Women and Water Rights

I stopped by the Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota to see Women and Water Rights: Rivers of Regeneration which looks to "examine how the inclusion of women in management of local and global water resources improves social, economic and environmental results," according to the U of M website.

Tonight there were several speakers, including Marilyn Cuneo, from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Liz Dodson from Women's Caucus for Art, Clarence Morgan, a U of M professor, and Diane Katsiaficas, another U of M professor and co-coordinator of the exhibit.

Also at the opening was a Native American Ritual by the Keepers of the Water. Lisa Bellanger, also known as Bizhiwens, said of the ceremony: "We do not come to perform this as a play, but to share our ceremony with you."

The pieces in the exhibit are varied, from a sculpture of a canoe to a video of an urban farming project. I noticed there were a number of textile pieces, including Barbara Riegel Bend's Women and the Watershed, a scupture made of fiber and other elements, which symbolized the important role that women play in the life source, used women as a metaphor for the life blood of the watershed. In Bend's sculpture, which is a figure of a woman holding many people in her embrace, depicts a river with zippers.

Another piece that I was drawn to was Kimber Olson's Point Zero, a triptych quilt calling for awareness of the decline of artic ice. Like Bend's piece, I was interested in the use of textiles to create a statement. I've never been drawn to any kind of textile work myself, but I realize that it is traditionally known as a womans' art form. I feel that the use of that kind of art form added to the message of the whole exhibit, which was to empower women in the struggle for water rights.

Sandy Spieler, Artistic Director of Heart of the Beast, also has a piece in the exhibit, called Cabinet of Water Curiosities, which is a series of boxes with messages like "A Watershed Runs Through You" on the outside, and depictions of the life water brings on the inside. Spieler is really the brainchild of the water awareness movement in Minneapolis. The issue has been addressed at Heart of the Beast, but she has also gained support of the Mayor as well, and was very influencial in the Public Water fountain project.

Annnd.... we're open

Well, Lamb Lays With Lion Vs. Katie Mitchell's The Seagull is officially open, and not surprisingly, the reviews are mixed! We've had two write-ups, thus far. Lightsey Darst, writing for MnArtists, came to a rehearsal and wrote "I can't tell whether Lamb Lays with Lion vs. Katie Mitchell's The Seagull is a train wreck or a stroke of genius; I can't even tell where the performances stop or start." In a similar befuddled review, my friend and editor Jay Gabler wrote:

At first, I thought I really did like it. Then, I thought I didn't. Then, I did like it again—and finally, I realized that one of the things I like most about it is that what I thought changed so many times over the course of the show's hourlong running time. When you often write about theater, it's really refreshing when a piece is half-over and you still have no idea what you're going to say about it.

The reason I'm not surprised that both reviewers were so back and forth on their opinions of the piece is because the work itself is so different than the usual theatre fare, which I think is a compliment to Jeremey Cotterton, our director. What's interesting is that the "Lamb's" side isn't all that "avant garde", but the whole idea of the piece, to put the two sides against each other, is something so unusual and so ballsy that you have to give him credit just for that.

Does it work? Well, I have no idea. My friend Ben Kreilkamp asked me what I thought of the piece, and I honestly really can't say. I'm in the piece, and my job is to live the circumstances of my character as truthfully and as honestly as I can. I'm still figuring it out, honestly, even though we already opened. There are moments that I don't think I've nailed yet- particularly at the end of the first act. I also got some feedback that I was coming across as "bitter" when that was not my intention at all, so I'm working to make Masha more vulnerable while pursuing her objectives. As for how well the piece works, I have to rely on people who see the piece and can relay their experience. Ultimately, that's all any artist can do. You can never really know if something works or not if you are involved in the project. So come see it, and tell me what you think.

Masha

Unfortunately I have the annoying habit of letting characters I play pervade into the rest of my life. When I was in Marat/Sade, playing a patient in the asylum, I would have to do yoga after every performance just to get back into reality. When I played Thyona in Big Love, I lifted weights and became very bitchy in my personal life. Playing Masha has similar problems. Her melancholy seeps into my life like a leaking pen. Lines in the play, such as "I am in mourning for my life" or "My life drags behind me endlessly like an unraveling scarf," come into my head throughout my day. They are unwanted. I don't want to be a love-starved depressed alchoholic!

But I do the work. And try to maintain some distance, but not too much. I partially enjoy the pleasure of losing myself in the role- enough so that I feel like Masha sometimes even when I am not acting. I know some actors- including the great Stanislavski, would say that is a big no-no, but that is how I do it. I act in juicy parts like this so rarely that I have to relish in it.

