WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD, PROBABLY WITH TYPOS
2013 draws to a close today, and to say it has been a memorable year would be a massive understatement. I have been absolutely overwhelmed with blessings over the past 12 months, and been taught plenty of lessons in that time, too. This is just a brief glimpse at the highs I’ve had; I’m sure there are plenty I’m forgetting, and to anyone offended, I apologize.
While this review covers the professional/academic spheres, I should single out some people for more personal thank yous. It always begins with my family: Mom (Cindy), Dad (James), and Baby Brother (Tyler), who keep me going day in and day out with their love and support. I also owe a big thank you to my extended family for keeping my spirits up and my life interesting, particularly my Aunt Karen, Uncle Randy, and cousin Amy, who have opened their home to me countless times and put up with plenty of my bad habits. I must also give a personal shout-out to my Nerd Fest co-hort, past and present; you have no idea how much those sessions keep me going. To my many (too many to list here) other friends in Lubbock, Abilene, across the USA, and across the world, I also say thank you for all your kindness and support: you know who you are!
The first big high of 2013 was getting to hold my first publication in my hands. Last January I got to present my paper “‘This Antigone is just right for us’: Redefining Antigone on The Island” at the TETA Scholars Debut Paper Panel, with the promise that it would be published in the following edition of Texas Theatre Journal. Sure enough, my complimentary copy showed up in the mail early in January, and I got to send off other copies to my family soon after. A special thanks, once again, to the great Dr. Dorothy Chansky, who taught the class this paper came from and gave (and continues to give) me great advice to use and challenges to overcome.
2013 was the first year I got to attend the KCACTF Region 6 meet in Shreveport, Louisiana, where I competed as an Irene Ryan Nominee and, more fruitfully, in Dramaturgy. This is where I met the great Heather Helinsky, a wonderful dramaturg and lover of new plays who continues to provide support today. She redefined dramaturgy for me and the rest of our little dramaturgy cabal, immeasurably influencing my future work in the field. In the picture below: Heather is seated on the left of the front row with us, her dramaturgs, starting in the back row, second from left, with Kyle Bradford, Andria Baisley, Kyle Whalen, and myself. We were meeting with some local friends we made while doing a little research and discussion about a play set in the area.
The week following KCACTF, I went off to the Mid-America Theatre Conference (MATC) in St. Louis, where my play A Good Woman Waits received a workshop and reading. There I got to meet and work with some wonderful people, including Anne Beck (director), Shawna Mefferd Carroll (Woman and Playwriting Symposium co-chair), Randall Rapstine (Aggy – he shows up again later), Joe Stollenwerk (Eggy), William Palmer (dramaturg), and Ron Zank (Symposium co-chair). A special shout out to Randall and Chelsea Prettyman, a pair of TTU friends who undertook the journey with me (Randall even got us swanky Equity housing for dirt cheap, don’t you know…).
Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures from the MATC workshop (I was cripplingly sick for most of it), but I did get some shots of a production of the play that was done for Directing Methods class at TTU, staged by Elizabeth Parks and starring Madison Weinhoffer and the voice talents of Michael Boughton and Nicholas Hernandez. It was a triptastic delight. Elizabeth is kneeling outside the glass, and Madison is inside:
Next up came a very gratifying (and challenging) experience: the culmination of Raider Red’s One-Act Play Spectacular (RROAPS) 2013, for which I served as producer and had one of my plays, Leaving Zimbabwe, produced. The first big thank you has to go to my production stage manager, Sierra Burt (who also served as sound designer), without whom I would not have been able to accomplish anything with the ever-changing beast that is RROAPS. The next big thank you has to go to my Leaving Zimbabwe team: Evangeline Jimenez (director), Matt Moore (Momboso – and the fastest line-learner I’ve ever encountered), Cinthya Hernandez (Clevenger), and Dawn Williamson (stage manager). They put on such a good production that it taught me things about the play I never even knew before. I also have to give a shot out to the rest of the RROAPS-at-large team: Maigan McPherson (dramaturg), Jennifer McKown (lighting), Leigh Ann Crandall (costumes), Jared Canada (set), and Dr. Bert (RROAPS founder and advisor). Back to Leaving Zimbabwe, it would also be remiss of me not to thank DeRon Williams, Sherilyn Caudle, and KyVon Raymond for the wonderful work they put into helping me develop the piece, especially with the reading at TTU’s 2nd Annual Arts and Humanities Graduate Research Conference. Here’s a couple of shots from Zimbabwe:
I also had the opportunity to have my ten-minute play Stolen Danishes read as part of the Atlantic Stage New Voices PlayFest. While I didn’t get to attend the reading (the theatre is all the way over in South Carolina), I imagine the team behind it did a great job. Special thanks to Kevin Ferguson (producer), Steve Earnest (director), Taylor McMurray (Maggie), Chandler Parnell (Aurelia), Garrett McCann (Derek), and Todd William Ristau (respondent).
