremonies.
AFFIRMATION:
I think your sessions were well thought out and productive. I expect the sessions have given you a ton of info both into how the characters would act in certain situations as well as an impression of how we see them, which may be even more helpful. I would also like to applaud the rest of the class on this - everyone jumped into the improv sessions with both feet. Nice work to all of us!
I feel like I understand all of the characters better after the improv sessions - how Carol and Anna relate (and how they would relate if their friendship deepened) and how Jon and Betti relate even though they don't have scenes together. The concept of the "other person" in an affair existing to you even if you haven't met them is a fascinating one, along with who has more of a claim on Anna - her long-time companion who is occasionally cheated on, or her new lover.
I also found the concept that Betti's power comes from playing the victim an interesting one.
I love the line "we don't believe in divorce."
Again, like Soo-Jin and Carrie, you did a great job of using us as a resource.
QUESTIONS:
Why does Carol (who knows Anna is in a long-term relationship and in one herself) push Anna towards Jon?
Does Carol see as lesbian relationship as less worthy of preserving than a hetero one?
Would Carol really never have an affair?
What is Carol's job exactly? Receptionist for the floor or for Anna particularly?
Why does Anna apologize to Carol for being late if she's her superior?
Would Jon have had an affair with Carol if Anna wasn't around?
OPINIONS
While I enjoy the Carol scenes, I'm not sure they fit as they are now. They are so ultra-realistic right now that they don't quite seem to mesh for me with the rest of the play, with its poetic language and magic realism. Unless the main, overall concern of the play is that Anna's job is killing her and when she's away from it, she's allowed to be poetic, I think it might need to sytlistically approach the rest of the play a bit more.
I could also imagine the play with only Betti, Anna and Jon. Carol does allow us to get into Anna's head a bit, but since you've given Anna the option of direct address to the audience, I feel like we could get that information that way instead. It might be worth a shot.
I feel like the play could be streamlined a bit, overall. There's an awful lot going on - Anna is having an affair with two different sexes AND has the power to read her hair AND her lovers have always died AND she can speak in both realistic and poetic ways....I would be curious to see what would happen if you chose to focus on one or two of these and really dove in.
Okay, I shut up now. Again, great work to both of you - I look forward to Session 3!
AFFIRMATION:
I think your sessions were well thought out and productive. I expect the sessions have given you a ton of info both into how the characters would act in certain situations as well as an impression of how we see them, which may be even more helpful. I would also like to applaud the rest of the class on this - everyone jumped into the improv sessions with both feet. Nice work to all of us!
I feel like I understand all of the characters better after the improv sessions - how Carol and Anna relate (and how they would relate if their friendship deepened) and how Jon and Betti relate even though they don't have scenes together. The concept of the "other person" in an affair existing to you even if you haven't met them is a fascinating one, along with who has more of a claim on Anna - her long-time companion who is occasionally cheated on, or her new lover.
I also found the concept that Betti's power comes from playing the victim an interesting one.
I love the line "we don't believe in divorce."
Again, like Soo-Jin and Carrie, you did a great job of using us as a resource.
QUESTIONS:
Why does Carol (who knows Anna is in a long-term relationship and in one herself) push Anna towards Jon?
Does Carol see as lesbian relationship as less worthy of preserving than a hetero one?
Would Carol really never have an affair?
What is Carol's job exactly? Receptionist for the floor or for Anna particularly?
Why does Anna apologize to Carol for being late if she's her superior?
Would Jon have had an affair with Carol if Anna wasn't around?
OPINIONS
While I enjoy the Carol scenes, I'm not sure they fit as they are now. They are so ultra-realistic right now that they don't quite seem to mesh for me with the rest of the play, with its poetic language and magic realism. Unless the main, overall concern of the play is that Anna's job is killing her and when she's away from it, she's allowed to be poetic, I think it might need to sytlistically approach the rest of the play a bit more.
I could also imagine the play with only Betti, Anna and Jon. Carol does allow us to get into Anna's head a bit, but since you've given Anna the option of direct address to the audience, I feel like we could get that information that way instead. It might be worth a shot.
I feel like the play could be streamlined a bit, overall. There's an awful lot going on - Anna is having an affair with two different sexes AND has the power to read her hair AND her lovers have always died AND she can speak in both realistic and poetic ways....I would be curious to see what would happen if you chose to focus on one or two of these and really dove in.
Okay, I shut up now. Again, great work to both of you - I look forward to Session 3!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Erica N.'s response to "Saving Mom"
Affirmations:
I am completely smitten by the concept of Jeong. I think you explained it beautifully, and it really opened up my thinking about the play. It made me see ways in which the relationship between the Mother and Reverend are thematically connected to the interactions between Harriet and the Reverend. (I want to move a bit into opinion territory here, so more thoughts on Jeong are in that section...)
I really enjoyed your work on the two molestation scenes - Harriet's level of implication (or how much the Rev sees her as implicated) is an interesting thing to play with there.
The mother's vitriolic anger is really coming through - the emotional violence of this piece is totally popping for me.
Harriet's character is becoming increasingly nuanced - I'm starting to feel from these scenes that the play is her story, rather than her story/memories feeling like a framing device. I love how she functions as someone who struggles to maintain clarity of vision - both as young Harriet telling it like it is and as a character with a degree of hindsight. It's exciting to see the complexities of seeing "truth" mixed up with desire and lonliness and emotional distance from her mother.
As others have said, great workshops! You both did an excellent job of helping us think about big picture ideas of feeling (home, jeong, culpability) as well as offering us a chance to look at specific textual nuance. I'm looking forward to seeing this piece develop!
