Just Too Much Going On
Dunkirk NY – There has been a lot going on around Fredonia lately, and it has kept me from getting anything on the blog in the past week. The first week of school always seems to catch me by surprise, and although this time I felt ready, there was still a lot to deal with. Here is the list in summary:
- Bathroom remodeling. This came about suddenly, and so my wife and I caught up in the whirlwind of ordering all the new fixtures and accessories for the project.
- Combat class. I decided to try to take another item off the bucket list and attempt to get the SAFD certification in broadsword. This means I take the stage combat class taught by my colleague Ted Sharon every Tuesday and Thursday. This adds a class to my teaching schedule, and I have to move in it. Soreness and fatigue will be the order of the day for a few weeks.
- TACT. The Theatre Arts Curricular Transformation site is almost – almost – done. Just some small things to check before I announce it to the world. This is a co-project that Scott and I are trying to get off the ground in an attempt to get the word out concerning the need to change theatre curricula across the country.
- College of Visual and Performing Arts at SUNY Fredonia. The creation of a new College of VAPA is being discussed by the entire campus faculty, and I have been trying to help bring that about.
- Middle States – this is actually winding down, but I do have to stay alert.
But the biggest thing happening this weekend is the visit by Qui Nguyen and Robert Ross Parker from Vampire Cowboys to our humble campus in Fredonia. And let me tell you, the students and I are having a good time! We are getting the opportunity not only to have a workshop in unarmed martial arts combat by Qui, but he has brought with him his latest play, Alice in Slasherland, and he and Robert are doing their first read-through of the play and they are using the students to begin workshopping the production and getting ideas. The play is opening March 18th and running until April 10th at their home theatre in Brooklyn NY.
What’s really exciting about having Qui and Robert here is that these two guys built their theatre from the ground up based on their own aesthetic and artistic sensibility. That’s exactly what I want our theatre students to see and to see more often – people who didn’t go chasing after someone else’s brass ring, but made a brass ring of their own. They write about the things they like and that interests them, they produce fun, unique shows that bring people into the theatre who otherwise would never go, their shows sell well, and they’ve given themselves and their ensemble of artists a theatrical home in which to continue to develop their craft as an ensemble. I don’t think you could ask for more, and I do think that this is precisely the message all theatre students need to hear.
So check out a few of videos from today’s work, and hopefully I’ll be able to show you some totally exclusive previews of Alice after tomorrow! -twl
