Art working for the country

Rachel here...

Just finished listening to Diane Rehm show from December 8, 2009. She interviewed Robert Kennedy, former director of the national parks service, who collaborated on a new book When Art Worked. The book is about the Public Works of Art Project--the first federal government program to support the arts nationally.

In the introduction, Rehm describes that time as a point when:

- artists were working for us/with the country.

- artists worked with the country to "find ourselves."

Then, Kennedy shared a quote that I wanted to share with y'all:

Gutzson Borglum, the sculpture of Mount Rushmore wrote to Harry Hopkins, one of FDR's advisors and major architect of the New Deal...

"The work of art is to help to coax the soul of the nation back to life."

Hopkins kept this quote in his wallet for most of his life.

The first 20 minutes or so of the podcast are truly worth a listen. The rest is pretty great too.

You can find it on iTunes or wamu.org.

Labyrinth Junk Lady Images

'Brechtian' ... a dirty word?

An article which came to me from Richard Byrne, friend of d&pdc & Courage:

When did 'Brechtian' become such a dirty word? The old Marxist ironist is due for re-appraisal

Michael Billington, The Guardian, 10-20-09

When I applied the word "Brechtian" to Annie Get Your Gun at the Young Vic yesterday, I knew I was running a calculated risk. You don't expect a popular musical to be given such a non-selling label. What I meant to imply was that Richard Jones's superb production invited us to see the show, critically, as a piece of 1940s romantic myth-making about the American West. Unfortunately, however, "Brechtian" these days has come to mean "slow, ponderous, didactic."

Intriguingly, Deborah Warner's current Mother Courage at the National is the very opposite of what we normally mean by "Brechtian": it's light, nimble-footed with a piratical performance from Fiona Shaw and a Duke Special score in which Weimar meets soft rock. But Brecht himself is partly to blame for the way he is often done: he left behind a mountain of "model-books" about his productions which, slavishly followed, lead to leaden revivals. Throw away the rule-books and the plays live again.

And, although Brecht himself once said his work's future depended on communism's survival, I suspect he's due for re-appraisal. With capitalism going through one of its cyclical crises, his plays have acquired renewed topicality.

"What's breaking into a bank compared with founding a bank?" asks Macheath in The Threepenny Opera. It's questions like that which give the old Marxist ironist his vigour and productions such as those by Jones and Warner which take the curse off the word "Brechtian". 

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2009/oct/20/pass-notes-bertolt-brecht

Making music ....in times of war

From Rachel...

Held our first workshop to explore tools/approaches for rehearsal/performance on Monday, November 23. Topic: music... a little introduction on Shape Note singing from Wyckham and then some found-object percussion noodling with Milo.

SHAPE NOTE
Everyone was agreed that the sound/tone of Shape Note is fantastic and Milo and I are totally drawn toward this sound for one of our two final songs to create for the production. (Now if only I get him lyric ideas...)

FOUND-OBJECT PERCUSSION
The found-object percussion idea is one I had long ago/far away and we didn't work it into the workshop rehearsal/performance in May 09. I had been interested in it for doing a cover of Tom Waits' song "Gods Away on Business." Milo has (rightfully) being encouraging me away from using covers in the final show -- particularly as part of the narrative (ie scenes) -- but he too was curious about the sounds of people banging on tin cans, spoons, washboards etc. So we played. He created a series of improvisational composition exercises that then inspired me to say -- could this help to "tell the story" of the war at some point... to evoke it, bring it on stage aurally. And so we played...and saw the potential.

MUSIC AND WAR
Jessica L later emailed me and Milo the following....
I was thinking of the kinds of things that might be used for music at the front. I let my fingers do some walking. I didn't find what I was looking for, (search -if I remember aright; soldiers musical instruments at the front) but I did find this....

The battle of the bands civil war style
During the winter of 1862-1863, the Union and Confederate armies were camped near each other at Fredericksburg, Virginia, separated only by the expanse of the Rappahannock River. One cold afternoon, a band in the Union camp struck up some patriotic tunes to cheer the men. They were answered from across the river by a Confederate band. The Union band played another tune followed by the Confederates who also did their best to play the same song. Back and forth the musical duel went lasting well into the evening hours. Soldiers in both armies listened to the musical battle and would cheer for their own bands. The duel finally ended when both bands struck up the tune, "Home, Sweet Home". It was then that the men of both sides who were so far from their homes, cheered as one.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/gettkidz/music.htm

It's what God wants from you

Courage Returns!

