Done. At least, I think, I hope, I'm done.

It's pretty unbelievable, but I'm done with my master's program.  I submitted the final essay late Sunday night, for it had a 5pm deadline (UK time) on Monday.  I didn't want to sleep through it!  I cannot believe that my year is done.  I cannot believe it.  It's really difficult to realize what I've just been through over the past year.  So many things have happened, it seems like someone else's life.  Maybe it's just because it's been such a whirlwind getting back to New York, and dealing with the insanity of moving, and visiting home, and then going through the crazy rehearsal process and performance of MND.  Now that it's all over, and I'm sitting down to start looking for work, it's hard to process that all that actually happened.  It is amazing what we human beings can deal with sometimes.  And the fact that Liz and I didn't kill each other, and pretty much agreed on what we were doing (besides the occasional exhausted argument), is a great sign for our company's continuation.

I am going to try to keep this blog going, because it is important to document and reflect upon my activities.  It is also a great reference material to use in the future .

For now, I will say goodnight, and keep fingers crossed for finding a job!

more audience reactions

Ian Buckley:
"What was interesting to me was how cinematic the performance was. I enjoyed seeing people in perspective, both up close and far away and would have loved to seen more of that. I have seen nine productions of Midsummer, and this one by far stood above the others."



Carl Bellenas: Friends of Maple Grove Historian:
"I wanted to let you know what a delightful evening we all had last night. I think the hardest audience to win over are the young. I can certainly tell you that when I took Derek, Jean and Little Philippe home they were all talking about what a wonderful evening they had. I think it is magnificent that they were introduced to Shakespeare in this brilliant way. Especially for nine year old Philippe, for this was his first exposure. Derek and Jean had read it recently in High School so were familiar with it. What a wonderful first impression.

As I mentioned to Elizabeth, as cemetery historian, it seems I have more friends who are dead than alive and some of them have been gone over a hundred years. Have to admit after working there for about twenty years I have never had a spiritual encounter or have seen any type of apparition but I had this incredible feeling that you did not have an audience of 25 or so but an audience of 80,000 who are cared for at Maple Grove. They in their way embraced you and your work and there was a wonderful spell cast over the evening and I could feel the appreciation of thousands who were remembered and entertained last night."



Megan Lee: (Actress Hermia)
"One of my managers came to see the show, and she summed it up nicely for me-- she said that seeing Midsummer in this new way really thrilled her with the creativity of the project. She also said that seeing a play that is so familiar and beloved in a place that primarily belongs to the dead was refreshing because then, Shakespeare had never seemed so alive for her."

more feedback

Heidi O'Connell writes:

It was so lovely to finally meet you last week at your performance. I hope the show went well for night 2 and that you've been getting lots of useful feedback. Lea and I had such a wonderful evening in your world. It was a refreshing and thought provoking take on Midsummer.

The full use of the space, especially the impeccably timed entrances from across the cemetery, continually made the experience expand beyond individual scenes. Lots of gorgeous moments, notably with Oberon/Titania in the distance. (Their translucence as the night got darker was truly ghostly)  I wondered several times if I could have followed a separate story line across the graveyard away from other audience members.

Reaction to the site performance

Bonnie Dixon
Executive Director of Maple Grove Cemetery commented:

"…thank you for introducing us to theater in the cemetery. I think that it was a wonderful, energetic performance and given rehearsal time a very cool production. Bravo to you, your cast and your puppets. You certainly made good use of the cemetery landscape and the Celebration Room interior, as well as, its exterior. Big challenges I guess were audio and darkness, although the flashlight spotlights were good for the audience they were probably difficult for the actors. It was a real thumbs up for me. "

It is great to have such enthusiasm for the project from the woman who made the decision to allow us to perform at her cemetery.

It's done.

I cannot, with all my heart, believe that we just accomplished that performance.

We had 2 days in the site, only about 6 hours total of rehearsal time in the cemetery, before we had an official audience.  Everyone is to be commended on all the hard work.  We could not have done this with any other group of people.  Not only was it site-specific, it was cast specific as well.  They all brought everything they could into this crazy, short rehearsal process.

It's difficult for me to speak from a director's point of view, and I know Liz feels this as well, because we never saw the show.  Because we both had to perform in it, we were never able to see it in its entirety in the site.  We did have someone videotaping for us, but we have yet to receive it.  The only way we know it went well is by how we felt, and also the overwhelmingly positive remarks and feedback from those who saw it.

I'm so glad that this all worked out.  The day I found out we had lost the Prospect Cemetery site, I didn't know what we were going to do.  I'm glad we found the connection that led us to Maple Grove Cemetery, and Carl and Bonnie couldn't have been nicer about working with us and our impending schedule.

Doing that performance changed me in so many different ways, but one moment I will specifically remember is the night of the actual performance, as I was hiding/waiting for my second scene, and I had a moment of realization of where I was.  At that moment, there was a different energy.  I think Carl was right when he said we had an audience of 80,000 that night.  And I think they were pleased.

one audience member's reaction

Chelly Coyle writes:


Overall I thought the production was a tremendous amount of fun. I loved the setting. The Maple Grove was beautiful and really augmented the sense of “spirits”.  This seemed especially strong to me the deeper into the cemetery the play went. Cemeteries have always invoked strong feelings for me. They are both peaceful and otherworldly. Whenever I’m in one, I can’t help but to start imagining the stories of the folks interned in them. Midsummer certainly easily falls into the category of a great--fun story.

Having characters interact with audience members prior to the actual start of the show was a nice stage setter. Puck was particularly strong as the actor had great physicality and a sense of how to use his body in conjunction with the costume/gargoyle mask---a neat imagery connection to the cemetery.

Walking from scene to scene was exciting because as I got more involved I allowed myself to get closer to the actors which really gave me the feeling of being part of the action. It was as if I was a silent part of the scene and at times not really even silent as the spirit puppets, Puck and other characters actually touched or otherwise involved audience members. I also like the fact that the audience’s numbers were limited as it also facilitated that up close and involved feeling.

The puppet spirits, Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth and Mustardseed were awesome, beautifully designed and wonderfully executed by the actors using them. Their color and textures seemed to reflect the stone and statuary found in cemeteries. I found the “head” masks of Oberon and Titania to be less effective because they seemed to limit the movement of the actors too much making them come across as stiff—more so with Oberon than Titania.

There were two things that were minor negatives for me. The first was that the initial scenes were played too close to the public roadway and the traffic noise was annoying and interfered with hearing the actors. Secondly, the audience, including myself, were initially unsure about when to move. Although an explanation was given prior to the start of the play that we were to follow the actors, if you do this again I would suggest that this explanation be expanded upon to include clearer encouragement to stay close to the action.