Ventures/ and Adventures

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)