Backwards

HEY so I know I haven't posted in a while, and I'm very sorry, but, what can I say? I don't really want time to post, except at 3:31 AM when I can't sleep (check on the timestap on this one...) So thank you everyone who's supporting me on this crazy adventure I'm going through right now, and I am quite sorry if I don't have time to post or call - nothing personal - but know that I think about each of you every single day.

Anyways, now that I've got all that sentimental shit out of the way, I wanted to tell you guys about the second show I directed last weekend! The first, as you remember, was A Pleasant Day for Happiness, written by the young Jacob Axelrad, and whaddaya know, apparently the gods think that we work well together because I got paired up with him to do the site specific pieces as well. Basically, the four playwrights had the assignment of writing a piece to be performed somewhere on campus, which is kind of a difficult decision on a campus as beautiful and interesting as the Vassar campus (in case you didn't know, the campus is a National Arboretum, meaning that it is LITERALLY ILLEGAL to climb the trees... But very fun at the same time!) So Jacob picked this awesome spot that I totally loved, and wrote an Absurdist piece based off of it (he had just finished reading Waiting for Godot three days before he wrote it... just my luck...) No, but in all seriousness, it was a very impressive script and a wonderful spot. It was called Backwards, and it was set at this one spot where there is a road, and then a 3-foot tall rock wall next to the road, and then for some reason no one could figure out, there was a bench on the other side of the wall in the midst of the jungle (check the picture). Like, no one would ever sit there, because they would just be staring at a wall of foliage. So Jacob wrote this amazing script where two guys are sitting on the bench, wondering how they got "turned around," and wishing that life could be like it used to be because now they were backwards. Except one of the characters actually liked it, creating tension with the other character that was basically the entire show. I would go into it in more detail, but honestly, you guys wouldn't understand unless you read it - so just take my word that it was a very interesting script.

So I basically had all my free time last week to direct this show. I had two actors - and can I say, if I haven't already, that all of the actors here should pursue a career in acting??? They are SO incredible, I'm learning so much about acting and I'm not even an acting apprentice. But anyways, these two guys worked very well together and I was really happy with working with them. I was really nervous though, because when I first read the script, I was like, oh, this could totally be a comedy - and then I directed it like a comedy, and it wasn't funny. So I felt like I had failed in the rehearsal an hour and a half before the performance. But then the weirdest thing happened - the audience thought it was hilarious and they loved it! I was like, why are you laughing??? It's not funny! But they were like, no, Brian, it's very funny - congratulations and good job. So that felt really good. And the other three site specific pieces were also very good and interesting - one was set in the Shakespeare Garden, where every plant ever mentioned in Shakespeare's works is planted, another was set literally around an entire lake, where the characters were chasing each other around the lake (it was so funny), and the third was set at this tiny shed and the story was about how a husband had left and come back and his wife had miniaturized the house. Also very funny. So it was just a really good set of plays, and I felt really good afterwards and I was happy with the work my friends and I had done.

Just to let you know, some things coming up for me - I've started rehearsals on The Taming of the Shrew, which I'm assistant directing and spending most doing; I will be shadowing the director of a professional New York Stage and Film Production in a week, Shoe Story, which is (wait for it!) directed by the original director of In the Heights! Rob is going to be so jealous. As well as everyone else in my class who saw the show in April. So that's going to be awesome and I can't wait to just dig into his brain. And then, in my directing class, we're still working on The Three Sisters (it got really interesting today... apparently the whole play is about the horrors of inaction and never acting on your desires, which is possibly the most depressing subject in all of theatre). In my comp class, we're creating "experiences" based on The Three Sisters, like the 30 second music assignment except with The Three Sisters. And we're still going through all of the scenes in acting class. But coming up, my entire directing class will be directing Woyzeck to be performed the day before I leave, and I came up with this idea two days ago to get a 10-minute play festival going, because I really want to direct this David Ives play, The Philadelphia (thank you, Christie!). Oh, and on top of all that, the artist-in-residence, Eric, has written more site specific pieces for all of the directors - he came up to me yesterday and was like "Do you want me to write you a play?" and I was like,"Um.... don't you have stuff to do?" and he was like, "Not really." So I told him to write me a romantic comedy, and tonight when I got back from rehearsal I had a brand new romantic comedy posted to my door for me to direct! So I'll probably work on that this weekend and maybe see if I can get it performed in the next week or so. SO THAT'S EVERYTHING I'M DOING AND I LOVE YOU ALL AND THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH FOR THE BOX IT MADE MY DAY!!!!! I hid the cookies in my closet because I don't want anyone to find them, but I know it's only a matter of time.

:)

A few more pics from Backwards: