Artists I admire: Team Enthroned

My blog was quieter than usual this week because I was in Dublin, Ireland, completing the work on the premiere of Jenny Macdonald's one-woman show Enthroned at the First Fortnight Festival.

The week was a whirlwind of activity, but also loads of fun and incredibly gratifying. Beyond the work I've been doing with Jenny over the last six months, I had the opportunity and privilege to work with Troy Hourie, my friend and colleague of 20 years and a fantastic scenographer. He created a unified visual world for Jenny's play, and it allows for Jenny to have a beautiful and transformative final moment in the play.

I also had the chance to work with Jenny's fantastic producer Michelle Cahill, who kept us all moving forward with a smile and a quiet support. I felt supported from start to finish because of Michelle, and I wish I could find some way to have her here in NYC. What a gift!

And Sorcha Shanahan started as the assistant director and stage manager, and then became the lighting technician and also the house manager. She did all of those jobs with a bright smile, and a level of enthusiasm and precision that's difficult to match. 

Our ASM Seroosh Salimi came into mix on Wednesday, and in a couple of hours, it was like he had been with us from the beginning.

It was a pleasure and a privilege to be there in Ireland, working with friends and colleagues old and new, to make something that was truly gratifying and moving in its opening on Thursday evening. I sat and watched it all unfold, somehow connected to each of the people above, watching them work in their own individual ways to make the production a rousing success.

For all of the above, and because I'm so damned proud of what we accomplished as a group of artists, the members of Team Enthroned are the artists I admire this week.

At Capacity--Scene 6: The relativity of importance

(Lights find Julia and Steve at a counter in a hardware store. They are looking at a stack of various shaped storage containers. Steve is picking up each container, opening it, looking carefully inside, smelling it, looking through it to see how clear it is, etc. Julia stands behind him and watches, growing more impatient as he seemingly can’t make up his mind. As he picks up another, she sighs heavily as he examines it closely. After a thorough inspection, he turns to her and holds out the container. Julia looks at it in his hand and shrugs. He motions for her to take it, she does so, gives it a cursory look.)

JULIA (handing it back to him)
It works for me.

STEVE
You barely even looked at it!

JULIA
You looked at it plenty for both of us.

STEVE
It’s gotta be just right to protect it.

JULIA
Omigod, it’s just a piece of dirty old glass.

STEVE
That snowflake is not dirty. It was important to Mom, then lost for a long time. I’m not letting that happen again.

JULIA
But we’re sorting through the stuff. It’s going to go to one of us anyway, so why don’t we just worry about storage after we divvy everything up.

STEVE
Because it can’t just be lying around loose. It’s not good for it. I want it protected. What if falls of a table or someone sets something on it?

JULIA
That’s not going to happen.

STEVE
How do you know?

JULIA
I just know.

STEVE
Mom probably thought the same thing, and then it just disappeared. That’s won’t happen if it’s in a proper container.

(Steve starts towards a cash register off in the distance.)

JULIA
Do you really believe that?

STEVE
Yes, if it’s protected no one will lose it and then—

JULIA
No, I mean about it being lost. Do you really think it just disappeared?

STEVE
Well, what else happened to it?

JULIA
I don’t know. (She looks at him carefully.) I don’t think that things just disappear though.

STEVE
Well, the snowflake did. But it’s really good that you found it.

JULIA
Yeah, great. Now you can be obsessed about it like Mom was.

STEVE
I’m not obsessed about it. I just want it to be safe. Mom would want that.

JULIA
Uh huh. (she pauses for a moment; thinks before she says this next bit) Would Dad?

STEVE
What do you mean?

JULIA
Would Dad want the snowflake around?

STEVE
I don’t know. What’s that got to do with anything?

JULIA
I just don’t remember him liking the snowflake very much. He sorta tried to always put something else at the top of the tree. Then Mom would come in and insist that the snowflake go up instead. Maybe Dad just made it go away.

STEVE
Don’t say stuff like that about Dad. He wouldn’t do something like that. It’s not nice to make up stories about dead people, especially our parents. He’s gone.

JULIA
And so is Mom.

STEVE
And?

JULIA
They’re both gone, Steve. But you’re like stuck on this snowflake because you think it’s what Mom would want. “That it stays in the family.” “That we never let it out of our sights again.” All that happy crappy stuff she liked to say.

STEVE
What’s wrong with keeping things in the family?

JULIA
I didn’t say—

STEVE
And why shouldn’t it stay with us?

JULIA
It’s all just so sentimental. Why are you and Claire so sentimental about all of this. I don’t get it.

STEVE
Yeah, well, I don’t get you. You always take the other side about this stuff.

JULIA
What other side?

STEVE
Like whenever I worried about Mom or wanted to do something for her, you always tried to tell me it wasn’t necessary. “Stop worrying about her, she’s fine.”

JULIA
That’s not true.

STEVE
It is true. You never wanted me to take her to the doctors or make her dinner or go out of my way to help her. You always gave me hard time about it. Even when we were kids.

JULIA
You’re crazy. I’m going to go wait in the car while you pay for that. (she goes to leave)

STEVE (raising his voice, drawing attention in the store)
It’s true! That time in kindergarten when you—

JULIA
Yo yo yo, quiet down. People are looking at us!

STEVE
So?

JULIA
The whole store doesn’t need to know our business from kindergarten.

STEVE
OK, “Dad.”

JULIA
What is it with the parental comparisons every time I say something?

STEVE
That’s what’s happening to you. You sound like both of them.

JULIA
No way. I will never be like them. I’m going out to the car. Pay for that and let’s get out of here.

STEVE
That time in kindergarten when we were making cards for our families for Christmas. You said you didn’t want to make one. I said I wanted to make two. You made fun of me and told the other kids at your table to make fun of me. I made two any way, one for Mom and one for Dad, and then when we got home you pretended that one of them was from you.

JULIA
You’re still not over that? I was 5 years old, Steve. I didn’t want to get the paste on my fingers, so I didn’t make the card. What’s the big deal?

STEVE
You lied about it to Mom and Dad.

JULIA
So did you! You didn’t say a word when I said I made it. That’s just as bad.

STEVE
What was I supposed to do? You always did that to me, Julia. All the time as kids. You would lie to them, and then I’d have to lie too. I hate lying. And you just kept doing it. Middle school report cards. “Where are your report cards?” “We didn’t get them yet.” High school curfews. “Where are you both going?” “Out with friends to the late movie at the mall.” Then you’d drive us to the city. College break plans. “I’ve got a final really late this term. I won’t be home until right before Christmas.”

JULIA
I learned that from Claire.

STEVE
Doesn’t matter. At least Claire eventually told the truth. You were always lying about things, and then I ended up lying to. Do you know what my first penance was?

JULIA
You’re not supposed to talk about what you say to a priest.

STEVE
It was about lying for you. I was terrified to go to confession because I thought part of it was going to be getting yelled at. I had Father Fitzsimmons—

JULIA
Ugh.

STEVE
And we had to go face to face, remember?

(Julia just looks at him.)

STEVE
And when I got to the part about the sins, I told him about the lies. And he just kind of looked at me funny. We were in second grade, Julia.

JULIA
So?

STEVE
Then he told me not to lie for you or for anyone else anymore, and then he said to say three Hail Marys and a Glory Be.

(Steve looks at Julia. She looks back at him.)

JULIA
What do you want me to say?

(Steve clutches the container.)

STEVE
I don’t want you to say anything. Just stop lying.

JULIA
I don’t lie anymore.

STEVE
I don’t believe you.

JULIA
I don’t lie about things that are important.

STEVE
What’s important is relative.

JULIA
Yes. It is.

STEVE
So if it doesn’t matter to you, but it does damage to me, isn’t that important to consider?

(Julia takes this in, looks at Steve for a moment.)

JULIA
Survival of the fittest, Steve. You should read some Darwin.

STEVE
I hate Darwin.

JULIA
That explains a lot.

STEVE
But we’re twins, Julia.

JULIA
Fraternal twins. 

STEVE
Doesn’t that mean something to you?

(Julia is silent.)

STEVE

Has it ever meant anything to you?

(Julia doesn’t say anything.)

JULIA
I’ll wait in the car. Just hurry up and pay for the container.

(Julia walks out of the store, leaving Steve to call after her.)

STEVE
I can’t believe you!

(Julia stops for a second without turning around and then walks away. Lights fade as Steve stands looking after Julia as she exits. End of scene.)

Day 7: Setting suns over Buckingham Palace and DGHS London 2016

Sunday marked the final full day of the Deans Global Honors Seminar London 2016 experience. On Monday the students fly back to New York or move on to other study away destinations, and I fly over to Dublin to open a show on Thursday.  Stay tuned for more on that

I met with the students in small groups today to discuss their final projects. Each student presented a brief two-minute overview of their project, and the other students in the group were able to ask questions and make comments with the intention of helping to clarify the project and strengthen it for the final submission. I thoroughly enjoyed the two hours of hearing about these projects, and I'm actually looking forward to experiencing them on January 22. We will then meet as a class again on January 29 to debrief our trip to London and have a final session together to close out the seminar.

After those meetings, I traveled to St. James' Park where I met Orla Hasson and her two sons, Luke and Isaac. We had a lovely walk around the park, past Buckingham Palace, and then stopped in for some tea and hot chocolate. After that lovely time together, as we walked back to the tube stop, the setting sun made some beautiful colors in the sky, particularly just above and beyond Buckingham Palace. Orla and I both commented about the winter light that afternoon, so I snapped a picture. Later I realized that the setting sun behind Buckingham Palace served as an excellent metaphor for the final evening of this London adventure. I started the week not terribly thrilled about being in London, as it's not my favorite city. But as I end my experience this week, I'm grateful for the friends and colleagues I've been able to re-connect with, the art and facilitation I've been able to witness, and the students I've been able to interact with each day over the past week. I finally felt comfortable in London these past few days, and of course, now it's time to move on to the next project and then back home for the next semester.

The setting winter sun behind Buckingham Palace.

We had our final group dinner in London at Wagamama, and it was great to see how far we've come as a community of artists and thinkers. The food was nice, the conversation was flowing, and the picture below sums up what a strong group these students have become. I'm also grateful to my NYU Washington Square colleagues Jeanne Bannon and Rachel Whorton for their incredible support this week. I've had a great time traveling, talking, and witnessing with them, and I hope we can do it again in the future!

DGHS London 2016 at Wagamama for our final group dinner!

Day 6: Trusting others with a story

On Saturday, our sixth day in London, we worked with Corinne Micallef, a facilitator with Phakama, an arts organization based in London. Phakama means "rise up," and it's a fitting name for an organization that works to unite communities across difference and diversity. The company's way of working, called Give and Gain, models theatre for change at its best, and the students had a chance to move through sections of the company's unique devising process to create a piece of art. Corinne truncated the process for our two-hour workshop slot, but highlights included creating a Give and Gain Wheel, using name stories as the starting point for a larger narrative, trusting building through story sharing and development, and ultimately a site-specific performance presentation in various rooms on the lower level of the NYU London facility.

The Give and Gain part of the process asks each participant to state what they have to give to the process and what they hope to gain from the process. These elements are placed on a wheel that lives in the workshop space throughout the creation process. I hope to modify and use the Give and Gain premise in my own future work, as I love the idea that participants also have valuable knowledge and expertise to share. I'm also thinking about ways to use it in a classroom setting. More on that in a future post.

The Give and Gain Wheel

Corinne Micallef and the completed Give and Gain Wheel for our community on this devising process.