Questions:
Like Erica S. These are not all questions that I want to see "answered" in the text. Some of them are just for you to know that they exist as questions in the room.
- What are the Rev's thoughts on salvation? In which scenes and relationships is he playing a savior figure? When is he asking someone else to play that role to him?
- What are the specifics of the church? Is it primarily a cultural gathering place? Is it fundamentalist? Is it a front?
- What's up with Harriet's father? When/where does he find the will to fight for his marriage? Does he suspect anything about the molestation?
- What does/doesn't Harriet believe about romance?
- Did the Rev desire Harriet when she was younger, or only now that she could be considered a woman?
- Is there longing underneath the Mom's hateful speeches?
- As I wondered in class, why does the Rev love Mom OTHER than reasons we might see as pitiful (isolation, loneliness, feeling lost)?
- Does the mom truly love anyone?
- If mom feels like home to the Rev, who/what feels like home to mom? to harriet? to Dad? to Sunshine?
- How does sex play out between all characters? When does Jeong intertwine with sexual connection?
- Is this play a love story?
Opinion/suggestion:
The discussion of Jeong also made me think about the connections between Harriet and her mother, mom and dad, harriet and Sunshine. After the discussion and exercise around Jeong, I began to see the play as an exploration of the ways that people change our emotional landscapes, and the ways in which this connects us to them forever. To me, this is the most exciting essence of the piece.
I'm not sure I understand what great need underlies Mom's hurtfulness, though I think there must be one, an this makes it easier to get annoyed at characters that want her affections. This may be something to heighten.
I understand Sunshine's role in terms of other characters - particularly as someone whom Harriet needs to protect, but I'd like to know a little more about her outside of her function in the family and more as her own person.
I think there's something really interesting wrapped up in the fact that the rev takes the family out to eat all the time. How can the big ideas within that action (sustainence, providing, publicness, formality, manners, sensuality, special-occasioness, etc.) contribute to rewrites on this piece?
I am completely smitten by the concept of Jeong. I think you explained it beautifully, and it really opened up my thinking about the play. It made me see ways in which the relationship between the Mother and Reverend are thematically connected to the interactions between Harriet and the Reverend. (I want to move a bit into opinion territory here, so more thoughts on Jeong are in that section...)
I really enjoyed your work on the two molestation scenes - Harriet's level of implication (or how much the Rev sees her as implicated) is an interesting thing to play with there.
The mother's vitriolic anger is really coming through - the emotional violence of this piece is totally popping for me.
Harriet's character is becoming increasingly nuanced - I'm starting to feel from these scenes that the play is her story, rather than her story/memories feeling like a framing device. I love how she functions as someone who struggles to maintain clarity of vision - both as young Harriet telling it like it is and as a character with a degree of hindsight. It's exciting to see the complexities of seeing "truth" mixed up with desire and lonliness and emotional distance from her mother.
As others have said, great workshops! You both did an excellent job of helping us think about big picture ideas of feeling (home, jeong, culpability) as well as offering us a chance to look at specific textual nuance. I'm looking forward to seeing this piece develop!
Questions:
Like Erica S. These are not all questions that I want to see "answered" in the text. Some of them are just for you to know that they exist as questions in the room.
- What are the Rev's thoughts on salvation? In which scenes and relationships is he playing a savior figure? When is he asking someone else to play that role to him?
- What are the specifics of the church? Is it primarily a cultural gathering place? Is it fundamentalist? Is it a front?
- What's up with Harriet's father? When/where does he find the will to fight for his marriage? Does he suspect anything about the molestation?
- What does/doesn't Harriet believe about romance?
- Did the Rev desire Harriet when she was younger, or only now that she could be considered a woman?
- Is there longing underneath the Mom's hateful speeches?
- As I wondered in class, why does the Rev love Mom OTHER than reasons we might see as pitiful (isolation, loneliness, feeling lost)?
- Does the mom truly love anyone?
- If mom feels like home to the Rev, who/what feels like home to mom? to harriet? to Dad? to Sunshine?
- How does sex play out between all characters? When does Jeong intertwine with sexual connection?
- Is this play a love story?
Opinion/suggestion:
The discussion of Jeong also made me think about the connections between Harriet and her mother, mom and dad, harriet and Sunshine. After the discussion and exercise around Jeong, I began to see the play as an exploration of the ways that people change our emotional landscapes, and the ways in which this connects us to them forever. To me, this is the most exciting essence of the piece.
I'm not sure I understand what great need underlies Mom's hurtfulness, though I think there must be one, an this makes it easier to get annoyed at characters that want her affections. This may be something to heighten.
I understand Sunshine's role in terms of other characters - particularly as someone whom Harriet needs to protect, but I'd like to know a little more about her outside of her function in the family and more as her own person.
I think there's something really interesting wrapped up in the fact that the rev takes the family out to eat all the time. How can the big ideas within that action (sustainence, providing, publicness, formality, manners, sensuality, special-occasioness, etc.) contribute to rewrites on this piece?
Patrick's Response to Saving Mom Workshops 1 and 2
Affirmations:
Firstly, I’d like to congratulate you both on what I felt was some excellent development of a play I enjoyed (in our first class reading) and on helpful, informative, and insightful dramaturgical workshops/exercises. You provided an excellent model and I hope to create workshops that are equally creative, engaging, and productive.
While I enjoyed each of the elements (video discussion, scene work, music/discussion, etc,) I found the specific scenework we did (in which there was one Reverend/one Harriet, and one person to play each of those characters’ respective thought processes) particularly beneficial. Of course a character’s thought process should be something we are conscious of when exploring a scene, but there was something especially fruitful about seeing that thought process embodied and juxtaposed against another the character’s actual lines.
