InViolet Rep

Cheating on InViolet

michaelhenryharris — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:24:28 -0400

Written by InViolet Company Member Bixby Elliot.

For the last few days I have been having an affair.

I have been frolicking and playing around and engaging in intimate contact with another…theater company! Scandalous, I know. But before you judge me and get all conservative on me, you should know that I have “permission to play”. You know what that is, right? It is kind of like a “Celebrity Pass” (where your partner allows you to have sex with your celebrity crush if you actually meet them). Well – InViolet wants me to go out into the world and co-mingling with other theaters and start relationships because it makes me a stronger artist and that in turn makes InViolet a stronger and better theater company. That is hot, right?

I am currently cheating with PAVEMENT GROUP in Chicago where my new play GIRL YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE is being produced and I am happy to report that things are going very well. It has been an exciting few days. I flew to Chicago on Sunday April 1^st. I was greeted with a pot luck party where I met a ton of the cast and crew for the show and ate multiple rice crispy treats. It was a great way to get to know everyone and get acclimated to one another. We also made custom slap bracelets for the show (audience will get these instead of tix when they arrive). Note: I recognize that while I might have permission to “theater-cheat” on InViolet – they might not forgive me for “craft-cheating” (please try to find it in your heart to forgive me InVioleters).

The next day brought the first rehearsal (that I would attend) and a run thru of the play. While I was nervous I wasn’t apoplectic - I had done a workshop in November with Pavement and knew many of the actors and certainly knew the director David Perez’s work. I was confident they would be headed in the right direction.

Well – the run thru was spectacular. David has done a brilliant job with the show and the actors are phenomenal – all of them! For me, any nerves I had just dissipated entirely and I am was able to really enjoy seeing the play come to life.

I have been working on this play for the better part of a year and a half and have seen numerous readings/workshops…but nothing compares to seeing it come to life in rehearsal. Seeing the actors playing Rob and Fab of Milli Vanilli in their wigs doing period specific dance moves, watching the actors performing A & B fully inhabit their roles and bring the characters to life with nuance and humor, taking in the small details you had never thought of – like the actress playing Megan imbuing her character with a perpetually runny nose or the actress playing Sid surprising me with this funny accent or the final scene being played with such purity and honesty that it brought tears to my eyes…so many amazing moments and details – too many to list here.

It is the thing you live for as an artist/playwright – that moment when your work leaves your head and comes to life - on a stage. It is indescribable and it is what all the work is for!

We are heading into tech this weekend – where we will add sets, costumes, lights and the whole thing will get bigger and crazier and even more wonderful.

I am settling into a groove with my Chicago “theater lovers” – they are gentle and kind to me and most of all they are being so wonderful and amazing with this play. I feel so incredibly grateful to have found such a talented and dynamic group of people who called me and said, “hey, we want to produce your play.”

I miss my InViolet family back in NYC but I am also grateful for their support and encouragement - I wouldn’t be here without them. They have helped nurture this play (at the 2011 InViolet Retreat and beyond) and I feel like every day I get emails or FB posts about the show from InVioleters - asking how it is going and checking in with me. It is amazing to know that, back at home, I have a whole group of people cheering me on!

You see, making theater with multiple “theater lovers” can be a beautiful thing!

………………………………..

Girl You Know It’s True is being presented by Chicago’s PAVEMENT GROUP. April 12, 2012 - May 13, 2012 Thursday through Saturday @ 7:30pm, Sunday @ 3pm; Opening Night 4/16; Industry Night 4/23. For tickets go to www.pavementgroup.org

When a middle-aged playwright fails to get his work produced he conjures up a radical new identity for himself: an impostor. His stand in - an African American Lesbian woman in a wheelchair - instantly shoots to fame. Needless to say, shit hits the fan. Told in tandem with the infamous Milli Vanilli scandal, Girl You Know it’s True is a hilarious and bold indictment of the institution of theatre and true intent behind the act of creation.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival's production of Mary Zimmerman's The White Snake starring InViolet Company Member Amy Kim Waschke

michaelhenryharris — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:15:00 -0400

THE WHITE SNAKE by Mary Zimmerman. Pictured: Amy Kim Waschke,...

michaelhenryharris — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:12:00 -0400

THE WHITE SNAKE by Mary Zimmerman. Pictured: Amy Kim Waschke, Photo by Jenny Graham