Courage Photos

Thank you to the fabulous C Stanley!  

http://cstanphoto.zenfolio.com/courageworkshop

Courage Confessions: thoughts on the second round of performances

What was it like?  What was meaningful, exciting, different?  What was unexpected, distracting, or tanked? What did this performance environment allow for us to do/achieve?  What did it allow for the audience to do?

Peformance Recordings - CHAW 5/9

Opening Jam

Deal

Cook Song

Beware

Beware Jam

Each Night

WGWFY

Home/WGWFY Reprise

Deal Reprise

Courage Confessions: what do we take with us?

What aspects/dimensions of the performances in Chief Ike's should we consider carrying with us and/or try to recreate at CHAW?  What should we consider letting go of

Courage Confessions: thoughts on the first round of performances

What was it like?  What was meaningful, exciting, different?  What was unexpected, distracting, or tanked? What did this performance environment allow for us to do/achieve?  What did it allow for the audience to do?

Band Jams - 4/28

Jam in C 
Jam in Alex 

Recordings - 4/28/09

Rabble 

Deal

The Cook's Song

Beware

What God Wants From You

Home

What God Wants From You Reprise

Deal Reprise 

Recordings - 4/26/09

The Cook’s Song

Beware

Each Night in May

What God Wants From You

Home 

What God Wants From You Reprise 

Deal Reprise

Recordings - 4/21/09

Jam in G

Beware 

Each Night in May (4)

Each Night in May (5)

What God Wants From You Reprise

Home

Deal Reprise

a loss the right word reveals good work toward a goal

From Rachel:

Thursday night we worked Scene 11, pulling out three members of the band into the performing area to serve as a peasant family.   The three musicians are also actors but until this point in the process had not been a part of any of the "acting" rehearsals.  Over the course of the night, I made a fascinating discovery --- the acting ensemble is developing a shared vocabulary with the way we are trying to approach the work.  The discovery was made back-asswards:  it struck me when I was needing to "revert" to more establish actory language to explain what I was looking for in the scene and from characters Jen, Nick, and Alex, were playing.  

Exciting discovery!  And our fab 3 tackled the scene like champs.

Courage Songs Sung by the Cast

Rabble

Deal

The Cook’s Song

Beware

What God Wants From You

Home 

What God Wants From You Reprise 

Deal Reprise

 

Band Jam Sessions

Clink on the links below to listen...

Jam in D

Each Night Chorus Jam

a big pay off from rehearsal

From Rachel:

Brecht says theatre should be approached as showing one thing after another.  I am thinking how powerful an approach this is to continue working through scenes.  Do it this way.  Do it again with these variances. Now let’s look at it from this perspective. Now from that.  What can we gain from continuing to approach and craft as if every time is fresh and new?  Not one thing that leads to another but approaching as if it is one thing we must do, and then another, and then another.  And then see how the fit together and inform each other.

I cannot imagine that we would have gotten as far with the 3^rd person narration of scene 1 had we not gone through all the other steps before.  And even then, while the cast was valiantly and beautifully struggling their way through this classic Brechtian exercise, there were major discoveries (or discoveries of indecision or lack of clarity or lack of decision) and great clarifications and specifying of moments.  It forced decisions.  It brought decisions out.  And it laid the entire process clearly and concretely and transparently on the table.  For all to see.

The ensemble members are to be commended for their vulnerability and patience.  This is a different path.  Keeping our eyes open as we take it and allowing it to surprise us, even if it is or feels like one walked before, will continue paying off. 

 "I was not expecting that."

Reflections on a tool: Rasa / Rasaboxes

From Rachel:

Rasa is a sanskrit word meaning taste/essence/flavor/spirit and it is connected with emotions. Like we have a wide spectrum of how we experience food flavors (salty, sweet, etc) so to is the spectrum of how we experience or express rasas.  Using the Sanskrit words keeps us from confining the rasa to a specific aspect of the emotion it is connected with (or at least the English words it is connected with).

Rasas are:

adbuta (surprise, wonder)

sringara (love, the erotic)  

bhayanaka (fear, shame)

bibhasta (disgust, revolt)

vira (courage, the heroic, virility)

hasya (laughter, comic, ridicule)

karuna (sadness, compassion, pity)

raudra (rage)

Playing the scene through with a predominant or driving rasa (and maybe a supporting or secondary rasa that occasionally jumps into the drivers seat) seems like it allows actors to make the internal process an external one. 

