Gold from the Shakespeare Intensive

Wow! We enjoyed a powerful kick off to We Players’ adult education programming the past two days. Many thanks to John Hadden for sharing his decades of experience, his subtle awareness, and his deft teaching.

I’m creating this post so workshop participants and observers can share some of the nuggets they are taking away to incorporate into future performances and life!

The image that sticks strongest for me is the existence of language throughout our bodies, in our blood and marrow… the wellspring of emotions and impulses deep in our core, from which the swell of language courses forth… and the mouth, teeth, tongue and lips as percussive instruments that articulate the energy into intelligible speech. “Let the thought exist in your mouth,” not your head.

Also love thinking about the character as a map -
totally useful when traveling to a new place, but each actor/ traveller will have a different journey, and the journey doesn’t begin until you step into unfamiliar territory and set forth towards the place.

thanks again, John!

Expressions of Freedom

to all youth followers of WE, check out this National Park Service competition looking for creative expressions of freedom.

The Odyssey on Angel Island State Park – SOLD OUT

We are honored that tickets have gone so quickly, and we are sorry for all the folks who want to see this production and cannot.

Please join our mailing list for advance notice when ticket sales open for future shows, and remember to buy your tickets early.

If folks want to comment on this thread and link up with one another, we hope folks with conflicts will be able to pass off their tickets to others who want to join the adventure.

best of luck to all!
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2011 reflection from the directors

What a year.

Last winter WE announced that 2011 would be a year dedicated to organizational development.  We Players is now incorporated! We have a Board of Directors; we’re working on our strategic plan; and we are awaiting the IRS’ decision for our non-profit status (we expect confirmation this winter). 

You might think that’s a lot for a small arts organization (especially one mostly run on volunteer labor) to do in a year’s time.  But we can’t help being inspired by the landscapes and stories of our region and our world, nor stop the flow of creativity.  So… we also did much much more.

We Players fulfilled the mission of our three year residency on Alcatraz (i.e. provoking thought and stimulating conversation about justice, incarceration, isolation and redemption), with a series of four art exhibitions, a youth conference, and our culminating event – the weekend-long Alcatraz Symposium on Justice & Freedom.  We created and presented a new performance in the Cell House, hosted inspirational panel discussions, presented new visual art by our collaborators, held meaningful ceremony, taught workshops at the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center, and presented a fabulous collection of inmate-produced visual artwork in collaboration with the William James Association.

We had a remarkably successful run of The Odyssey aboard Alma this fall.  It was an honor to play on such a gorgeous vessel and a blessing to build friendships with her stellar crew.  

To those of you who sailed with us on Alma or joined us on Alcatraz in 2011 – please send us your photos! We’d love to see ourselves in golden suits, rowing the air, or drapped over cell house railings! The actors request that you do not post your photos or videos on public sites. Thank you for honoring this request.  

Most heartening of all, our volunteer support is stronger than ever.  We have lists of superstars, willing to help with everything from registration, to hospitality, to technical design, errands, cooking, and more!  And several project collaborators from recent years are stepping up and signing on to help with company operations, taking tasks off our plates and improving the strength of our company, while supportting everyone’s creativity.

We look forward to 2012 with enhanced capacity for making innovative, site specific art, in partnership with the stewards of our local park resources and this ever-expanding creative community.  Our island-wide Odysseyon Angel Island in the spring and Macbeth at Fort Point next fall will bring innumerable opportunities and challenges; visit any of the pages under our support tab to get involved and play your part.

Onward! 

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Ava & Lauren

Visit a body of water.   Sit nearby and listen, smell, see what the water is telling you. Dip in a toe, dunk your head (or your whole body), cross the water. Tell us about the experience.