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The Vapor Point

I read an article in the times listing the six most physically (and in some cases emotionally) charged performances this season in the Big Apple. Some ranged from individual performances, like James Corden in the updates version of Goldoni's masterpiece Servant of Two Masters entitled "One Man, Two Guv'nors", to the obvious intense choreography given to an ensemble in musicals like "Newsies" I found it amazing to finally see a specific eye given to the sheer aerobic nature that certain performances can have, something that is slowly coming into the collective conscious of creators and artists.

Audiences want to see the sweat pouring off your face, the muscles tighten in your calves, the ethereal place you can achieve after being so physically exhausted that you think you can't go on much more...and then you do.

As an audience member, I want to see that. And as a performer, I've witnessed the audiences clamoring for more. Case in point, I recently got off of a four month long rehearsal/performance process that saw us come from nothing more than a group of people and a space to a fully fleshed out show. Defying the confines of what we call a play, theatrical performance, or performance art the piece began to lean heavily on sheer willpower, determination, and strength.

But why? What about seeing someone stretch themselves to their limit is exciting? My mother, after seeing the performance that culminated in a prolonged 6 minutes of simple jumping said "I wanted it to stop!". She liked the piece, but she couldn't bear anymore seeing a group of people (one being her son) push themselves to the breaking point. But why do others (myself included) enjoy this type of theater?

It's, as a college professor would describe it, the vapor point. The point in which you see that the performer, the artist, the creator has pushed themselves to a place of utter freedom and openness. They've forgotten about everything they've learned through the years and they are now just present and alive. The luster a performer has once they reach that well deserved point is brilliant.

Look for the artist pushing themselves to the vapor point, it's usually not that hard to spot.

-jacob

I thought it would be nice to have some color inspiration this week.  Here is a watercolor painting of seaweed.  These colors tend to be the colors Paper Chairs gravitate towards.  Enjoy your weekend!

  

Paper Chairs often like to combine various multimedia such as projection, music, dance, lighting and a multitude of textures via paint, fabrics, water to create visceral experiences that tend to linger in your mind.  This photo is a piece of work by Italian artists, Federico Bebber and Francesco Sambo who have joined forces to build a mysterious circus: "a gallery of smoky black and white images of freaks, fates and circus tents, meant to be viewed while listening to a lilting audio track created by Sambo."

Picnic Plays

This is how we'll be spending our Sundays in May...

-April

Photo credited to Pina Bausch and Co.

Weekly Inspiration - Tampere, Finland

Paper Chairs strives to create new and exciting experiences for our audiences.  Here is an amazing example from Tampere, Finland where the entire auditorium is spun on a round turntable to face new scenes!  Image is credited to Stiknord.

weekly inspiration

In honor of Woodwork, this just seems so appropriate...  ~Spring

 

Woodwork Tech

We are currently in the tech rehearsal process for Woodwork at Delta Millworks! It is very exciting and challenging to be producing outside of a theater space. Yes, paper chairs did the same for Hillcountry Underbelly, but now we aren’t even in the vicinity of a theater with typical amenities: lights, speakers, cables, tools, and chairs.

Thanks to our excellent designers, electricians, and volunteers, we have transformed a section of Delta Millworks into a charming, wood-toned space for live performance. Now stocked with lights, sounds, bells, and whistles, get ready for a great night of paper chairs magic starting this Friday at 8 p.m.!!

~Dorian

I Am An Artist

-April

PostScript.... Turns out I often will work for free, but you know, just trying to stand on my soap box :)

This Just In!

We've moved into the space.

Wow, what a beautiful job everyone has done.

The set is high and vast.

Kudos Lisa!

Environmental theatre is wonderful.

The sky

The fresh air.

It's gonna be hard to beat the heat

but the breeze is beautiful by 8:30.

Eyes on the Stars, Feet on the Ground

Ain't it purty!

Hope this gets you excited!

August 5th.

Hillcountry Underbelly.

Prepare for a soakin'.

Courtesy of director Dustin Wills.

Americana Gothic

Me and visual inspirations are best friends this week.



Gordon Parks is an amazing photographer.
This photograph was taken  in 1942
Portrait of government cleaning woman Ella Watson.
The first popular parody of "American Gothic".
I can't get enough of this.

An Orphan on the Roam

Sometimes you come across an image that is so striking

you have to share it.

Sometimes you come across an image

and you have no idea where it came from

or why it was taken.

This is one of those images:

 

About last night...

We came.

We saw.

We wish you were there!

Thank you SO MUCH everyone for a wonderful

amazing

fun

spirited

fundraiser last night!

We had delicious Gentleman Jack whiskey courtesy of What Will They Do Next!

We had raucous bluegrass tunes from Whiskey Business, Andy and Emily Tindall, Westen Borghesi, and a host of other amazing musicians!

We were backed up by Bonnie Cullum and the beautiful denizens of the Butterfly Bar!

Plus

WE MET OUR GOAL!

but.

we still need your help!

