Positive out of the Negative

I thought I'd update you all on how the "negative" V-day "bad luck" shit turned out. I mean, I did go on and on about it...

Part One
Instead of having a singular "date" for my friend's show, I had FIVE! Five wonderful ladies, that is! My "writing pack" came with me to see the show and we had drinks, dinner, good laughs, great entertainment, and then a fun desert after (at another location). Probably the best Valentine's "date" I ever had. :)

Part Two
Remember how I prayed about finding a roommate. Never. Underestimate. Prayer. ...or God's will. Just don't. I was told on Feb. 14th that one of my favorite roommates was leaving me...by Feb. 18th I had found my new roommate. No joke. And, I'll be honest...he's the only email that caught my eye or that I bothered to respond to because I just "knew" he was the one. Strange. Especially since I usually email a bunch of people back...AND...I'd said, "It needs to be a gay man or girl." My new roommate is neither. That's God slapping me on the the back of the head, huh? My new roommate-to-be currently lives in Colorado...Denver to be exact (sound familiar? No...well, my mom lives there so that's how it got my attention at first). We emailed back and forth...chatted on the phone...have texted. He's pretty awesome and if Joe hadn't moved this poor guy, who has a job starting on March 8th with the IRC, would've been up a creek w/o a paddle. Why? Because just like me, those renting rooms normaly won't choose to live with someone unless we meet them first...face to face. Or in my case; not until my dog meets them and I see his reaction to them. ---Keziah is an amazing judge of character!--- But I made an exception this time.

This could come back to bite me in the ass...but I'm chosing to believe it won't. Trying to will my luck into the positive variety!

Speaking of "luck"...

Let's look at all that negative "bad luck" from V-day...it didn't turn out so bad after all huh? Though, you have to admit...it's just creepy that it always tends to happen to me around that date. I blame my first boyfriend, David, he started the ball rolling with that when I was 16.

We could start a website...BlameDavid.Com LOL!

Okay...I gotta get back to "work".

Hope if you had bad luck on V-Day that it all worked out well in the end.

xo

Tamsin :)

My FIRST Writers Group Workshop of my work. (AKA Emotional Trauma 101)

I selected this pic because A)It's wicked cool, no? B)It's sorta how I felt when they finished with the "review" of my work.

Don't misunderstand...they gave me all kinds of great ideas and found the loop-holes I wanted them to and I have A LOT of work to do...but...

I HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO.

Oh...and it was emotionally EXHAUSTING. Both a creative and emotional overload and as my creativity is directly connected to me emotionally...I was quite brain dead by the time we finished and feeling a wee bit trampled on. But what miiight have had something to do with that was how long we were at it.

THREE HOURS.

No joke. Three hours where we go around a looong table and allow each person to be "candid" about what they think of the sample chapters I gave out of the first book of The Cameron Chronicles.

Holy Bajesus!

Not sure I can put it into words but I'm going to try. Mainly because I recommended that fellow writers join one of these groups...AND I STICK BY THAT...so I want you to know what can happen when you get "reviewed."

Before I go any further though...I want to profess my love for these people. They have the best in their heart for me and want my work to improve and because of that, I lived through this. They are great people.<3 <3 <3

I also learned something interesting about how these things work. Something I was more informed on AFTER my soul was filleted. Something I'd have liked to have understood before hand. I want to share it with you but I want you to know that not all groups work the same so don't read too much into it. Okay?

Large groups with lots of things to contribute = something they believe in...something that can be fixed and made better...something that has potential. It's when they look at you with nothing to say it's possibly because they don't have anything to say to save your work and don't know how to say to you that it should die. ----or as one person in the group was told once, a while ago, "Your characters should all die a firey death." Ouch.

Now, something that's great about my group is that they don't all read Fantasy. So you get great questions that make you think outside the box a bit. I highly recommend that the group you get to read things read books that aren't just in YOUR genre. Think of it this way, you want more than just the typical readers to love you, right? I mean, I write Fantasy but I would love it if I were to capture those who read other stuff too.

Anyhoo...

13 people, 14 if you count me, showed up with notes in hand and at 3:30pm we began (finishing at 6:30pm with a drastic need for an alcoholic beverage!). I brought my laptop with me so as to take notes on the "bad stuff" so as to fix it. One of my biggest questions was should the prologue jump off a cliff or stay alive and well.

