Bit by bit, Putting it together

Oh, hey there! Remember the good ol' days when I used to update this blog in a timely fashion? Remember that? Whoa, what happened?

So yes, I apologize for not posting anything in the past few weeks. I've been INSANELY busy, so I'm going to do a very rambling rapid fire update of all the things that have kept me distracted from this blog. Deep breath, and....

1) Parents weekend! Well, for me, only Parent Weekend, singular, since my dad was busy with (insert-work-related-thingy-that-I-don't-remember-here). But my Mom came to campus for about four days to frolic about the town with me and see how wonderful this happy-go-lucky college lifestyle is. I took her to some of the wonderful restaurants in town, showed her more of the campus than she got to see during orientation, took her to the Obertones and Acapelicans Parents Weekend Concerts (the latter of which I performed in), and, most importantly, introduced her to the wonder that is the Slow Train Cafe. Over the course of 4 days, she spent approximately 32 hours there, I believe. The next time she visits, she's signing up for a loyalty card so she can earn herself some free drinks :)

2) I saw several on campus productions, some of which I was required to see for my Theater Class, and some I just wanted to see. (You know, for fun. Theater folks think that kind of stuff is fun.) First, on the same weekend as the "Godot" that I wrote about a gazillion years ago, I also saw the T&D production of Topdog/Underdog. A few weeks later, I had another double-show weekend, which included the T&D production of a student written play called "Hypnosis for Salesmen" and the music conservatory's production of the opera A Wedding (of which you can find a formal review here.) All three of these were absolutely amazing, and I would really love to write full length posts about each of them. But I would just die, so I'm not doing that. Sorry. Feel free to blame my laziness.

3) Acapelicans news! We are currently preparing for our end of semester final concert. New pieces will include a medley of PBS children's show theme songs (Reading Rainbow, Wishbone, Arthur, Sesame Street and Bill Nye), and Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight." Yup. It's gonna be a hell of a concert...

4) Other performing news! I was recently cast in two Winter Term Theater projects: A production of Eugene Ionesco's "The Bald Soprano" and a workshop of a student written play called "The Deep." They rehearse all through January, and go up in February. I'm so excited to be participating in both of these, so once we get started in January, I will most definitely be updating regularly about both of them. Stay tuned!

5) Thanksgiving break! I returned to Binghamton yet again to celebrate Thanksgiving with my Mom, her girlfriend, my brother, and my grandfather, and it was absolutely wonderful. In addition to all of the amazing food and the opportunity to see my family again, this was also the first time that I was home at the same time as my high school friends, so I was able to see many of them. I also drank a lot of bubble tea, and had some spontaneous guitar/ukulele serenading sessions with my brother. So between all of those things, I basically crammed everything I had missed about home into five days. Success.

6) I did my scheduling for next semester and lots of essay writing/revising, and had another midterm. But if I think about any of those for too long, I'll probably turn into a giant squid of anger, so I'm just not going to.

Now, what's up next on the horizon, you may ask?

1) Auditioning for the Acting I class! I'm actually doing that later today! Gahhh!

2) Theater 101 showcase: Everyone in our class participates in a final showcase in December, which will feature several small 10 minute plays. The one in which I will be performing is called "Duet for Bear and Dog." It's about a bear and a dog. And some humans. Yeah.....

3) Final exams and papers. See entry number 6, above.

4) Winter break is only about three weeks away! Huzzah!!!

5) Winter term, which means spending a month on campus doing absolutely nothing but those two plays I mentioned. Ummm, AWESOME. I'm pretty darn excited.

6) In addition, I'm considering possibly starting a vlog during winter term. I figured that since I spend so much freakin' time watching other people's youtube videos, and I've always had a super secret fantasy of becoming a famous vlogger, and people generally think I'm a fairly witty person, I could start up a channel on which I would discuss some current events, give my opinions on various movies/books/music etc. complain about college problems, get more involved in the Nerdfighter community, throw in a lot of cheesy jokes, and maybe even post some of my original songs that I've been dying to record. Plus, this would be a great way to learn about video editing and things like that. However, it might be something I should save for an official Winter Term project, because I could really make it more of a learning experience for myself, and actually earn J-Term credit for it. (On the other hand, if I decided to start it up before January, then I could participate in this year's Project for Awesome, which I've always wanted to do!) Thoughts?

