Muskoka, film, and making my own work…

The view from my dock on Muldrew Lake.

Today I had lunch with a friend who makes films. Because we’ve been saying, “Hey, we should do something…” for at least two years now and that “something” has yet to materialize. We just haven’t both been in the right place at the right time. Until now.

We’re both feeling a bit artistically stagnant at the moment and are in need of something to keep us moving, working, and inspired. He’s got a camera, I act and I have actor friends. Get where I’m going with this?

There is “something” in the works, a little no-budget collaborative project we can both learn something from. We’re hoping for funny and character-driven. And we’re going about it in a different kind of way. My last show really drove home the importance and value of cast bonding, collaboration, and using everyone’s various talents to their fullest. As such, we’re planning to take ourselves and anyone else who cares to participate up to my lovely cottage for a few days. And we’re going to burn things, brainstorm, swim, get creative, drink beer, and film. Hopefully we’ll come up with something cool. And at the very least, we’re bound to have fun. If you’re a Toronto-based actor and you want to play, too, leave a comment. Seriously.

I’ve also contacted my sister, The Writer, to see if she can come up with some ideas for us. Because she’s hilarious. And she has a blog now. Someday she’s going to write a book like Running With Scissors and embarrass our whole dysfunctional family. But without a doubt it will be highly entertaining. And maybe I can play myself when it gets turned into a movie.

So that’s just one project currently underway (there’s a theatre one with my new Best Friend that I refuse to talk about for fear of jinxing it). Good to know that several months later I am finally taking the advice of that smart guy at Praxis and creating my own work. I have to say, this feels good.

 I did this on my dock one night with a flashlight and a long exposure. I think it’s kind of awesome.

Two coffees in and no hope for brilliance.

This is my favourite thing on icanhascheezburger today. Super smart, I know.

Some days I arrive at my blog directly, some days it's in a roundabout fashion. Today is the latter. I blame the plethora of interesting things on the interweb. Also, I just spent some time contemplating Praxis Theatre's production of Stranger, which will be posted soon somewhere else. I will link to it then. But the short version is that it's a really beautiful, well-done show and you absolutely should not miss it.

In other news, Mary Louise Parker's latest foray onto a Broadway stage has been met with a not-at-all-good review in the New York Times. This breaks my heart because I think she's wonderful (I would secretly really like to have her career). But the real reason I am linking to it is the tone of the review: it just sounds so disappointed. There is nothing worse than having to write about a show that you so wanted to be good and it just isn't.

Also, as we are in the midst of award show season (ick) I thought I would note that someone has actually seen all the Academy Awards best picture nominees. And it definitely isn't me. Kathryn Laskaris managed to sit through all five in one weekend with her 16 year old son. Read about it here. And I really want to see Slumdog Millionaire.

But tonight I am going to see Bride Wars with my good friend, Pilates Pocahontas (because pilates is basically what she is doing with her life and she looks like Pocahontas). I cringe a little just typing that. I enjoy Anne Hathaway, but I am not optimistic. This was not my idea. But I'm hoping it will, at the very least, be fun. Wish me luck.

I promise more meaningful posts when I regain the ability to focus. And I have another audition coming up, so that should be entertaining. Meanwhile, go see (or do) something exciting and tell me about it!

Making theatre more accessible. Sort of.

J. Kelly Nestruck posted this in his Globe & Mail blog this morning. It reminded me that I did, indeed, read about it earlier this week. I just never got around to blogging about it.

The National Theatre in London is planning to broadcast several of its productions live in movie theatres throughout the UK, making the theatre more accessible to those outside of London. Tickets at the movies will be about £10 (which is about what it costs to see certain shows at the National itself). In order to recoup the costs of this broadcast, they are also proposing to sell them for broadcast abroad. The first production in this series, which will be called NT Live, is Racine's Phèdre starring Helen Mirren (!!!!!).

This project takes its cue from a few places, not the least of which is our own Stratford Festival's filming of Ceasar and Cleopatra starring Christopher Plummer. It will be shown in select Cineplex theatres throughout Canada on January 31.

While the filming of theatre is not really anything new, what is interesting to me about the National's project is that they plan to broadcast the show live--no edits--so the audience in the movie theatre will see the same show as the audience in the theatre. More or less. There are still things lost in translation from one medium to the other...but this is sort of an in between mediums idea, isn't it?

Will we see more of this in the future? I guess it depends on how these runs go...I think I will reserve judgment until I have actually seen one of these play-movies.

Celebrate the Gift of Culture Campaign

Judging by their site, this is clearly a campaign that hasn't garnered much attention so far, but it's a neat idea. I read about it on the TAPA blog. Perhaps it is something that should continue beyond the holiday season?

The idea is for everyone who attends a live performance in the month of December to film the audience applauding the performers, beginning with the stage and panning out to include everyone. These videos should be about 15 seconds or so long--easily done on a phone or digital camera. They can then be uploaded to the campaign's group on YouTube. The idea is that "ordinary Canadians" are out celebrating and appreciating the gift of culture.

I know there are more videos on YouTube on the subject--so that is my holiday challenge. How many more can we add? Either in the format described by this campaign or in our own? Let's get creative. After all, "to be creative is, in fact, Canadian."

"What do you do when you're not sure?"

Doubt, John Patrick Shanley's film adaptation of his play by the same name, opens in theatres today.
The play originally opened Off Broadway on November 23, 2004 at the Manhattan Theatre Club before transferring to Broadway in March 2005 at the Walter Kerr Theatre. It closed on July 2, 2006 following 525 performances with 25 previews. It then toured and has since been performed all over the world, including at London's Tricycle Theatre, well known for its agitprop and documentary style theatre (I once sat through an epically long production there that shall remain unnamed...because I can't remember the name). And, of course, what could follow all this but a movie? It is, after all, one of the most successful new plays in recent memory. In addition to its many productions internationally, it is the winner of a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, a Tony for Best Play, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. To say nothing of the countless awards and nominations by those who have designed, directed, and performed it (including several Golden Globe noms for this film).

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams

Set in a Catholic school in the Bronx in the autumn of 1964, a pivotal time in American history following the assassination of JFK and the "modernization" of the Catholic Church, Doubt centers on, well, doubt. A kindly, well-liked priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who embraces the winds of change, is suspected of molesting the school's only African-American student. Sister Aloysius (the Meryl Streep), the school's principal, passes judgment swiftly but is powerless to do anything about the priest's behaviour in a world dominated by men. And Sister James (Amy Adams), the newcomer, like us, isn't quite sure what to believe. And the ensuing drama can be summed up in the words of Flynn, "What do you do when you're not sure?"

Meryl Streep

The Meryl and Mr. Hoffman are apparently brilliant (duh.) and I will be interested to see how Amy Adams fares. I think it's an interesting casting choice and not necessarily one I would've expected next to two powerhouses of the screen and stage. I hope she holds her own; the reviews don't really have a whole lot to say about it. And since I don't generally trust just to reviews, I have included links to three: The Star, The Globe and Mail, and The New York Times. One thing they all agree on is that the show-stealer in this one is Viola Davis in her cameo as Mrs. Miller, the mother of the student who Flynn may or may not have molested. They also seem to agree that it's worth seeing.

Viola Davis

The original play was performed as a one act; the cast felt that the second act was what happened beyond the theatre, what the audience took away and discussed. Good theatre requires participation. I have a feeling that good film does as well. I'll let you know when I've seen it and, please, share your thoughts on it here. But in case you lose something in the translation, or would just prefer the stage experience, don't worry: Doubt is coming to Toronto in play form in May. The Canadian Stage Company will be putting up their production May 4-30.

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