I’m on my way to meet a friend for tea. Though two posts in a row are most unusual for me, I’m gonna indulge.
I’ve been working on a project for the Fringe. It’s well past time for me to do a show, and I like the community that my work will be a part of in the Fringe. It sort of takes some of the pressure off me. And I think this idea I have is really hot.
I know, I know – art that starts from an idea is a dangerous thing.
I’m working on a dance/theater adaptation of a Dylan Thomas play. You might know him as the poet famous for such lines as: ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’, and ‘wow, I finished the bottle of scotch already!’. He wrote some plays, and some film scripts in addition to wonderful poetry before he died at age 39 (?). His most famous radio play is Under Milkwood. I’ll be producing one called “the doctor and the devils.” I’ll write more about the play another time. The characters are very complex, and I’m trying to figure out what language I can cut, and what characters I can simplify.
Dance is a very in-efficient replacement for language. My vision is to have a play-reading with the readers on stage. Possibly some projections to help the vision. And at times the readers spread to the edge of the stage and dances take over. Sometimes ‘set’ to the text, sometimes with music overwhelming the text. I’ll write more about it later, but I’m excited. The fact that my calf is near-functional again also makes me feel more positive. I get very unhappy when I don’t dance. Enjoyed rehearsal last night with Jane Franklin.
