time is of the essence...
We received a space grant from the Laguardia Performing Arts Center for the play we are workshopping with Saviana Stanescu. Basically they give us 40 hours or so of space in their theater and we show whatever we have piddled out in that time.
Oh the space residency. A blessing and a curse really. A blessing because it makes you make work. A curse because it makes you make work. On a time-line.
Because what is the ideal? The ideal is that we have our own space. Something we can rehearse in and perform in and have an office in. Something a bit convertible. Edgy but with comfortable seating. Working toilet. Heat in the winter. Sprung floors would be nice, but we have fared well on concrete before...And with the space we have money. Not a lot of money but enough to get us all in the room at the same time without too much fight. Just something to make acting more worthwhile than catering, which of course it is, but there is the necessary evil of paying rent. So...
So in this fantasy we have all the time and space in the world. So we can create plays on our time, at our leisure, when inspiration strikes, we are there. We had a whisper of that this summer thanks to the Women's Interart Annex. We had 24 hour access to that space for a month at a VERY low price. During the day I would pop in to write. The actors would come a few hours before rehearsal to warm up. We could leave our growing collection of musical instruments there. And at 11pm when rehearsal was over but Joey and I were just getting inspired, we would blast the sound system and stay until 3am, creating the musical numbers for the show. It was freeing to be able to work at our own pace.
This space grant is great because it lights a fire under our asses. We have 3 other shows coming up in the next 8 months, a remount, a ten-minute play extravaganza, and a re-workshopped re-created re-mount that will go overseas. Starting a new play from scratch was getting continually pushed to the back burner. But then we got this grant. And we had three weeks to organize ourselves, do our research, make a schedule, and get our asses out to Queens so we could make some fucking theater.
But it's still hard. The space is great, but there is no money involved and we are still renting some space in Manhattan to rehearse so we are putting money out there. The space is great but it is in Queens, so rehearsing on weeknights is all but futile with everyone commuting from their temp jobs. Basically your will to live DISAPPEARS somewhere on the 7 Train. The space is great, but we have to provide our own audience, which is challenging already. Work in a scenic ride on the 7 and you've got yourself a problem.
But again, the space is GREAT. It's a 220 seat black box/proscenium. It is incredible to be able to rehearse on a stage. Somehow that always makes everything better. Everything looks like a show when it is on a stage. And the fact that we have it for free is so...luxurious. When we are there it is amazing to get caught up in making work. To be able to break for lunch and not worry about losing money on a $20/hr rehearsal room. It is heart-breaking that these are the factors that go into making theater, but this is the reality for a small theater company with no trust funds. We keep ourselves ready and available for when someone calls and says, "Want something for free?" And when they make that call, we make theater.
Oh the space residency. A blessing and a curse really. A blessing because it makes you make work. A curse because it makes you make work. On a time-line.
Because what is the ideal? The ideal is that we have our own space. Something we can rehearse in and perform in and have an office in. Something a bit convertible. Edgy but with comfortable seating. Working toilet. Heat in the winter. Sprung floors would be nice, but we have fared well on concrete before...And with the space we have money. Not a lot of money but enough to get us all in the room at the same time without too much fight. Just something to make acting more worthwhile than catering, which of course it is, but there is the necessary evil of paying rent. So...
So in this fantasy we have all the time and space in the world. So we can create plays on our time, at our leisure, when inspiration strikes, we are there. We had a whisper of that this summer thanks to the Women's Interart Annex. We had 24 hour access to that space for a month at a VERY low price. During the day I would pop in to write. The actors would come a few hours before rehearsal to warm up. We could leave our growing collection of musical instruments there. And at 11pm when rehearsal was over but Joey and I were just getting inspired, we would blast the sound system and stay until 3am, creating the musical numbers for the show. It was freeing to be able to work at our own pace.
This space grant is great because it lights a fire under our asses. We have 3 other shows coming up in the next 8 months, a remount, a ten-minute play extravaganza, and a re-workshopped re-created re-mount that will go overseas. Starting a new play from scratch was getting continually pushed to the back burner. But then we got this grant. And we had three weeks to organize ourselves, do our research, make a schedule, and get our asses out to Queens so we could make some fucking theater.
But it's still hard. The space is great, but there is no money involved and we are still renting some space in Manhattan to rehearse so we are putting money out there. The space is great but it is in Queens, so rehearsing on weeknights is all but futile with everyone commuting from their temp jobs. Basically your will to live DISAPPEARS somewhere on the 7 Train. The space is great, but we have to provide our own audience, which is challenging already. Work in a scenic ride on the 7 and you've got yourself a problem.
But again, the space is GREAT. It's a 220 seat black box/proscenium. It is incredible to be able to rehearse on a stage. Somehow that always makes everything better. Everything looks like a show when it is on a stage. And the fact that we have it for free is so...luxurious. When we are there it is amazing to get caught up in making work. To be able to break for lunch and not worry about losing money on a $20/hr rehearsal room. It is heart-breaking that these are the factors that go into making theater, but this is the reality for a small theater company with no trust funds. We keep ourselves ready and available for when someone calls and says, "Want something for free?" And when they make that call, we make theater.
Labels: artsy angst, immigration play, money
posted by SWC at 2:32 PM
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