As someone relatively unfamiliar with this text, this exercise was the most productive in encouraging me to generate questions I had about each of the two characters and the play’s narrative as a whole. (Most of the questions I list were rooted in that brief 10-minute or so period we were allotted outside of the classroom). Granted, I can’t imagine ever having the time and resources to be able to do that for every single scene of the play—but for me, this was an extremely effective means of encouraging a desire for an intimate knowledge of the characters.
On a not-even-tangentially-related note, I would like to reiterate George’s and Michael’s comments about those moments of culturally-specific language (I think most often spoken by Mom); “flavorless girl” is a treat amongst many.
Questions:
What is the Reverend’s sexual history?
What is Harriet’s sexuality?
Not just hetero or otherwise, but where is she in the development of her own sexual identity? Has she been kissed before? Is she a virgin? How does/does she express her current sexuality.
Is Harriet queer?
Where does the Reverend think Harriet stands sexually?
What have Mom’s other friendships in life been like?
Will this happen to Sunshine next?
What is Reverend’s name? (Maybe it comes up and I just can’t remember). Who uses it? When?
When is the molestation about sex? When is it not?
Opinions:
I initially found myself wanting to ask what his history with molestation was, but what about the whole spectrum? Certain scenes (especially the new molestation scene re-writes, and I think the original) were peppered with certain language (“pretend I’m you’re father/older brother/older friend) etc. that make me wonder what only what his sexual history is, but how that has informed his construction of this new moral code? Perhaps the question I’m really asking is, “What is the Reverend’s sexual history and how has this shaped his current attitudes about what is and what is not sexually acceptable?
The more I think about your exercises, the scenework we did, and read over what has captured me about this process the most so far, I become more inclined to think that an explicit knowledge/charting of Harriet’s and Reverend’s sexuality, (and Mom’s? Dad’s? everyone’s?) desires and concerns might benefit the molestation scene and the rest of the play as a whole. I mean of course, explicit only in the mind of the play’s creators/artistic team, though that might potentially generate interesting material to dabble with elsewhere. Even if this is the only occurrence of molestation, I think mapping it out against the rest of the play’s sexual topography may be enlightening and allow us to understand this complicated home climate.
You have both done incredibly work and I’m excited to see where this play goes! Congratulations!
Firstly, I’d like to congratulate you both on what I felt was some excellent development of a play I enjoyed (in our first class reading) and on helpful, informative, and insightful dramaturgical workshops/exercises. You provided an excellent model and I hope to create workshops that are equally creative, engaging, and productive.
While I enjoyed each of the elements (video discussion, scene work, music/discussion, etc,) I found the specific scenework we did (in which there was one Reverend/one Harriet, and one person to play each of those characters’ respective thought processes) particularly beneficial. Of course a character’s thought process should be something we are conscious of when exploring a scene, but there was something especially fruitful about seeing that thought process embodied and juxtaposed against another the character’s actual lines.
As someone relatively unfamiliar with this text, this exercise was the most productive in encouraging me to generate questions I had about each of the two characters and the play’s narrative as a whole. (Most of the questions I list were rooted in that brief 10-minute or so period we were allotted outside of the classroom). Granted, I can’t imagine ever having the time and resources to be able to do that for every single scene of the play—but for me, this was an extremely effective means of encouraging a desire for an intimate knowledge of the characters.
On a not-even-tangentially-related note, I would like to reiterate George’s and Michael’s comments about those moments of culturally-specific language (I think most often spoken by Mom); “flavorless girl” is a treat amongst many.
Questions:
What is the Reverend’s sexual history?
What is Harriet’s sexuality?
Not just hetero or otherwise, but where is she in the development of her own sexual identity? Has she been kissed before? Is she a virgin? How does/does she express her current sexuality.
Is Harriet queer?
Where does the Reverend think Harriet stands sexually?
What have Mom’s other friendships in life been like?
Will this happen to Sunshine next?
What is Reverend’s name? (Maybe it comes up and I just can’t remember). Who uses it? When?
When is the molestation about sex? When is it not?
Opinions:
I initially found myself wanting to ask what his history with molestation was, but what about the whole spectrum? Certain scenes (especially the new molestation scene re-writes, and I think the original) were peppered with certain language (“pretend I’m you’re father/older brother/older friend) etc. that make me wonder what only what his sexual history is, but how that has informed his construction of this new moral code? Perhaps the question I’m really asking is, “What is the Reverend’s sexual history and how has this shaped his current attitudes about what is and what is not sexually acceptable?
The more I think about your exercises, the scenework we did, and read over what has captured me about this process the most so far, I become more inclined to think that an explicit knowledge/charting of Harriet’s and Reverend’s sexuality, (and Mom’s? Dad’s? everyone’s?) desires and concerns might benefit the molestation scene and the rest of the play as a whole. I mean of course, explicit only in the mind of the play’s creators/artistic team, though that might potentially generate interesting material to dabble with elsewhere. Even if this is the only occurrence of molestation, I think mapping it out against the rest of the play’s sexual topography may be enlightening and allow us to understand this complicated home climate.
You have both done incredibly work and I’m excited to see where this play goes! Congratulations!
Priscilla's first response to Soo-Jin's worshops
AFFIRMATIONS
QUESTIONS
- I have so enjoyed witnessing your journey to find this play -- watching scenes and characters come and go as you dig deeper and deeper into your story.
- I am so interested in what you have to show us about family -- and not just family, but this particular Korean family.
- To me, at this moment, it seems that this is Mom's journey/struggle. I particularly like the choice you've made to show that journey through Harriett.