“...[I]t can be at once say that everything to do with the emotions has to be externalized; that is to say, it must be developed into a gesture. The actor has to find a sensibly perceptible outward expression for his character’s emotions, preferably some action that gives away what is going on inside him.”  - Brecht on Theatre, pg 139

 (There are two summary articles about Rasaboxes available, one to the point and one slightly more extended with exploratory exercises.  Lorraine sent them out to the company.  Email if you need them.)

Quick thoughts on emotion and alienation (and catharsis?)

From Rachel:

Shying away from creating a continuous narrative does not mean we should create work lacking in emotional and/or moral impact. In fact we should strive to do so 100%.  That’s how theatre itself is a tool for provoking thought and promoting dialogue.  We must be self-aware and self-referential. We must acknowledging ourselves as starting the conversation with the audience.  Acknowledging what we are doing and why we are doing it.  Acknowledging what they audience is doing; calling them out and asking them to consider why they are doing it.  

Grocery List

broccoli
tomato
onion
sunflower seeds
pecans
parsley
cucumber
green pepper
radishes
celery
mushrooms
carrots
mixed greens

less talking more shouting

From Wyckham:
I'm a terrible blogger. I have all of these great ideas to write about when I'm not sitting at a computer...and then I forget everything I was going to say. But really, I think it's hard to for me to get outside of the process while I'm in the middle of it as an actor. Right now I'm just trying to learn the music and continue to contemplate this character of Mother Courage. I have all of the songs uploaded on my iPod (both iPods actually, but I don't need to go into my whole music system) and listen to them in my car, at the gym and on the metro/bus. Today, while waiting for the red line train at Metro Center I was listening to "Deal Reprise" which has these great shout-y chant-y parts of "That's Us". They are very catchy. So catchy, there is no possible way to not shout along...which I think I did. Or at least mouthed it very firmly, and with most likely a fist pump to punctuate the syllables. I only realized I did this because of one guy's shocked and amused look from my antics. But I was in Ma Courage mode, so I was not embarassed and made a crazy-face at him and then continued down the platform.
Spring is here, the dead are gone, the snow is melted, they're all at peace.
And what remains must now continue, and what remains must now continue.
That's us (THAT'S US!) Let's Go. We're all that's left.

Music

From: Milo

It’s become apparent that I am either unable to or highly impeded from perceiving the “tone(s)” of the music I composed thus far, from the distance our discussions and readings on Brechtian theater act to model. There are a number of events that have indicated this, but I will point out one or two. Ironically, I first read the section on the use of music in Brechtian theater in the beginning of April, AFTER the music had been composed, laid out on cd for the vocalists and taught to the band. My initial reaction to the reading was that I had approached it completely wrong. I hadn’t gone into the process of composition with any depth of awareness of my own relationship to and perceptions of the script, with any understanding of the “gest” I was infusing the music with in relation to my own feelings around the text, the production or anything for that matter. Simply, I took the lyrics and tried, to the best of my ability and in accordance with my own interpretations, to set them to music aligned with the themes Rachel indicated for each song, and also in accordance with the basic aesthetic qualities of the music I was introduced to as “gypsy punk”. Through the process, it seems I have been and am still so familiar with the songs that I see and hear them on a very plain level- emotional qualities, chord progressions, vocal melodies and harmonies, instrumental additions, cues, tempos and dynamics. Each of them have aesthetic qualities and contextual relationships with the text, but it has become evident to me that I am more often than not so caught up in the technical and emotional delivery of the songs, that I am divorced from both the gross and nuanced “social gest” of the music, especially as it develops within the production. Perhaps this is serving the production in the sense that SOMEONE has this perspective rather than no one, but I am unsure. After completing the above mentioned reading, I remember thinking the best thing that I myself (and we as an ensemble- if the approach to the composing was indeed misguided) could do from that point on was to learn the music with as much neutrality as possible, so that it could be treated as a blank slate, or a pillar of artistic material standing straight, balancing on its own center which could be taken in any emotional, socio-contextual direction by pushing (or merely nudging) it one way or another, with specific intent (or on a whim) to follow and inform itself with it’s own natural momentum and to serve the production in the way music so often does, informing and being informed by the other elements it functions in synthesis with. I think this still can, does and will apply. Again though, the aspect that I haven’t a real grasp on, but one with which I am willing to walk in hand (for what else can I do?), is my own perspective. It feels somehow contextually deaf, blind or muted, and in this way it relates to the character Katrin and her manner of communication.

