A SOLO antipodean adventurer

Hey gang -

Greetings to many of you from the Other Side of the World. To the rest of you, G'day.
Llysa here with a long-overdue update from my time here (two weeks already!! How the %$(@@#! did that happen!?)

I am on-site in Adelaide with a few targets in my sights: doing a bit of producer-ship for The Snow Queen in either of its incarnations; attend the Australian Arts Market and get a bead on what artists in other places are thinking; see lots of stuff at the fringe, and SEE what artists have been thinking - both kinetically and ephemerally (trying to see more visual arts, particularly) AND do a little teaching at Urban Myth, seeing where and when Re[ACT]ion might happen. THEN, I will be going to New Zealand, teaching at the Fortune theatre in Dunedin("the Riviera of the Antarctic!") and meeting with folks I met at APAM. whoooo!

Much is percolating in my head - my mental velcro is VERY full already, and I still have 10 more days to go. I've seen two arts exhibits only, (one is a VERY large scale digital piece on historic buildings called Northern Lights - fabulous re-framing of familar places) but have managed to see 25 shows, and teach several classes.
The few things that are striking me: how grimly some folks are seeing the future or the past, yet in other places I've experienced incredible moments of grace, vulnerability and compassion.

Very interesting.

Music has had a personally powerful effect on me. I keep finding myself weeping at the sounds of voices raised together in song. (Not all songs. I didn't cry at the cricket anthem, or the drinking song.) But still - this is a path that we have been talking about re-incorporating, and obviously, we are in synchronicity with other creative types in the world. And lo! Two plays with music on the horizon!

I can hardly wait.

But - this is all for the nonce - I will leap back into the blogging fray more completely soon - just wanted to let folks know that I am alive, albeit alone (this is the first time since 1996 that theater simple has NOT performed at the Adelaide fringe, and Andrew and I have never been apart so long since 1989). If you see one of us, please give us a pat. Or a glass of wine.

Off to a show!

2nd Park Bench Pod Cast!

Check out our 2nd episode of Park Bench!

Adelaide addenda - community

Llysa here. This is a wordy, thoughtful one. fair warning.

Easter. Travelling ADL - SYD - Wellington, NZ. Choccies in bag (Haighs bunny and a Humpty Dumpty egg filled with smaller eggs)
So - we are sipping Cooper's Sparkling (ahhh!) at the Adelaide airport, online FREE, thanks to Internode. How incredibly civilized... and I am thinking about the last conversation we just had - with a customer service rep for Qantas as we were checking in. She had seen a few things at the Fringe, not as much as she wanted, but she had heard about us, and Caravan Chronicles in Glenelg. (She lives there, I guess).

It is thrilling and humbling, actually, to think that people note us, for any reason, yet I suppose we strive in all our paths for such recognition. Yesterday, we went to a SANFL footy match - West Adelaide against Sturt. The Bloods vs the Double Blues. It seems as if Sturt has prevailed the last 13 years or so.... and yesterday it looked like that record was to be upended. 3000+ people were howling, thrashing and yelling encouragement or epithets at various players. (And referees - that seems to be universal). After a lopsided first half, Westies began to win, eking out points after grisly single point, instead of running off with 6's. Final score - 76-67. Double Blues. (That one's for you, Pete.) Actually, the stats for Bloods scoring with high marks was better, but you could see them struggling just to run down the field at the end of the match.
But still game, and still running. Aggressively matching and still leaping to the last horn.

I know the feeling. After this incredible effort to be here in Adelaide, running after venues, audiences and (insert need here), then running after friends to catch up, I feel the exhaustion catch up with me. And the emotional cost - nearly all this time my mom has been in and out of the hospital, plus all the producer-y stuff theater simple IS, but I am still running, toward whatever the future holds. And while, due to fatigue, I may be a little slower, I am aiming better, I think. It will be interesting to see what the rest of the Pacifica tour holds, in terms of discovery. And then we tour the South (Orlando, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia.)

Right now, I am looking at cruising and thinking. Travels with good friends, to new places. Life is pretty good, and my spirits are rising on Easter.

Tip for a big sip. And a look toward the goals before I start running again.

muchas smoochas - thanks Adelaide. (And my family - both of blood and of love. You know you overlap.)

sorry for the goo - sometimes sweets melt on Easter...

All Simpletons Present and Accounted For…

Weds, March 14, Adelaide, AU

Andrew here.

theater simple is no longer a two continent operation. We are a team once more.
We have all finally made it to Adelaide; Monique, nine days ago; and Llysa and I just yesterday afternoon. From Seattle to Canada, Canada back to Seattle, Seattle to LA, and then LA to Australia, we arrived all punchy and ready to achieve. Which we did. The Day Two Energy Drop has happened, though. No way around it. Two and a half days of nearly continual travel culminating in 28 hours of pure transit takes it’s toll.

About those two and a half days: with Monique magnificently flying solo in Adelaide, Llysa and I finished packing and repacking all of our Oz luggage, only to leave it on the couch, take an overnight bag and our 52 Pick Up show bag and catch the puddle-jumper to Kelowna, in the interior of British Columbia. We knew that this would truly be the beginning of our overall journey as we would have only 4 more hours at home before jumping “the big puddle”. We were picked up at the airport and taken straight to a truly staggering B & B in Vernon, overlooking one of the many lakes, and run by the fabulous Alan and Gary (http://www.theeaglesnestbandb.com). Only one "problem" with the place: it was 30 minutes away from our performance venue with no transportation. So we were forced to spend the evening looking at the staggering view, eating a lovely meal cooked by Gary…..oh, and sitting in their awesome jacuzzi. A lovely calm before…..

