Ventures/ and Adventures

the last couple of days have been a whirlwind of activity. two new performances in radically different spaces.

now that we are at the airport it looks grim that i will finish a post about the last three days before returning to halifax.


i will update as soon as i'm back.

ps. be sure to read the comments that the ends of some of the posts. also, feel invited to add something.

dh.

champion sports players will tell you they perform best when they are fully in the moment.

last night was one of our best performances, which might be a result of it being one of the best spaces. we were at another gallery space, but instead of performing in the gallery itself the show was presented in the loft apartment of the gallery owner, 'Huckie'.

this unique space used to be an metal works factory at some point, but Huckie has since rennovated it. the apartment was mostly brick walls with arch patterns and high ceilings that were broken up by wooden beams that ran from wall to wall. a kitchen was added and a wall was added down the longest side to create a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom.



Again, we looked for the spaces that were best suited for the different scenes. the nightmare made use of a bed already in one corner of the space, scene one took advantage of a heavy woodna dn metal elevator, and the head was elevated up against one of the tall brink walls that had a ledge just big enough of for steven to stand on.

to make the evening more like an event we prepard food again and provided wine with much help (like the night before) from garry's mom, anne.

as if the evening wasn't special enough, we played with the notion of turning the show into a bit of a game. an action that we never before had taken, but came out of a disscussion of wanting this performance to be a bit more casual. so, we left the running order up to the audience, who decided which scene came next by taking a number from designated spaces and placing it on a poduium. to signal that a number was selected, they then rang a bell and the scene would begin. we hung the numbes up at the end and when the show was complete all of the numbers hung in a line along one wall of the space.



yeilding the order put us firmly in the moment of each scene. and due to the episodic nature of the play anyway, no 'narrative' was lost. in fact, one of the spectators commented to me that he thought we had manipulated the whole thing because the order was too appropriate. but as there is there is often good turns of luck, i'm sure that the order would not always yeild such a good flow.

today we are left to our own devices until the opening of cathy and garry's (kennedy)exhibit at the emerson gallery.

i am taking to the time to stroll about the streets. tomorrow we are doing, what will be, the last gallery shows, and on sunday is the theatre presentation at theatre forum.

time to spend seeing berlin is almost gone, if not already fleeting.

we performed last night at a the second gallery space. this space was much bigger than the emerson and offered us opportunites that the smaller gallery didn't. for example this venue has a main gallery, a garden court yard and a small studio gallery. we used to the kitchen to make food and serve a variety of drinks.

when we go into these venues we start by looking at what scenes are well suited to the uniquness of the space. then we construst a running order, which is usually a putting together of the scenes as they move throught the areas of the space.

new to this production was to use the rock and roche scene at the beginning to move the audience through all of the space ending up in the studio gallery. we had been putting scenes in areas, but never had a scence had floating staging. a neat discovery, and an opportunity to explore the idea of orientating the spectators to the space we would be using for the next two hours.

scenes with particular interesting uses of space were the head scene that used a dug out hole in the cement floor of the studio revaled by removing an iron grate. from inside the hole stevn made strange noises and banged on the cover eventually sticking his head out of the hole with people looking down onto him. also was the staging of 13000 direction on a 50' long metal ramp. the ramp, located in the garden and the area below it, effectively evoked the shipping dock and the market that would have accompanied it in real life. a scene that was informed differently due to space was the tea party scene, which now made use of a table and chairs in the open air garden. a contrast to its previous stagings in small tight interior spaces, this outdoor setting had a more direct alice in wonderland reference.

as a whole it is important to be able to measure one's own sucecess. anytime these scenes reveal an important idea or image or location leaden in the scene one has to feel satisfled that we are doing something right.

for mine own part, i feel a sense of loss each time we are able to discover something so specail about the environments we encounter then face the reality that we must leave it and look for something new for the next perfomance. this kind of loss is inherently sad as it is tied to the reality of live performance. the moment exists for one brief period of time then it is lost to necessity to push foward.

but isn't that the same thing that makes it beautiful?

photos forthcoming...

so much of what you decide to do depends on what you hope to get in return.

we looked at the performance space we have tentitvely scheduled for saturday night. the cast has gut instincts about not doing the play in that gallery venue, but there still seems to be some rational resons for doing the the show there despite the feelings and insufficent organization. enough that it is very unclear what to do about the situation.

where is the line between personal satisfaction, and satisfying someone else's expectations?

as theatre workers, we accumulate a certain amount of social stigma from our profession, and we are used to treatment that some other professions would not put up with. most of the time that treament ends up affecting the genuine love we have for the work.

a couple of senior artists will not fly in the cheapest way to get to australia because they feel they should have to do that anymore. he's 80, and she's 60.

the meeting today revealed that we are not established artists. so at what point in your development are you permitted to start asking for the different flight?

don't let strange photographers take your photos in public places. they might, in all likelihood try to sell them on the internet.

thanks to everyone who is reading the blog.

lots of new posts from the cast.

one more week forthcoming...

