365 Days

It's the last day of the 2006, and I'm finally getting to put some of my thoughts down from the whirl-wind week of shows from December 11th- December 17th.

Even before we read our plays for Week 5 of 365 Days/ 365 Plays, Andrew, Llysa and I thought it would be wonderful to present the shows in public places, speaking to the idea that 'Art is all around you'. After we had the opportunity to read through our seven plays we all agreed that our instincts were right, and that our stage would literally be on the streets, sidewalks, cafe's, library, etc...in Ballard.

While performing in public spaces you can always count on the unexpected to happen; we certainly did NOT expect to have so many special effects by Mother Nature! We had the usual rain and the cold of a Seattle December; however, that was joined by the monster wind storm on Thursday the 14th. Half of our cast couldn’t even make it to the performance location due to power outages and flooding! However, we kept firm to the motto of “show up and work with what you’ve got” and we glad that we did! (As were our audience members from Thursday night who showed up in full waders and boating gear!)

December 11th: What do you see? Was perfect for a cafe location. And thankfully right at the hub of downtown Ballard is the lovely Cupcake Royale. With the blessings of the manager there, we were able to set up camp every night of our week (as well as have access to acquire a number of cupcakes and cups of tea while we were at it!)

As the week progressed more and more audience members came with the intention of following the plays, but we even managed to convince a few unsuspecting cupcake connoisseurs to grab their coats and follow along!

I think my favorite thing about What Do You See was our integration of one the constants "Action in Inaction" which began outside on the ledge attached to the main window and then wove inside and into December 11th's play.

December 12th: Jaywalking was one of my favorite plays from the start. With it's fun banter and joyous release followed by it's dive down into despair, it was wonderful doing it out on the sidewalk where three different crosswalks convened. We announced the play's title with one of the characters using sidewalk chalk to write the date and title on the pavement in front of the audience.

After a long moment of seeing each of the characters facing their demons, the audience was called across the street by a "spot-lit" umbrella and a portable boom box. As the audience crossed the street, (not jaywalking!) facts were interjected relating to things and events that have taken place on December 13th through the years.

December 13th: Learning English we had originally thought of staging in a mirrored stairwell a few buildings down from our eventual performance site. As our first choice was not available for our use, we thankfully found a second choice and with great results! The acoustics in this building were phenomenal!

Learning English was the first of our plays that we did a lot of collaborative work on as an ensemble. We did free write exercises that delved into our personal takes on education as well as what we felt we needed to learn most in life. These exercises helped to shape our 'prologue' for this play. This coupled with our gesture work and the setting in our stairwell next to the Chamber of Commerce gave this piece the timeless and endless quality that it asked for.

Although we had hoped to have an original tune written for the song included in this day's text, we discovered with a few creative repeats, the lyrics worked beautifully sun to the tune of "Hard Times".

December 14th: Hippy led the audience through the lobby of the Ballard Health Club and up into a bright yellow alleyway where one actress announced the day's play by holding a sign up behind her while she stood with her hands on her hips. Spectators were allowed an intimate scene made public, along with the gym members passing through the action.

December 15th: 1000 South Kelly we set outside the Ballard public library. It's a beautiful building with a number of odd shaped metal chairs just outside the main entrance. By adding in a table, some candle light and some classic music, we were able to create a beautiful dinner setting. Again we used collective gesture work created by the ensemble to demonstrate the perfect table manners of this family unit.

We also did another round of free-write exercises on this play’s topic of prison. The lists that the cast came up with were inspiring and had to be incorporated into the piece.

Introducing December 15th’s play was a 'on-site' reporter who at one point instigated a call to the son on his cell phone interrupting dinner. She lured him out of his nuclear family with different technology toys and distractions until, too late, he was able to see that he was a prisoner. The family continued with their dinner gestures, but with the absence of the son, the table also disappeared. And now replacing the son in his chair, a television demanded the family's attention.

On our transition walk to our next location we led the audience via a chorus of cell phone rings and conversations over the phone while carrying lit shopping bags. Once we arrived at the bus stop on Market Street, the actors all went into their 365 tasks (Inaction in Action). This continued until a bus pulled up to the stop and with it arrived our actress who performed December 16th: This Is Probably Not A Play.


She stood up on the bench under the bus shelter and was then lit by cell phones, ipods and a flashlight. The simplicity and honesty of the text set in the darkness of the bus stop was stunning.

Immediately after the last line of December 16th play we moved right into the third Constant "Remember Who You Are". Sitting under a blanket on the same bench was “someone”; ready to watch over “someone else” as she slept. At the end of this play, ‘someone’ led the group of onlookers into a version of the song “The prayer for the one” which speaks to seeing God in all of us.

During the song lit umbrellas were passed out to cast members and then used to lead the audience forward to our final performance. The cast talked with audience members about their holiday decorations and traditions as they walked together.

December 17th: Tree was performed in the park on the corner of Market and Leary. In it are some wonderful art sculptures of trees high over head. These became our backdrop and potential holiday decorations for our ending couple.

The rest of the cast stood silently facing the street while standing on the park benches that arced around the corner of the park. And when it came time for the carolers to sing…“Angels we have heard on high” came floating over the audience.

At the end of the text, all were invited to join in. It was a lovely way to end our week of performances, in song, in the streets of Ballard with friends and strangers alike.


I hope that our cast will have the chance to post their comments and their memories from this week. They were a fantastic group of performers to work with!