The next day....the longest day. Truly surreal to be ready to leave on a big trip to do a big project, and to have to slice a large part of your consciousness free to achieve something else. 52 Pick Up is a show that is in our DNA. Like The Master & Margarita, we have performed it somewhere around 100 times. All of which makes it very easy to underestimate, and at some point during our technical rehearsal, we both just had to lock in and realize that in a few hours we were to be performing before our biggest 52 Pick Up audience ever (the Vernon & District Performing Arts Center, run by Michael Cade, had sold over 400 tickets!) on a huge stage in an auditorium that seats 700. And…….? Great audience, great space, great show, and a very fun discussion with about 60 folks afterwards. And just like that we were back to Alan and Gary’s for a 2.5 hour nap before returning to the airport for the start of the above-mentioned 28 hours of pure transit.

About the only hitch in all of this came right at the start. Daylight savings time had happened overnight (robbing us of a critical hour) and while freakin’ Y2K had been weathered by the airline industry with no problem, this move of the clock was more than the Alaska computer system could handle. So all was being done by hand. Now, this 6am flight was booked because it was the only one available that would allow us to make our connection…..to Australia!!!! After waiting for over an hour in line, we got to the desk to check in at the exact time that our plane was to take off! Not fun. But as there were a dozen of us in the same boat, they held the flight and we made it on.

And more than a full day of mind-numbing air travel later, we are in one of our favorite places on the planet, being looked after by great friends (some of whom we’ve known for a decade!), being blown away by the fruits of Monique’s labor, and ready to dive in.

Ta da!

here we go...

We have news from Monique Down Under that people are already engaging with CARAVAN CHRONICLES and leaving story plates! YAY!
And that a four year old girl made friends with every single flamingo we had on-site, before taking the tire border for a horsie-ride! (4 half tires attached that we are using to divide the space- very decorated-white-trash action. And obviously a great alternate mode of transport of the imagination.)

Andrew and I (Llysa) begin the trip in less than 2 hours! Packing madly - hoping that whatever I foget(and I will forget something) won't be dire...
biggest stumbling points right now: getting some grants' support materials together... MAKES MY BRAIN WANT TO EXPLODE. And I just don't have time for that. And I'll needmy brain to keep up with the audiences. So there.

...tick...tick...tick...

Well, while Andrew and I swivet about trying to cram all we need into many suitcases, (and speculating what losing an hour in the wee hours of Sunday morning will do to our crack-of-dawn flight from Canada back to Seattle to then get to LA), Monique is in Adelaide, whirling like a proverbial dervish getting things looking awesome ready for opening day of the Fringe. (Actually, being in Australia, she is whirling like a Disney cartoon from Tasmania...)

She, with the able help of Graham Norman, and a trailer from Graham's mum has been constructing PARK BENCH, our mobile point-of-view (yes there is a 4ft x 6ft trailer underneath that lush grass) that will be roaming the streets of Adelaide, and gathering interviews with willing passersby. It currently looks like a rolling hill. I kind think it's cool. Isn't that juicy looking astro turf? We'll post the finished product, and certainly one with it in motion/on the scene.
Imagine also a flower box, and a tree of some sort all sitting upon this little 'oasis' , parked across from the big towers in the Central Business District. You can step up from one artificial environment to another, and talk about how you got there, and what you want to do. Maybe a little about what you wanted to be or do as a kid. It'll be interesting, and it will be podcast. More on that later - DEFINITELY check the website.
See you around the world! (Whirled!)
And NOT ONLY does the Fringe start in Adelaide (a mere week after the fringe ended in Wellington, NZ - where we will go in April!) it is also WOMADelaide weekend! Non-stop things to do, see, buy, experience or ... I think I'll take a transPacific flight, myself... and a long nap. I am thinking there will be NO time for naps after we land, sprinting...
Llysa

countdown to Lift Off

...or might that be lift OOF....

Llysa here. Monique is already in Australia, making Andrew and I crazy jealous that we are not.
We (A & I) instead are lingering in Seattle (admittedly enjoying BEAUTIFUL weather today) before we begin our travels on Friday.

Our schedule: drive ourselves to the airport Friday around noon - take small tiny plane to Kelowna, Canada. We have a performance of 52 PICK UP on Saturday at the Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre, so we will fly in Friday, settle, then tech, perform and strike the next day.
THEN - taking into consideration the Daylight Savings Time is starting months early (!), we need to be at the airport at dark-thirty, as our flight is at half-past dawn! (6am!) So - if all goes well - and it HAS to - we'll fly home Sunday, drive ourselves back to the house, do a little laundry, repack a bag or two, maybe NAP (since we won't have had time for a snooze!) before we go BACK to the airport for our flight taking us to Australia via LAX. A theater simple first: three different international flights (not in transit) in a little over 48 hours. I wonder what our security numbers will jump to? [WHY, you may be asking, are we scheduled like this? Michael Cade in BC booked us first, waaay before the Fringe made the leap to annual. So - hither we'll go, before heading off yonder, leapfrogging borders for HONOR. And a good story.]

In Australia, we will be admiring all the handiwork of Monique and her minions, Graham and Andy in anticipation of CARAVAN CHRONICLES - our Trailer Tales show translated to Adelaide. Which I am totally excited about. Whee!
There will be many more comments soon about the Fringe, and our wee public project (not so small, actually - we perform LOTS) so keep checking back, and see who is writing what.
And write back - this is sort of a form of postcard, after all...
The pic, by the way, is Andy and Sandy. (Andy is the one with the Coopers beer in hand)