THE WHITE SNAKE by Mary Zimmerman. Pictured: Amy Kim Waschke,...

michaelhenryharris — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:11:00 -0400

THE WHITE SNAKE by Mary Zimmerman. Pictured: Amy Kim Waschke, Christopher Livingston, Photo by Jenny Graham

THE WHITE SNAKE by Mary Zimmerman at OSF. Pictured: Amy Kim...

michaelhenryharris — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:10:00 -0400

THE WHITE SNAKE by Mary Zimmerman at OSF. Pictured: Amy Kim Waschke, Tanya McBride, Photo by Jenny Graham

What is it like to work on a new Mary Zimmerman play? Report from an InViolet on the West Coast

michaelhenryharris — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:09:34 -0400

Dear InViolets and InViolet Supporters:

Hello from the Great Northwest! I’m writing to you from beautiful Ashland, Oregon. For those of you unfamiliar with Ashland, this little town is seated in the Rogue Valley, five hours due south of Portland and cozied up to the California state line. It is the headquarters of Dagoba Organic Chocolate; a once favored vacation spot of novelist Vladimir Nabokov (Lolita was finished in Ashland); and perhaps most notably, it is the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), where I have had the great good fortune to be working on The White Snake adapted and directed by Mary Zimmerman.

InViolet’s leaders, Michael and Angela, have asked me to talk about my experience working with Mary and OSF. I have nothing but good things to say. Mary is a genius— and I say that with all the weight that word implies— and OSF is a unique and brave arts organization. For example, when Mary was initially meeting with Bill Rauch, OSF’s Artistic Director, she asked him to look her in the eyes and say, “I understand there will be no script on the first day of rehearsal.” And he did! It was a leap of faith for OSF to program and market The White Snake without a script and it is testament to Mary’s genius that she was trusted to unfold the story in her own time.

This is how we would work. Each day, the cast would walk into rehearsal and pick up the new pages Mary had written the night before or early that morning. We would read through the new scene once for comprehension, Mary giving small notes as to why she had written a line a certain way or why this action was happening at this point in the play. Then, she would stage the scene. Once the new material was staged, we would run the full play from the beginning, adding the new scene to the end. Working this way, a new scene each day and frequent run-throughs, is like Christmas for the actor. It’s surprising and wonderful and forces you to focus on the present. (Ha! Pun intended!) You can’t play to the next scene— or worse, to the end of the play— because you don’t know what the heck it is. You are completely innocent to what may or may not happen, just as we are in life. And while running the play every day in rehearsal may sound daunting, it’s actually very helpful. You build the necessary stamina to navigate the demands of a Mary Zimmerman play, which are often physical, technical, and emotional feats.

Our rehearsals were short, usually four hours long, but extremely focused. I still can’t believe how much we accomplished in that small amount of time, but I chalk it up to two things: Mary has a very clear idea as to how she wants to tell the story, both verbally and visually; and the majority of the cast were OSF company members, many of whom had worked together for years. Her clarity of vision, along with the inherent comfort level of the ensemble, allowed us to create the play with ease and enjoyment.

Mary once joked that she wants things, “fully realized and instantaneous.” It’s kind of true, but I think what she really means is that she wants her actors to attack the material with no fear. There is no creeping into a Mary Zimmerman play. There’s no time. As I said before, you get to read the scene once and then you stage it. Not a lot of table work. On top of that, I don’t care who you are or how healthy your ego is, no one wants to suck in front of Mary Zimmerman. What she brings to rehearsal is so smart and specific, you want your work to be exceptional as well. And because you’re moving so quickly— memorizing fast so you can have hands free to operate a snake puppet, or pull yards and yards of china silk into the form of a cloud— it forces you to trust your initial instincts about the scene and sometimes fill in the acting moments after the scene has been staged. Initially, I felt uncomfortable with this, but what I grew to understand is that most of the acting work is already there for you on the page. Mary is writing for you. She takes your strengths, your quirks, your warmth, your sense of humor and puts them into your character. It is also one of the reasons why there is no script before the first day of rehearsal. Mary channels the energies of the actors and the demands of the story through her creative subconscious and trusts that what resonates with her, will also resonate with the audience.