So, I had never tried curry wurst before. I've heard of it of course, but I still had never really understood what had been described to me as a 'German taste sensation'. When I was separated from the group recently, I decided to go on a private tour of one of the main streets in Berlin, and this adventure led me to a curry wurst stand next to the infamous Zoo. Upon first impression, the Berlin treat seemed delicious. However, I don't like ketchup. And curry wurst is sausauge covered in ketchup with a dash of curry. Although the woman who served me the wurst was very nice, I have to say the actual experience of the wurst was less than stellar. It started to hurt about three bites in. This could have been attributed to the fact that I hadn't eaten anything that day and might have been feeling a little ill due to the free flowing champagne from the night before, but still I was a little sketched out. I understand that the wurst I ate might have been made for tourists wanting to experience some 'Berlin cuisine', and therefore might not have been of the best quality, but still I was less than overwhelmed by the famous Berlin treat. In short, excersise caution when looking for curry wurst. Don't just settle for the first stand that comes along. Play the game properly. Always look for quality.

looking forward to the doner
Amy

Latitudes, attitudes, platitudes. My mother armed me with many of the latter, one of which echoes even til now. "Tomorrow is another day"

There have been many "another days" during this first week. Dustin has somehow commanded a retrospective, declaring today the "One Week Anniversary" of our trip to Berlin. This makes me reflective of those days. The new days and the old. Some of the another days welcome, erasing the frustration or regret of the previous. Some another days are reluctant, wresting the pleasantness of the "oh-that-was-so-good" from the here and now by the future.

We only have the present, people say. But it's built on the foundation of the past and the promise of the future. I am a product of this.

Trying to be philosophical at this moment is interrupted by the arrival of Steph who has just come from an amazing journey to claim her first skateboard. The rest of the DaPoPo peeps are rejoicing for her and her return.

So goes the ebb and flow. Thoughts and feelings and emotions and intellect and passion rise and fall.

Now Garry reads to everyone from a German- language childrens' storybook. They are all gathered around, listening, laughing. An unlikely combination of folk gathered for the same purpose. Not only the reading of the story, but to create together. And to give that creation to others. We take it from ourselves, for better or worse, and give it.

I've opened. It was hard. And somehow easy, upon reflection. Thank you Berliner Ensemble. And Dustin.

I'm still here. And was there. And will be...

Adding to Mom's idea that tomorrow is another day, today was good day - no matter what - and tomorrow... Well, tomorrow will be.

kim.

World premiere in Deutschland was a success!!!

After many hot days of sweating it out in Berlin (well, 6 days anyway, which is not that many...) we opened to a nice sized crowd at the Emerson Gallery. There were lots of friends and family, which was nice. In fact, I've been struck by this strange introduction to Berlin which includes meeting so many other Canadian artists who are exhibiting works here. It's great! Great audience, great show, and a great after party including artichoke and anchovy pizza and superfluous bottles of champagne and merlot. Lecker lecker lecker!!!

Most of us thought that celebrations should continue after the gallery, so we travelled eastward, toward the sun that would soon be rising, and drank and talked and smoked out in some sand in a groovy bar courtyard. Our numbers dwindled as more and more exhausted cast members tapped out, but Amy, Garry and myself decided we might as well see the night through to its natural end, so we walked around the former East Berlin a-waiting the dawn, and as the sun peeked above the city scape we found ourselves strolling unter den linden and posing in front of the Brandenburg Gate (this was, of course, after climbing on several bears while Amy snapped photos of us... by the way, I love Amy... her fingers are so... so strong... climbing on things seems to be theme for me this trip, as evidenced not only by the bears, but also the iguanodon statue at Gay Night at the Zoo...)

This has been an excellent first trip to Berlin, and Europe in general, as is my case. I'm surprised that after the first week I feel so settled in, despite the significant language challenges and culture shock. How will we ever settle back into no-drinking-on-the-street and severe-lack-of-public-transportation Halifax??

steven.

GaRRy, here.