We have 10 days left on our Kickstarter

and we need over $1000 more to recieve these much needed funds!

So pledge today!

Friendly reminder

August 5th, 2011

Vortex Yard

World premiere of "Hillcountry Underbelly"

by Elizabeth Doss and Mark Stewart

Prepare for a soaking.

Hush Birdie, quit squawking!

A little inspirational photo.

It's from the 1925 film "Lazybones" directed by Frank Borzage.

It's funny how one image can resonant with you so well.

Even if you're not too sure why.

Enjoy.

We better find our feet before it's too late

If there is a thin line between genius and insane,

is there a similar thin line between tragedy and comedy?

I think we've been learning that over the course of the last few rehearsals.

This is a show, that at first bite, tastes like a silly southern surregional comedy.

We have:

1. Southern Accents.

2. A bunch of running around and song playing.

3. Spirituality, flying opossums, floods, hills.

4. Idioms and slang.

Comedy, right?

Not quite.

We've been talking how shows like this have all the trappings to be stuck within the comedic elements. We live in the south, we know about these locales, places, and people and because it acts as a mirror of sorts we see the parts that make us smile because we think, even if for a moment "Hey, that makes me think of home."

But we're discovering it's more than that.

To lean towards the notion that this is a full blown musical comedy would mean to deny the truth in the text by Liz Doss and the emotion in the music by Mark Stewart.

There is true heart here.

What makes the show work is the reality that these characters are living in.

Their parents are gone.

They're now orphans.

Their lost, and yet forced to find a far away land that, to most of them, may not exist.

Why?

To survive.

Can't you hear the belly laughing, side splitting humor?

Its their, but not.

The humor, rather than being the driving force, is used like a knife to cut through the tension.

Its quite breathtaking.

But you can make up your own mind.

My words run on like critters during a flood

It is funny how little “training” you do as an actor when you are not in a collegiate/workshop environment.

We did an exercise last night to get us corporeally aware of our character, after a mental exercise of self discovery with our character. And, what it did for myself and my character is a different matter, but it made me realize: no one gets to do this, or it’s a rarity that you do.

We played with different characteristics of movement. How heavy you are, how your body is moved through space, how you get to a target, things that we think about but I find are often not implemented enough in a lot of theatre that comes through this town and the next.

Actors will walk on stage uncomfortable in their bodies.

Uncertain about where to put their arms, because by their side feels wrong.

You can have the clear, precise voice of an angel, but if your clip-clopping around the playing space like a horse, you lose me quick.

We’re all guilty of it at some point, in some regard, and that’s fine.

But you know what is a sure fire cure for that.

Abstract and extreme physical movement and gestures.

What’s going on? Is it just people getting lazy with their art?

Is it modern entertainments fast paced style that makes us think we can put physical discovery on the back burner?

Do people think they don’t need it?

Is there a stigma against this type of creating?

To really create art, in theatre, as an actor though...this process is vital to our survival as a cutting edge form of art.

A play or musical may not have the budget of a film, but we can make abstract, creative choices that you couldn’t see in film because it isn’t “naturalistic”.

Even though we only did these exercises for the greater part of maybe an hour and a half, I felt metaphysically prepared. Mind/Body awareness, as another person. And with the physical perception being heightened, my mental perception was also affected.

I discovered for the first time in the rehearsal process.

Grass.

Clouds.

Rain.

Sun.

A giant cavernous hole

(that may look suspiciously like a water tower)

My words flow out like rain, sporadic and sometimes unnecessary but all I mean to say is:

Don’t disregard your training.

You learned it for a reason.

Am I right, or am I right?

Tickets Are Now Available!

Tickets are now available via the Paper Chairs website!

Just a quick refresher

August 5th - 21st

Thurs-Sun @8:30PM

Pay-What-You-Can-Thursdays

$15-25 Friday through Sunday.

Order your tickets fast and early folks right here:

Buy Now!

We can't wait to see yall at the show!

Take a look at this!

Lisa Laratta continually out does herself.

Look at the beautiful poster for Hillcountry Underbelly:

Amazing isn't it?

You better be there August 5th, yall.

Let us help you, by you helping us.

There is a phenomenon happening.

It's happening right here.

And all over the globe.

They call it:

KICKSTARTER.

We set the goal.

You help us reach it.

Our goal is $2,200.

We have 19 days left.

We've raised, as of today, $756.

We celebrate the 22 people that have helped us get this far!

(hooray!)

Yet, if we don't reach our $2,200 goal, then we don't see any of these wonderful donations.

So.

We.

Need.

Your.

Help.

If you go to our Kickstarter page you can choose to donate any amount you want

From $1 to $1000 dollars.

And you recieve a special gift!

Want myrrh cried by the famous Hillcountry Theotokos?

How about a recording of Mark Stewarts original music?

Maybe you really want Paper Chairs to give you a free singing telegram sent to whomever you want to in Austin?

All this and more could be yours if you donate today!

Donate Today!

(and also...thanks in advance!)