Unanimously it was told to jump off the cliff.

Good to know. Consider the prologue gone GONE GONE!

Moving on.

Some of the issues addressed were things I already knew about myself with concern to "1st drafts". First, I tend to need to be hit with a "correct grammar" stick badly (which my answer is usually, "That's why you get an editor.") AND secondly, I tend to drop large chunks of info/description which disrupts the flow of the read. It's a first draft...whatever. I want the info stuck in my head to get out of it, so I tend to vomit a bit (metaphorically speaking of course) onto the page with info. It happens. I'm aware. I'm working on it.

Now, the big thing that hit me was that they had problem with the "voice" of it. I've written Sean for years so to hear that was confusing. Even my friend Alexis, who has red LDG, said Sean didn't sound the same. I mean, he's younger in this but he should still sound the same so it got me to thinking. I'd tried writing it in 3rd person before and it had given me pause, many times, but that is probably the problem; it's written in 1st person and I understand Sean in a 3rd person setting. It's how he's written in LDG so...ya know those 50K words I've completed on the book?

Say it with me....REEEEE-DO! (into 3rd person)

Damn damn damn damn damn. *sigh*

There were other notes that got my attention as well...small things that had never occurred to me before and now they are on my list to "fix". I'm super grateful for being pointed out to me! Then there were notes that I felt were, well...less valid. I jotted them down though in case I change my mind.

Be aware of a few things before you get critiqued.

A) It's YOUR book. In the end, the information they give you is just that. Use it as you see fit. You will never make everyone happy.

B) They will contradict themselves. Some will ask for more of "Item A", some will ask for less of "Item A", some will want one thing while others think it's not needed. Listen for the majority.

C) Remember to have a sense of humor. Unless you're perfect, and you're not...no one is, you've made mistakes and some of them will trigger laughter. Be able to laugh with it. It helped me tremendously when I would see from "their eyes" vs. my own.

D) Rein in your anger. Someone could very likely trigger something in you that makes you upset. Let's face it, you are already sitting there with your soul bared ---that thick skin pulled away so as to really hear what they have to say--- hence, you are vulnerable. It's easier for someone to bump a nerve. Hence, I recommend that you take a few deep breaths and rein it in. Now, if you're still upset about something 24hrs later, talk to someone about it. Either the person who upset you, or someone who knows them better than you. I did and I feel much better about the whole thing.

E) Bring a laptop or note pad with you to take notes on the good, the bad and the ugly. You may feel that you'll never forget those things they said that caused emotional trauma, burning things into your brain. But you will. Plus, it'll be easier to look through it all and find the things everyone agreed on easier.

A week later, I have now reworked the first chapter (after dumping aforementioned prologue) and it honestly is a better book, a better character, with less loop-holes and a more solid basis for the top of a novel. Once it is proofed a bit more I'll post it so you can see the difference. But for now, know that this "ripping of my soul" was totally worth it.

Many thanks to those in my group. I'll be a better writer because of you all.

Tamsin :)

P.S. At one point we got on this tangent about bloodwine. Don't ask. Anyway...someone Googled it and shared this with me (Yay Clarice!). BLOODWINE RECIPE That's right folks...there is a recipe for it! And on the mobile verson (which is what this link is) you'll note it falls under "Diet and Weightloss". LMAO!!! Enjoy!

Note: If clicking on the word doesn't take you there, cut and paste this into your browser window. http://mobile.associatedcontent.com/article/5691726/bloodwine_recipe.html?cat=51

Sad. Sucky. V-day luck blows.

I hate Valentine's Day.

I know I've talked on this but I thought I'd update you to what ELSE went "wrong".

My awesome roommate, Joe (the one with the dog who helps me with my dog AND likes to do the dishes...ah yes, one of a kind) is moving out.

See, he has a friend who has to move to Miami (For work? For a man? To escape the Feds? Who knows, he didn't say.)and he's going to take over her lease on her place in Brooklyn...and as he's going to be working in Brooklyn this probably is best.

For him.

Not for me.

*sigh*

So I put an ad on Craigslist yesterday.

I lifted up a prayer this morning.

I usually find the "right" person...but let's ALL pray I find him/her again.