The qualities of “Brechtian Music” that pop for me are the ironic, sardonic, sarcastic, irreverent, etc., and though I haven’t fused these into the music intentionally, their presence has been indicated to me by others. This is relieving, but it also has set me to seriously question my own capability to hear the material in an objective and super-contextual way. Grappling with this, I am lead to believe or hope rather, that my own subjectivity may hold some value in our work unless I am able to gain a much broader perspective while in the deeper trenches of musical activity. I now listen carefully to subsequent thoughts on the music, in it’s present state, in relation to the production, with an increasing awareness that these perceptions are an integral part of what informs me of how the music is to be heard, and at the same time I wonder if it is or not what is important. Does that make any sense?


Acting and Creation of Material

One aspect of this rehearsal process that has been ringing out to me with regard to the “Epic Theatre” and “A-Effect” Brecht points to is how we as an ensemble are to witness and support each other in the creation of material and the practice of our method(s). I have yet to read anything on Brecht’s work and specific things that were to have been said by one actor to another in the studio process. I don’t know if they went about discussing the effects of the individual segments they created as we do. But the question of contrivance has come up more than once and because it has, I wonder if through our process it is to prove itself not merely incidental, but instrumental. As we create small scenes to present to the group for subsequent feedback, it seems integral that we are to hear differing opinions on the work. And in that way, it is important to be able to hear and speak such things as “this seemed contrived”, and “this bothered me because”, as well as “what worked for me was”, and “that was really interesting when”. To me, it is fairly evident in our rehearsals that everything created as well as the commentary and discussion around it is for the good of the group and the production. And it is at this point that I come to an important idea or two that were touched upon during last week’s rehearsals. In the notes for last Wednesday was one indicating “never try to recreate a successful moment, no matter how tempting”. But I say we do try to recreate successful moments, if only in order to learn how to do it on a broader scale. Perhaps to learn to recreate the “creation of successful moments”, however overly semantic that might sound. What is the difference between contrivance and crafting and how does that relate to “stepping outside ourselves” in both immediate and specific instances, as well as in larger contexts of the production? Contrary to the common assumption that contrivance of material is a liability to a production, how necessary might it be not only to allow contrivance, but to contrive purposefully to some extent, and to welcome multi-lateral observation and comment on it? In a more traditional production, I would want to be told about my habits and contrivances that detract from the integrity of the show. Someone to look over my shoulder to take the “kick me” sign from my back before I go into the scene is generally appreciated. But here, we are trying to learn this “technique” which pertains specifically to seeing ourselves from the outside. I feel it is above all, a very experiential practice and my intuition tells me that contrivance is to be waded through, gently and without avoidance. So then, what might come from entering into a scene aware of our contrivance, aware of and at peace with the “kick me” sign fastened to our back? Not sure, but I’m wondering. I trust there’s value in learning how what we create appears to audiences to be contrived, but I wonder what waits on the far side, what might be found in and through it. I don’t believe Epic Theatre is solely about contrivance, but I do feel there may be compelling material waiting patiently for and even requires us to pass through that which is contrived. The question that follows for me, if I’m in any way on a track we might walk together, pertains to how we create a community to act most comfortably and with brave generosity in contrivance and to witness it with awareness and compassion, so as to set the audience to do so as well. For I think somehow that cultivating this setting for our selves will result in a like change in the attitudes, awareness and receptivity of an audience that is to some extent, in tune. And can we not but risk that they will be in tune?

Reflections on a Tool: Tasks

From Rachel:

Seeing tasks as more than the traditional concept of “business” that the actor engages in over the course of the scene.

Tasks are not selected because they assists in creating or rounding out this imaginary world … because it is predictable that someone in that place/time/position would be doing something like that (example: waitress wiping down tables or refilling salt shakers). 

Tasks are intentionally selected or created because for the audience to witness that specific activity during the scene, it highlights or alienates something else in the scene. 

 

The task is the gest physically manifested.

Reflections on a tool: Grocery List

From Rachel:

Its roots in /connections to Brecht are:
• the use of titles/subtitles
• the “gest” (or “social gest” is defined as the carriage or bearer of the scene; a single aspect or attitude in a word or action).

The grocery lists are a list of descriptors that capture the event/story; they can be thought of as intentional distillations. They are aspects or details of the event that are pulled out, pointed to, emphasized, highlighted, called attention to.
• For me, Dave Bobb’s use of “White Bathing Suit” seems the gest of social embarrassment – something that carries the idea of open, public embarrassment in our shared social context (“us,” a specific people and time).

