As the curtains close on adolescent dreams.

Today I was thinking of the many different ways in which I could make Big Girls Club into a short film. Flashy, colorful, distorted, horrific. This thought process occurred to me when I was at work screening an awful Spanish language film. As of late I find it harder and harder to balance all of the work in my life. Yet when I see the work that others have done I never think, "oh I could never do that." It's not as if my dreams are unattainable, it's merely a question of what my actual dreams are. Part of myself wants to create work that offers an escape for an audience, a spectacle, a show, not unlike the circus of yesteryear, something that will give ordinary people an escape from the trials and untimely boredom of life. An oasis in the sun. However the other part of myself wants to create work that exposes the untimely boredom and trials of life, and finds subtle beauty in them, beauty in the simplest of things. Returning home after a day at work and staring at an empty room. Calling your mother thanking her for her prayers even though you don't attend church. Or, standing at the crossroads of life and realizing that fate maybe doesn't exist, but you're still along for the ride.

Robotz!

Dear world,

I really love robots. I have recently been reading "Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep" "IRobot" and randomly searching robots on the internet. I am also obsessed with the future-not like the future in a literal sense but in an really advanced technological sense. For example, here is a photo of me a couple of years ago, Leah and I had a futuristic party and it was fucking awesome. So i have decided to make a film about robots. I am still in the brainstorming stages but I am thinking it will be about a girl who finds out that she is actually a robot and has been implanted with false memories. Then the mind blowing world of robot technology will be opened to her and she will have cool adventures! I am also currently writing a short play in which leah will play an georgous android and I will be a futuristic androgynous spaceship captain. It's going to be h-o-t.

Big Girls Club & The Field

Last night (or technically early-early this morning - around 1:20am) members of Everywhere Theatre Group performed Leah Winkler's Big Girls Club at Wings Theatre for the Working Man's Clothes Productions' 2008 Binge Festival. It was a raucous time for all involved and we're all very pleased to be part of it and to share our current development with the audiences of the West Village.

You can read my response to our first performance over at the Big Girls Blog.

We will be performing again next Friday night.

In other news, ETG will soon be joining The Field to become fiscally sponsored through a 501(c)3 not-for-profit company. This is very exciting because it will enable us to receive tax-exempt donations through The Field, benefiting our donors who we greatly appreciate. If you're at all interested in helping out, please feel free to contact us at info@everywheretheatre.org.

Big Girls Club performs tommorrow!

part of the

BINGE OLYMPIAD

the final annual NYC Binge Festival
a late night alternative to the Fringe
a side-arm jest to the Olympics
a ceremony of debauchery

Fridays and Saturdays
Aug 15, 16, 22, and 23
11pm - 3am

WINGS THEATER
154 W. Christopher Street
West Village, NYC
click here for directions!
Click here for Working Man's Clothes Productions
(and a promo vid. for the Binge)

BIG GIRLS CLUB
presented by EVERYWHERE THEATRE GROUP
written by Leah Winkler
directed by Teddy Nicholas
featuring Leah Winkler, Katie Hannigan, and Mary Mailhot
Friday Aug 15th at 1:20 AM
Friday Aug 22nd 1:20 AM
Exploring the duality between self-abasement with food and self acceptance, this piece showcases three women in their darkest and ugliest hour , bonding over food and their own self misery, while taking pleasure in the unhealthiness of BGDs (Big Girls Delights, i.e- cookies, brownies, waffles, etc)



show your FRINGE FESTIVAL PARTICIPANT BADGE
and get in for a discount + free drink!

Rehearsal: What it means to you. (or Me rather)

So day in day out we have been rehearsing for the All Star Gala that is "Big Girls Club." I find myself caught in a parallel universe at rehearsals. This is because I am also documenting them with a video camera. I need to strike a balance. When behind the camera I feel disconnected from what is actually going on, I am an objective eye merely trying to capture the events in front of me. This is why recently I have cut back on the amount that I document in these rehearsals, a log of footage always seemed like a good idea in theory but the more and more I think about it, how many takes of a particular scene or event do I need? I feel that it is ultimately more beneficial for me to be actively involved in the production, otherwise I have no passion for it. Overall I think I am happy with the direction that this production is taking. I like to make sure that our themes and "bigger picture" ideas stay intact. I think one of my biggest strengths as an observer and an artist both is my ability to see projects in a larger sense. In other words, you can have a lot of little pieces but if they don't add up to anything then what's the point. I don't know of anyone who keeps boxes of miss matched puzzle pieces around and then charges people to see them. (Not saying people wouldn't pay to see it.)

CONFUSED

The Olympics play in the background and I think about our culture. Last night, during the NBC interview, Bush said that he is proud that America is participating in the Olympics this year. He is proud because sports represent peace. How come it takes sports to signify this when there is a war going on? It is signifying peace, which is good enough, right? Olympics signify. Sports signify. Is there something wrong with this? It is irritating, even though I can't seem to stop watching them. The athletes' talent is intoxicating. What they do amazes and excites me. For me, there is a tension here. Why can't art be as accessible? How come sports to our country enables peace, when art can do the same? Today I guess I just have questions. To our world and country athlete's are the hero's......."AND MICHAEL PHELPS SETS A WORLD RECORD!!!!"

Money

So, I spent all of my birthday money and more booking rehearsal spaces for Big Girls Club.

One of the many things that I've learned, even though it's kind of common sense, is that if you are young, come from no money and are thinking of starting a theatre company- you have to know how to budget yourself. I find myself spending the majority of the little extra cash I do manage to have on production costs, application fees and other theatre related things ( like going to see shows) rather than things like….clothes or food or fun stuff to do on the weekends. But I don't think those sacrifices really weigh you down if you are truly passionate about what you want to do...I still think good theater can come from no money. Do you?