Announcing the Premier of Gilgamesh at the 2010 Indy Fringe Festival!

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

Happy Developments

Greetings! Just writing a quick note to keep you abreast of what is going on in my travels today. I bit the bullet and finally forked over my information so that I could enroll in the mask seminar with Bruce Marr in Blue Lake, CA through Dell'Arte! Hopefully I've applied early enough that that a spot still remains for me. Keeping my fingers crossed on that note.

Other exciting news, Georgeanna Smith - one time artistic director of the NoExit Theater Company here in Indy informed me today that at their annual budget meeting yesterday, a few whispers about AMSDT were heard...and that Michael Bachman sounded particularly interested. Insanely exciting news! - I'm very glad she gave me that little gem before our first show today. Infact, I do believe my shows today were better for it. ;) Could be something, could be nothing, but the idea that the script definitely got some attention is a glorious feeling.

Soon to come will be newly-sketched puppetry workings for Humbaba -- I've thought a great deal lately about how his legs and head will be fashioned together and have some new ideas. (The "Spider King" in our Sleeping Beauty has gotten me thinking alot about puppetry mechanics and about the possible use of blacklight to make limited resources and rougher-patches look pristine...) Stay tuned.

Sipping Coke Zero and jammin' to Journey,

~Joanna~

"Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother. "
Kahlil Gibran

Long Time No See, Dreamers and True Believers!

Long time no see, ladies and gents! Who can believe a miraculous -9 months- have passed since we last crossed paths? Not I. Allow me to update you on the most recent theatrical events in my time away:

-Gilgamesh was sadly put on hold for lack of a venue to submit to.
-I ended a relationship with a dear colleague because of irreconcilable differences. (Not fun - avoid such if you can.)
-I was cast in NoExit's premier performance of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and had the rare fortune to be cast as "Portia": Brutus' wife.
-Shortly thereafter I was cast as "Female Kory" in The Sapphire Theater Company's debut company production of Aristophanes' Lysistrata. (Extraordinary cast! - you can visit their website for audition info and upcoming events at Sapphiretheatre.com)
-Worked a rewarding and "educational" 6 months for the Indiana Repertory Theater as a box office customer service representative. (I managed to stay just long enough for the construction to finish, haha. Aren't I lucky?)
-Unfortunately had my plans to go to Bali thwarted by some no-goodnicks bombing their way across the countryside over there, but recouped with plans to attend Dell'Arte this summer for some courses.
-Was cast and am presently in the process of filming a feature-length film entitled "Science, Sex, and the Ladies" with AnC movies out of Greenfield. (See their work at ancmovies.com)
-And last but certainly not least, I've enjoyed a comfortable 3 months working for the Children's Museum of Indianapolis as a contract actor for their production of Sleeping Beauty as directed by Ty Stover. We're in the very last week for this production and I must say I've never enjoyed a group of women so much as I have my ladies from our show. I will truly miss you all, Erin, Kimberly, Sarah, George, and Lisa! (The guys were pretty cool too, lol ;) )

Current theatrical pursuits of mine include further sketching of the maskwork to be mocked-up for Gilgamesh, continued meetings with the kind Frank Felice for more talks on things music and esoterical, auditioning in Indy and Chicago respectively, submission of my resume & headshots whenever/wherever possible, and the beginning submissions of A Man Sees Death in Things to venues for consideration.

A note on the submission of AMSDT: I had held off initially in my submitting of the adapted script because I worried about the perception of the females in the script. Granted, the story itself does not given womenkind a very wide spotlight to flit about within, but such is the reason I've come to the decision that I want to leave the script as is. It will be up to a director to give these women strength, identity, and clear voices that can hang with the likes of Humbaba and Enkidu in the grand scheme of the play. I remembered my screenwriting class when Zina Camblin came to speak to us before her directoral/acting debut at the Phoenix Theater in And Her Hair Went With Her in the fall of '07. Zina said that she as the writer had the power to choose just -who- brought her characters to life, and if she felt her work was being treated too commercially, she'd pull the plug on a project and on those who made her gems distasteful. Such is what I've realized about AMSDT: it isn't necessarily my job to make a script fit my audience NOR is it my duty to make the characters leap off the page. They are who they are and assumptions & judgements about them will be made by the audience at their own discretion. Also, should I feel my work is no longer "my work" in the hands of a director, I have the power to end it should I wish to. Therefore, I don't need to pussy-foot around submitting it because I know it is of quality -- how else would it have survived so long in the first place?! :) So!- my vigor is revived, my path is filled with open doors, and I have a story that needs telling. With any luck, others will soon believe so, too.

