CRAIG’S LUST: a Sexploration

Posted on by Thor

Ryan Price of Invisible Frisbee Productions is producing an improvisational comedy show for this year’s Fringe called Craig’s Lust. I went to a rehearsal held at Rollin’s College. When I got there Ran was at the rehearsal space waiting for a meeting to clear out. The space was a small conference room on the ground floor of the Bush Science building room 102. This improv show had a creative edge because all the comedy skits revolve around the romantic crushes that people often don’t act upon. “Meeting people is hard. Meeting sane people is harder. Meeting sane
people on Craig’s list is nearly impossible! Join us for an improvised
adventure into dating, modern romance, and missed connections. Come
see us, and who knows, maybe you’ll be someone’s missed connection…
Your suggestions fuel the scenes. From the people who brought you 2013’s
improvised version of The 39 Steps.”

Stage manager Jamie Lynn Woods sat beside me filming the rehearsal. The rehearsal began with a quick session of zip, zap, zoop in which the cast members stood in a circle and threw imaginary knives at each other. Each comedy act was improvised with the actors building off of the scenarios that were offered by the other actors. I admire this sort of high wire act performed without nets. It was of course fun to watch the female actors flaunting their sexuality when needed, however if a male role was needed they could switch genders. It was when such roles were embraced with a flourish that I found myself laughing loudest.

One skit involved a company bowling outing. An employee’s wife caught the eye of the boss as she leaned down provocatively to pick up the ball. The boss patted her on the butt and she didn’t seem to mind at first. Such uninhibited lack of personal boundaries were often the source of a laugh. The woman’s husband was up for a promotion, so he encouraged her performance while hoping it didn’t get out of hand.

Nadia Garzon‘s friend was crocheting during the whole rehearsal. I could identify with his busy act of creation. At the end of the rehearsal, he gave me what he had made. It was a 4 inch high mushroom. I wasn’t sure what to do with it, but it traveled with me on a trip to Virginia. I decided to “plant” the mushroom on a wrought iron public bench figuring someone would be happy to discover it. I like this idea of leaving tiny artistic tokens around town. I’m considering the notion of an Origami business card that I could leave behind wherever I have planted myself to sketch. What I lack is the time to create them.

Craig’s Lust is being performed at the Orange Venue, Lowndes Shakespeare Theater (812 East Rollins Street, Orlando Fl.)

Thursday, May 15th, 2014  10:30pm to 11:30pm

Sunday, May 18th, 2014  10:30pm to 9:45pm

Thursday. May 22nd, 2014  8:15pm to 9:15pm

Friday, May 23nd, 2014  6:30pm to 7:30pm

Tickets are $11 along with your $9 Fringe button which is needed to get into any show.

39 Steps Rehearsal

Posted on by Thor

Back in January at a Florida Creative’s happy hour, I first found out that Ryan Price was planning to produce a Fringe play built around “The 39 Steps” a 1915  adventure novel written by John Buchan. It was later adopted by Alfred Hitchcock in a 1935 film. Becky Lane is directing this adaptation in which every show will be improvised based on audience suggestions. In early rehearsals Becky told me that the cast did view point sessions in which the actors walked an imaginary grid and worked as a group becoming a cohesive cast.

This Invisible Frisbee Productions rehearsal was held in a Winter Garden warehouse just two days before Fringe opened. A huge ventilation fan moved the humid air. A tarp was put on the floor because in one scene there is a murder and they didn’t want the corpse to have to lie in saw dust or metal filings. In this rehearsal the cast of four went over the introduction and the sequence of events that were needed to get the audience feedback. Since I was essentially an audience of one, Becky had me fill out eight chalkboards with answers to two questions. One question was to write down a job of someone in my party that was suspicious. I’ve found people to be suspicious of artists so that was my first answer, the others that I recall were a teacher and mailman. The other question involved picking a character trait of someone in your party that they are proud of and then write down the opposite. I recall writing excitable, angry and sloth. Those chalk boards were hung on the front of the boxes and helped defined the backgrounds and personalities the characters.

My other responsibility was to hand out playing cards that each character picked to choose their roll in the comedic drama. Max Hilend, the wild card, was hilarious as a lazy sloth of an artist. He spoke slowly with little to no enthusiasm. He discussed the one painting he does a year, and even the cast was laughing, and peaking at the words that defined his character. Nadia Garzon with a red rose in her hair was funny and entertaining as a high strung excitable art teacher. I decided she had to be the lead character, Hannay, based on her hilarious performance. Megan Borkes was a disgruntled spy and in a scene with Nadia, the two played off each other wonderfully. The villain was the black bearded Christian Cheker in his black shirt and military cargo pants. To me these roles seemed predestined. It is exciting watching the scenes unfold with the even actors not knowing what would come next.

The sets were defined with the boxes rearranged in each scene as chairs as well as a table, ladder and a window on a tripod. Nadia stayed in character as Hannay and had me laughing consistently with her innocent enthusiasm and endless curiosity. I glanced over to see the director, Becky, laughing out loud as well. It was such a delight to know that this performance was unique and as an audience member, I helped mold the performances. As Hannay was entertaining the spy in her home, Max opened the window and blew a dart into the spy’s neck. That sudden murder changed Hannay’s fate, forcing her to follow through on the spy’s mission, now being accused of murder, and on the run from police and the villain who was easily identifiable because of a unique, sometimes rude feature picked by the audience.

The cast took me on an amazing playful ride while asking me to suspend disbelief and fill in what was needed with my imagination. Be sure to check out this show at Fringe, your experience will be new and completely unique. It is theater in its truest form with murder, intrigue and plenty of laughs and unexpected turns.