In the particular production that I'm doing right now, I have the added challenge, besides playing the part, of also playing the part while someone else is playing it on the other side of the stage. This causes some difficulty, as concessions need to be made about timing and such. But the cast from the other side have been really fantastic, and are great about negotiating what will work best.

We're working on having everything sync up together, and at the same time I still have to do the work of realizing this character of Masha. I pretty much have used method acting in my process, using substitutions from my own life to fit the circumstances of the play. Maybe that's why I have such a hard time separating theatre from reality. But I've found that drawing on my personal experience for a role is the most effective way to create believable actions on stage. At least for a realistic play. And even though the sum total of two casts performing Seagull will be not realism at all, the fact is that the side that I'm on is definitely doing the play as naturalistically as possible.

In any case, I'm really enjoying playing Masha. I'm really going to miss her, if she ever leaves me.

Synchronicity

This week, the two casts for Lamb Lays with Lion vs. Katie Mitchell's The Seagull have been meeting together after spending the first two weeks of the rehearsal process working separately. It's pretty intense. Since my side, the Katie Mitchell "realism" side, is performing at the same time as the other cast, I haven't had that much opportunity to watch the other half perform, although it seems to be, from what I can tell, an almost cinematic take, full of irony, using microphones and lighting as tools to alienate and disrupt the audience and performance.

One aspect of performing at the same time as the other cast is how difficult it is to speak in synchronicity with them. While sometimes there are intentional moments of discord, when the actors speak at different paces, for the most part we are supposed to speak as one voice, while our movements, characterizations, and actions are very different.

I'm finding that I have a tendency to be fairly creative with my lines, which I simply cannot do in this production. I have to speak them absolutely verbatum from the script. The process also requires communication with the actor on the other side in terms of when to take pauses and things like that. It can be a bit frustrating, but in the moments when I'm not not acting, and instead watching the performance, it really is a pretty cool effect.

One little perk that I quite enjoy is that the Katie Mitchell cast gets to drink tea and eat biscuits between acts. I can't believe how much more civilized this makes the whole experience! Why have I not been drinking tea and eating biscuits for every show I've ever been in? It's fantastic.

Fiddlin'

I met famous Joel Bremer, Swedish fiddler extraordinaire last night, which was pretty exciting. He was playing with The Bitter Spills for Cyn Collins' 2nd Tuesday program at the 501 club.

I asked Joel what the difference is between a fiddler and a violin player. "The air," he replied. There's more breath, more empty space, I guess when a fiddler plays his/her instrument.

I played the violin for a number of years, but never considered myself a fiddler. There's something so loose, so confident, so free about fiddle music. I was always very intimidated by it. I felt a lot safer with Bach. I think in order to be a fiddle player you have to have no fear, and when you listen to Joel play, he clearly has none.

He very kindly let me have a copy of his solo CD, and I've been listening to it in the car. It transports me to a place of green grass and running water. The playing is skillful, and complex, but also has an extemporaneous quality and a playfulness that is strangely peaceful.

Art Shanties!

I had a great time going to the Art Shanties today with Amelia and Paul. On our way there, Amelia said she thought that since it was the last day, there would be a healthy non-super bowl watching contingent. She was right! I saw tons of people that I knew, which was very fun, and I was very happy that I finally got a chance to go out to Medicine Lake to see the spectacle.

The place was packed, and the weather was not too bad. It started snowing about an hour after we got there, which Amelia pointed out made everything more beautiful, if slightly more miserable. My favorite shanty was probably the Ace Stellar Shanty, which was the warmest shanty, and had a planetarium inside.

I also had fun at the Dance Shanty, which was blasting "Love Shack" as dancers shook their booties in enthusiastic jubilee.

There was a fantastic moment, too, when the people at the Shop Shanty said I could get the vintage "soul searchin" record I had my eye on if I got six strangers to dance outside. This was not difficult. In no time a whole group of people were dancing to no music in the snow and I got my record, which unfortunately I can't play because I don't have a record player.

I was hoping to see Michael Sommers perform in the FantaShanty but we didn't time things quite right. Ah, well. Next year. The Shanty itself was very neat looking, with beautiful bright colors and magical objects hiding in Sommers' trunk.

All in all, it was a very fun afternoon discovering all the creations that Minnesota artists came up with. I actually applied to be in the shanties this year, and my group wasn't accepted. Secretly I was kind of glad that I could just go and enjoy one day of the experience, rather than having to do all the work of setting a shanty up in the cold of winter. Indeed, a few of the artists I talked to said the funnest part was just thinking up an idea, and there was not a few tears shed trying to get the darn things built on the frozen Lake. Still, I might consider applying again next year. We'll see if I can get a good team together.