Friends, well-wishers, and to those of you who have believed in my arduous efforts to produce this piece this past 2 years: I am very happy to announce that Gilgamesh - formerly A Man Sees Death in Things - has indeed been accepted into the 2010 Indy Fringe Fest. It will be "produced" by the newly-formed Half Black Productions theater company dedicated to presenting multi-ethnic theater & reviving literary works and bringing them to life onstage. I myself will be directing the piece as well as doing the mask/puppetry design. Construction will be a team effort between myself, Pamela Gray - local artist and former 20+ yr veteran of IPS' art program, with transportation & setup provided by my dear brother Jonah Winston as needed. Auditions have been announced on the Half Black Productions website as well as their Facebook group for April 25th & 26th, 2010 at 6PM at Butler University in Lily Hall's blackbox theater located in LH328. The audition will include movement as well as text performance. All text will be administered closer to the date. Closer to the audition date itself we shall also have an advertisement on IndianaAuditions.com so that not only Butler University students may be considered.
The rehearsals, sadly, are not paid, but the actual 6 performances during the Fringe will yield some measure of revenue and I am committed to dividing whatever is made evenly as well as adding a modest sum on top for all involved. I believe in providing payment for a skill - so I will not let my actors walk away empty-handed nor will they have to wait weeks on end for checks that may never surface. I believe we can raise the standard of Indy theater if we treat each other with a certain level of respect and thanks for hard work. I plan to practice what I preach.
A small update on myself for those who are curious: though I had been accepted to the prestigious Dell'Arte summer program in Blue Lake, CA, I did not end up participating. This broke my heart. However, I am part of a company of actors - meaning my two acting brothers here in Indy and I are a singular unit when we need to be. They were invited to the Lorraine Hansberry Theater Co. in San Francisco (as was I) in order to audition for their fall productions. I put my family first. Unfortunately though we received callbacks (i.e. Noah & Jonah received callbacks), none of us were cast. If asked if I regret this audition I would say "Yes & No". Yes - because it cost me some potentially beautiful training with the individuals that could have helped Gilgamesh tremendously I feel. No - because my brothers had the chance to compete with the likes of men already in TV and film. They were shoulder-to-shoulder with men & women whom they've seen on Law & Order, CSI: Miami, and other prestigious programs and being noticed. That's priceless and it really gave them confidence as actors to know they could "hang" with that kind of crowd at only 23 & 24yrs old. You have to take chances and make gambles in this business and though I personally lost a bit, my lifelong comrades gained piece of mind. I am thankful for the chance to learn these sorts of lessons and shall do all I can to make Gilgamesh as great as I know it is for IndyFringe audiences this coming fall!
Thank you again to anybody and everybody who has aided me this far. I hope I can count on your advice, guidance, and words of encouragement in the coming months as I undertake a dream of mine that will be 3 years in the making in my artistic career. I apologize for the lack of posts - this CERTAINLY will change!
Cheers,
-Joanna-
"An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose."
Langston Hughes
Thursday, November 19, 2009
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