- I found both of your workshops very useful. Focusing on the nature of a sexual predator and comparing the stereotype to the reverand was such a great way to address his behavior in a context outside of the play's world.
- I was particularly interested in the scene you brought in last Tuesday in that there were hints through dialogue to Mom's caring or loving side that I hadn't seen before. I really appreciated her kind word or two and realized that I didn't need much to confirm for me that there was a complex, searching character under her frosty demeanor.
QUESTIONS
- I wonder about love in this family, particularly Mom. She has such a difficult time saying anything pleasant, and usually if she does, she follows it with something negative. Do you want us to like her? Feel compassion for her?
- Is the Dad really as bad as Mom says he is?
- If Mom weren't around, would Reverand find someone else -- or does he have or has he had others? Or is he truly smitten, in love with Mom?
- Are we supposed to know if Mom and the Reverand ever had sex? (Somehow I think it would make a difference in what I thought about both of them -- even though I don't think it would make any difference in the closeness of their relationship.)
- You saw this is spoken in Korean -- do you mean you might use supertitles? Or that these are the speach and mannerisms we would hear in a Korean household?
- Why doesn't the Dad accept Mom's behavior?
OPINIONS
In the past there have been scenes that took place in the church that aren't included at this point. If they stay out, I think you might not need any scenes in the church. I realize there is a scene where Harriett exposes the reverand, but if the congregation is only the two families, that would not have to be in the church. This sort of poses another question for me: Would Mom have had the friendship/affair with anyone else (a non-reverand man)?
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Goals for "Feel the Bend"
Our primary goal for the semester is to get to the essence of the story of Feel the Bend in order for Priscilla to write a revision that will add dimension and clarity to Anna.
We intend to explore Anna by coming at her from different directions: through the other characters, through her use of internal language and space, through in-class exercises and other discovery processes between us. We want to learn: What Anna wants, what motivates her, who she is, how she defines her relationship(s) with men and with women, what she has lost, and what she learns in the world of this play.
During out explorations of Anna, we also hope to learn more about Jon and Betti and their motivations and wants. How they feel about Anna--and each other.
Poetic language is a key element of Feel the Bend. During the semester we want to explore how this works in the play, the proportions of it in the play, the effectiveness of it.
We want to explore the use of the office scenes in the play and the character of Carol. As written, these don't live up to their potential and the character of Carol seems confusing and contradictory at times. We intend to explore the function, placement, language, plot, and necessity of the office scenes. Additionally we want to learn about Carol: Why is she in the play? What does she want to tell Anna? Does she serve the play well? How could she be developed to better do this?
All of these feed into the larger goal of us being open to the process--open to the discoveries that help us to answer the questions that take us to the next level in the development of Feel the Bend (and that lead us to the new questions.) We intend to have both dramaturgical exercises and in-class readings that work toward these goals and that lead us to a place where we are comfortable and ready to turn the play over to the outside director for her exploration of the work. We want to be at a place where Priscilla can begin her next journey in the development Feel the Bend. Our final class session will be designed to bring a certain sense of closure to this phase of the development of the play and to create a place from which Priscilla can launch this next journey.
We intend to explore Anna by coming at her from different directions: through the other characters, through her use of internal language and space, through in-class exercises and other discovery processes between us. We want to learn: What Anna wants, what motivates her, who she is, how she defines her relationship(s) with men and with women, what she has lost, and what she learns in the world of this play.
During out explorations of Anna, we also hope to learn more about Jon and Betti and their motivations and wants. How they feel about Anna--and each other.
Poetic language is a key element of Feel the Bend. During the semester we want to explore how this works in the play, the proportions of it in the play, the effectiveness of it.
We want to explore the use of the office scenes in the play and the character of Carol. As written, these don't live up to their potential and the character of Carol seems confusing and contradictory at times. We intend to explore the function, placement, language, plot, and necessity of the office scenes. Additionally we want to learn about Carol: Why is she in the play? What does she want to tell Anna? Does she serve the play well? How could she be developed to better do this?
All of these feed into the larger goal of us being open to the process--open to the discoveries that help us to answer the questions that take us to the next level in the development of Feel the Bend (and that lead us to the new questions.) We intend to have both dramaturgical exercises and in-class readings that work toward these goals and that lead us to a place where we are comfortable and ready to turn the play over to the outside director for her exploration of the work. We want to be at a place where Priscilla can begin her next journey in the development Feel the Bend. Our final class session will be designed to bring a certain sense of closure to this phase of the development of the play and to create a place from which Priscilla can launch this next journey.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Erica S.'s Response to Soo-Jin's Saving Mom
Observation/Affirmation
-The new pages exploring and giving insight into the dynamics of mom and reverends relationship really opened the play up for me. This relationship is intriguing and complicated and fascinating.
The concept of cheung seems very important to understanding this relationship (and the play as a whole). Seems like you really hit on something...
-As is probably clear from the above, the mom/reverend relationship is the most interesting to me, and seems to be the reason for everything else.
-Harriet mom and reverend are all increasingly real and nuanced characters.
-Harriet's mention of dad's alcoholism gives great insight into not only dad's character but also mom/rev's relationship, AND why Harriet might be drawn to/need the rev.
Questions:
These aren't necessarily questions I want answered directly in the play,,, but would like to see hints of the answers in the existing relationships...
-How do Harriet and Mom relate when the rev is not around? What do they talk about when they aren't talking about the reverend/church? Are there other points of contention in their relationship?
- How does sex play into Rev and Mom's relationship? In Rev and his wife's relationship? In mom and dad's relationship?
- Is Harriet a virgin? Was rev her first kiss?