Well, that's all for now. Time to do some audition preparation. Seacrest, OUT!

Ze play is ze - how you say? - Is ze thing, yes?: A Review of OSTA's production of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot."

Okay, so those of you who are not familiar with Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," are probably going to be confused by this post. So I recommend that you either see a production/recording of the play before reading this, or (if you're the type of person who doesn't mind spoilers) read this description of the play, just to get some background info. Or read the play itself, if you're feeling ambitious. (NOTE: THIS POST CONTAINS INFORMATION ABOUT A SHOW THAT CONTAINS ADULT THEMES, NUDITY, VIOLENCE, AND LATEX. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED)

Go ahead. I'll wait.... Done? Okay now that we're all caught up, let's talk about the production of "Waiting for Godot" that I saw this weekend.

Before seeing this play, the buzz I had heard about it had me extremely confused and I had no idea what to expect. I kept hearing people refer to it as "Gaydot" and descriptions of the show usually unvolved phrases like drag queen, lesbians, naked people, and sex-slave. And my reaction was something along the lines of "Ummm....what? We're talking about the same play, right?" At the time, the way that people had described this production to me made me set my expectations pretty low, because it led me to believe that the show was being completely "gayed up" solely for the purpose of....well, making it gayer. I mean, beforehand I had been aware that there are some vague homoerotic themes in the script that are sometimes addressed very subtly in some productions, but saying that they were of central importance in the play would probably be a stretch. So, I went into the play readily equipped with a gigantic sack full of salt grains with which to take this interpretation.

However, upon seeing the play itself and reading the program notes by the director (coincidentally also the teacher of my "Gender and Sexuality in Disney Films" class), I felt quite differently. Allow me to briefly paint you a mental portrait of the characters: Vladimir and Estragon are portrayed as a bickering lesbian/trans couple, dressed in somewhat ill-fitting brown suits, and accessorized with black bowler hats (Estragon with a pair of dark rubber boots while Vladimir goes shoeless); Pozzo is depicted as an flashy, short tempered uber-diva in drag (shimmery turquoise ballgown, small leopard-print pill box hat with a black veil, fabulously colorful eye make-up. That's right, I said drag.); Pozzo's servant, Lucky is portrayed as a sex slave, with a long leash around his neck and dressed leather pants, with several chains hanging off of his body. (Tobias Funke's unfortunately accidental "leather-daddy" ensemble comes to mind....) Finally, remember the tree? The only specified set piece in the script? The tree is made up of five people, wearing flesh-colored underwear and covered in body paint symbols, standing in a very close huddle, performing what appeared to be a form of contact improvisation.

This certainly made for a very interesting theater experience. Those of you who have seen a production of this play know that ANY production of it is certainly a very interesting experience, but this was SO far beyond that. Instead of the typical silent, colorless environment created for most productions, in this one, lighting and music were used many times throughout the play to heighten the mood of each interaction. There were two moments in which I found this to be particularly effective:
•The first of these, was Pozzo and Lucky's first entrance: In the middle of a conversation between Vladimir and Estragon, all of a sudden, the stage lights went out and the room was filled with the multicolored disco-style spotlights one would see at a drag show, and the intro to the Scissor Sisters' Laura began to blast throughout the room as Lucky (followed at leash-length by Pozzo) proceeded to strut across the performance space. Most epic entrance ever? I think so.
•The second amazing moment with incredibly powerful use of lighting and sound was Lucky's famous monologue in the first act (full text of which can be found here). During this speech, the lights remained black and white, but flashed on and off, with spotlights running over the entire stage. As Lucky spoke, running all over the space, there was noise underneath him, created both the moans of pain and chaos coming from the other three characters, who eventually tackled him to the ground and subdued him into silence. Definitely one of the most powerful moments in the play for me.

However, you may still be wondering what the exact point was of all of these interpretational decisions (especially considering the fact that Samuel Beckett plays are NEVER done professionally in this manner, thanks to the uptight members of the Beckett Estate who forbid interpretations other than the one envisioned by the playwright). Well, the director's primary aim with this play was to use the conflicts and themes already present in the script as a vehicle for portraying social issues for the queer community. This direct quote from his program notes explains his interpretation pretty clearly:

"I have used the existential crises that occur naturally within the play to be acted out by stereotypes in the queer community. With this production, I have attempted to "hold the mirror up" to heteronormative society in order to show them the cookie cutter shapes they have placed on us: a squabbling lesbian/trans/genderfucked couple, a trashy fabulous drag queen, and BDSM slave, even reducing the world where we live into naked bodies."