One of the most interesting and challenging projects I was part of was the short play The Mileage Out of Misery, an original piece our improv group, Improvinati, created via improvisational working. Improvinati worked all Spring with a group of eight actors (myself, Charlie Schwieterman, Amanda Espinoza, Jamy Gillespie, Joel Ison, Liz Stromsness, and Kate Dressler) and one director, the great Ryan Bruce, on an assortment of exercises and scenes until we stumbled upon the lost souls of Misery, Montana, a rag-tag bunch of friends, family, lovers, and spouses with some major problems. We ended up improvising several hours worth of material on these people, only a selection of which made it into the final performance; we often joked that we could have filled a TV series with all our material, but it was probably quite true. For me, personally, I got a huge kick out of playing Tom, probably one of my favorite characters I’ve ever played. Tom was an absolute mess, a manipulative liar with big dreams, horrible self-esteem, and a major drinking problem…in other words, he was a blast. Here’s the poster for our performance:
The group continues with a smaller, ever-changing collective including myself, Charlie, Amanda, Jordan Sheets, Cody Lindley, Joe Gardner, and Joshua Barrett. This particular rendition of the group performed at the first annual Alpha Psi Omega CVPA Talent Show, putting on what is certainly one of our funniest (and most absurd) pieces yet. If nothing else, getting together offers us a chance to play one of our favorite games: walk around and hug each other.
Spring of 2013 proved an interesting semester academically speaking, and that largely had to do with two semi-experimental classes I took: New Play Development and Playwriting III, which focused on devised theatre. For the former, I worked on a one-act play entitled Shoes Yes Please, which I developed with the help of Ryan Bruce (director) and Maigan McPherson (dramaturg), and our cast: Jamy Gillespie (Becca), Randall Rapstine (Jesse), Randy Woolley (Oliver), and Lauren Mangum (Ang). Ryan (a soon-to-be nationally recognized director at that point) walked the actors through a number of improv-based exercises that really helped bring the best out of the script.
The Playwriting III class, meanwhile, took on a slightly larger challenge. We paired up with young people involved in the PAL (Preparation for Adult Living) program, a system that helps give children and teenagers from broken homes some security and support so they can pursue a better life, and worked with these amazing young people to put together a collaboratively written piece called Next Exit that we presented in a semi-staged reading format at LHUCA in town. The process was an interesting (and often tricky) one, but the responses from the audience (not to mention our sources, all of whom seemed touched and thrilled to see their stories being told) made it all worthwhile. Thanks to Dr. Charney, our professor and fearless leader, Jeff Wherry (who hooked us up with PAL), and Janie Bush (who hooked us up with LHUCA). Our team of devisers/writers/performers included Ryan Bruce, Liz Stromsness, Laurel Petty, Cody Lindley, Nicholas Irion, Troy Battle, Karen Wurl, Dawn Schluetz, Heather Fitch, and Will Layton, and Becca Venable and Emmett Buhmann ran lights and sound for us. A big shout out also to our main sources, Miguel, Cindy, Jordan, and Courtney, and others in the program who took the time to confide in us and showed such tremendous courage in doing so. Miguel and Cindy even got up to read some pieces of their own after the play, both of which were heart-wrenching and uplifting in equal measures; you can see Cindy reading her piece in front of all us in the photo below.