It was suggested on Wednesday’s rehearsal (April 1) that the grocery lists should be composed of nouns with adjectives (rather than, say, feelings) because the audience could clearly see them and then bring their own personal experience/story/reaction to it.

After pondering, I would agree that ideally these grocery lists are a list of phrases (which would only be modified nouns?) or single words (which would only be only verbs).

Thoughts?

Discussion of Vocal Improv #2, Part 2

http://www.zshare.net/audio/5808795797b8e77f/

Discussion of Vocal Improv #2, Part 1

http://www.zshare.net/download/58087876e25b9c57/

Vocal Improvisation, Exercise 2

Vocalists were seated in a circle, asked to synchronize breaths, allowing sound on the exhalation - a morphing sound that changes as the group changes.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/58087023b1582ab2/

Discussion of Vocal Improv #1

http://www.zshare.net/audio/5808764538c700b7

Vocal Improvisation, Exercise 1

Vocalists were asked to close their eyes, lay on theirbacks, move toward and make like sounds with the ones they were interested in.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/5808690489791b92/

Milo's Notes from First Rehearsal

From Milo:

Mother Courage Music and Sound Goals:

 - In rehearsal, to create/cultivate a setting of sound-in-time based receptivity and response rooted in mutual experience and understanding, and eventually to transfer/bridge this means of collaboration into space. 

- To generate and increase “co-incidence”, first by isolating the threads of focus by which we exchange our impulses in order to experience and become accustomed to this manner of action as an ensemble, then layering/putting together the components as our awareness and concentration allows. 

 - Introduce systems/forms that will help the ensemble to function in communicative exchange with increasing sensitivity and spontaneity.

 - Either place forms within the framework of the music and scenes so to guide and shape ensemble action, or become fluid and facile enough in this interplay that the systems themselves are no longer needed. 

 

Components:

1.  Facility of the songs written thus far.  Lyrics, melodies, harmonies, song forms, counts, etc., in order to build on, branch off of, alter, improvise within in and change in process.  Assertive learning.

2.  Devised, experimental structures for improvisation set into action with the intent of mining one or more of the following:  

- compelling/interesting material for further exploration within the production.

- Refinement in ensemble performance communication.  Articulate, dynamic, precise.

-  refinement in the improvisory structures themselves , either more specific or better suited for the ideas, images and themes of the production.

3.  Open, neutral, exploratory approach, willingness to risk failure and to act and assume responsibilities of musicians regardless of musical background.   

Rehearsal structure:   

1.     Warming up and part learning. 

2.     Exploration of the above mentioned ensemble communication. 

3.     Generating possible material.

 4/1, 14 – heavy work toward 1 and 2.  Less 3 

4/19, 21 – less 1, heavy 2, moderate 3. 

4/25, 28 – very little 1, less 2, heavy 3.

Rachel's Notes From First Rehearsal

From Rachel:

The Play & Production

The play follows the journey of a shrewd businesswoman and mother of three over the course of her war profiteering career.

It is written in classic Brechtian style—an epic story told through a sequence of scenes and songs depicting events from Courage’s life. Brecht rejected the traditional narrative structure of plays; he believed theatre should present ideas to the audience with the goal of inciting action.

Guiding principal of epic theatre is “one thing after another”  - not focusing on the building, inevitable causality of events to a fated end, but that events happen one after another and there exists the possibility of another action, one that can be taken but is not.

A quote from Brecht on Theatre (p 71): 

“The dramatic theatre’s spectator says: “yes, I have felt like that too—Just like me—it’s only natural—it’ll never change—the sufferings of this man appall me, because they are inescapable—that’s great art; it all seems the most obvious thing in the world—I weep when they weep, I laugh when they laugh.

The epic theatre’s spectator says: ‘I’d never have thought it –That’s not the way—that’s extraordinary, hardly believable—It’s got to stop—the sufferings of this man appall me, because they are unnecessary—that’s great art: nothing obvious in it—I laugh when they weep, I weep when they laugh.” 

Mother Courage is one of his most notorious subversive calls for social revolution. The play has the feel very easily of an epic (ie grand) narrative tracking Courage’s struggle, demise, or perseverance.  But this was not Brecht’s intention.

dog & pony dc’s Courage is “an political theatre revival”—a melding of Brecht’s production aesthetic with the structural elements of old-time revivals.