I'll be over in the corner moping...if you need me.

Tamsin :(

And so the Valentine's Day Curse lives on...

When I was sixteen I had my first boyfriend.

He broke up with me the week of (if not like 2 days before) Valentine's Day.

Every since, Valentine's Day has been a disaster for me. EVERYTHING goes wrong for me that week or at least for anything on that day or the days leading up to it.

I started making it a pact to wear all black (yes, like a funeral) on V-Day in mourning of my bad luck. I swore I'd not deviate.

But...when I was a student teacher my students convinced me that all the theatre kids were going to wear black, white and red on V-Day and I should to. So I did.

I got in a bad car accident on the way to teach that morning.

So I never deviate any more. But does that stop my bad luck? Sometimes. For that one day at least. But leading up to it? Alas, no.

One of my best friends who is a lyricist writes amazing songs and he and his writing partner are doing a night of their work on Sunday night...cabaret style...with Broadway performers. I asked a few friends to go and made reservations.

I should've known better.

My like-a-sister friend got scheduled to work and had to cancel...her boyfriend got scheduled for 6am work on Monday so he has to go to be early so he canceled...but at least one of my new guy friends (who I truly enjoy spending time with) gave me the green light earlier this week that he could go and I was elated!

I should've known better.

I just got a text that a meeting of his was moved to 5:30pm and now he must cancel on me.

Of course.

Just proving that the Valentine's Day Curse that looms over me is still alive and well.

Damn.

Tamsin

P.S. I have to go to this event....would anyone like to go with me? It's only $10. Starts at 7pm and goes until 8:30pm. There is a $15 min inside for drinks/food as per all cabaret houses in NYC....let me know!

Blessings you didn't expect...ROCK!

Every now and again I get a wave of giddy bubbling that resonates in my chest and touches my soul. I had one today...and it's the same reason I had one the other day. Hence, I should blog about it...yes?

Back in October I met a girl named Anastasia at the NYC Comic Con when I was hanging out with my friend Georges Jeanty (for those of you who do not know who he is...Google him or just click on his name). She lives in Wales and is just one fantabulous chick! She works in publishing and is Wiccan and since I write and use Wicca in my books we got to chatting...and exchanged info...became fast Twitter pals and so on.

When National Novel Writing Month came around she was tweeting about it. I'd never heard of it. So I asked her "What the hell is NaNoWriMo?" So she told me about it and I quickly questioned my friend who also was my editor for LDG. She put me in touch with a girl who is involved with the NYC chapter of NaNo and I went to the "kick off" party.

But, what rocked was showing up at one of the "write-ins" on Sunday at the Whole Foods in Chelsea. Here I got to know a bunch of amazing women...and some men...but mainly women. Now, for those of you who've known me for a long time you know that until I moved to NYC I could count my list of female friends on one hand. So when I came to NYC and found cool gals to be friends with I was shocked.

Well...I've been blessed again. The girls in this group are just fantastic. AND...they have the same passion for writing as I do and THAT is just wonderful. Writers spend so much time alone, working on their craft, that to find others who have that same passion to spend time with...be it writing or talking about writing or helping with editing as you munch on cookies and tea in their apartment or watching the Superbowl with...it is exhilerating, to say the least. It fills a void. A void you probably didn't know you had.

I adore these girls; their passion for writing, their humor, their dreams, their support, and how they want nothing more than to grow in their craft (be it baking and knitting as well as writing:) ... I am very blessed to have met them and to have had them welcome me into this group of theirs. They make me giggle on Twitter and in person all the time and give me a sense of solid ground as a writer to stand on. Maybe its because, as a theatre kid, I'm used to many being involved with me and my craft...and writing has been a wee bit lonely...and they've taken that away and also given me so much more.

To other writers out there...if you're working alone...get out and find a writers group and get involved. It will complete a part of you that you didn't know was missing.

Tamsin :) xoxo

Thankful

I'm going to cry as I write this post...but they're happy tears so...so be it. :)

As those of you who know me personally know, I love my dog. He's been my rock for years. Living in NYC with no family near, as a single female, chasing an artistic dream in a city this big is rough. And when I got this fuzzy little ball of fluff there was no way I could know how important he'd become to my mental health as I reached my late 30's...mainly because at the time I had no idea I'd be moving to NYC...but life changes, right?

