The action, not the actress.
um, that picture was in response to rachel's writing about vassilisa and the heads. But I thought it might catch your attention.
I'm super excited about all the stuff that everyone posted, and I want to talk about where to go from here. We never talked really clearly about what Ashur and my role as 'the shapers' is going to be, and I know that the bearded one and I need to sort of gather up what we have right now and come up with an action plan.
In the mean time, I got really this-is-what-I-would-do-in-play writing-class on this thing and started writing down questions that I thought would help us clarify our direction.
So, in that vein, here are some questions:
What does Baba Yaga want? Like, overall? What's her deal?
What is her relationship to the chickenhouse? Is it her slave? Her BFF? Her coffin?
In your mind, what does the play look like to you right now? Finished product. (what kind of aesthetic are picturing right now, basically?)
What does it sound like?
What sort of structure are you leaning toward? We've talked alot about episodic vs. narrative, what does that mean?
Ok, that's what I got for now.
Also, may I suggest for those of you that use the apple mail (whatever it's called), that you add this blog to your RSS feed so that you know when it's been updated. Just go to file> add RSS feed, and then do manually add URL or whatever it says and then copy and paste.
Please respond to my questions so I don't feel like total nerd, grasping at straws.
eva
you are a nerd, but here are some thoughts from me for now and then more later
ReplyDelete-she is the gardian of the house, if its the entrance to the underworld where people go to change or grow up, does this mean the house is the true power and she is only a pawn? maybe, or its a symbiotic thing, like a bug living in a log
-play aesthetic wise I see it being a dark little cave that you can only sort of see into and someone is singing you a sweet little song of an adventure drawing you in and every once and a while something silly or something heartbreaking or something so fucking scary you poop your self pops out at you.
and I think Babaz deal is she knows everything there is to know and sees everything there is to see and really wants to show people themselves by pushing them up or squashing them into a pie
ovbiously we're going to need more material and once we figure out the big theatrical structure we'll be able to fill in holes and cut stuff we we're just trying out and write more and blah blah
yeah, I think we should keep posting and writing as much as we can think of
after some more reading today
ReplyDeleteI think the other side to her character, whats underneath the witch, eating you stuff is someone searching for comfort.
She asks the girls to wash her and her babies (frogs and lizards mostly) or rock her and she doesn't want to let them go, as if she's longing for a friend.
What kind of sense are we getting one Yaga vs. beaucoup de Yagas? I personally am still in favor of amalgamizing (what?) some of the ones we've been writing about and some to come but doing so in clumps. In other words, still having more than one Yaga. I agree with Audrey mostly about what she wants. I guess, the way I'm seeing it with more than one, it's kind of like their jobs description.
ReplyDeleteSo, episodic or narrative? I'm not sure, but I think the difference, if you do multiple Yagas, is either seeing one feed into the next with at least some explanation of how the torch was passed or whatever (narrative) or seeing different Yagas in different episodes with less explanation, like that's just the way it is.
The way I feel about the house, from what I've been thinking and especially some ideas sparked by Skye's piece, is that it is her very long time companion. To explain, 2 anecdotes:
1. I saw this very old, crazy looking woman from my window all the time last summer and she'd go out on her steps and yell at nobody about steeling her packages. One day she came all the way out of the house very slowly followed by a tiny man who looked just like her. They walked away down the street complaining to eachother about "the state of things these days." And suddenly, with him, she made all the sense.
2. My french cousins, Olga and Ester (sisters), who lived together in a tiny apartment until Ester died at 90-something. They had an agreement and a way of moving around eachother that filled up the whole apartment.
I think that BY has this kind of relationship to the house. In Eva's monologue BY talks about her gossiping gate and it seems annoyed and really tender. Audrey, I love what you just said about the comfort thing. I can see there being real moments of tenderness and comfort between her and the house.
nerds
My aunt lived in my house from 16-95 so I totally get that. She was sort of a part of it.
ReplyDeleteI think this sort of relationship brings up some issues to deal with concerning multi-baba-land (which btw I'm crazy about if we can get it to work)
If the same set, the same house that doesnt change from epi to epi interacts with each new babz in the same way I think it becomes a different relationship, if one is static and the other is not.
so if the house can shift too....
I still really like the multiple babas, but I'm feeling more the all existing at the same time babas. I think its important for us to show that they are simultaneous and not just passage of time (if that's the way we go) like, maybe having the same person go to them twice, and just finding that its a different baba.
ReplyDelete