- What (if any) emotions and/or physical reactions other than disgust and outrage did Harriet feel after the Reverend kissed her?
- What would dad do if mom left? who would Harriet and sunshine choose to live with?
- How do Rev and Mom treat each other's spouses? Treat each other around their spouses?
- Is mom the only woman that the Rev has this sort of relationship with?
-If the rev could have wildly passionate sex with either mom or Harriet who would he choose?
Criticism
It seems like you know the mom/rev relationship the best and that it is really the focal point of the play (this deduction may be being skewed by the focus on this relationship in class yesterday)...
The Mom/Rev relationship is intrinsic to all other relationships/action in the play and thus becomes the foundation of the play for me as reader/viewer... That is to say, everything that happens between Harriet and the Reverend happens in a way because of the mom's existing relationship with him, and is that much more interesting and complicated because of this relationship. I am interested to see how you will build these two (strong) storylines into eachother.
-The new pages exploring and giving insight into the dynamics of mom and reverends relationship really opened the play up for me. This relationship is intriguing and complicated and fascinating.
The concept of cheung seems very important to understanding this relationship (and the play as a whole). Seems like you really hit on something...
-As is probably clear from the above, the mom/reverend relationship is the most interesting to me, and seems to be the reason for everything else.
-Harriet mom and reverend are all increasingly real and nuanced characters.
-Harriet's mention of dad's alcoholism gives great insight into not only dad's character but also mom/rev's relationship, AND why Harriet might be drawn to/need the rev.
Questions:
These aren't necessarily questions I want answered directly in the play,,, but would like to see hints of the answers in the existing relationships...
-How do Harriet and Mom relate when the rev is not around? What do they talk about when they aren't talking about the reverend/church? Are there other points of contention in their relationship?
- How does sex play into Rev and Mom's relationship? In Rev and his wife's relationship? In mom and dad's relationship?
- Is Harriet a virgin? Was rev her first kiss?
- What (if any) emotions and/or physical reactions other than disgust and outrage did Harriet feel after the Reverend kissed her?
- What would dad do if mom left? who would Harriet and sunshine choose to live with?
- How do Rev and Mom treat each other's spouses? Treat each other around their spouses?
- Is mom the only woman that the Rev has this sort of relationship with?
-If the rev could have wildly passionate sex with either mom or Harriet who would he choose?
Criticism
It seems like you know the mom/rev relationship the best and that it is really the focal point of the play (this deduction may be being skewed by the focus on this relationship in class yesterday)...
The Mom/Rev relationship is intrinsic to all other relationships/action in the play and thus becomes the foundation of the play for me as reader/viewer... That is to say, everything that happens between Harriet and the Reverend happens in a way because of the mom's existing relationship with him, and is that much more interesting and complicated because of this relationship. I am interested to see how you will build these two (strong) storylines into eachother.
George's Blog about "Saving Mom"
AFFIRMATION
First off, nice work to both of you in the designing of your two classes. You have done a great job identifying aspects of the play you want to explore and then figuring out how best to open them up. Also, you've done a great job really using us as a resource, not just as spectators.
Soo-Jin, one of your qualities I admire the most is your openness to trying new ideas. The new scenes you brought in were a great example of this - you don't keep stubbornly hammering away at an idea, or "freeze" the play in your mind - you are able to treat it as a changeable creation - very admirable and brave.
A general note: I would agree with Michael that the moments when the language sounds specific to a culture - i.e., "flavorless girl" (my favorite) are fantastic.
I think the Labs have been succesful in giving you a lot of information that you can process and use while creating the play.
I agree with Jenny that the new scenes definitely made me feel more sympathetic to the relationship between Mom and the Reverend.
QUESTIONS
What does Dad want? Is part of him happy that Mom is otherwise occupied?
Is the Mom/Rev relationship strictly platonic?
Is the Reverend actually running a sweatshop?
Why does Harriet want her mother around?
Why does Reverend molest Harriet if he loves Mom?
Why would Harriet help the Reverend in the hospital?
Why does Rev want to be a Rev?
Has Mom always hated her family?
OPINIONS
Some thoughts...
As I stated above, I love the culture-specific dialogue and would gladly take as much as you wanted to work in.
The Molestation scene: for me, this scene doesn't quite fit with the rest of the play as it stands now. The Reverend in that scene seems a different person than in the rest of play. In the molestation scene, he is so sure of himself and manipulative and aware of his power . Also, he seems like a "real" Rev in this scene with a big congregation, not like the "fraud" that Mom claims he is. I also wonder what triggers this scene - the Rev speaks so harshly of Mom in the scene, says she ruins everything she touches - where is this coming from? It isn't the slavish devotion he shows Mom in the other scenes. And Harriet hates him so much - why would she help him in the hospital, much less let him in the door? Part of me also wonders if the scene offers us too easy an "out" to side with the family against the Reverend. It seems to make the audience's job too easy. Personally, I feel like the play could exist (and might be allowed to fully explore the "grey" area of the relationship) without it.
I'd love to know more about the Dad and what makes him tick - how he sees the relationship with Mom/Rev and what he believes in/stands for on his own - how does the family exist when Mom is not around?
I don't know what the Rev is getting from the relationship - it seems like you enter an affair to get something you're not getting at home - excitement, sex - but all he gets from Mom is abuse.
Again, congrats on your boldness and willingness to play with your material!
- George
First off, nice work to both of you in the designing of your two classes. You have done a great job identifying aspects of the play you want to explore and then figuring out how best to open them up. Also, you've done a great job really using us as a resource, not just as spectators.