Anyhoo...I feel like telling his story today because...well...because he deserves it after the year he's had. :) SO here goes...

One day each weekend my boyfriend at the time, JJ, and I were in the habit of looking at puppies. We'd been together for just about two years and now that I wasn't teaching I had time for a dog. So, one summer weekend we went in the adopt-a-pet in Rock Hill, SC and there in the middle of the room was this baby's play-pen full of this litter of fuzzy black things bouncing about. I remember I reached in and picked one up. He was small enough to cradle in my arms and he had a little white fur spot in the center of his chest and between the pads of his front paws.

As the story goes, I picked him up and carried him about on his back like a baby--rubbing his belly and looking at other dogs. I even said the name "Keziah" to him and his ears picked up and he looked at me knowingly. But, cause I have always loved huskies I put this little black ball of fuzz back in his pen for a bit and went to go hold the husky puppy. But it wasn't the same. No connection. I put him back in his cage and went back to the baby play-pen and looked for the one with the white between his toes.

There were about eight or so of these things bouncing about the pen like crazy children on meth...except one. One who knew he no longer needed to impress anyone...one who knew his "mum" had already picked him...one who was relaxed in the corner laying on his back all stretched out sleeping...one with white fur between his toes.

"I want that one," I told the lady. "But I don't get paid until Friday." It wasn't the $35 fee for him I couldn't swing, it was the vet visit he'd need that same weekend that I was needing to pay for that caused my need for a week long wait.

Thankfully she said, "No problem," and went to get a collar.

I reached down and picked up the lazy boy and when his eyes opened up and looked at me that jaw opened and he smiled like, "I knew you'd be back."

The woman put a pink collar on him (poor guy) and said she'd hold him until Saturday. I spent the next week at my poorly paying temp job ($10 an hour at the time if I remember correctly) studying about Border Collies...cause that's what they told me he was...and a week later, excited to own my first dog, I went and got him. I remember him licking me when we got in the car and I said, "His tongue is so soft!" I'd only had cats before so hence my ignorance.

I was doing a play at the time...Shakespeare in the Park...and took him to the show. He peed center stage as we got notes. Yep...that's my boy! But what was interesting was that someone saw him running about and said, "Oh, you got a lab puppy!" And that's when I realized WHY he was jet black and not black and white and WHY his ears were down. He was PART Border Collie and part Black Lab (even called to confirm it with the place I got him). I panicked. How big was he going to get? He could end up over 100 lbs!

Alas, I got a trainer. We called him Safari Bob...though his name was Dave. He earned this nickname because he always had on a Bermuda shirt, khaki shorts and a safari hat. :) The company was called, "Dog Training In Your Home" and they were amazing! They don't train your dog, they teach you to train your dog. It's brilliant. It's a much more effective way than classes where they can get distracted and get confused on who exactly is alpha.

Keziah was already proving to be wicked smart and he learned quickly...except the whole concept of shitting outside...THAT took him a bit. I think I threatened to turn him into a piñata ...ANYHOO, he finally learned and grew up to only be 60 lbs. But that training made him not just the sweet dog he already was, but an obediant dog as well. My roommate Carol got a black kitten at the same time...Sabbath...so he grew up loving cats; too bad they don't feel the same way about him though. LOL!

Now, he was always healthy. I mean, other than getting worms once as a puppy and then the flu when he was one, he was a really healthy dog. So when he reached the age of two and started to have these fits where he'd slam the ground with his paws and seem aggitated, we were worried. Turned out he was epileptic...which tends to set in at the age of two, if they're going to get it. It runs in the lab side of his genes. But after that he was healthy healthy healthy for the next NINE years! I've been told that's astounding, btw.

This year has been rough on my poor boy though...and my bank account. He's survived cancer, had his manhood taken away, been diagnosed with Hypo-Thyroid Disorder and now he has a horrible prostate infection (which triggered a bloody UTI) we only were able to diagnose with an ultrasound yesterday. But, he's eleven (in dog years that's 77) and in May he'll be 12 (aka 84) so it's to be expected he start having issues. Good news is that his bloodwork says he's in fantastic shape and his ultrasound shows he is (you know, if you don't count that pesky prostate infection that needs 6 weeks of expensive meds...*sigh*). My vet is amazed at what great shape he's in for his age.

