The Long Count with New Leaf Theatre Company...just my thoughts

New Leaf Theatre asked me for a contribution to their blog. I am working with them on The Long Count (opening this Friday and running through May - go see it). So below are a few things they asked me to talk about...

In a word, today I feel lazy. I fell asleep on my couch yesterday after rehearsal around 5pm, moved to my bed around 2am, moved from my bed to the couch around noon today, and finally moved from the couch to a vertical, moving position around 3. Do I feel well rested? Do I feel invigorated? No. I feel lazy (as mentioned above). But I hope I am banking some hours of sleep today that I can withdraw later this week.

I started being a theatre artist because I never really considered anything else. I kept with it because I couldn't imagine anything else. The act of creating something new (be it show, character, story) is uniquely fulfilling. I have tried to not be a theatre artist and it didn't work. My need to create is like water. I can get along without it, but if I go too long in the day without any, I will get a massive headache.

In regards to The Long Count, today, I am most excited about about knowing that it goes: "Samoa, Tonga, The Marquesas". Go see it - it will make sense later. Today I ask myself does the cryptologistt really want to go through? Has she given up? Is she so hurt by it she has to tell herself she doesn't care? Then I ask myself, will the audience know or care? I don't know about the audience, but I do. Maybe tomorrow I will figure it out.

Five years ago, I thought I knew everything. I knew what I needed to do and how it would all turn out. Five years from now I hope I know that none of the above can be or should be known. Marty McFly was wrong when he tried to tell Doc about the future. This may get a little silly but stay with me...Each time Marty did something to manipulate the future one of his little pictures would fade. That means he was missing the opportunity to create something he later loved. More often than not, when he started out he didn't know how much he actually treasured what he had. So in a very roundabout way, I am saying five years from now I hope I have learned to love where I am, who I am with, why I am there, and how I got there. Because, each day prior I was making my way there.

The season question for New Leaf is: "How do we build a future from a present we didn't expect?" In a word: trust. Trust in ourselves, in those around us, and the choices we have made.

As a bonus question New Leaf asked me was what my favorite year of school was and why. I would say (as cliche as it is) my senior year of high school. I was stuborn enough to have no inhibitions, smart enough to know I had to enjoy what I had, and silly enough to think it would be like that for life. My 10 year reunion is coming up this fall. I vasiclate about going or not. 10 years is a long time. Do I still have that stuborn, smart, silly girl inside me? Hopefully. I guess I have to trust that I do.