Yay Weekend! Time to . . . relax?

Good afternoon readers -this is your on site reporter checking in .

One week done - sweet. Weekend homework - not so sweet. Homework is:
Read -

• Good woman of Setzuan by Bertolt Brecht
• Death of a Salesman (I need to find the line that initates the "Point of Attack")
• Trifles (to understand Dramatic Structure)
• An essay by Elia Kazan on Street Car named Desire
• A different version of Good Woman of Setzuan - to understand the differences in translations
• little Shop - again - and then start collecting song books for other musicals written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken

And then I have a paper to type

So - no down time for me. Well, there's down time. I've just managed to fill it. To the movies with Ryan Simmons tonight, and to the theatre with FT's tomorrow.

In entertainment news
Last night I saw a very cool production of Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare. It's Shakespeares shortest play, so when we heard that this production was 3 hours long, we were very confused. However, it was done VERY well. The premise was this:

1940s movie set, in Europe during the war. They are filming a movie of Comedy of Errors, so the play took place on the movie set. they would shoot the scenes, and then have dialogue that paralleled the Comedy of Errors story line. The costumes/movement/comedy was fantastic. I didn't even notice that I was sitting for three hours, and for me to manage sitting for three hours of a Shakespeare play was amazing! Fantastic. If you get a chance, I would suggest you go see it.

Tomorrow is Mask of Zorro. I hear there's some amazing fight choreography in that, so I'll that wil be fun.

Last night I walked back from the theatre (on Navy Pier) to the apartment with a couple other people from the group. It was a fantastic night for walking, not too hot or humid. We took the path that followed the lake shore, and got to check out the skyline the whole way. It was beautiful. I didn't have my camera though, because I needed new recharagables. Apparently they don't have rechargable batteries here in Chicago - just regular ones. So, that's what I got, unfortunately. Sorry Earth. Also, their baggers here don't do paper at all. Only plastic. Again, Earth - tough luck.

There must be a game going on at the baseball stadium - I can see that they have the lights one. Can't quite read the score board - so no sports report today. Weather coming up.

Oh - on the way to the grocery store today, there was an absolute Law and Order moment. Laura and I are walking down the street, we've gone about a block and a half at this point, and suddenly all these police cars come whipping around the corner and tearing past us to this construction site and alley we just passed. So, of course being proper, polite, well behaved people, we got right in there to gawk at what was happening. One officer jumped out of his car (he was the passenger) and went tearing off on foot, they blocked off all the surrounding streets - the place lit up!

So we figure out where the action is and go around the block so that we can be there. I notice there's a taco bell, and stop in for a taco, so I can have something to munch on while we watch the magic happen. Pedestrians are being interviewed by under cover agents and uniformed officers alike, the cops are looking underneath the cars, in the flower pots, everywhere. And they have one person in custody.

So, the guys that were being interviewd by the undercover decide they ALSO want a taco, so I nab this opportunity to chat with them about what happened. Here's the story according to two taco bell craving peds:

Some random person accosted another random person with a gun, and then took off on foot while being persued.
Gets to the block where the taco bell is, ditches the gun and starts walking casually down the street. He'd just about made it, when the cable guy (yay cable guy) flagged down an officer and pointed him out. THey then took him into custody, he didn't own up to ever having a gun, and that's when the interviews and easter-egg gun hunt started happening.

it got a little uneventful after that - and my taco was ready (actually, beef and cheese stuff burrito- 89 cents, how can you beat that?)so off we went on our grocery store trip.

We decided we'd hit up target first, it's three floors, not including two floors of parking. So, get to the main floor, find the grocery section, pick up all of our stuff, and run ito a classmate. He says the best place to go for groceries is actually closer to our place, and that we should do our shopping there. So Laura and I put BACK our groceries, get the non-grocery items we needed (she's making a make-shift curtain/sound barrier out of a tension rod and a comforter) and headed off on foot, tension rods and comforter in tow, to the other grocery store. We get there, it's about a 4-5 block walk, and realize that the prices are actually more expensive there than at target, although this place has produce and target doesn't. Regardless, we load up our carts, pay, and then, now with 4-5 bags of grocery bags a peice, and her comforter and tension rods in two, walk back to our apartment, realizing that the grocery store isn't actually at all closer to our apt, and in fact, it's equally as far as target. So, next time we might just go to target. So it took us 2 hours, lots of walking. But, there's food in the fridge, and I can now make tacos! yay tacos! (I need to get some beer first though - probably from that liqour store I passed on the way home).