Soo-Jin, one of your qualities I admire the most is your openness to trying new ideas. The new scenes you brought in were a great example of this - you don't keep stubbornly hammering away at an idea, or "freeze" the play in your mind - you are able to treat it as a changeable creation - very admirable and brave.
A general note: I would agree with Michael that the moments when the language sounds specific to a culture - i.e., "flavorless girl" (my favorite) are fantastic.
I think the Labs have been succesful in giving you a lot of information that you can process and use while creating the play.
I agree with Jenny that the new scenes definitely made me feel more sympathetic to the relationship between Mom and the Reverend.
QUESTIONS
What does Dad want? Is part of him happy that Mom is otherwise occupied?
Is the Mom/Rev relationship strictly platonic?
Is the Reverend actually running a sweatshop?
Why does Harriet want her mother around?
Why does Reverend molest Harriet if he loves Mom?
Why would Harriet help the Reverend in the hospital?
Why does Rev want to be a Rev?
Has Mom always hated her family?
OPINIONS
Some thoughts...
As I stated above, I love the culture-specific dialogue and would gladly take as much as you wanted to work in.
The Molestation scene: for me, this scene doesn't quite fit with the rest of the play as it stands now. The Reverend in that scene seems a different person than in the rest of play. In the molestation scene, he is so sure of himself and manipulative and aware of his power . Also, he seems like a "real" Rev in this scene with a big congregation, not like the "fraud" that Mom claims he is. I also wonder what triggers this scene - the Rev speaks so harshly of Mom in the scene, says she ruins everything she touches - where is this coming from? It isn't the slavish devotion he shows Mom in the other scenes. And Harriet hates him so much - why would she help him in the hospital, much less let him in the door? Part of me also wonders if the scene offers us too easy an "out" to side with the family against the Reverend. It seems to make the audience's job too easy. Personally, I feel like the play could exist (and might be allowed to fully explore the "grey" area of the relationship) without it.
I'd love to know more about the Dad and what makes him tick - how he sees the relationship with Mom/Rev and what he believes in/stands for on his own - how does the family exist when Mom is not around?
I don't know what the Rev is getting from the relationship - it seems like you enter an affair to get something you're not getting at home - excitement, sex - but all he gets from Mom is abuse.
Again, congrats on your boldness and willingness to play with your material!
- George
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Michael's Blog about Soo-Jin's Saving Mom
AFFIRMATION
A lot of great work! It's fun to watch this piece develop!
The dramaturgy was very interesting. I hope it was beneficial to y'all. I especially liked the part where we really analyzed the reverend and his motives in his molestation. The discussions about the complexity and complicity of molestations after watching the TV scenes were very thought provoking and powerful.
Music as a way of thinking about home was insightful as well.
I like the development of the characters. There has been a lot of progress in their becoming more complex.
I liked the scene my group read last week for the molestation. It was interesting to me when Harriet seems a little complicit in the molestation. That she may be playing along with it until it goes too far really intrigued me and it seems to open up a lot of possibilities for Soo-Jin to play with what happens next--to both of them. Very good!
Things that pop:
"Church customers"
Mom knitting a sweater for Reverend's wife with cheap yarn.
Harriet kissing back, then freaking out when Reverend puts hand up her shirt.
"home to me"
Mom calling her husband "Harriet's Father"
RESPONDERS ASK QUESTIONS
What is the effect of the molestation on the Reverend and the Mom's relationship?
What is the effect of it on Harriet and the Mom's relationship?
What do you want us to feel about the Reverend?
Whose play is this?
Who is saving Mom? And from what?
What does Harriet want/need?
I don't want this next question to sound culturally insensitive, but I'm going to ask it anyway: In your opening stage directions you have a comment that the actors are speaking Korean (although the play is in English). Is it wrong for me to hear it with a Korean accent/cadence? There are times when this seems to come through very strongly in the language (even when read by actors who have little or no knowledge of Korean) and I really like this. In my mind, it makes it very interesting and rich. But I don't know if that is your intent or if it is my extrapolating from this stage direction and putting my own stereotypical interpretations on it. I mean this as a compliment, but I'd like some direction as to intent. So if I'm wrong here, I can turn that off.
OPINIONS
It's hard to like the mom. It's hard to like the reverend--but somehow a little easier. I'm not sure I know who the protagonist is--I assume it's Mom because of the title, but there are times I don't feel that. I want to be more conflicted about her; to understand how she got to this cold, hard place.
(All of my comments should be taken with the understanding that I am bringing old knowledge of the play, with work in Mon Night Lab, with your reading and with stuff we saw last week. Right now, I'm not exactly sure what's in and what's out--and that's ok. So some of my questions/opinions might be caused by not having seen a certain part of the play in awhile.)
You have two huge issues in the play: molestation by a trusted family "member"/preacher and the 20-year relationship of the reverend and the mom. Both are germane to your story as it is now, but I find myself wanting to focus on one or the other; have one pull my focus; have the other feed into it.
I like the complexities of the two couples and their faithfully cheating members. Or rather, long-term emotional partners--with good and bad jeong. I wish for more about the two other members of the foursome. It was interesting to hear more about the Reverend's wife today. I think these two could add a lot to the shades of grey.
I find the size of the church a little too small. It's only the two families. I know it's a dying church, but if this drama is only playing out amongst the two families, it seems to hold less threat of discovery, complicitness of parishioners, etc. Thirty, forty, fifty still seems very small to me, but not so small that it almost counters the effect of him being a reverend.
I'm wondering if this play has evolved beyond it's title. I'm not sure who is trying to save Mom anymore. This may be more evident in a complete read through, but it doesn't seem so much about saving her, as it is her story. Or if it is, I'm wondering what I'm missing in that regard.
