Falling behind on posting - but not on writing

It has been almost two weeks since I've posted here. I didn't realize it had been that long.

The excuse? I've been busy. Really busy. Work and theater and preparation for my upcoming workshops (which includes a new one added for this season).

And I have been writing. I am doing well with my daily journal writing. Yes, I have missed a day here and there. But when I went back and checked, between my writing by hand journal and my in-phone app journal (a little program called Dayly, and no, I did not mistype its name), and editing the novel - I have been writing every day.

One project which has been keeping me busy is preparing to interpret Twelfth Night at Shakespeare in the Park in Bend, and the lush green park along the river, Drake Park. The event sponsors are great to work with and the theater company, Northwest Classical Theatre Company - is wonderful. They put on a great show, they are amazing to work with, they are kind and nice and welcoming. It is a joy to be able to interpret their performances. And the interpreted performance was tonight. It went well, we had a good audience, and I look forward to being able to do this again next year. We have been preparing this play for over 4 weeks. It will be good to get that time back - and I will miss this production and these people.

And it is on to the next theatrical adventure - which is that I will be part of a five member team interpreting the Series A Fall Festival of One Acts by Sam Shepard at Profile Theatre on Sunday, September 7th. This is a special interpreted performance on several levels. That there are five interpreters is one level. This is the newest addition to my performance interpreting training workshops: it is a professional study group, and we will be working with feedback about our interpretations to improve our work over the next several months. Another level is that this is the first time Profile has done a festival of one acts - and they are amazing. I had the pleasure of sitting in on the read through earlier in the week and I am excited to see these plays as they develop. I like the plays and the actors. It is great to be able to have this to use as our source material for professional development. And I love the format - six one acts, a strong company of actors, and several directors.

I will also be offering my Theatrical Interpreting Preparation Series workshops this season. Both TIPS I (the introduction and overview) and TIPS II (the more intensive mentored, hands-up workshop).

On the writing front - I am continuing to revise the novel. I have revision on three of the six chapters (up to 25 pages) mostly done for the writing retreat I will be attending in October. I will do revision on the other three, then go back in for more tweaking as needed if I have time.

With this space here, I am searching for a direction, I think. I had the plan of posting revision as I went along on the memoir, which I have put on hold. For a couple of years I had a weekly prompt series I did. Now, I would like to return to more regular posting - but I'm not sure what I want to write about here.

It will come.

In the meantime, I am writing - just not much here. And I am doing theater - which also feeds my creative soul and inspiration. I will return to more scheduled writing here - and other things.

Reading & Writing & Shakepeare

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The interpreted performance of Othello was last Thursday. And we will be interpreting it again next Thursday at the matinee. But the first performance is the one which requires hours and hours of preparation - and even more so for Shakespeare. The second interpreted performance requires a refresher and perhaps a few changes based on the first one - but all of the time goes into preparing to do it the first time.

It went really well and I'm looking forward to the second interpreted performance, which will have a large number of D/deaf/Hard of Hearing audience members. Which always makes it more fun.

Even with working on Shakespeare, I have been writing every day. Writing at least one poem every day, and sometimes working on a short story as well. I like these creatively fruitful times. And I hope they will last - and I feel there is a chance this river of creative flow will continue, since I have maintained it during this heavy show preparation period. 

I have also done four floats for the Float On Writers' Program this month, which required that I write and submit something which came from the float, within 24 hours. This has been an interesting process as I have not floated on a weekly basis before. I have done some writing after floating, but not at this level. It has been interesting to see what has come out of my floats onto the page. 

It is not surprising that water has been involved in all of my float writings. The first two were essays about my float experience, both with some abstraction or surrealism. The third piece came out as a poem. Again, that probably isn't a surprise since I have been writing a poem each day since April 1st. But I didn't intend to write a poem and tried to steer it towards prose, but it wouldn't budge. It was a poem and wanted to stay that way. Then my final piece was a hybrid prose + poem and it was much more abstract than the earlier three pieces. I was also able to take the notes I made immediately after my float and turn them into my poem for today.

My creative energy is also being fueled by reading. Which is as it should be and, I know, is also not surprising. I am reading some good books right now, so I thought I would list them as well. I am still reading them - but from what I've read so far, I recommend them. 