Now, the director also admits in his program notes that he was intentionally "queering" the play, meaning that he was "deliberately reading LGBTQ (QIAPPLSWXYZ) issues onto a play that does not have them explicitly stated in order to reclaim in for myself and for the queer community." However, in my opinion, after having seen the ways in which he analyzed the script and the impact it had on the production as a whole, I do not think (as some others do) that this belittles the production or interpretation in any way. I do not believe that elaborating upon themes that are not explicitly spelled out in the script makes them any less real or any less meaningful. It is true that, with any directorial project, one has to take into account the question of "Is what I am doing really serving the play?" which is why many people think that such outlandish interpretations are just gratuitous and absurd. However, I felt that this director's interpretation did serve the play, in the sense that it forced me, as an audience member, to think about the themes of the play more deeply and, subsequently, question what the play says about the human condition. Because, after all, isn't that the point of theater?

And a little sidenote to the members of the Beckett Estate and anyone else who thinks that radically different interpretations such as this are unacceptable in the theater: Pick. A. Different. Medium. If you honestly think that a script written by one person and interpreted by one person cannot possibly be interpreted in any other way, then theater is not for you. If every production of every play were an exact carbon copy of the original production, as interpreted by the playwright and ONLY the playwright, why would anyone bother going to the theater? People don't go to see revivals of old plays because they want to see a carbon copy. They want to see something new. They want to see what another person saw when they analyzed the script. They want to be presented with another way to think about the play. They may think it was a bad interpretation, or they may disagree with the director's concept, but at least they will come out of the theater thinking about it in a different way than they were before they went in.

All of the actors gave great performances that made me truly care about each and every character. One effect that the gender-bending and character re-interpretations had for me, as an audience member, was that every relationship seemed to have much higher stakes than those in the original production, and I became much more invested in what they said and how they interacted. In addition, I must give an entire bucket of props to the five most focused, physically impressive people on the stage: The "Treeple." They were onstage for three hours straight, standing in a huddle, moving very slowly as one cohesive living being, supporting each other's weight as they leaned on one another, using their arms to represent branches, without losing focus OR stealing attention from the action. #extremelyimpressedwithyourmadskillz. I was also very fascinated by the ways in which the tree actually reacted to the action going on with the other characters, making the tree much more than just a part of the scenery.

Overall, I thought this production was very powerful, and I enjoyed it a lot. I came out of the production with an entirely new view on the play, and a renewed appreciation for directors who can pull off controversial productions like this one without losing focus on the play and truly make their audience think more about the work. Because of these, I would say that the production was definitely success.

And you're back again, Only different than before

Welcome back Obies!

So, I had intended to just take a break from blog posting for the week that I was away for fall break and then pick it up once I got back. Well, I inadvertently let two whole weeks go by without writing anything, so, here I am! I'm back! Huzzah! Oh joy, oh rapture unforseen!

Here's a brief recap of the various things I did during fall break:
•Ate all of my favorite foods. Literally. I don't know how, but my parents did an EXCELLENT job planning this, so that all of the meals I had missed the most were incorporated into the week. For that, I give both of them extensive gratitude.
•Celebrated my mother's half birthday (umm, totally normal, right?) Six months ago, when her actual birthday happened, she was so busy and overwhelmed with things to do that her birthday celebration got put off and it was in general a not-so-enjoyable birthday experience. So we decided to give her a redo birthday, with a special dinner and some "half" gifts.
•Spent some time with two of my closest friends from home, who I had missed very much. We went out to dinner at The Lost Dog Cafe (i.e. the greatest restaurant in existence, famous for it's Rigatoni a la Vodka), watched the DVD of Rogers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" (the epically amazing one starring Brandy, Whitney Houston, Bernadetta Peters, etc.) and bought some wonderful/tacky sweaters at the Salvation Army. Pretty much the three standard activities necessary for spending time with friends in Binghamton.
•Watched "Waiting For Godot" for the first time (an excellent film version of the Samuel Beckett play). I did this in preparation for the upcoming Oberlin production of the play (stay tuned, I will most likely be reviewing it after I see it). It was a fascinating piece, although for the first hour or so after watching it, all I could think was "Wow. So that's 'Waiting for Godot.' Whooooaaaa...." It was certainly an experience.
•Did some epic catching up on laundry, sleep and episodes of "How I Met Your Mother," all of which have been seriously neglected since I arrive at Oberlin.
•Spent a night in New York City with my older brother, who I hadn't seen in quite a while and missed like crazy. (Thanks for being such a great traveling assistant, Ned!)