Lightness, darkness. Sunrise, sunset. This morning (awake after the Emerson Gallery premiere and after-party) Amy, Steven and I embarked upon an impromtu tour of historic Unter den Linden, the Brandenburg Gate and the Potsdamer Platz, then took the M29 Bus to the Ku'damm. I believe experience adds up, useful to artists, in ways we cannot anticipate. Earlier, we'd watched the sky brighten drinking Jever beer with Pip, Steph and my friend Flo at Tachales, one of Berlin's amazing hang-outs. How to record time, experience? How to map impressions? What, in a play, do we see? May art illuminate the mystery, as the late Pope wrote. Our show, too: scenes played in different running order, map a different experience for us, for the audience.

Introvert, extrovert. A social gathering, a group undertaking. Public interactions, receptions, rehearsals, personal insecurities, culture shock. Also in performance, these opposites exist. The internal work versus the external work. Berlin's 'home' face, Berlin's tourist face. The way we can be, between accommodations, in the company of colleagues and friends versus the privacy of our own far away homes. Performing in front of an audience. How to make the experience honest, for yourself, for the audience? Bringing what's within without.

Wide spaces, tight spaces. Long and short distances. The sprawl of Berlin, evident to the cast travelling the city overground, versus the confinement of shared beds, the intimate Emerson Gallery Berlin venue and group transit. The distance between Halifax and Berlin, geographically, versus their neighbourly relationship as we make this trip. Time limits: time limits writing the blog. My time's up.

gaRRy (the one who has tried curry wurst)

make firm plans to meet people, or in the very least write down contact information. wandering around a zoo with your back pack containing all of your posessions is no way to go about finding the rest of your group, however optimistic it may be. the lions will sense the desparation and try to eat you.

last night was a great opening. the audience was responsive, laughing and reacting to the scenes, and the performances continue to ripen with sharper acting and a measurable control over the flow and pacing of the show.

we delt with the staging by dividing the performance according to the space. first we started outside on the street wtith singing and a couple of the scene that benifited from a pedestrian setting. ex pats love newfie accents... next we moved inside and orientated the crowd toward a small proscenim at one end of the gallery. then, for last act we flip everything around to the tall glass wall that spanned ceiling to floor and held three long white curtians.

having three intermissions was a change from the halifax performances. it was however necessary to facilitate the shifting of seats. 'there has to be seats for people to sit', we were told by the gallery curator, russell. appreanlty germans like to clap along to songs and not stand for too long. access to chairs was only an option in halifax and audiences sitting on the sets was perferred. but for the emerson gallery the result was suitable. in fact, considering how much wine people were drinking, by the second hour sitting was welcomed, if not inevitable.

the intimate audience in the tiny gallery reminded me of the work i have been doing on theatre for small audiences. the 25 spectators we had last night, which filled the place, was almost the same number as that show i won't name for fear of lawsuit, again. but there is a kind a intamcy in these sorts of shows that plays to the strength of live performace. what that is, is one of the questions we should be asking...

another equally important reflection is the amount of flexibility we have within the show itself. much like a rock band, we are mixing the order of the show like a set list. even during the intermissions. the determining factors seem to relate to transitions, note, and varation. not too unlike music... or as my partner rae mentioned once, like putting together a good mix tape.

and finally, there will be plenty more pictures coming soon. john haney, who had the photo exhibit up in the gallery called 'clearcut', was snaping some shots of the show and will lend some to the blog. i also have pictures of my own, but require a usb in order to upload them. so expect them soon...ish

steven and i had the pleasure of staying with gary kennedy and cathy last night. we are staying with them for one more night before moving into a hotel. the group was able to take in a talk by gary a couple of days ago on his work and conceptual art. i proded his brain a little over coffee this morning. we drank about five cups of coffee and munched on toast with strange german jelly. in particular, i took interest in his experience of halifax as a center of art in the 70's. this idea was surprising to me considering the amount of social activity happening around the world at that time apart from nova scotia. somthing in the air made it good conditions to make exciting art. the jelly was fantastic.

staying in rented apartments is a wonderful way to look into the life of someone who lives in berlin. i never saw so much hair products in one bathroom.

today's work was dominated by the question of changing the show to suit the audience. maybe some stuff is offensive. maybe some stuff a german audience just won't understand. figuring out where this line is opens up a lot of opinons. and i think that it's fair to say that in our case the cast had different viewpoints on the subject.

for me, this project has been as much about negoitating collaboration as is has been about making a new play.

but no matter what the lesson is, when the show is presented to an audience, it's an experience that we are constructing for them. or, a gift as garry williams might say. and tonight theory will finally be put to practice. then tested again as we begin to look at the movemtent through all the different venues.