• Revivals were designed to awaken and renew the faith of believers as well as gain new members, the “converts.”
• A revival’s overall presentational structure was designed to evoke a strong audience response throughout the event and the centerpiece was always the sharing of ideology and doctrine through a sermon.
• While traditional religious revivals were several consecutive meetings occurring over multiple days, Courage condenses the structure into several consecutive events occurring in one night.
• Courage is an interactive, episodic theatrical event intended to “convert” the audience to an artistic and political message: be an active participant in your life and world—take action.
• “Art is not a mirror held up to society but a hammer with which to shape it.”

dog & pony dc’s Courage focuses heavily on engaging the audience as an integral part of the execution of the production. Even the actors’ objectives in performance are articulated in terms of persuading and winning over the audience.

Music

Milo composed eight original songs, drawing from Brecht’s lyrics as translated by David Hare from his Mother Courage.  Kurt Weil, Tom Waits, and Gogol Bordello as well as Shape Note and hymnals inspired the orchestrations. The commonality between them is the sound of “everyday people singing.”

Performers draw found objects from Courage’s wares to use in larger musical numbers; audiences can pull from this “instrument stock” to play along as well.

Audience will be incited to rise, dance, sing along; lyrics will be distributed for audience, and the chorus of one song will be wildly repeated to draw audience into the act of singing. 

Thoughts on this process so far

From Milo:

1. Be ready for blessings in disguise. This affirmation keeps arriving. Its message: “Remain open to the shape of your work evolving throughout your process.” It reminds me of an idea I was introduced to while I was struggling to direct this large, unwieldy, community production while in school. “Human beings are the bridge between heaven and earth,” my teacher told me. She went on to explain that our ideas exist, our visions and our intent, our thoughts, inspirations and dreams, they exist already, outside and above our selves in the “heavenly” realm. The earth is the reality we encounter every day. The ground we walk on, the food we eat, the rooms we stand in, the light of the daytime and the sound of the fan in the studio where I type. Humans are the intersection between these two dimensions. We bring about the physical form of our ideas and visions, our heaven, in the time and space we occupy. Their realities however, are never born just the way we see. They compromise with space and time, with breath and flesh and bone. Our visions must stand and face reality, whatever that may mean from one moment to the next, from one day or month to the next. And we can be sure that it will mean something different each month, each day and each moment. We always have a vision for how something will take place but which is more challenging, to make something exactly like we see it, or to yield and remain open to the natural occurrences that shape art (and life), within specific moments in the studio, and over the course of time? I’m not sure of the answer really, but I suspect that the only sane option is the second. And it lands in our laps. My hope is to struggle less and allow more. To watch and witness how many once conflicts are redeemed over time to each eventually be called blessings. Can I put my money where my mouth is? It’s not an easy order in my belly, for certain.

How does this apply to Brechtian Brechtisism? Anyone? Anyone?

2. I confess. To this day I don’t know why I was asked to write music for this piece. I didn’t know anyone from dog and pony dc to have ever heard any of my work. In addition, when I agreed to join forces, I no idea how far my own style of songwriting was from what I would be putting together. And that means they certainly couldn’t have known, either! I can write a basic song in basic song form. Verse, chorus, verse, verse, chorus, maybe a bridge, maybe not. Perhaps that is why I am here. The best part about it however, has been what I have learned from taking on work that has asked me to part with my own aesthetic. I have never written music like this before, and now these songs are me, too. So finding ways (and reasons) to step outside what you create normally, I recommend it. The solitude (and doubt) that accompanies such an endeavor, although engaging, has not been so romantic. There were these long periods of solitude in between one and the next conceptual meeting where our ideas about the production and the music were exchanged. I would come up with song fragments, and send recordings away to dpdc for review. And then there was solitude. It must be said now that solitude does not equate with silence. My mind was not at all silent. The time challenged me to face how fragile and needy my ego is. To need approval for your work and encounter solitude… is awakening. I sat, with my thoughts racing. It’s like going over to Granville Moore’s, hungry, to find a two and a half hour wait. You go and have a seat at the bar, watch everyone eat mussels and blue cheese burgers while you sip on a beer. For two and a half hours!! What is it to create something, then to sit with your thoughts, to watch and see them for long enough that they become naked, and exposed for what they are – your own desire to have groupies. Or, more accurately, to feel like others approve of your work. I thought I was past that, at least in part. Well, hopefully after the solitude, some of the extra is burning off to help in the reach to a deeper level…