I’ve included some pictures and a short synopsis of The White Snake. I hope you enjoy them. This play has been a real gift to me. As my castmate Lisa Tejero once said, “The White Snake is a balm for the soul, artistic and otherwise.” I don’t know if this is true for other actors, but I find it rare to work on a play where everything comes together to lift the art form. It’s part of the reason why I joined InViolet. You stack the odds in favor of making great theatre when you work with a living playwright, a rep company of artists, and a supportive audience. Wow! Writing this makes me so excited for This Is Fiction by Megan Hart! Onwards friends! Let’s make something magnificent!

Much love,

Amy Kim Waschke

Synopsis

The story of The White Snake is a popular Chinese fairytale that first appeared in the T’ang Dynasty (618-907 CE). Over hundreds of years the story has evolved and, depending on the times, the central character Lady Bai (Lady White) is depicted as a villain sorceress or a heroine in love. In Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation, Lady Bai, a lonely snake spirit studies the Tao in hopes of finding enlightenment. After 1700 years she is able to change her shape into human form. She meets an old friend, Greenie, and the two snakes decided to transform themselves into young maidens and visit the human world for one day. On earth, she falls in love with Xi Xian, a poor scholar, and decides to stay. Lady Bai abandons her quest for enlightenment in exchange for a human existence— for love, a domestic life running a small pharmacy, and a baby. Unfortunately, a meddling Buddhist monk, Fa Hai, reveals to Xi Xian that he is married to a snake and plots their separation. Once Lady Bai’s secret is revealed, Xi Xian realizes he loves her just as she is. However, the religious zealot Fa Hai won’t allow this unconventional marriage. He tears Lady Bai away from her family and traps her under Thunderpeak Pagoda for many years.

THE WHITE SNAKE by Mary Zimmerman. Pictured: Cristofer Jean,...

michaelhenryharris — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:03:00 -0400

THE WHITE SNAKE by Mary Zimmerman. Pictured: Cristofer Jean, Christopher Livingston, Amy Kim Waschke, Vin Kridakorn, Gina Daniels, Lisa Tejero, Photo by Jenny Graham

THE WHITE SNAKE by Mary Zimmerman at OSF. Pictured: Emily Sophia...

michaelhenryharris — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:01:00 -0400

THE WHITE SNAKE by Mary Zimmerman at OSF. Pictured: Emily Sophia Knapp, Photo by Jenny Graham

THE WHITE SNAKE by Mary Zimmerman act OSF. Actors: Emily Sophia...

michaelhenryharris — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:59:00 -0400

THE WHITE SNAKE by Mary Zimmerman act OSF. Actors: Emily Sophia Knapp, Vin Kridakorn, Photo by Jenny Graham

The InViolet Table at InViolet InRed

michaelhenryharris — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:09:47 -0500

The InViolet Table at InViolet InRed

The fabulous Jamie Thomas, friend and silent auction donor.

michaelhenryharris — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:05:15 -0500

The fabulous Jamie Thomas, friend and silent auction donor.

Co-Artistic Director Angela Razzano and Company Member Samantha...

michaelhenryharris — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 11:37:57 -0500

Co-Artistic Director Angela Razzano and Company Member Samantha Thomson.

InViolet InRed Host Committee member and The Motorcycle Diaries...

michaelhenryharris — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 11:32:51 -0500

InViolet InRed Host Committee member and The Motorcycle Diaries scribe, Jose Rivera

What a fun night!

michaelhenryharris — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 11:30:27 -0500

What a fun night!

There will be booze. Macao Trading Company for InViolet InRed.

michaelhenryharris — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:27:59 -0500

There will be booze. Macao Trading Company for InViolet InRed.

[Left} Mark (Googie Uterhardt) and Angie (Barbara...

michaelhenryharris — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:38:00 -0500

Michelle David in red, playing Kelly.

[Left} Mark (Googie Uterhardt) and Angie (Barbara Cole-Uterhardt) discover three’s company in the Atlanta production of 40 WEEKS. {RIght} The lovely Kelly (Michelle David) with her boys, Mark and Scott (Bryan Brendle).

40 WEEKS - THE ATLANTA PRODUCTION

michaelhenryharris — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:33:12 -0500

One of the most pervasive trends in independent theater is the “one and done” aspect of production. Rare indeed, is the production that garners enough fanfare or support to warrant either another production by the same company or the affection of a different producer. Yet it is this second production where, in this inexperienced playwright’s opinion, is where the real education begins.