Now his tummy is bare (due to getting the ultrasound they had to shave it) and he is accutely aware of it (seeming embarrased if you touch it and more more eager to come inside from the cold) but he's still my happy dog...prostate infection and all. LOL!

So today I tell this story because I'm thankful...thankful he's okay (that they didn't find a tumor...which is what I was expecting), thankful I get more time with him, and thankful for being there to hug when I get home from whatever kind of day I've had in a city where you need a hug a lot of the time. That may sound odd but if you're a single woman in NYC with a pet (be it dog or cat) you know what I mean. That poor furry baby picks up the slack when you need that hug and there's no significant other there to do give you one. :( Honestly, my day can can be utter shite but when I come home he's happy to see me, loves me, hugs me, licks my tears away if I'm upset, and seems to understand waaaay too much english. :)

A big thank you to the Man Upstairs for giving me more time with him and for giving him to me in the first place. I don't know how long he'll live, but he's been one of the best blessings of my life. Sounds silly to those who don't own a pet they're close to, I'm sure...but it is what it is folks.

I opened with a picture of him now...looking all regal and older...but I'll finish with a pic my friend took of him as he smiled while looking at me in our backyard in SC just before I moved to NYC...he probably had just turned two in this pic.

If you have a special pet, be it dog or cat or chinchilla or whatever...hug them today. They love you as much as you love them.

Tamsin :)

Review of "The Happiness Compartment" at NYCDA Written by Steven Sykes

WARNING: This is not a "formal review"...it's informal at best...and long, as I have a lot of thoughts on it....FYI.

This past Saturday night I was asked to attend something they call an "invited dress rehearsal" at the NYCDA. This means the director doesn't feel it is at "performance level" and thus says it's a dress rehearsal. It's meant to lower your expectations so that if there are "glitches" you excuse them.

The name of the show was THE HAPPINESS COMPARTMENT. Because it was a workshop rehearsed on in class there were two casts for the show and thus, two performances that night. I was only able to stay for the first performance but I'll be honest--if I could've stayed to watch the play again, I probably wouldn't have...but not for the reasons you think...the cast really did an amazing job with what they had to work with.

The cast I saw is noted below:
Marion: Elizabeth Stranathan
Reed: Nico Aquino
Claire: Alexandra Nader
Eva: Robbie Skadal
Ruth: Courtney Roberts
Alik: Cesar Salais
Marina: Lauren Steinmeyer

Author: Steven Sykes

Director/Acting Teacher: Richard Omar

I had NO idea what this play was about except what a friend of mine who was in it said...which was what it says on the script I do believe:

"On July 18th, 1969 a car carrying Mary Jo kopechne and senator Ted Kennedy crashed through a bridge into water. Kennedy escaped but kopechne drowned. This is our authors interpretation of what may have been going through her head as she drowned."

Where shall I begin? I could start with how horrible and unfitting and stupid and useless the title is but why bother...it's par for the course considering the rest of the writing so...whatever.

So, should we go from bad to worse to good to great? I think that sounds like a winner...so here we go!

The play ran about an hour and fifteen minutes I think...which honestly was about 15 minutes too long. But I'll get to why that is later...let's move on to how it all begins, shall we?

It all starts out rather cool. The stage is a rectangular area with audience on both sides. At one end of the rectangle is the entrance and at the other end is a bed with a low radiator behind it and a HUGE window looking out over Manhattan. The music starts and the shade over that window is pulled so that the projections of Marilyn Monroe can be seen as Marion starts us off, talking about accepting a ride home from the party with Senator Kennedy. How he says he'll get her home safe. How he says he's not had to much to drink. We now understand that she represnts Mary Jo.

Then the scene changes to a woman in a bed wearing nothing but a blanket wrapped around her. Marion asks who she is, she tells us that isn't her...that she (Marion) isn't a whore to be in hotel rooms. Uh, if she doesn't know who this is...how can she be thinking of them as she's dying? This leads me into our first catagory...