"Contents May Have Shifted" by Pam Houston (fiction)

"Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama" by David Mamet (writing, nonfiction)

"This Won't Take But a Minute, Honey" by Steve Almond (stories & essays)

"Show Your Work" by Austin Kleon (creativity, nonfiction)

"The Red Road" by Denise Mina (crime/mystery novel - I'm listening to the audiobook while I drive)

I realize I haven't written about the writing workshop weekend in Port Townsend a couple of weeks ago, either. Rather than glossing over it and not giving it the space and time it deserves, I will just say that it was an amazing weekend with Lidia Yuknavitch and Pam Houston, and eleven other writers. It was work the cramp on my schedule and I have another insight for the M-book which is going to make a significant difference. I will write more about all of this later.

Writing is happening. Interpreting work is happening. Theatre is happening. 

Life is good.

Oh, and we saw Cirque du Soleil's "Totem" today and it was fabulous. And inspiring in color, sound, and seeing what the human body is capable of doing.

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Progress!

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I have been writing every day. At least once every day. And I do mean creatively writing; not just responding to emails, business correspondence, taking notes, etc. Really writing.

In case I haven't mentioned it (I know, I know - I've said it; more than once) I am participating in NaPoWriMo - National Poetry Writing Month. I mean, it is National Poetry Month, so why not join in the fun and create some? Right?

All of my daily poems are being posted over on The Writing Vein Playground. In their mostly first draft states. A few have had some minor edits; some are right out of my brain/heart-hand connection. One of the poems - from Friday 4/18 - is an excerpt of a longer piece. It was created after the third of my four "writing floats" - as a part of the Writers' Program in which I'm participating at Float On. Since the piece was written for Float On, for potential use in an anthology in the future, I posted only one stanza and left the piece in its entirety unpublished.

I still have my Tuesday morning writing jams with Rooze. We are trying a new location this coming week, as the place where we've been meeting has taken to turning up the volume on their music and there seems to be more conversation (amongst and from the staff; over the music). And it is too loud and distracting for writing. We will continue to meet and write - just changing the venue.

It has been a bit of a challenge to write a poem every day, continue the Tuesday writing, create another new piece of writing every week within 24 hours of my float - and to be in heavy preparation to interpret "Othello" next week. But I've done it. I am doing it. Perhaps proving to myself, again, that writing begets writing. Right? The more you write the easier it is to write and the writing comes easier and so it goes. For me in this moment, it feels pretty amazing that I am still doing all of this writing - and prepping for Shakespeare.
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Write a "Replacement" Poem

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This one from NaPoWriMo looks like fun!

I haven't written mine, yet. I will. But I have planted all of the spinach (two types), kale (two
types), onions, rainbow carrots, and tomatoes (one plant each of three types). And mowed the grassy areas (or should I say grass-like areas?).

Now I have to clean up so I can go watch Othello tonight! Carolyn and Rich saw it last week and Carolyn and I are going tonight. The three of us (Rich Hall, Carolyn Brockway, and I) will be interpreting Othello at Portland Center Stage on April 24th at 7:30 pm and May 1st at noon (the matinee may already be sold out).


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Here is the prompt - I am looking forward to getting my hands on it! Maybe over dinner before Othello.

Today’s (optional) prompt is a “replacement” poem. Pick a common noun for a physical thing, for example, “desk” or “hat” or “bear,” and then pick one for something intangible, like “love” or “memories” or “aspiration.” Then Google your tangible noun, and find some sentences using it. Now, replace that tangible noun in those sentences with your intangible noun, and use those sentences to create (or inspire) a poem. Here’s a little example that replaces the word “lemon,” in sentences from a Wikipedia article on lemons, with the word “sorrow.” 

Sorrow is a small evergreen tree native to Asia.
The origin of sorrow is a mystery.
The first substantial cultivation of sorrow in Europe
began in Genoa in the middle of the 15th century.
A halved sorrow dipped in salt or baking powder
is used to brighten copper cookware. One educational
science experiment involves attaching electrodes
to sorrow and using it as a battery.
Although very low power, several sorrows
can power a small digital watch. 