Let me clarify. The age old aphorism is true. The education comes in painful steps beginning the first time an actor says your words out loud. Then when you hear your first draft. Oh the pain. Then, if you’re lucky, someone puts in on feet, and then, if you’re really lucky, it’s produced. All are traumatic wonderful learning experiences and are unlike any other in the theater.

InViolet Rep was created to give its members just this type of painful education. And it’s working. After the succeessful run of 40 WEEKS in New York, I came away equal parts proud and determined. Determined that my next play to be produced would be much better. The pride came mainly from being an instigator. I knew that I had given four out of our five actors damn good roles to play. Roles that their agents could and watch and see their clients in new light. Roles that parents could come and watch their children shine in. That thong wasn’t in the script, Mr. David.

I also gave them a damn good story.

But that fifth actor, Deanna Sidoti? She kind of got the shaft. Her character was bland, her story line uninteresting. It’s to her credit that she made her character the real breathing human being that she did. It certainly wasn’t on the page.

Luckily, I didn’t have to live with that tragic ending. Through the generosity of our supporters, and a wonderful co-producer OnStage Atlanta, I received that elusive second production. I rewrote Kelly’s arc, adding a much needed scene between her and Mark and reworking a scene that desperately needed to be reworked. I also went through the script making small but effective cuts and line changes throughout. There’s nothing worse than sitting in your own production and hating a line - that you wrote. From a purely written document standpoint, 40 WEEKS in Atlanta was so much a better play. It was an amazing production too. Because of all the hard work that EVERYONE in NYC went through (particularly Angela, Danton, and our cast), the process was so smooth, so enjoyable, so like it should be but rarely is because we’re creating NEW work. And it’s messy. And it’s damn fun. And I am so much the better writer for it.

It is our goal to do this with all of our productions - for a number of reasons. If it helps the rest of our playwrights as much as it has helped me, watch out. Some good times are ahead.

MHH

Doing it All- Generously

angela-invioletrep — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:18:55 -0500

Hi all! My name is Erin. I am a brand spankin’ new member of InViolet Rep and quite
thrilled about it.

One rainy Wednesday afternoon last May I got an email. The subject line read: A Question from InViolet Rep. “Oooh,” I thought. “I like what they do.” I’d seen their workshops and productions and was consistently struck by how good the work was- the acting, the writing, the directing….everything. In the email, Angela, one of the co-artistic directors, said that the company was in an exciting place and was looking to welcome a few new members in the upcoming year. They wanted me to come to one of their monthly meetings to learn more about the company. Apparently Melanie, my friend and an original InViolet member, had recommended me. “Gosh that was generous of Melanie,” I thought. It didn’t take me long to discover that the kind of generosity Melanie showed me was not abnormal in this company. That’s just how InViolet operates.

Cut to two months later when I receive another email from Angela. This time she asks
if I’d like to join InViolet for their annual summer retreat, where they spend 4-5 days in
some country-like location to work on scripts all day and all night. Well, that sounded like pure heaven to me, so I fired back an effusive email filled with “hell yeses,” “can’t waits” and “thank yous.” Angela responded with “Are you interested in bringing up some of your writing? Let me know if you have preferences as far as working as a director/writer/actor.”

More music to my ears! They want ME to tell THEM what I want to do? As someone
who’s always been an actor, yet secretly kept a closet filled with writing trapped in notebooks that had never seen the light of day, I was delighted to find myself in this position. I wasn’t asked the usual “Well, are you more of an actor or a writer?” I wasn’t asked to prove which passion was stronger. I was only asked what it was I wanted to do. And… I wanted to do both. Now, InViolet is giving me, and all of its members, a wonderful vehicle to do that very thing.

In my short time with the company, here are just a few examples of the kind of support I’ve grown accustomed to hearing among our members:

“I’d like to send your writing to my literary agent friend. Is that okay with you?”

“Could you think about some ways I can support your work and then let me know?”

“May I send your play to some theatres for you?”

Delicious, huh? I think the generosity InViolet members show to one another (and to the
entire community through their performances, workshops and volunteer work) is possible because they started by being generous with themselves. They formed the company with the belief that they didn’t have to be only “one thing” in the theater. If an actor has a desire to write, then by all means he should write. A writer wants to try her hand at producing? Well, hop to it, girl.