I think the mother has evolved a lot as a character, would like to know more about her. Same with the reverend.
Soo-Jin and Cary have both done a lot of great work here. I enjoyed the last two classes immensely. I think I learned a lot about your characters, but want to know more where I noted. And that is a good thing. If I weren't intrigued, then there'd be problems--but I'm interested. Congratulations!
A lot of great work! It's fun to watch this piece develop!
The dramaturgy was very interesting. I hope it was beneficial to y'all. I especially liked the part where we really analyzed the reverend and his motives in his molestation. The discussions about the complexity and complicity of molestations after watching the TV scenes were very thought provoking and powerful.
Music as a way of thinking about home was insightful as well.
I like the development of the characters. There has been a lot of progress in their becoming more complex.
I liked the scene my group read last week for the molestation. It was interesting to me when Harriet seems a little complicit in the molestation. That she may be playing along with it until it goes too far really intrigued me and it seems to open up a lot of possibilities for Soo-Jin to play with what happens next--to both of them. Very good!
Things that pop:
"Church customers"
Mom knitting a sweater for Reverend's wife with cheap yarn.
Harriet kissing back, then freaking out when Reverend puts hand up her shirt.
"home to me"
Mom calling her husband "Harriet's Father"
RESPONDERS ASK QUESTIONS
What is the effect of the molestation on the Reverend and the Mom's relationship?
What is the effect of it on Harriet and the Mom's relationship?
What do you want us to feel about the Reverend?
Whose play is this?
Who is saving Mom? And from what?
What does Harriet want/need?
I don't want this next question to sound culturally insensitive, but I'm going to ask it anyway: In your opening stage directions you have a comment that the actors are speaking Korean (although the play is in English). Is it wrong for me to hear it with a Korean accent/cadence? There are times when this seems to come through very strongly in the language (even when read by actors who have little or no knowledge of Korean) and I really like this. In my mind, it makes it very interesting and rich. But I don't know if that is your intent or if it is my extrapolating from this stage direction and putting my own stereotypical interpretations on it. I mean this as a compliment, but I'd like some direction as to intent. So if I'm wrong here, I can turn that off.
OPINIONS
It's hard to like the mom. It's hard to like the reverend--but somehow a little easier. I'm not sure I know who the protagonist is--I assume it's Mom because of the title, but there are times I don't feel that. I want to be more conflicted about her; to understand how she got to this cold, hard place.
(All of my comments should be taken with the understanding that I am bringing old knowledge of the play, with work in Mon Night Lab, with your reading and with stuff we saw last week. Right now, I'm not exactly sure what's in and what's out--and that's ok. So some of my questions/opinions might be caused by not having seen a certain part of the play in awhile.)
You have two huge issues in the play: molestation by a trusted family "member"/preacher and the 20-year relationship of the reverend and the mom. Both are germane to your story as it is now, but I find myself wanting to focus on one or the other; have one pull my focus; have the other feed into it.
I like the complexities of the two couples and their faithfully cheating members. Or rather, long-term emotional partners--with good and bad jeong. I wish for more about the two other members of the foursome. It was interesting to hear more about the Reverend's wife today. I think these two could add a lot to the shades of grey.
I find the size of the church a little too small. It's only the two families. I know it's a dying church, but if this drama is only playing out amongst the two families, it seems to hold less threat of discovery, complicitness of parishioners, etc. Thirty, forty, fifty still seems very small to me, but not so small that it almost counters the effect of him being a reverend.
I'm wondering if this play has evolved beyond it's title. I'm not sure who is trying to save Mom anymore. This may be more evident in a complete read through, but it doesn't seem so much about saving her, as it is her story. Or if it is, I'm wondering what I'm missing in that regard.
I think the mother has evolved a lot as a character, would like to know more about her. Same with the reverend.
Soo-Jin and Cary have both done a lot of great work here. I enjoyed the last two classes immensely. I think I learned a lot about your characters, but want to know more where I noted. And that is a good thing. If I weren't intrigued, then there'd be problems--but I'm interested. Congratulations!
Response for Saving Mom (from Jenny)
1. AFFIRMATION AND OBSERVATION
So...these are things I liked or noticed
-I noticed that the Reverend's wife and children were more present in the sections we read today than in what we had seen before. I liked having additional information about them.
-I like the complications of the dynamic between Mother and Reverend.
-I like the details you give us about the church and congregation. There is a specificity to those comments that brings to mind, for me, the "ripple effect" you've talked about in other places...ie, the particular details you give us have me painting in the rest of that world.
-I notice that the relationship between the mother and the reverend has a growing specificity and weight...it is coming into clearer and clearer focus for me, and feels very important to me, and I like that.
-I notice that there are moments, sometimes only split-seconds, in the Harriet/Reverend scene (the one we explored on Thursday) where I can imagine, for a minute, how the Reverend might conclude that Harriet cares for him. I like those moments.
-I find myself being really affected by the Mother/Reverend bond that you've got going and seem to be working on.
-This is workshop, not play-related. I notice that the two of you have found very specific (that word keeps surfacing), pragmatic ways into unlocking the play, and have been very organized about it. I like that (and hope to emulate it).
QUESTIONS
Some of these are not "why did you do X or Y" questions, so much as "I wonder about X or Y aspect of script..."
-I wonder about what we discussed in class today, that question of why the Mother/Reverend relationship has endured for 20 years, not just in the context of the two of them, but in the context of their families and community.
-I wonder what the Reverend's finest qualities are.
-I wonder what Sunshine makes of everything; how much she knows and how she reacts.