With that, ladies and germs, I conclude my long awaited return and shall do my best to keep you posted on all things Gilga-related and actor-friendly. Should you wish to see Sleeping Beauty, we show this weekend at 1PM & 3PM respectively and keep an eye out for Science, Sex, & the Ladies this summer in Indy. Be good to each other.

Sincerely,

~Joanna Eve~

"Always tell the truth - it's the easiest thing to remember."
-David Mamet-

Mask Profiles: The Scorpion People

Newest update: The Scorpion People. Inspiration for these enigmatic lovelies came from the mask stylings of Libby Appel. By studying the style of her neutral masks while racking my brain for a useful way to portray these guards of the Mountains of Mashu interestingly, I sketched these two. One is meant to be female and the other male, but I don't imagine it matters much if the gender of the actors beneath matches or not. They allow Gilgamesh to pass with little resistance ultimately, and their eyes are meant to cause fatal paralysis in mortals - such is why I love what the Appel masks' eyes do. Their emotion is neutral, but the dark eyes draw your focus immediately as well as the sloping features surrounding them. I don't believe I want much color in these masks, but if there -is- some, I'd want it to be from a neutral palette as well.

I look forward to playing around with the actors in devising the movement of the scorpion folk and the voices they'll have! They don't hang about very long, but I wanted them to stand out in their wake.

More to come!

"At high tide, fish eat ants. At low tide, ants eat fish." - Thailand

-Jo-

Mask Profiles: Humbaba

Greetings one and all! Great strides were had today in my attempts to sketch a certain guardian in A Man Sees Death in Things today! I've been sketching this entire week in hopes that my pencil could stumble upon the notorious "Humbaba", whom Gilgamesh and Enkidu fight in the Cedar Forest. I wanted this battle in particular to be quite epic in its own right, and deserving of a quite epic mask.

What I came up with is something along the lines of the "mask-headdress" utilization used to give a single actor (hopefully a very large actor!) as much as a whole extra foot of height with the mask worn -atop- the head. The actor would be able to see his surroundings through a veil at the level of Humbaba's shaggy beard.

Design-wise, Humbaba ended up an oversized mask. I wanted this to give his form size and weight otherwise not gifted to normal maskery tactics. I wish to provide some imposing gloves to the actor playing Humbaba so that his fingers and hand-size might also be increased. (If there's time, I'd love to distress/wrap some boots to do the same with the feet.) The mask would be made of VERY lightweight material and will probably have to be fixed to the actor using a chinstrap to counterbalance the weight and height. I anticipate though that whomever is big enough to handle this mask should have no problem with its weight, but I hold the actor's comfort as my priority regardless. Humbaba's features are very wide, primitive, horned features. I struggled a long time with whether or not I wanted to make him "bull-like", but settled on him being a sort of hulking gargoyle/devil creature instead. His horns, I've decided, will not look as pristine as they do here, but they are reminiscent of ram horns that curve to front like mandibles. His shaggy beard will be just chock full of disturbing goodies too -- bones, beads, leaves, spit...just awesome stuff. I adore him for his grossness and hope you do too.


"The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand."
- Frank Herbert -

-Jo-

Mask Profiles: Enkidu

Mask Sketch Profiles: Utnapishtim

Greetings all. Above you will see beginning sketches for the legendary immortal "Noah" figure in the tale of Gilgamesh as I've interpreted him for this project: Utnapishtim. I interpreted him with a bit of age to his features - since he indicates he's "decaying" - but I didn't want to make him scary. This might have figured into my original thoughts on his facial features, for my research images are a bit spooky in comparison, but I'm surprised and delighted that he's turning out rather warm. I believe this is because of my feelings on him emparting "fatherly" vibes on Gilgamesh when he visits. Also, Utnapishtim speaks of hope and reconciliation with one's fate and place in the world, so I wanted his face/mask to be one that comforted the viewer, even if it's a bit rough in places. Utnapishtim's right eye was "damaged", but I've more scarred it shut than done anything gory with it. I don't want it to be distracting to the action. I'm still trying to decide if I want the mask to be symmetrical around the mouth or no - I like the idea of him chipping away like an old monument...
Also, in the air of Libby Appel mask stylings, I've made his expression a bit enigmatic. I'll go further with this in sculpting, but I wish to give him an ambiguous enough face that the actor behind the mask will have some freedom to create who he/she thinks he is for -them-.

I'm excited - are you? More more more on the way.

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." -Abraham Lincoln

-Jo-