THE BAD
Let us look again at what this is about. When you read a description like that you think that it will be about Mary Jo Kopechne's life...flashing before her. The concept is actually really interesting, too bad it's not what it sounds like. Instead, the author has decided that the dying thoughts of this woman were about people she didn't know during the Cuban Missle Crisis when American's thought they were going to die...a night where they thought the missles would fall. Is it about what SHE was doing that night? Oh no...as I said, it's about random people they never really explain to you who SHE doesn't even know.

HOW CAN YOU THINK OF PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW? AND WHY WOULD YOU THINK OF THE FRIGGIN CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS AS YOU'RE DROWNING? *sigh* It's just not possible but, as I like twisty plots in books and theatre I "assume" the writer is going to find a connection and it will become clear. I shouldn't have given him that much credit. You know what they say "assume" means...

Moving on...

There are three couples and the "conflict" is a Theatre 101 Improve scenerio: "Character A wants to leave while Character B doesn't".

#1. Reed and Claire - Claire is the woman in the bed and we learn she slept with Senator Kennedy that night...thinking the bombs would fall and is suprised to wake up. But when she does, Reed, who works for the Senator is there and he is trying to get her to leave quietly and discreatly as the election is a day away. Reed wants to leave, Claire doesn't. THEIR RESOLUTION? HE LEAVES W/O HER THE NEXT DAY WITH THEM BOTH IN LIMBO ON WHAT'S GOING ON. SO, NO REAL RESOLUTION EXCEPT THEY BOTH SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THEMSELVES BETTER BUT IT DOESN'T HELP THEM COMBAT THEIR DEMONS A LOT. SHE STILL FEELS TRAPPED THERE BY WHAT SHE DID AND HE LEAVES TO DO HIS JOB. ---bummer---

#2. Eva and Ruth - Brother and sister actually...Eva being the brother in a dress because he thinks the recently killed Marilyn Monroe has possessed his body. Ruth stops by to find him hiding under a table (they used to say to hide under your desks to be safe from the bombs. Stupid huh?) and she has come to tell her brother she's unhappy living in LA and is going to move home to NYC. He doesn't deal with this well...him or Marilyn. Ruth wants to leave, Eva doesn't. THEIR RESOLUTION? RUTH FINALLY TELLS EVA SHE'S LEAVING TO THEN WALKS OUT. HE IS LEFT STANDING THERE, GOING A BIT CRAZY (like he wasn't already?) WITH A DRINK IN HIS/HER HAND. ---to be honest...this pairing gets the most closure of the three---

#3. Alik and Marina - From what I was told, these two are to represent Marina & Lee Harvey Oswold (known to use the other name Alek Hidell). We see him meet her in Russia and then we will see them again after their daughter is born and its apparent he's been beating his wife. Marina wants to leave, Alik doesn't. THEIR RESOLUTION? UH...HMM...SHE TELLS HIM SHE'S UNHAPPY WITH HER LIFE AND HE DOESN'T CARE. SO...YEAH, NO RESOLUTION OR ANYTHING LEARNED THAT LEADS A CHARACTER TO CHANGE. ---which is sad because the actress in this section was powerful and her partner was talented but they didn't get a chance to really take the full circle the author should create for them---

THE WORSE
The writing goes nowhere---nothing ties together---so as an audience you don't understand the significance of how these characters go together let alone how they connect to the dying woman in the car. This makes it hard to care. The characters are well spoken, diverse, clear cut, but they go on without any resolution in sight. The only reason you give a shit and even stay in your seat is that you have this hope (and as the play goes on that rope gets as thin as dental floss but you cling to it anyways) that the ending moment will make it all clear. I blame this on M. Night Shyamalan's movies. Of course, other than Sixth Sense they all sucked so maybe I'm on the right track with this analagy? The "fault" for something like this falls not just on the author, but on the Artistic Director. The show didn't have the latter...hence the problem. No one was there to look at the writer and say, "What the fuck? Fix that!"

You may ask, what the hell gives you that hope if the characters are long winded and don't tie together and have nothing to do with the girl in car who doesn't even know them? That brings me to our next section...

THE GOOD
According to the cast member I know who sent me the names of the cast and blurb on the show concept, the director says he didn't consider himself the "director" so much as an acting teacher helping shape the project. Well, it was his directing that gave us hope. That hope came in two aspects.