Corinne's devising process asked groups of students to respond to each other's name stories, sculpt images of the stories, and unite those stories into still images. Then these images were passed from one group to the next in a carousel format, and with each pass, Corinne instructed the groups to add another layer: movement, sound or text, etc. After the fifth rotation, Corinne crafted an order for the presentations., and then each group chose a location for their presentation. We moved from room to room, and viewed the fruits of two hours of labor. It was inspiring to see how much the students invested in the process, and their trust in one another shown through in their willingness to pass on their stories and in the presentations themselves.

Later that day after the workshop with Corinne, I was able to reconnect with Jonathan Harden over drinks at Skylon on London's South Bank. We talked more about the growing success of his podcast, and what might happen next. I've known Jonathan for almost ten years now, and he's always thinking and reflecting, coming up with the next idea or direction to pursue. There's an itch there, one I understand and appreciate, as I often feel it as well. It's not always clear what to do with that itch, but as long as it's there, I know that I still have work to do.

In the evening, we attended our final performance of the trip, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I had seen this West End production in March 2013 and then the Broadway production in October 2014. The performance on Saturday evening was disappointing. Overacting, lack of sensitivity, unearned discoveries, and playing for laughs when laughs aren't the intention. As a result, there was a lot of coughing throughout the performance coming from the audience, always a sure sign that there's a problem. I had curated the performances in a specific order, as I thought this production would be an amazing finale to a great week. Unfortunately, this performance was not as good as I had hoped. Still a great play, but this particular cast is currently missing the mark. Speaks to that idea of trust: sometimes it's hard to trust others with a story if they aren't being careful with it or respectful of it. Lessons from the morning session play out in an evening performance.

Day 5: Exploring a place from the street view

Our fifth day featured a workshop with Jonathan Harden, a native of Belfast now living and working in London as an actor. I've known Jonathan for nine years now, as he's a frequent contributor to NYU Steinhardt's Ireland Study Away program in the summer. I asked him to do a version of a site-specific theatre workshop here in Bedford Square that he usually facilitates in Belfast. It's a way of discovering more about a place than simply what's presented as part of the "package." So often on these kinds of experiences, we can just get the tourist version of a city, whereas Jonathan believes (and I've seen that it's rightly so) that when we start to ask others about their experiences in a place, particularly if they live or work there, that we begin to see the place beyond what we get through a tourist's lens.

Jonathan began the workshop with a mapping exercise at an outdoor workshop space at the corner of Bedford Square, exploring birthplace, place of heartbreak, place never to return to, dream place to visit, etc. Students then created still images of Heathrow airport, their accommodations at NYU, and a moving machine image of Heathrow.

Jonathan Harden (right, red scarf) setting the group onto a task to create a map of their world.

These activities led into an exploration of the people and spaces around Bedford Square, the location of the NYU London facilities. We'd obviously been moving in, out, and around these facilities all week, but Jonathan described this exploration as getting down to "street level" on Google Maps. How can we really understand a space or location beyond simply moving through it? He set the group out into the surrounding streets to interact with people, both outdoors and in shops, asking them for their name if they would share it and their relationship to the area. Jonathan also asked the students to identify spaces or locations in the area that were incomplete or unfinished, and these became the sites for short performances about the people they encountered and questioned in and around Bedford Square.

An example of a performance outside an incomplete site just off of Bedford Square.

Following these outdoor performances, Jonathan wrapped up his workshop, and we discussed how these activities and new understandings of this particular location might influence or affect some of the final projects for the course. We moved into a lunch break, only to return an hour later to enter the British Museum. The excellent exhibitions from all over the world tied nicely into the Global Honors Seminar, and students had the chance to move through the museum at their own pace.

The Great Court at the British Museum.

As for me, I had a lovely visit over tea and cakes with Steinhardt alum Peter Lockyer and his wife Melanie, and then headed out to Brixton for a home-cooked meal with Orla Hasson and her husband Paco. Excellent ways to finish out the day: with great people, great conversation, and great food.