So, as I may have mentioned: because housing in Fowler wasn't finalized until March, our story circle process and script writing was delayed. Ideally we'd have script in April or May, if not sooner, but today is when we get the first draft of the script, called A Man Comes to Fowler.
There's lot of planning that had to be done without a script. So we did our best to gather a strong team of designers that director Laurie feels confident about and that we felt could roll with the unknowns and still be creatively great in an abbreviated play making process. We also started early with the intention to simplify. Being outdoors always is more wearing on the company, especially in the overly hot summer of the central valley. Being in a public park also presents the challenges of balancing our artistic needs and desires with a public space that needs to continue to serve the community every day while we are there and afterward. We also knew we'd have on the low end of our student class size, again defining our resources just a little tighter.
These ideas combined with our experiences in town and in story circles and conversation led to the idea of an Our Town- like play. Not an adaptation exactly, but an "Inspired by" approach.
Additionally, Lynn Jeffries, a founding company member and terrific designer & collaborator wanted to be a part of this Institute and she is much more interested in puppet design & direction lately than she is in scenic &/or costume design. So with our venue and this type of play we felt that could have the simplest set possible but incorporate a bunch of shadow puppets to help tell the story in an exciting way. (Even though we weren't sure what the story would be.)
So we've been making decisions about the production for the past couple months and remarkably playwright Julie has been gracious and calm and collaborative in that even as she has the daunting task of writing a good play that meets the MANY needs of everyone-- including the people of Fowler!
This afternoon a few Cornerstone folks will read this draft of the play together and discuss it and head directly into another design/production meeting.
(Students will be sent a draft of the script very soon, too.)
Theater in the park, puppets, our town....sounds amazing already!
ReplyDeleteFowler Town. interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious whether the difficulty in finding a conflict within the Fowler story circles and one-to-one's had an influence on choosing Our Town as an inspiration; a play that contains no real conventional conflict within the plot?
Our Town's structure (breaking of the fourth wall, etc..) could really aid the group when performing outside. The play's direct descriptions to the audience could help us engage the audience more, especially since we'll be replacing Grover's Corners with Fowler's tight knit camaraderie, less traveled internment history, and major role it plays in the agricultural and food biz.
Solid, raw shadow puppetry should play quite congruently with the bare theatrical staging in Our Town.
Seems like a spot on inspiration point.