Next up came a major milestone not just for myself but for several of my friends/colleagues. I was asked last November by one Prof. Bruce Hermann to serve as dramaturg on a devised piece that would debut in Prague summer 2013, a (and these are his words) “comedy about torture.” The work in question was Fault/Line, an examination of the CIA’s controversial “enhanced interrogation technique” program through the eyes of a disgraced former CIA Agent. I began the work as a dramaturg – doing research, conducting exercises, discussing with our actors, director, and designers – but soon finished as the pseudo-playwright, writing up a text based on the incredible material produced by the actors. We developed the piece in Lubbock and then boarded the plane to Prague to debut it at the MeetFactory, a delightfully industrial and idiosyncratic all-arts space operated by the Czech Republic’s resident maverick, David Černý. It was a delight to return to the great city – rainy though it was this time around – and it even allowed me the opportunity to watch my first European football game: Sparta Prague’s season-ending 3-0 win over local rivals Dukla Prague. A thousand thank-yous to Rick St. Peter (director), Bruce Hermann (Agent), Courtney Brown (Reporter), Ryan Bruce (Detainee), Liz Stromsness (assistant director/stage manager), Jared Canada (technical director), Emmett Buhmann (sets and lights), and Peter Smith (sound), not to mention the inimitable Dr. Charney and Dean Edwards for back us up the whole way. Also, a special thanks to our MeetFactory connection, Dominika Andrašková and Matěj Samec, who did a great job coordinating for us and translating some of our promotional materials.
Note: As is the habit in the Czech Republic (apparently), my name appeared ahead of the title on most publicity materials (i.e. Jared Strange: Fault/Line), thus earning my one of my favorite nicknames, simply: Jared Strange Fault Line.
Literally the day after I arrived back from Prague (flying in through the middle of a massive storm, no less) I jumped straight into the inaugural WildWind Performance Lab, a program that should be the staple of project/new play development at TTU for years to come. This summer saw TTU co-produce Dawn Schluetz’s original musical Rat Race (a charming tale about the origin of the Chinese zodiac calendar) with Lubbock Community Theatre and a workshop production of Karen Wurl’s dark opus Underworld (which opens in a “raw” production this coming semester). I, myself, got to be part of two very intense – and very gratifying – projects: a workshop of The Prophet Darla and the creation of a devised piece called #LookUP. Workshopping The Prophet Darla proved to be the most important work I would do on the play; thanks to the guidance of my collaborators and the many distinguished visiting artists, I had the confidence to undertake a complete rewrite of the script, something which it desperately needed. Without that rewrite, it would not be half the play it is today. Thanks to Andria Baisley (director), Chelsea Prettyman (dramaturg), and Evangeline Jimenez (actress – mostly Darla), who held my hand throughout the process. Thanks also to a bevy of great actors who rotated out in and out of the parts so effortlessly: Nicholas Hernandez, Grayson Bradshaw, Tiza Garland, Natascha Muizers, Clay Martin, Randy Woolley, Randall Rapstine, and Nikki Irion. And a special thanks to the wonderful artists who visited us and offered my and the rest of the team such wonderful guidance and support: J. Ranelli (a constant presence throughout the entirety of the program, and a good one at that), Jaston Williams, Jay Kline, David Kranes, Jodi Jinks, Deborah Anderson, Crosby Hunt, Jessica Burr, and Matt Opatrny (the latter two of Blessed Unrest in New York). You all really helped make a dream come true with this play.
#LookUP presented a whole new challenge as I was called upon to serve as both a dramaturg and performer in helping to create this piece. It was a tricky position to navigate at first, but in the end I was able to make a lot of connections between the two seemingly disparate disciplines, all while playing with themes of Sisyphus and the theatricality of witnessing. Thanks to Elizabeth Parks (director), Nicole Wesley (adviser), Sierra Burt (designer/tech guru), and the rest of our team of deviser/performers: Kate Dressler, Grayson Bradshaw, Randy Woolley, Nicholas Hernandez, Jamy Gillespie, Joel Ison, Madison Weinhoffer, Leslie Gomez, Amber Hamblin, and Kimberly Sheeran. Many of the honored guests mentioned also coached and advised us on our work here, as well, but with two very important additions: Rich Brown and Kari Margolis, both of whom gave us a great basis to work off of and plenty of constructive criticism going forward.