InViolet artists give themselves the time and space to be whatever they are. And they let
that definition change over time too (that is, if they even felt the need to “define” themselves in the first place). This inspires me to no end.

The more time I spend with InViolet, the more I learn that despite what you may have heard (and believed) in the past, you can do it all… and you can do it well. The fact that you have the desire in you is proof enough that it’s time to get started.

Announcing the cast of InViolet’s last workshopped reading...

angela-invioletrep — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 16:12:08 -0400

Announcing the cast of InViolet’s last workshopped reading of 2011!

HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH, by Jennifer Bowen, will be directed by Shelley Butler and feature Francis Benhamou, Annie Carlson, Jeffrey Kurtz & Mikel Lam

11/14 & 11/15 - Visit www.invioletrep.com for more details!

InViolet's 5th Annual Retreat, as told by Playwright & Actor Jennifer Bowen

angela-invioletrep — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:40:44 -0400

Going on the InViolet Retreat always feels like going on a first date. Well, it’s more complicated than that. I’ve been a member of InViolet for three years now. (Oh hi! I’m Jen. Awkward. You didn’t know who I was and I’m talking like we’re old friends…)

So with the older members, it’s like going on a date with the love of your life who you haven’t seen all year and you’re hoping it’s as good as you remember it. With new people, it’s a bonafide first date (internal monologue: Oh shit! I gotta find out where everyone grew up, their jobs, their names, etc.! Second of all, will people like me and will I drink too much and embarrass myself? Third of all, I have to act in front of the newbies and share my writing and OhLordWhatWasIThinkingIShouldHaveRevisedMore…)

You know. Stuff like that. And we don’t invite “new people” every year, so we all know
something special is about to occur. We all just hop in these van(s) in the Chelsea area and zoom to upstate New York and it all starts!

Unpacking our bags in a house that has had a zillion lives, it settles in: we’re here for 4 days. Woo hoo! Quickly some of the new people blend in as they help make dinner for the 20+ crew of actors and writers. Angela, one of the artistic directors, has these sick packets for everyone with inspirational quotes and all the new plays people are acting in. The packets are really sick (which means “awesome”). Groups go off upstairs and into the living room. Actors dive into new plays led by their directors and watched by their (I’m sure nervous) writers. Screams! Laughter! Chairs falling! More laughter! We’re in full swing.

Dinner is this fun communal event where we push together three tables and stuff 20+ chairs around so we can have a last supper/summer camp/revival style dinner. There are some inappropriate jokes. One about Houdini (I won’t get into it) and it’s like we’re all on our third drink on the first date and we’re starting to wonder, will I freakin’ marry this person?? In Artistic Translation this means: Oh awesome! I like these people and am now more excited than scared to act and share my writing!

At night we perform the plays and dive into feedback via the Liz Lerman method.
By the end of the first night it’s official. We’re moving fast. We’re moving in together.
We’re writing the guest list for our wedding. (If you’re not following this metaphor, I’m
really sorry. Basically I’m trying to say: IT’S GOING WELL.)

We all sleep like 10 minutes each night and wake up and do it all over again!
Some of us prepare meals and clean up the kitchen, while the majority act and direct new plays and get excited and scared all over again. Each night we get more and more exhausted…and the work gets more and more amazing! There are multiple Tony Award winning performances. Murmurs of possible Pulitzer nominations ripple through the crowd. There’s a brutal battle to determine who is the best “Stage Manager”. It’s awesome to see how the writing has progressed over the year and to hear all the new voices from the new writers. After the massive sharing of words and feelings and it all, we dance because it’s Angela sweet 16 birthday party, gaze outside at the stars, drink, laugh, talk about the plays, and the last night we even have a fire pit!

And then all of a sudden, we’re packing up our bags again. Is it possible that we read 11 plays over four days? The love affair has paused like in a movie. Like, the trip is over and you can’t even really get what it meant to you or how much you (luv) everyone until you’re back in your apartment and you’re like OhMyGodThatWasIncredibleAndSpecial.
It’s hard to describe exactly what happens, but this is the nut of it (or in a nutshell,
rather…) We started out as past loves, friends, strangers. And at the end something has happened and we’re now a GROUP.

We’re what we like to call INVIOLET REPERTORY THEATER COMPANY.