(Devon was the co-author and co-director of The Twins Would Like To Say, part of the Visiting Company Initiative Garage Rep)
Today is June 10, 2010. The first ever Garage Rep closed on April 25, 2010. So, I’ve had some time to reflect, take stock and evaluate. One of the things I’m really left to think about is the audience experience - both of the rep as a whole and for our show The Twins Would Like to Say.
(Stephen is the writer and director of Adore, a part of the Visiting Company Initiative Garage Rep)
American Idol, America’s Next Top Model, TMZ… take your pick. There’s no shortage of entertainment in our culture. But are we really being entertained? Or just distracted? It’s easy and it’s fun and it’s the way that we’re all expected to spend at least four or five hours out of every day, and we’re more than happy to oblige. For me there’s something really great, really comforting about turning my brain off and letting all the noise and the chatter and the pretty colors just wash over me…
Well, I could read that biography I’ve been meaning to start in on, but… I mean… have you seen all the choices I have in 3D movies right now!? I bet all of those probably have stories about a guy who did some stuff too, so… fuck it, whatever… the book can wait, it’s practically the same thing. I’m just wearing a different pair of glasses.
(Dave is the Director of punkplay, a part of the Visiting Company Initiative Garage Rep)
Pavement Group likes to party.
More specifically, we love to throw parties. While most young theatre companies are guilty of this indulgence, I think we may be the only one that has it in our mission statement - “We throw great parties.”
(Paige and Ashleigh play June and Jennifer Gibbons in The Twins Would Like to Say, part of the Visiting Company Initiative Garage Rep)
In true June and Jennifer fashion, we are writing this post together, combined with questions asked by the elusive Mr. Nobody (June and Jennifer’s imaginary friend).
(Polly is the Director of Artistic Development at Steppenwolf)
Recently I got obsessed with Dexter, that cable show about a serial killer who kills bad guys. After watching four seasons in about two weeks (I said obsessed), I found myself stressed out, worrying about Dexter, would he get away with it? I was rooting for him. Good storytelling will often put us in surprising emotional and intellectual states. I find it even more powerful when this happens in theater, when we imagine ourselves in places we’ve never been or identify with outsiders completely unlike us. In theater, I like to think of those emotions as almost tactile: we feel them because we’re in such close proximity to the living, breathing actor.