MORNING WALK

Manhattan this AM.

DOCUMENTATION

I finally got it together enough to start documenting my theater work.

in this post: A few photos from my production of TOPDOG/UNDERDOG at Dartmouth College.

The title page of the play, written by Suzan-Lori Parks, reads:

The Players

Lincoln, the topdog
Booth (aka 3-card), the underdog

PUSHING FORWARD

Write everyday.

Observe. A photo. A sketch. A clipping.
Write down where you’ve come from. Write down where you went, which will, in a few moments, be where you’ve come from.

Read. A passage. A script. A poem.
Write down what you’ve read. Write down what you are reading, because in a few moments, it will be what you’ve read.

On Directing: craft frees the artistic impulses.

Learn to shape moments. Have a gameplan based on ‘succesful’ forms/formulas.

Be eager to use and know the language of adaptation.

FRAME the action. This is your lens, your point-of-view. This says to the audience, “here we go. This is how we’re going about this journey. Everything hencforth will be in reference to ‘this’.”

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG

October, 2007 (Dartmouth College; Hanover, NH)

Directed by Niegel Smith, Written by Suzan-Lori Parks

In Suzan-Lori Park’s magnificently etched theatrical landscape, two African-American brothers, Lincoln and Booth, attempt to cheat fate as they navigate women, work, poverty, gambling, racism and their troubled upbringings.