-This stems from our class with Steven Dietz: What do you think happens to these characters 5 years from now? 10 years from now? What do you think each member of the group would see as the best or worst 5/10 year case scenario? I guess I'm curious about what the endgame is for each of them.
CRITICISM AND OPINIONS
I guess the first and main thing is that I really like the direction in which you've seemed to be moving as part of the workshop so far. You've picked very important, specific (ay, yi yi, I'm using that word all over! a good thing) aspects of the script on which to focus, and it feels like it's generating some strong writing.
One of the things that still isn't clear to me, as I look at the script as we first saw it, is the overall "bone structure" of it. I feel like every scene I see gives me a nice window into the situation/predicament in which this family+reverend find themselves; ie I'm getting really useful information from them all over the place. What I'm still having trouble with is what needs to go where in order for me to see the story you want me to see.
It seems, though, like you've got, and are continuing to make, a lot of strong material from which to make those choices.
Your choice to focus our initial lab on the Harriet/Reverend scene really got me thinking hard about it. I don't know that that counts as an opinion...just wanted you to know that I'm thinking hard about it.
So...these are things I liked or noticed
-I noticed that the Reverend's wife and children were more present in the sections we read today than in what we had seen before. I liked having additional information about them.
-I like the complications of the dynamic between Mother and Reverend.
-I like the details you give us about the church and congregation. There is a specificity to those comments that brings to mind, for me, the "ripple effect" you've talked about in other places...ie, the particular details you give us have me painting in the rest of that world.
-I notice that the relationship between the mother and the reverend has a growing specificity and weight...it is coming into clearer and clearer focus for me, and feels very important to me, and I like that.
-I notice that there are moments, sometimes only split-seconds, in the Harriet/Reverend scene (the one we explored on Thursday) where I can imagine, for a minute, how the Reverend might conclude that Harriet cares for him. I like those moments.
-I find myself being really affected by the Mother/Reverend bond that you've got going and seem to be working on.
-This is workshop, not play-related. I notice that the two of you have found very specific (that word keeps surfacing), pragmatic ways into unlocking the play, and have been very organized about it. I like that (and hope to emulate it).
QUESTIONS
Some of these are not "why did you do X or Y" questions, so much as "I wonder about X or Y aspect of script..."
-I wonder about what we discussed in class today, that question of why the Mother/Reverend relationship has endured for 20 years, not just in the context of the two of them, but in the context of their families and community.
-I wonder what the Reverend's finest qualities are.
-I wonder what Sunshine makes of everything; how much she knows and how she reacts.
-This stems from our class with Steven Dietz: What do you think happens to these characters 5 years from now? 10 years from now? What do you think each member of the group would see as the best or worst 5/10 year case scenario? I guess I'm curious about what the endgame is for each of them.
CRITICISM AND OPINIONS
I guess the first and main thing is that I really like the direction in which you've seemed to be moving as part of the workshop so far. You've picked very important, specific (ay, yi yi, I'm using that word all over! a good thing) aspects of the script on which to focus, and it feels like it's generating some strong writing.
One of the things that still isn't clear to me, as I look at the script as we first saw it, is the overall "bone structure" of it. I feel like every scene I see gives me a nice window into the situation/predicament in which this family+reverend find themselves; ie I'm getting really useful information from them all over the place. What I'm still having trouble with is what needs to go where in order for me to see the story you want me to see.
It seems, though, like you've got, and are continuing to make, a lot of strong material from which to make those choices.
Your choice to focus our initial lab on the Harriet/Reverend scene really got me thinking hard about it. I don't know that that counts as an opinion...just wanted you to know that I'm thinking hard about it.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Home: A Discography
What is a song or piece of music that you associate with the word "home?" This can draw on your own personal experience or a more general abstract notion of what this word evokes.
A caveat: I'd prefer if possible--should you choose something with lyrics--that the lyrics be a secondary consideration. If you can find something with a tone/pace/sound that makes your point it will be most helpful. (Not to say lyrics can't factor in)
Please respond to this post with the title/artist and a sentence or two about the piece.
A caveat: I'd prefer if possible--should you choose something with lyrics--that the lyrics be a secondary consideration. If you can find something with a tone/pace/sound that makes your point it will be most helpful. (Not to say lyrics can't factor in)
Please respond to this post with the title/artist and a sentence or two about the piece.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Saving Mom Goals
1) Does the molestation help to explain the past 20 years, or do the past 20 years explain the molestation? Appraoch the molestation scene from multiple perspectives to open it up and:
-Understand what the molestation means (i.e., what has ruptured, what will now be at stake)
-Consider the ripple effect this scene has on the rest of the events in Saving Mom
-Explore the character of the Reverend
2) Unpack one of the play’s central questions: What is the “family bond?” Are there bonds that are stronger? If so, why?
-Solidify the nature of the family's relationship
-Solidify the relationship between Mother and Reverend
-Understand the ways in which these relationships play off one another
3) Take exposition and represent it in action, particularly in activating character traits.
-Track how characters describe one another
-Evaluate the need to show these traits through action
-Understand what the molestation means (i.e., what has ruptured, what will now be at stake)
-Consider the ripple effect this scene has on the rest of the events in Saving Mom
-Explore the character of the Reverend
2) Unpack one of the play’s central questions: What is the “family bond?” Are there bonds that are stronger? If so, why?
-Solidify the nature of the family's relationship
-Solidify the relationship between Mother and Reverend
-Understand the ways in which these relationships play off one another
3) Take exposition and represent it in action, particularly in activating character traits.
-Track how characters describe one another
-Evaluate the need to show these traits through action
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Link to Liz Lerman Process Article
http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2003/10/toward_a_proces.php
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