3. Last thing for here and now is to address this faint, yet nagging call to try something I’ve never tried before as a musician, as a leader of musicians. The opportunity is here. To try something new within the rehearsal process is, I remind myself, the intent of the workshop production to begin with. “To find our pathway” so to speak. Though these songs are written, I think there remains room to find more music together, more sound to explore while together. My hope then is to find time when we can become musical and artistic geniuses together. My responsibility toward that end I believe is to temper that powerful desire to have our act polished and presentable, which so often leads us into tightly held, outcome driven rehearsals, with space for what I forget often in production – play. Actual, genuine play. Not He-Man, Transformers or G.I. Joe, but grown-up play. An intense, playful interest in group sound making is the wish of the day. I think it will require us to work efficiently through the song learning, but for me to be able to sit with my thoughts while it isn’t polished and create space for some carefully planned improvisation.

Inspiration from another medium

From Rachel:

At Lorraine's suggestion (via a class at VCU she observed) I rented Dogville, a film by Lars von Trier staring Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, and an amazing supporting cast (Chloe Sevigny, Stellan Skarsgard, Lauren Bacal, among others).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogville

http://www.iconmovies.co.uk/dogville/

Hard to describe its aesthetic but looks like a starkly produced play on a giant black box stage... and I do mean stage and not theatre. There was no perception of being in a structure. In fact, there were no structures at all. The perimeters of the buildings were line-drawn in white on the floor and in the middle of the "rooms" were written "Edison House" or somesuch definer. There was a small collection of furniture pieces as well (i.e. a desk covered with notes and books with a chair, a rocking chair, and a cabinet with medicines was all that was in one home).

It all suggested and represented a small town without showing outright an imagined/conjured small town.

The "production design" combined with titles preceding the nine different scenes and the almost constant narration of the action and the inner lives of characters heightened that the film was a fabrication, devised to be watched for some purpose. Ultimately that purpose was, I believe, to serve as an illustration of a moral lesson about charity, tolerance, and understanding -- which also happens to be the same thing one of the townspeople is doing when he invites Nicole Kidman's character into the town.

VERY BRECHTIAN! VERY A-effect (alientation-effect)!

And very inspirational as I near the finishing line of preparation for this workshop.

A quote from Brecht on Theatre I just read which relates:

"The object of of the A-effect is to alienate the social gest underlying every incident. By social gest is meant the mimetic and gestural expression of the social relationships prevailing between people of a given period.

It helps to formulate the incident for society, and to put it across in such a way that society is given the key, if titles are thought up for the scenes. These tiles must have a historical quality.

This brings us to a crucial technical device: historicalization.

The actor must play the incidents as historical ones. Historical incidents are unique, transitory incidents associated the particular periods. The conduct of the persons involve in them is not fixed and 'universally human'; ... [it] is subject to criticism from the immediately following period's point of view."

First Music Rehearsal

From: Lorraine

Last night we had our first music rehearsal. It was small - a couple of guitars, a bass, and a mandolin. Our percussionist and violinist will be joining us within a few weeks.

I was sitting along the wall listening in, trying to get some dog & pony work done, and wishing desperately to be playing along with them. It reminded me of when I was a little girl and would go with my dad to his jam sessions in the mountains. There was a lot of stop and go, exploration of chords, finding the rhythm of a piece. It was fun to listen to and every once in a while I would get goose bumps. Milo's music is amazing. I've been listening to the files he sent on my computer, pieces he's put together strumming the guitar and singing along and I've really fallen in love with the music - but it is no match for hearing the pieces live and fleshed out.

So far my favorite songs are Rabble and Home. Home tugged at my heart a little, especially hearing Jen Kaleba sing it. Below are the lyrics:

You plant a rose in March
You see it grow
A garden blooms
It's what a home is for
The seed becomes the bud
Becomes the flower
The blossom fades
In time you plant some more


The seasons change
The roof you made in June
Come November
Protects you from the snows
You're safe
You watch the blizzards
Through the winter

Home is where the heart is
Home is where the heart is
Goodness knows.

The Workshop Goals

From Rachel:
The concept of a "developmental workshop" is somewhat antithetical to a girl like me. While I embrace considerable change and re-imagining in rehearsals, I want to start my journey with my collaborators (actors, musicians, etc) holding a clear vision of the final product in my head. But that's not the way we are or should begin this process.

We are using this time to forge the path that will lead us to the starting place of the journey to the final, fully-produced play.

Did you follow that metaphor-chain? It must be worth repeating...

