Summer dayz!!

Nick is in town every weekend!! It is good times!!

We went and saw The Bacchae, which is the second show of the free NYC Shakespeare in the Park thing. It's pretty famous. Or at least in the theatre world. Anyway, we had to get there way early in the morning (there being central park) and wait in line, but we got tickets! It was really cool to see the show and be a part of all of that, it's something I've wanted to do, this particular show, however, was awful. I don't know how they managed to make one of the most intense and gruesome plays of all time boring, but they did. Too bad I could never get tickets for 12th Night (the other show they did this summer, which sold out every night. Anne Hathaway was in it.)

Lots of waiting in line.

We got to play in the park afterwards!

Nick and I in Washington Square Park on the opening night of my show.

My roomie gave me that dress cuz it didn't fit her. Isn't it pretty?

More waiting in line.

Of course Evita impressions.

Nick likes to hug trees.

We are halfway thru the 2 hour trip to Coney Island!

Do not even think about trying to eat this food. It's for display only.

If this doesn't make you hungry I don't know what will.

Yah! Look at the size of those things!!

I was trying to build a sandcastle on my stomach without looking, and Nick just walked away from me!

Waves.

I have always wanted to be silhouetted by the sea.

Nick yelled at me for standing on this wall thing. I know it looks like nothing, but the waves were crazy because of all the tropical storms. They would take out about 2 feet of sand with them when they went back out. The lifeguards were having a fit at pretty much anyone who tried to swim. It was fun!

Nick got me, for my birthday, a kind of shared gift. It's a book that we've both been wanting incredibly bad ever since we saw part of it on display at the National Gallery. Jazz by Henri Matisse. It's pretty fascinating, we spend the whole night when we got back from the beach reading it and watching Youtube videos. Matisse says "Think that all of those who have succeeded, when they remember the difficulties of their beginnings, cry with conviction: "Those were the good days." I guess he would know.

Nick+beach

Birthday, work, end of fringe, Nick in town.

Went to Coney Island with Nick today. It still amazes me that you can get to the beach from the subway. Crazy. So tired from this week, but what a lovely weekend!!
Some pictures from today. More to come later. Sleep!

Interesting stuff

I learned something new today.
If you rent 4 semis to lug a whole lot of equitment to Maine, do not assume those semis will come with a lift gate.


That was our brilliant plan of using out own lift gate and then ramping it to the semi. My legs are like jelly and I wasn't even one of the people in the truck. Blugh.

BUT: first review!!!

http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/review_fest.php?p=100223

MARS: Population 1

New York International Fringe Festival

reviewed by Kelly Aliano

Aug 15, 2009

MARS: Population 1, written, directed, and performed by James Allerdyce, presents the journey of the first man to travel to Mars. The audience meets the astronaut as he is about to make his landing on the Red Planet. A storm at the planet's surface causes his landing pod to crash land, inflicting much damage to the craft. The heart of the play takes place within this small vessel as he faces almost certain death; his oxygen tanks are damaged, leaving him with only a limited supply of air, maybe enough for 30 minutes at most, while help is at least 40 minutes away.

Allerdyce creates the entire world of his ship—the parameters, the control panels, even the speed and cabin pressure—and his interplanetary trip through the use of his body in precise physical movement combinations. He manipulates imaginary buttons and levers throughout his mimed spaceship; he is so consistent that it is easy to remember where things are within the ship and to follow exactly what he is doing at each moment. He is assisted by Lauren Wright's compelling lighting design that suggests both his location and his mental state as well as a detailed sound design (by Jerry Morris and Allerdyce) encompassing all of the surrounding noises created by and near his ship. Allerdyce performs in perfect rhythm with these sound effects; it is easy to believe that his actions are actually creating the noises. His movements synchronize perfectly with the sounds, coinciding to bring the play's setting to life.

The piece compellingly raises the question of the value of the sacrifices inherent in both attaining a personal goal and in the pursuit of national glory, recognition, or fame. Allerdyce contemplates the importance of the day-to-day in light of how the Earth can seem so small from far away. He also grapples with prioritizing a greater good against the importance of the individual.

There are moments of real poignancy in the text, notably during the astronaut's hallucination of discussions with his daughter, as well as in the performer's adept movements on stage. There is some truly fascinating material at stake in this piece. The work is somewhat inconsistent, particularly as the play winds toward its conclusion, though its high points greatly outweigh its flaws.

MARS: Population 1 is an interesting experiment in the place of science fiction within theatre. This work could open the door for many more plays that present and confront sci-fi material. This genre is largely undiscovered territory in dramatic work, and this play suggests a great deal of potential in bringing such source material to the stage. Allerdyce proves that even the outer reaches of the solar system could prove a viable inspiration for theatre.

Author: James Allerdyce
Director: James Allerdyce


Yah!!! It mentions me!!! Yay!!!