So, after a wonderful relaxed week in Binghamton and then an incredibly hellish traveling weekend (two completely separate awful bus experiences in one weekend...stupid snow...) I finally arrived back in Oberlin. I've been here for about a week, and I must say, it feels absolutely amazing to be back. Even though I loved my week in Binghamton and definitely needed the break, stepping off the bus and walking back to my dorm filled me with an extremely intense feeling of "Ahhhhh, at last. I'm finally home." I guess that's probably a sign that I'm at the right college, right?

And now, a recap of the busy week I've had since I've been back in Oberlin:
•On Monday, I had a really fun (albeit somewhat odd) Halloween night with a bunch of my friends. Costumes included Snooki, a flapper, a fairy, a "cat" (I use quotations because he really didn't look much like a cat...), a cowgirl, Mimi (from "Rent"), and several other wacky outfits that I randomly saw on campus. I was Bellatrix Lestrange. I know, totally badass, right? (If you don't know who that is, you clearly have not been making efficient use of the past 14 years, and have some serious reading to do.)
•I discovered on Tuesday that I had, indeed, caught the cold that my brother had warned me he was dealing with. As a result, my trash can is completely full to the brim with used tissues, cough drop wrappers, and wet tea bags. Yep...
•On Wednesday, I auditioned for the Winter Term productions. In January (aka, Winter Term or J-term), classes are not in session because all Oberlin students are required to do an independent project of their choice. It can be anything from an internship, to a research project, to a trip abroad, to learning a new language, etc. Basically anything that you can prove has some sort of educational merit. During this year's Winter Term, there will be three student-directed plays in rehearsal, which can count for J-term credit for all cast/crew members, so I decided to audition for all three of them. This would require staying on campus for the whole month (most people decide to go off campus for J-term) but I think it would be a really fun, interesting process, so I decided to go for it. And I discovered this morning that I got a callback for one of the shows, so I will keep you posted on how that goes!
•Also on Wednesday night, I participated in the Acapella Study Break Concert, a concert by all five student acapella groups in the middle of midterms week, intended to give people an hour of stress relief from their insane, hectic study/homework schedules. It was such an amazing concert, and I had an absolute blast. I sang with my all-female group, the Acapelicans (not full voice though, because of my cold) and we did a fabulous job with both of our pieces ("Java Jive" by Manhattan Transfer, and "Walking On Broken Glass" by Annie Lennox). This was also my first opportunity to hear the other groups perform, and they all did amazingly as well (other groups included the male barbershop quartet "3 Dudes and a Guy," another female group called "Nothing But Treble," a co-ed group that does primarily jazz and folk called "Round Midnight," and the ever popular all-male group, "The Obertones.")
•Yesterday, I spent a great deal of time looking through the online course catalog, trying to decide what classes I want to register for next semester...Wait, next semester? Already? WHAAAAT??? Yep, that's right, registration starts in a couple of weeks. Yikes! Since I have a several distribution requirements to fulfill (3 natural science course, 3 social science courses and 3 humanities courses, not to mention the requirements for Quantitative Proficiency, Writing Proficiency, and Cultural Diversity), I really want to try to balance my schedule out well, so I made enormous lists of classes in each area that I was interested in, making sure I have plenty of backups prepared (since many of the classes I wanted to take this semester filled up really quickly and I didn't get to take them). I won't tell you what any of them are, because I don't want to jinx it. But don't worry, you'll find out once I'm registered.
•Next up: this weekend, I'm going to be seeing two Oberlin productions, the aforementioned "Waiting for Godot" and Suszan-Lori Parks' "Topdog/Underdog" (the second of which I am required to see as a part of my Theater 101 class). More on those later. In addition, my callback for the J-term show is on Sunday night. Wishes for broken legs would be much appreicated.

So there you have it. I'm already pretty much back in the full-swing of Oberlin work. And I'm kinda loving it. Busy, yes. But still so amazing. God, I missed Oberlin so much!