The purpose of the workshop--rehearsals and performances combined--is to explore how to make the paths, make a few, see where they take us, and determine in the end which one connects to (or comes the closest to connecting to) where we should begin envisioning the full production. So I am trying to fight the urge to imagine the final product in my head beyond a few key points:

1. It has original music.

2. It is following the spirit of Brecht's methodology and aesthetic.

3. It is engaging the audience in the creation of the production.

4. There is a big-ass wagon on stage which has things that light-up and move.

I would be lying if I said I had no other images, partial or polished, floating around because let's face it--of course I do! However, I want to embrace the workshop process and use it for all its worth. I don't want to know what it is going to be and make it; I want to play out the possibilities.

......

Related to the title of the post.... here's an official message about the workshop's goals as they stand now:

Courage is an American Political Theatre Revival, shaking up the concept of theatre, igniting political thought, and inciting action (in the production and the world). It's targeting active members of the artistic/theatrical and politically aware/active communities, and working to gain new members, "converts." What's the message? Be an active participant in your life and your world—take action.

When mounted in full, Courage is like to be dog & pony dc's most complex production to date. So the workshop is designed to address these areas and subsequent:

Points of Focus for Workshop

1. Approach to the script (creating a shared vocabulary and practice)

2. Creation and Incorporation of Music

3. Interaction with the Audience

4. Effect of Location on Production

Questions

1. How do we approach performing Bretch’s work in the spirit in which he intended?

2. What role does music/song play?

3. How do we interact with and include the audience? (How does the audience become integral to the creation of the production?)

4. How does the location effect the production for performers and audience?

....

(And for all those counting: this is my first blog posting ever, all by myself. Forgive or praise away.)

Pilgrim

From Wyckham:
Rachel and Milo are talking about using one of my all-time favorite oldy-timey songs in the show. Pilgrim. Here are some thoughts from the liner notes of Spine, by Cordelia's Dad. Written by Tim Eriksen, the guy you hear singing. "I don't know a better depiction of the soul homesick for heaven than this one by Samuel Stennett, an English Baptist. The hymn was extremely popular in the late 18th century US, and I bet we know a dozen tunes for it that are still in use."

I had sort of heard it when I was young I guess, because when I first heard this version of it, the melody came back to me instantly. I think the first 20-30 times I listened to this CD, I didn't even hear the words just the haunting sound of their voices, but then the story started to creep out of it and in to my ears and I was dumbstruck. I am not a terribly religious person, mostly because I don't like to name things i.e. heaven, God, etc. Naming something takes the power and mystery away and makes it pedestrian for me. However, music creates a terrific spirituality in me that is overwhelming. When I was back in New Hampshire for a spell, I sang in my church choir every Sunday. It was an incredible meditation for me, but sometimes I would literally burst in to tears while singing. My mouth would be wide open in the middle of a note and I would gasp for air as tears streamed down my face. Luckily, we were in the organ loft behind the congregation so I stayed fairly anonymous in my seeming outbursts.
So, maybe those are my moments with God or whatever you want to call it. If I ever witnessed God, it was surely while watching someone sing--Bobby McFerrin to be exact, yeah that Don't Worry Be Happy guy, trust me, listen to his other stuff, he is blessed by something not of this earth.
Anyway, all of this is to say, I'm terribly worried about singing this song and not being able to finish because I'm a big baby blubbering all over the place. It's a song with some power.

The words...
On Jordan's stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye,
to Canaan's fair and happy land where my possessions lie.

Oh, the transporting, rapturous scene that rises to my sight!
Sweet fields arrayed in living green, and rivers of delight.

There generous fruits, that never fail, on trees immortal, grow.
There rocks and hills and brooks and vales with milk and honey flow.

O'er all those wide extended plains shines one eternal day.
There God, the sun, forever reigns, and scatters night away.

No chilling winds, nor poisonous breath, can reach that healthful shore.
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death, are felt and feared no more.

When shall I reach that happy place, and be forever blessed?
When shall I see my Father's face, and in his bosom rest?

Filled with delight, my raptured soul can here no longer stay.
Though Jordan's waves around me roll, fearless, I launch away.

Wyckham wonders

Rehearsals begin in exactly three weeks...
The cast is nearly assembled, Milo continues to write amazing music and emails the clips (each time making me wonder more and more if I can really sing this stuff), instruments procured, and the band starts jamming on Tuesday! There is nothing like the excitement of throwing a bunch of artists in a room, unleashing a beast of play and seeing what happens. Here we will try to record as best we can some of what happens in said room.
Stay tuned...