That's my day as of now. I'm going to start part of the reading homework, knock some of that out before Ryan meets me. then movies (I believe I have to take the subway to get there - gross) and home to SLEEP. it's getting blustery out, I'm thinking a bit of a storm is rolling through. I hear you're getting wet back home. Try to stay dry, and don't let the rain get you too down. (that was your weather report)

This is reporter Chandra Perry signing out. :)

Reporting Live - from THE LODGE - Chicago

It's a raining, dreary day here in Chicago, but attitudes are sunny here, despite the clouds.

Yesterday we had Dramaturgy for the first time. A dramaturg, for those that don't know (and I imagine that's a bunch of you, seeing as it's a new to theater, been around for only about 40 years or so), is the person that is in charge of researching EVERYTHING POSSIBLE about the play, author, time period, clothing, customs, culture, etc., choosing what is most important, and then using it to eduate the director, actors, and public about the play.

There was a lot of anxiety going into class yesterday, becuase Dramaturgy is apparenty the toughest class we'll take in our three years here. So we show up, we're all sitting in this music room, in the band chairs that force you to sit straight, so we're uncomfortable when we show up, we're uncomfortable when we sit down, we're just uncomfortable in general. (and the AC was just BLASTING, which made me mighty uncomfortable, seeing as I hate being cold.)

In front of us is a stack of booklets, which we assume are for us, and a bag full of mystery items, and a teacher who looks like she hasn't smiled anytime in the past decade. You can feel the anxiety climbing to record heights here in Chi-town.

Teacher (June is her name) is standing in front of the class, we are all settling into silence, and then she reaches into her bag and pulls out . . .

a mask. A mask of some demon with two horns reaching about 12 inches to the sky from it's head. And she puts the mask on. And she says - "this is what you've probably heard about this class - and it's all true". We weren't sure whether to laugh or not - and then she took of the mask and was just cracking up at her own joke - just laughing like crazy- and the fog that was the anxiety disappeared.

So, dramaturgy is going to be a LOT of work. We have two plays to be researching at the same time, one is a group project, and one is our own. We have the class three times a week, Monday, Tuesday, and then all day on Thursday. But I don't mind research and critical analysis. So, I think I'll be just fine.


Today we get done at 3:15, I think. Then Dori and I are heading down to the second floor where there's a little workout center. We're going to have a hot date with the treadmills. After that, it's grocery shopping. I've still got some leftovers from Monday's meal (which was difficult to make, on account of our stove being in operable, but that's fixed now, so the next meal should be a breeze!). I'm dying for some veggies, so I need to find out when the farmers market is here, and where exactly it's held. I also need a hole punch and an extra binder and things such as that.

And then it's off to the library, to do some research.

We're all sleeping MUCH better, having adjusted to the sound of the train. now I just need to adjust to the sound of people talking on their cell phones, and trucks backing up at 3 am, and car horns. It's getting there.

Still no solid plans for the weekend. But the group is starting to form a bit of a community, so hopefully by then we'll have each others phone numbers and the like and be able to just call each other up and say "hey, let's go do something".

We start at 9 today, beinging with a short gathering, and then off to dialects. Not sure how well I'm going to do my Cockney, but I think I can nail standard British. Then lunch, and then directing class, where we'll discuss readings, work on the monologue (which, contrary to what he told us on Monday, isn't due until next week), and the like, and that's my class schedule for today.

And so I'm off to whip up some breakfast and start the day. It's sure to be a productive one.

Chicago - day one

Well, it's the evening of day one. Whew! I made it through the first day, and it was jam packed. And we finished EARLY today.

