Leaving tomorrow for my semester in Ashfield. I'll study with Double Edge Theater, whose mission, if you're interested, you should google. I've been doing a very poor job explaining.
I was originally to study with them last spring and then drop out of school to pursue my dreams of being a homeless artist, reeking of integrity and week-old Kraft cheese, hounding the streets of Baltimore or Scranton or something in the name of artistic freedom (and Kraft cheese, who in this version of the fantasy I would be a spokesperson for), but things changed, as they do, and I'm now going THIS semester, coming BACK to NIU, and then taking a few more classes the semester after I initially would have graduated. So... best of both worlds, right? RIGHT!?
Remember Krymov, who I gushed about in my Russia posts? Or threatened to gush about? Don't think I ever got around to saying what I found so fantastic... anyway, he IS fantastic and his WORK is fantastic, and Double Edge is the closest thing there is to an American equivalent.
What I like about Krymov's actors and imagine I'll like about Double Edge's (I've never actually seen a production of theirs. Leap of faith...) is their commitment to movement, courage and the body. I like performances best when I can hear the actor gasping for breath, or see them sweating. My favorite kind of onstage acting is visceral, messy stuff, full of snot and fear and real, true excitement and maaaaybe a little blood, if the moment is right (a guy in Russia was delivering a really active monologue during one of the weirder war shows I saw there, and he fell off the table he was jumping on and smashed his mouth on a chair. One of the other actors, in a line a few minutes later which I can only assume was about being calmer and more rational soldiers, stuck his fingers into Actor 1's mouth and wiped real, human blood on the table. This was not planned. It was unmatchably powerful). I'm very interested in watching this style evolve and taking part in as much of it's early stages as I possibly can. I think it's a pretty new approach to stage performance.
Double Edge and Krymov also champion the combination of multiple art forms, which I think has been a long time coming. They both use Environmental Theater, a type of staging that involves landscape and audience movement/involvement (the stage's response to Hollywood's 3D obsession).
So aside from the incredible training we'll participate in alongside the Double Edge company, I and the other interns will have ample time to pursue our own artistic projects. While I'm there, for example, I want to work on an idea I have for a one-woman show that is in VERY early stages (PAINFULLY early, please ask me no questions about it or I may burst into tears of frustration). I'll let you know what the other interns are doing.
I'm terrified, excited, and juuuuust a little ready.
See you guys in December! Wish me luck and bravery!
Love y'all.
I was originally to study with them last spring and then drop out of school to pursue my dreams of being a homeless artist, reeking of integrity and week-old Kraft cheese, hounding the streets of Baltimore or Scranton or something in the name of artistic freedom (and Kraft cheese, who in this version of the fantasy I would be a spokesperson for), but things changed, as they do, and I'm now going THIS semester, coming BACK to NIU, and then taking a few more classes the semester after I initially would have graduated. So... best of both worlds, right? RIGHT!?
Remember Krymov, who I gushed about in my Russia posts? Or threatened to gush about? Don't think I ever got around to saying what I found so fantastic... anyway, he IS fantastic and his WORK is fantastic, and Double Edge is the closest thing there is to an American equivalent.
What I like about Krymov's actors and imagine I'll like about Double Edge's (I've never actually seen a production of theirs. Leap of faith...) is their commitment to movement, courage and the body. I like performances best when I can hear the actor gasping for breath, or see them sweating. My favorite kind of onstage acting is visceral, messy stuff, full of snot and fear and real, true excitement and maaaaybe a little blood, if the moment is right (a guy in Russia was delivering a really active monologue during one of the weirder war shows I saw there, and he fell off the table he was jumping on and smashed his mouth on a chair. One of the other actors, in a line a few minutes later which I can only assume was about being calmer and more rational soldiers, stuck his fingers into Actor 1's mouth and wiped real, human blood on the table. This was not planned. It was unmatchably powerful). I'm very interested in watching this style evolve and taking part in as much of it's early stages as I possibly can. I think it's a pretty new approach to stage performance.
Double Edge and Krymov also champion the combination of multiple art forms, which I think has been a long time coming. They both use Environmental Theater, a type of staging that involves landscape and audience movement/involvement (the stage's response to Hollywood's 3D obsession).
So aside from the incredible training we'll participate in alongside the Double Edge company, I and the other interns will have ample time to pursue our own artistic projects. While I'm there, for example, I want to work on an idea I have for a one-woman show that is in VERY early stages (PAINFULLY early, please ask me no questions about it or I may burst into tears of frustration). I'll let you know what the other interns are doing.
I'm terrified, excited, and juuuuust a little ready.
See you guys in December! Wish me luck and bravery!
Love y'all.
ahhh! Molly this place looks AMAZING! I am totally excited for you! This will be so life changing and you are going to love it! Can't wait to hear all about it in December :-) Love you!
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