TASK:
.Block the show

PRODUCT:
.Working in Allan’s apartment has already proven troublesome. The dimensions of the Live Bait Theater are significantly bigger than that of the interior of this West Lakeview railroad. This is not an insignificant comparison as the groundplan for Live Bait does not exist outside of BIG PICTURE GROUP’s Master Electrician, Margaret Hartman’s own drafting. I personally visited the space for the first time today and documented as much as I could, to send to Christine Shallenberg, dependent study‘s lighting designer, as she has not yet flown in from New York.

Although it is hard to get a sense of space, everyone seems more than properly focused and prepared. Allan has impressed me with his preparation. We made a lot of progress getting him out of his head today. Getting someone out of someone else’s head definitely helps me to get myself out of my own head. Sally continues to impress with her natural ability and connectivity.

We blocked the show, with few choreographic and movement based exceptions. Much of the stagnant “stilyzed” blocking is in transition, or flat out has been changed. I am not sure if this is a product of doing what is right, or simply being a bit bored with the blocking from the previous two incarnations of this particular show. (dependent study was originally presented as part of the Phoenix Season during my undergraduate years at Illinois Wesleyan University / subsequent productions include a run at P.S. 122 during the New York City International Fringe Festival.) “DISSECTION” has also been re-introduced in this production after being cut during the Fringe run.

THE TASK :
.Introduction
.Table Work
.Read through
.Ensemble Building

PRODUCT :
.A first rehearsal is always both nerrrrvwracking and fun. I feel more of an obligation to make things right since I wrote the show. There is no “done” with your own work. No one’s published it. It’s not another author’s work who has already gotten it right. It is us. It is me. Mine. It’s twice the work. Figuring out what it all means in the retrospect. It also happens to be one of the most rewarding things I know of in life.

BIG PICTURE GROUP‘S second show, dependent study, opens on January 6th, 2005, at the Live Bait Theater in Chicago, IL. I’ve decided to keep online documentation of the process. Throughout the next several weeks, I will organize, document, and post the process as I see it relevent to the process itself to activley keep a log of discoveries, thoughts, doubts, and various works in progress.