Where: The Pink Venue

Tickets: $11 along with your Fringe button.

When:

Thursday May 16, 2013 at 6:00PM

Saturday May 18, 2013 at 6:45PM

Sunday May 19, 2013 at 11:15AM

Tuesday May 21, 2013 at 11:15PM

Wednesday May 22, 2013 at 9:30PM

Saturday May 25, 2013 at 4:30PM

Sunday May 26, 2013 at 2:45PM

Let Them Grow

Posted on by Thor

Jennifer and Jason Helvenston planted a lush vegetable garden organically in their front yard in Orlando.  
But in November, the city, which aspires to be the “Greenest City in
America”, notified them that their harmless garden violates city code, and they
have to tear it up and replace it with grass, or face fines of $500 a
day.

On January 8th of 2013 a new City Vegetable Garden Proposal was written. Most of the garden would have to be eliminated and now the city started regulating the back and side yards as well.

 This is a summary of the restrictions of the City’s Proposal.

1.  The government shouldn’t be telling gardeners what they can or can’t do with
the land they own as long as there are no quantifiable impacts.

2.  The Proposal is a conviction
against edible annuals while all other annuals are unrestricted.

3.  The Proposal is a clear strategy against edible gardens by pushing
them under the roof line of the building or in its shadow while at the same
time requiring year round success.

4.  The Proposal is an assault against the financially less fortunate that
cannot afford expensive fences and raised bed structures by pushing their
edible gardens even further into the shadows of the building.

5.  The Proposal is discriminating against ALL edible plants by requiring
higher standards and special definitions than any other plant in the City’s
Landscape Code.  By discriminating against the plants that we eat, they are
discriminating against gardeners.

6.  The Proposal is a discredit against sustainability.  The City’s
code will allow max. 60% environment crushing grass but only max. 25% edible
annuals with no impacts. 

The best and fare solution for the City is the
simplest.  Edible plants meet the same standards and requirements as all
other plants.  An edible ground cover gets treated the same as any other
ground cover, an edible annual gets treated the same as any other annual. 
Each yard in the City of Orlando must be “kept and maintained” to the
same levels as any other yard.  There should be no higher standards for food. 

 On February 28th there was a crucial City Counsel meeting on the proposal. I went to City Hall where there was a peaceful demonstration for the right to have a garden. Many protesters wore green as a sign of solidarity. Ryan Price was there holding a yellow pepper from his garden. He has a small garden in his front yard and luckily he has not yet been bothered. College students Jonathan, Adam and Troy were with Ryan. The college students are studying the medical benefits of plants. Jennifer Helvenston showed up with a basket full of vegetables from her garden. Protesters talked about their gardens with pride. Julie Norris was their with her daughter Maya holding a sign that said, Mommy, why can’t we grow vegetables? She has a gorgeous garden on her Thornton Park property.

A spokesman said that the City Proposal had once again been rewritten so the meeting would just consist of a reading of the new proposal with no vote. All the protesters went inside city hall to watch their city government at work. The Helveston’s small home garden has suddenly become the flash point for a national debate. Orlando leaders moved closer at the February 26th meeting to allow residents to plant
vegetables in their front yards, but gardeners remain worried that City
Hall’s benevolence will come with too many rules.

Florida Creatives Happy Hour

Posted on by Thor

On November 19th, the Florida Creatives Happy Hour was held at The Courtesy, (114 North Orange Avenue Orlando, FL). The Florida Creatives happy hour happens on the third Monday of every month. Things get started at 6PM and go until 9PM or later most months. The Courtesy is a new establishment in an old building riding the “mixology” wave – they make some interesting cocktails and serve up craft beer and wine too. They are in that building that was boarded up for the past few years at the corner of Washington and Orange Avenue downtown. Don’t let that scare you off, it’s a really great new place. 
If you’re not into cocktails or beer, the Courtesy makes their own sodas and carries some excellent Ginger Ales and non-alcoholic delights.

Ryan Price, who organizes the event greeted me as I considered what to order at the bar. He advised me to try a beer and I took his advice. It was a decent ale. Dana Mott joined us at a corner table which had a large birds nest as a light fixture. Ryan was anxious because the Fringe was holding it’s lottery that night to see which shows would go into the 2013 Festival. Ryan submitted a show idea which involved improvisation around a classic Hitchcock Murder Mystery called “39 Steps”, originally a book by John Buchan. It was fortuitous that Dana was there because she had years of improve experience having studied with Jeff Wirth who has since moved to NYC. I sketched as they chatted about the creative possibilities. Ryan had to leave early to get to the lottery. It turned out that he will be in the 2013 Fringe Festival and I can’t wait to see what becomes of the idea. Terry came out to say hello and then she and Dana left and I finished my sketch up on my own. The proprietor saw what I was working on and offered me a free beer. I already had two under my belt and I had to get home so I had to refuse the offer.

On February 4th at Chase Plaza on the 10th floor, come and join some of the passionate creative minds of Orlando in one of the longest-running happy hour meetups in the state of Florida (almost 6 years!). Be sure to check the Florida Creatives website since the venue can change month to month. The goal is to provide a safe environment to share your schemes, unearth passions and meet mentors or co-founders. There is always get a pretty diverse representation – lately there have been graphic designers, lawyers, illustrators, city planners, start up founders, tech folks and a plethora of others.

This is by far one of the best ways to “get involved” in the community. The people at this Happy Hour are plugged in to what is going on and who is doing it.