We started at 8:30 with a gathering of all the first years, there are 13 of us. Then off to a short breakfast before heading to dialects class. We're working on the Standard British dialect first. We're covering 4 dialects in 6 classes. So, today I learned about preventing my mouth from moving laterally, and keeping the voice front of the teeth - if that makes sense to anyone :)

Then a break for lunch, and off to directing, where I felt like an idiot.

The class is set up in a discussion format, and today we were discussing the "central transaction" of a play, how to find one and how it influences the directoral process.

Except that we were discussing Chekhov. I HATE Chekhov. He writes comedies in which people try to kill themselves twice, fight over each others lovers and a lot of people die. How exactly is that funny???

So, I read the play - a while ago, but I read it. So to review before class I skimmed the play, got reacquainted with the characters, action etc.

Apparently I didn't read the play like these people read it. They were coming up with analysis that I could even grasp, and debating motives and such. I was lost.

So I said nothing. Very little. I did say some things, but then I didn't say them with confidence, and I felt like i was completely out of place. So I stopped talking.

Then with 5 minutes left in class, the instructor assigns us scenes to direct quickly and perform tomorrow.

I had 5 minutes with my director, and I have to perform a CHEKHOV monologue, tomorrow, for the class. Great. Lovely.

It's on my homework list tonight. Among a few other things.

I don't mind homework, I can deal with homework, and writing and reading, and all that. I can't deal with feeling completely out of place in a competitve program. I begin thinking "what the hell am I doing HERE?"

But, then I talked to my roomie Laura, who is awesome by the way, and she brought up a few good points. First, she feels the same way. She felt like she had read a completely different play.Second, she affirmed that I must indeed have SOMETHING to contribute, otherwise I wouldn't be here. And thirdly, that this is a learning experience, in which we are all supposed to learn from each other. So I should stop being worried about being wrong, take a minute to listen to what the folks are saying and learn from them as well as the instructor.

So, back to it tomorrow with a different mindset. I'll take the monologue and treat it as a reading, that will be worked on and polished, and it will not be about how I perform it tomorrow, but rather how it's worked.

It's just a big risk in front of people I don't know. Guess there's no better way to get to know them than to just put everything out there.

So, tomorrow I have due:

A 1-2 page paper,
A play (read)
three chapters of reading
a scene (dialects)
a monologue
a gathering of authentic sources regarding Little Shop of Horrors. Apparently the dramaturgy instructor doesn't like electronic sources.

It's 10 pm and I have the play to read and the monologue to practice, so I think I'm doing pretty well.

I didn't sleep well last night, the train kept me up and I was worried about Joe driving home. And it was cold in my apartment. Tonight we've turned off the air, and I've grabbed an extra blanket. Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight.

Tried to cook some dinner and then learned that our stove/oven doesn't work. They were supposed to come fix it, but haven't yet. We ended up using the kitchen in the lounge, which has a nice view of the library, which I will be sure to photograph and share with you all.

I'm tired. But I'm glad to be here. I'm excited about learning from other teachers, pick up some things I can use, hone some skills. The nights are hard, I miss Joe and my apartment, but the days are jam packed! It's always a bit of an adjustment when you uproot yourself and place yourself somewhere completely different.

OOH ! one of the classrooms I'm in has the most BEAUTIFUL view of the lake. The school building I'm in is older, with ornate walls, marble with sculptures. And all the windows are arched. So, in this classroom, it faces the lake, and it has floor to ceiling arched windows with light just streaming in. When we opened the door to the classroom door, light poured into the hallway as if God had entered the room. So, classroom, wood floors, huge windows, lots of sunlight, and outside the windows is the lake, and in the center of the arched windows is the Buckingham Fountain, in full "bloom", and the sailboats were just hitting the lake. Gorgeous. I had to put on my sunglasses.

Unfortunately we actually had to do some LEARNING, which got in the way of my gazing out the window, but if I get the chance, I will definitely take a picture and send it your way.

Anyway - I'm sorry this wasn't lyrical and poetic, but I wanted to give you an update of what going on here. I'll tell you more about my classmates and such as I get to know them more. And I'll be sure to get pictures up :)