please feel free to ask questions.

dh.

each day the residents of berlin say 'today is going to be the hottest day'. it is starting to have an effect on my trust with the people of the city.

tonight we are moving props into the first space. a task that has all 7 of us going to garry's parent to collect suitaces. after that we are doing a little rehearsing followed by some dinner.

i refuse to touch the curry worst.

berlin's architecture is a mixture of very historical buildings and very contemporary design. it is an interesting blend, and makes me think of the local attitude toward public spaces, and the trend in canada to reclaim space. in canada space can be political, and the recent trend has been to privatize space (sometimes endorsed and encouraged by government to deal with fiscal responsibilties).

the landscape here makes it easy to bike. to hang outside. to drink a beer in the parks. to mingle with the structures of the city. there is also a effort to keep the western capitalism at bay.

more ensemble posts forthcoming...

Berlin has been three days of navigation: the city and the performance spaces. Between demystifying transit maps and unlocking how to present our mosaic of a show, we´re becoming masters of scrutiny. Looms the question: Where we at?

As Dustin said, we legged it to four spaces. Forum Kreuzberg -- the second space into which we ventured and our first traditional black box -- demonstrated how far my mind has run from centre-stage presentation. Oh boy. Figuring out how to stage this highly changeable show in diverse spaces, I discovered the central joy of _13 ways_ for me: intimacy and audience engagement. I´m using this pursuit of intimacy as my compass. It´s guiding me through these streets and stage wings.

Keeping it real,
Steph

the problems we encountered with the spaces we saw today (four) were negotiating content versus aesthetic.
how we end up dealing with the five different venues (over two weeks) is more a question of whether or not we prioritize dealing with the individual spaces or create one version of the show that can be put in each. if that sounds confusing, think about the conversation we had today at the theatre forum space. imagine the biggest problem is about performing site-specifically in a "real" theatre space is that the real theatre space isn't an environment. it's a theatre. suddenly if you put it onstage, the performance is dominated.
funny enough, a real theatre is something we didn't expect.

sometimes the heat is so much it drives you inside.

the group has gone its separate ways for a couple of hours. steph, steven and i have locted an internet cafe near a large public transportation center. kim, amy and pip are headed to their hotel room.

garry is at the gallery space figuring out the schedule. as it stands now we are preforming at the emerson gallery satuday, but then we move to four different theatre spaces next week.

using so many different spaces means that we are certain to learn how to adapt quickly. but how much does one change the experience from that first show, and how much do we allow each experience to be specific each time?

i was informed that we got to get moving if we are going to make our dinner plans.

more pics to come.
also, forthcoming are enteries from the cast.
stay tuned, and dont forget the sun block!

we are jammed tight in a hotel in central berlin. this is kim and amy's room for the next few days. we are pushing through the jet lag with a few 'becks' taken from the little hotel fridge. the room was provided by the emerson gallery.

tonight we dined with gary's parents and learned that we are going to be very busy here. we have been invieted to preform at two additional very prestigious galleries.

now we are celebrating, but soon we are going to be facing the realities of this development.

more to come soon.

touring a produciton presents the creative team with a number of very specific challenges. one challenge has to do with the problems of space. our strategy once in berlin will be to examine the possibilites of space and the different ways the venues might affect the set material in the show including the running order. very exciting , but not a strategy for the weak at heart.

this type of staging seems to have a lot of broader importance to me, for it communicates a reponsiveness (sp?) on the part of the practitioner to the environment you use.

only time left for a question before i have to speed my way to the airport where i will be meeting up with gary, pip, kim, steven, amy, and steph. this from emmy:
'Hey Dustin
That's fabulous. Berlin. Wow.
Where can I find out more about your show and dapopo?
Emmy'

thanks for that.
well, here is some stuff on the net about the show and the company.

the mention from our friends at the coast:
http://www.thecoast.ca/1editorialbody.lasso?-token.folder=2006-07-13&-token.story=143283.112113&-token.subpub=

here is a link to the little preview article that the herald ran:
http://www.herald.ns.ca/Entertainment/515669.html

and, finally more info about the show and company is at this address:
http://dapopotheatre.blogspot.com/

proust!
DH

hi. welcome to the blog spot. i'm dustin. a member of dapopo theatre's '13 ways of looking at a madman'. over the next two weeks i will be keeping a document of our trip to berlin, germany. questions or comments are encouraged and can be easily posted via the link below this post. so thanks for checking it out, and dop by often.