Current mood: accomplished
I'm
past the half-way point of my nearly three-week vacation from August
1—20. This is the longest stretch of time that I've taken off at once,
and I wish it would never end. For the most part I've spent it at home
with several trips to Laurel Lake or other local swimming holes. The
weather has been pretty perfect with mostly sunshine and low humidity,
atypically mild for August in Kentucky.
Timi's sister is staying with us right now, so we also re-watched the entire Six Feet Under series with her. It's amazing how much depth it reveals even a second time around. I still swear it's the best television show ever
and true to life and death with all of the bliss and mess that go along
with it. Of course we all bawled when it was over, not just because
everyone literally dies at the end but also because of the sheer beauty
and perfection of its last hurrah.
My vacation officially kicked off with the "Ten-Minute Play Festival" on
August 1 as part of the annual Quilt Extravaganza. I was in two of the
ten plays, and we rehearsed for the entire month before the performance.
It was a great experience to work with Kim again and get to know
everyone in all of the plays, though it's a little bittersweet now that
it's over and Kim has moved back home to North Carolina.
In the opening play, "Vacation"
by Gerry Sheridan (Brooklyn, NY), I played one half of a very neurotic
couple struggling to have a good time on vacation and not getting very
far physically. The quirks of both characters were amusing, and I
thought the play was much more charming in action than when I first read
it through. Several actors in the other plays as well as people after
the performance told me it was a somewhat familiar scene from their own
experience on vacation with their spouses! :)
My
second role was in the fourth play in the program, "Songs My Brother
Sang" by Myra Slotnick (Provincetown, MA). This play was very
emotionally intense as I played a depressed stand-up comedian visiting
my dead brother's panel at an AIDS Quilt display and getting
progressively drunk throughout the play. The role was sometimes more
like a monologue in the sense of an extended conversation with my
brother, though Denis Burton was amazing as the fastidious quilt monitor
that tries to keep me in check. It was challenging to balance the
character's ornery sense of humor and antagonism toward the quilt
monitor with her sincere grief for her loss.
Afterward,
I received the most feedback for "Songs My Brother Sang." I guess I
made a lot of people laugh and cry, which the play ideally invoked. The
end is especially heart-wrenching because the character finally breaks
down, lets her grief rise to the surface, and leans on the one person
who she tries to intimidate and distance herself from. Carol O', among
others, came up to me at the end and said, "Tambone, you made me cry!" I
laughed and said, "I made me cry too!" It's funny because that part
wasn't even that difficult; at the end, she sings part of the song
"Being Alive," which inevitably and effortlessly choked me up every time
I did it in rehearsal and in the final performance.
I
had planned to attend the reception and cast party for the plays that
weekend, but I ended up not going (it's hard to leave the holler when I
don't have to…). I later
learned that "Songs" was selected as both the audience favorite and
"Best in Show" by a panel of judges! Plus Denis said that he would be
thrilled to work with me again, which was a phenomenal compliment from
an amazing actor I admire, and Kim told me I did a great job and
encouraged me to keep acting.
I've
received so much positive feedback that I feel truly inspired and
energized to keep doing it; however, short play festivals are few and
far between (especially now that Kim is gone), and I'm hesitant about
the time commitment that a full-scale production would entail. But I've
got the bug again as well as the support and encouragement to continue,
so it seems extremely counter-productive to limit myself. I guess I'll
just keep my eyes and heart open to the possibility and see what
opportunities present themselves.
That
said, I'm helping Bob wrap up the details for the Clear Creek Film
Festival at the end of the month, which will probably include a version
of "Drink of Water," one of my shorts. Also, my Short Term course
proposal was approved for January 2009, so I'll be finalizing my lesson
plan for teaching "Acting the Part: Filmmaking and Activism."
All in all, I feel very blessed and grateful for, yes, being alive, and hell yes, for vacation!
[Backposted from MySpace 4/24/07]