I should also reserve a very special thank you to Dr. Charney, who pushed hard for the whole WildWind project and has even bigger and better plans for it this coming year, and to the two administrative dynamos who made all our copies and kept our many visiting artists in check: Cody Lindley and Jason Beasley.
The summer slowed down after that, thankfully, right up until I took my first trip to Florida to participate in my first ATHE Conference. I got to open with a bang by participating in an excellent pre-conference session for the Playwrights and Creative Teams focus group, during which we got to work on a new play by Charlene Donaghy, a fine playwright and the co-chair of the focus group, and work a little bit with interactive theatre and performance pioneer Jeff Wirth. I also got to co-present a panel with the great Page Petrucka on our collective experience as RROAPS Producers of the past and present, and see one of my short plays, Our Man in Tashkent, workshopped and read as part of the New Play Development Workshop. This proved an invaluable experience as it taught me a lot about what an audience really needs in order to keep up with a play, especially one so complicated as this one (it also allowed me to complete me “CIA trilogy” after Zimbabwe and Fault/Line). Probably the best part of ATHE, though, was meeting so many great people, and not just famous folks like Bill Irwin and David Henry Hwang, but committed professors, successful professionals, and other grad students like myself who are eagerly (if not a little apprehensively) looking forward to that next big step. Oh, and the resort we were staying at was nice as well. Thanks to my roommates DeRon Williams, Nicholas Irion, and Michael Flood for no doubt putting up with my snoring, and thanks to Charlene Donaghy, Judith Royer, Rodger Sorensen, and Dr. Charney for putting on a great PACT pre-conference and running some great sessions, including the New Play Development Workshop. Special thanks to my Tashkent team: C. David Frankel (director), Ara G. Beal (dramaturg), Rhonda Gorman (scenographer), Robin Stone (Craig Murray), Chelsea Prettyman (Nadira), Amanda Boyle (Fiona Murray), and John O’Connor (Henley). Big thank you also to our respondents, Todd William Ristau and Michael Wright, who gave wonderful constructive feedback. Here are some shots from our Tashkent rehearsals:
With Florida in the rear-view mirror, it wasn’t long before the Fall semester kicked into overdrive. After already being given the opportunity to serve a second term as RROAPS Producer and dramaturg on our production of The Illusion in conjunction with Tony Kushner’s visit to the campus, I was also given the unexpected opportunity to teach majors and minors in the Introduction to Theatre class. It was a daunting task, I have to say, and one that I feel I could do better at if ever given another chance (live and learn, I suppose), but more importantly, it put me in touch with the future of the TTU Theatre and Dance Department, which was a really excited prospect. All 25 of my students brought something unique to the classroom, and I cannot wait to see what they have in store over the next few years (hopefully nothing too crazy).
RROAPS got off to another great start with an increased bunch of script submissions coming in. I was pleased to learn that my own play The World is Watching will be one of the ones produced in the Spring, with Clay Martin already slated to direct. I got to see a reading of the play at the usual RROAPS All Play Read-Through (which received what was surely record attendance numbers this time around) and at the 3rd Annual Arts and Humanities Graduate Research Conference. The level of excitement for RROAPS at large seems particularly high this year, and I have high hopes that it could be even better than it was this last year. The reading of Cinthya Hernandez’s The Soldier’s Cross is shown below:
One of the most exciting things about this year was getting to meet a personal inspiration of mine: the great Tony Kushner, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angels in America, one of my all-time favorite plays and certainly one with a huge influence on my own work. Kushner came to the University as part of the Presidential Lecture and Performance Series (special thank you to Jo Moore, who runs that whole program), and, as dramaturg for The Illusion and the compiler of a packet that was distributed to a number of classes in anticipation of his arrival, I was invited to dinner with him the night before his pan-campus speaking tour. His intellect and sense of humor were already well known to me by the time I arrived, but what really bowled me over was how kind and considerate he was. He even stood (stood) outside of the Allen Theatre for nearly three hours talking to students and fans and signing books, all of this at the end of the long day. Just goes to show that you can still have humility and class even at such great heights.
