Some serious swag.

H'lo! 

The first day (Saturday May 26) at the Great Plains Theatre Conference proved it to be exhausting, interesting, and a great opportunity. 

We were welcomed very warmly and then treated to some serious swag. After we arrived on the MCC campus, a woman with a toothy grin standing behind the registration desk asked us what tshirt size, stuffed it into an awesome-lookin' tote bag, and handed over to us-- along with our very professional nametags. We found other goodies in that magic tote bag. I felt like a KCACTF VIP. But, there are no yellow, red, or blue stickers here. It's nice that noone has been sectioned off into a color-coded pen. We have no excuses to be 'too nervous' to start a conversation with someone. So, within the first 10 minutes we were all thinking this was pretty neat. Then they served us lunch. It was stupidly tasty. Gourmet almost. I guess the main building in which the Conference is held is the college Culinary Arts Institute building. That's fine with me! I don't mind being their food-tasting guinea pig for my free three-meals-a-day.

Looking around at the people attending the conference, it was clear that these people are playwrights. Lots of Mad Men-esque glasses, bizarre hair-dos, and really interesting facial hair choices. Some interesting suit jackets and cowboy boots pairings, too. Printed on the cover of our conference schedule are some buzzwords of current theatre culture. Words we've all heard before and rally around. Like, 'Community. Craft. Compassion. Creativity. Connection.' But printed there is also, 'Convergence' aaannnnnd..... 'Confluence.' That last two made me laugh a little and think, "Whelp. This is definitely a playwrighting conference." The total alliteration is a nice touch, too.

But, what I'm really learning/seeing here is enthusiasm that's almost tangible. Work in the theatre requires a combination of pride in, and willingness to share work. It’s really cool to be able to be here and take part in that from the playwright’s perspective. We don't really get a lot of chance to write plays at Iowa State, so it's something I've had little experience being around-- let alone trying my hand at. I think the last play I wrote was about people on the Titanic, in fourth grade.

One of the most interesting parts of being here is that I've met people here who are actors, directors, and playwrights. The guy who wrote the play we're reading is in grad school for acting. Because of the way theatre in America is evolving, with everyone working on a project together-- to make it from the ground up, playwrighting seems like something that should be in your wheelhouse. Part of your theatrical "Swiss- army knife." Especially, if you really want to take part in collaborative theatre. My experiences working on Chekov sort of introduced me to that idea. This conference and the people I'm meeting are really driving it home. I signed up for a workshop on Thursday called "Starting at the Start" with Lee Wochner. It's scary, cause I'll probably have to write something. But, I need to work on building my playwrighting muscles. It will help me when I get to Louisville, where I will need to write my own short play.

Saturday night was the Kick-off Party, which included a performance of a show called Muazzez, by Mac Wellman. We were all yellow school bussed to a bar in Omaha called The House of Loom. It was one of the coolest bars I've ever been in. They had a small stage set up, with just a 1940's crooner mic. The area around it was filled with instruments for a band that played throughout the performance. Their name was Gus and Call-- they were the best part of the show! They were playing instruments in ways I've never seen, made some really captivating sounds. They underscored the entire time and were 'featured' once or twice throughout. What was really neat was that it was more like the the band was in conversation with the action and the actor, rather than playing to create mood. One of the coolest moments in the music was when a guy played an electric bass with a bow, like you would use on a violin or an acoustic bass. It was a beautiful, attention- grabbing sound.

Muazzez was a one-man show, based on a short story by the same author. It was about the life of an “abandoned cigar factory” (played by the actor, Tim Siragusa) on the planet of Muazzez. So, it felt a lot like it was just hearing a sci-fi book read aloud. I was unsure whether Muazzez was performance art or a play.

The description said Muazzez was a “wild linguistic ride.” It sort of reminded me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or Clockwork Orange. The words didn’t really make sense in the way they were strung together, but after awhile, what he was saying began to make sense because of the way/opinion he had about saying it. Although it was hard for the audience to follow, the actor was working really hard to connect with us. You could tell he knew what he was saying, even if we didn’t. There were some very funny, human moments that he made clear in spite of the fact that we weren’t totally sure what he was talking about. As an actor, I was able to witness way you can use only words, and the sounds they make to communicate. No syntax, just raw sound. Kinda’ neat.

After Muazzez, we hung around the bar a little, talking to and getting to know some people. A bunch of us went out to the Old Market and wandered around. It was very fun. Good to get different takes on Muazzez, especially since most of us didn’t know what to make of it. It was also a good way to get a better understanding of the festival, the people who attend and why.

Well. This blog post is way too long. Hope somebody actually made it this far.

Thanks!