The first was in the blocking. It was absolutely fantastic both for the design of the space and for the feel of the piece. And I'm picky on blocking since I'm a director and choreographer. So for me to totally love blocking means it was pretty flawless. (NOTE: For those who don't know,"blocking" is the planned movement a director assigns to dialogue.) Their movements were supported and warrented 98% of the time and you never felt you couldn't see what was going on---the actors spliting their movements well enough tha both sides of the audience got their fair share of seeing what was going on. THAT is tough to do so props to the non-director! And, speaking of props, he used them well to support that movement...justifying it when it wasn't character based.

The second was the awkward scene changes. Yes, awkward on purpose...they totally supported the feel of the underlying concept of a woman dying. You see, between each scene/segment was this funky music where the characters would do this creepy yet cool modern dance stuff where they jerked about. It made me think of Mary Jo's fractured mind or how she might have clawed to get out of the car while that asshole of a senator left her to die while he swam to shore. Put that with the other wonderful movement/blocking and you have why we thought it would all smoothly show itself at the end.

But that's not the main reason I had faith in the piece. This brings me to my last part...

THE GREAT
These actors and actresses were absolutely phenominal. With a commitment to the text and concept that sold you on the show. Period. Most of the cast are in their late teens to early twenties, as college kids tend to be, but they had the power behind them, most of the time, of adults who've had ten more years of experience behind them. To commit to a horrible script like this that give you, as an actor, no real journey is crazy difficult. Luckily they had each other. A great scene partner is key. And I do mean "scene partner"...not "show partner". These were scenes from one play set in someone else's play---as if the narrator was from one show and the scenes belonged to another w/o any connection AT ALL, and yet, these kids rocked it out.

I specifially want to point out three people: Lauren Steinmeyer, Cesar Salais, and Robert Skadal. Lauren plays the Russian gal. The character starts out speaking fluent Russian and then once she speaks English its with a pefect Russian accent. As a girl from Missouri, this isn't a simple task. The character is also complex in the idea that she loves her husband while at the same time hating him. Another "not so easy" thing to portray---but it was beautifully done. I mention Cesar for many of the same reasons...the speaking of Russian and the ability to play an abusive husband. But I think his biggest nod comes from watching Lauren. He had to manhandle her a bit, throw her about, and so on. It was evident by how she threw herself into it (no pun intended) that she trusted him, and THAT alone speaks volumes for him. And my third nod goes to Robbie Skadal who was the Eva, the person who feels they are inhabited by the dead soul of Marilyn Monroe...and going crazy. Roles like this are fun and difficult because you have to find that happy medium where you're normal with a touch of crazy most of the time and yet slip into normal and then into super crazy only in spurts. Keeping a character like that from being one dimentional (aka just being a loony tunes)...much like when you are supposed to play drunk and you have to not "overdue"...and this takes control and talent, which Mr. Skadal has in droves. That, and he wore that white long flowing nightgown with class. He even shaved his legs folks! Now there's a commitment!

But the rest of the team on stage were strong as well. I actually am intersted in Courtney and Alex for possibly spots in the photo-shoot for LDG so that's something awesome that came out of my trip to this show. :)

So, like I said in my previous post..."The acting was great, the writing was okay but lacking in direction and connection, the directing was well done and the artistic direction sucked balls." Would I see it again since their going to do this again possibly at the end of the year? No. Not unless the problems I noted are fixed. But...I want to tell the cast and director that they did an amazing job with what they had to work with. I've both performed and directed shows where the script made you want to dig your eyeballs out with a spoon and it's hard to commit to it like they did. It was their acting alone that made me care and the directors work that gave me faith he'd find a way to connect it all...too bad their work was in vain. This script just doesn't work. It doesn't impact the audience at all. We wonder why we bothered to sit through the show...and then we hear in our heads, "Cause the acting was superb". So kudos to the cast for doing their job...too bad the author didn't do theirs.

One last note: At one point Marina is up on the edge of the window and I thought, "Oh, their going to have her go to the bridge to jump off and THAT's how it will connect cause she'll be at the same bridge that Mary Jo and the senator went off of and she'll be the witness or something!" But no.

No connection. No interest. No emotional affect. No journey taken. No resolutions. No lessons learned. No point made.

Thank God the actors saved that night of theatre!

Tamsin Silver