As wonderful as it was to meet such a great artist, scholar, and gentleman, the highlight of the year had to be the full production of The Prophet Darla, my first full-length production. It’s strange to look back now and realize that the primary thing I came here to do has come and gone (yes, there’s still plenty of thesis work to do, but that barely counts…). This play started as a joke I thought up while working at Walgreen’s over two years ago and has now become my signature piece, something which fills me with immense pride in it and gratitude towards those who helped me make it happen. The responses I got to the play were largely positive and often very thought-provoking; it was particularly gratifying to hear that people walked away from the play thinking, which is always my biggest hope. While the production had its share of bumps along the way, I am still overwhelmingly thankful to everyone who put so much work into it, starting with the production team: Chelsea Prettyman (director), Evangeline Jimenez (dramaturg), Leni Morales (stage manager), Joshua Whitt (set designer), Becca Venable (lighting and sound design), Maria Albutra (costume design), and Nicholas Irion (poster designer – still my favorite poster design of the year, and it’s not just because it’s my play). I should also give a particularly big thank you to the cast, who handled so many characters and so many challenging emotional arcs with such great aplomb: Ashley Meyer (Darla), Randall Rapstine (Gladhand, et al.), Casey Pierce (Skip, et al.), Amanda Espinoza (Ruth, et al.), Lauren Mangum (Angie, et al.), and Gabe Vanover (Stephen, et al.). Even my Intro class got in on the act when they provided vocal recordings for the assorted crowds in the play. Here’s hoping for a great future for this piece!
A big supporter throughout the Darla process was the great Jaston Williams, best known as co-author and co-star of the Tuna plays. We first met when I came to visit TTU; he was serving as RROAPS respondent then, and even though I wasn’t yet a student, he was still very kind and very willing to share his experiences and wisdom. We met again during WildWind when he served as one of our visiting artists and conducted a brief workshop with us. He seemed particularly enamored of Darla and wanted to keep tabs on the play, and in the end he returned to Tech to serve as the KCACTF respondent for the final production. I have since had the opportunity to take another short workshop with him and he remains a big supporter of the play to this day.
As the year wound down and 2014 approached, I was given the opportunity to work with Heather Helinsky once again on a TTU-centric workshop entitled Digging Into Lubbock: The Dirt on New Play Dramaturgy. Heather (injured foot in tow) was kind enough to take a long weekend with me and several other TTU students to talk about working on new plays, and even brought some of the texts she was working on with a pair of high-profile playwrights that she often counsels. The weekend culminated in music-stand readings of brand-new scenes that were written, directed, and performed by the participants (and a handful of students in need of extra credits), with each play focusing on life in the dusty metropolis of Lubbock. Once again, Heather showed us how to take dramaturgy to the next level and left an indelible impression on the group. Special thanks also to Laurel Petty, the RROAPS Production Dramaturg who helped Heather and I put the weekend together and keep things running smoothly. Heather even had the opportunity to eat her first Texas-shaped waffle, a commodity that, sadly, isn’t all that popular outside of Texas…
Since then, things have slowed down a bit, but 2014 is now just hours away and there’s plenty more to do there. On the menu: wrapping up my thesis, returning to KCACTF Region 6 (and shooting for D.C. this time), presenting Iphigenia Come Home at MATC, rewriting and finishing The World is Watching, managing RROAPS, working on the update of A Good Woman Waits, contributing to The Women of Troy, dramaturging Twelfth Night, and, oh yeah…finding a JOB. Still sending out applications and hoping for the best.
As much as I would love 2014 to be as successful as 2013 in professional and academic terms, I find myself praying more and more for the kind of success that can only come through being close to family, friends, and God. If 2013 has taught me nothing else, it is to treasure those three things. Here’s hoping I can keep focusing on those three as 2014 approaches.
To those of you who might actually have made it this far: I wish you all the best. See you next year!