Goofy, but also interesting! It’s not quite a poem yet, but there might be a poem in there, waiting to come out. Happy writing!

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Theatrical Interpreting Preparation Series is Under Way

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I met with the participants in the first Theatrical Interpreting Preparation Series workshop on Saturday, December 1st. It's a diverse and wonderful group of interpreters and I'm looking forward to our time together over the next four months.

This coming Thursday they will be attending "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at PCS. I didn't give them a lot of homework, but a few things to look for which relate to our meeting on Saturday while they're watching the play. Then when we meet again in two weeks we will talk about those observations and wrap up that topic and begin the next one.

I've rented a conference room at The Armory from Portland Center Stage and it's nice to be in a theatrical setting for this workshop. The room is comfortable and access is easy for pretty much whatever we need.

This is a great group for my first run of the theatrical interpreting workshops I have planned.

Don't worry if you missed it this round - I will be doing it again next season. And I have other performance interpreting workshops in the development process, as well.

For now - a lovely first gathering!

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In other news, I wrote another blog post go out for Portland Center Stage and it went out last Friday - posted by the amazing Katie O. You can read the post by clicking on my Bard collage below (I had fun making this digital collage for the post).

"Interpreting the Bard" by Dot Hearn

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from BLOGORRHEA: What are you doing on Shakespeare’s birthday?

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from Mead Hunter...

BLOGORRHEA: What are you doing on Shakespeare’s birthday? "His putative birthday, anyway, which is this coming Saturday, April 23. I’m inviting you herewith to spend part of this high holiday talking about a subject central to the Bard’s life: playwriting. ... We’ll discuss both the plight and the promise of being a contemporary playwright. Can you be one without living in New York? Or sans MFA? How do you get known outside of Portland, which is fast becoming known as the nation’s favorite “tryout town”? ... "

the press release for this event:

PANEL ON OREGON PLAYWRITING RAMPS UP TO LITERARY ARTS’ OREGON BOOK AWARDS
Panel includes nominees for Angus L. Bowmer Award

This year on Shakespeare’s birthday — Saturday, April 23 — the Dramatists Guild offers Northwest members an opportunity to meet some of Oregon’s finest playwrights, ask questions about their work, and hear what they have to say about the dramatist’s life. The panel discussion includes Wayne Harrel,* Susan Mach, George Taylor,* and Cynthia Whitcomb, the Oregon Book Award finalists for the coveted Angus L. Bowmer Award for Drama.

Marc Acito and Molly Best Tinsley* are also finalists for the Bowmer Award. The winner of Angus L. Bowmer Award for Drama, as well as the Oregon Book Awards winners in seven other categories, will be announced at the Oregon Book Awards ceremony on Monday, April 25, at 7:00 pm at the Gerding Theater. To learn more about the awards ceremony and view a complete list of finalists and nominees in all genres, please visit http://www.literary-arts.org/awards/.

The OBA drama panel on April 23 will be held at Portland Center Stage’s Julie S. Vigeland Rehearsal Hall, on the theater’s third floor, 5:30-6:30 pm, and moderated by nationally known dramaturg Mead Hunter. Admission is free. In addition to the Dramatists Guild, event co-sponsors include Literary Arts, Portland Center Stage, and Portland Theatre Works. The Guild’s Oregon representatives, playwrights Andrea Stolowitz and Steve Patterson, will also be on hand to answer questions about Dramatists Guild news and the playwriting trade.

Immediately following the panel, members are invited to a wine and cheese reception from 6:30-7:30 on the mezzanine level of Portland Center Stage’s Armory Building.

If you haven’t yet had your fill of culture, PCS also presents a 7:30 pm performance of Opus that evening, and you can receive $5.00 off your ticket price when you mention the promotional code “STRINGS” over the phone or when ordering tickets online. This offer is good for any Tuesday through Sunday performance from April 15 to May 8.

For more information, contact your Oregon Guild reps, Andrea and Steve, or contact Sarah Mitchell, Education & Community Programs Coordinator for Portland Center Stage, 503.445.3795 or sarahm@pcs.org.

*Dramatists Guild member

Andrea Stolowitz and Steve Patterson
DG Portland, OR co-Regional Reps