It's our pleasure to share the Sustainable Production Toolkit, a free guide to help performing arts orgs operate more sustainably. This helpful tool was co-authored by We Player Edward T. Morris (designer of our set for CAESAR MAXIMUS) and features our work as a case study. Check it out!
Performer Spotlight: Nick Dickson
Meet Charon, ferryman on the river Styx of Greek mythology. Here's what PSYCHOPOMP’s charming Nick Dickson had to say of the man that's a boat and the boat that's a man.
1. What is something that delights you about your corner of McLaren Park?
I love that the approach to Charon is up a hill, out of the forest, where the audience encounters the road again. It fits well with what Charon has to say. The audience are removed from the park for a moment, going uphill, and after they encounter Charon, they descend again into the park. I think the time they spend with Charon builds anticipation. It makes me think of my corner of McLaren as the mid-rollercoaster reset. You've gone through some loops and corkscrews, and now you're gathering potential energy again, getting ready for the last few events.
2. What is something that surprises you about your corner of McLaren?
It's busy. I thought that my part of the park-- a minute's walk away from the neighborhood near the Blue Water Tower-- would be less frequented. Not only are there tons of passerby, but we were stalked by a people-acclimated coyote in a late April rehearsal. I think that, even though my part of McLaren is more 'city' than other parts, it has the potential of being more on the threshold of 'urban' and 'wild' than other places. Imagine a world where the coyotes of McLaren and the toddlers of Excelsior roam the park together in harmony. Just kidding: we guides are there to manage that kind of daydream.
3. What is something that you admire about your Psychopomp?
I may have missed something in the mythos of Charon that debunks this, BUT, what I like about the Boatman is that he is a reversal in Greek mythology. He is the most clown-like, regarding resilience. With the more famous Greek gods, times change and heroes change. The gods keep their qualities. They have temples built and are 'patron' gods of . . . 'x'. Charon is in a place where nothing changes. Souls keep coming, and he keeps ferrying. But the character of Charon changes a lot. Virgil to Seneca, to Dante, with various paintings sourced from each poet, Charon goes from a robust young Attic sailor to a skeleton in a cowl, like the Grim Reaper. But his job never changes. I like to think that Charon reinvents himself every time he ferries the souls across the rivers.
4. What is something that makes your Psychopomp joyful?
Attention. Charon has no lasting friends. To have the total attention of whomever is 'next': that is his only (doomed) chance to make friends. He is constantly meeting, loving, and letting go of each person he encounters. For millennia. So he is most joyful a) when he meets YOU, dear traveler. And b) when he lets you go, and he gets to go meet the next person. Waiting becomes anticipation. Anticipation becomes joy at its fulfillment. Charon will always enjoy the current person, and he'll always look forward to the next person, and there will always be a next person. He's got it made, poor guy.
Photos by Lauren Matley Costume by Brooke Jennings
The PSYCHOPOMP Experience
On a warm, breezy Thursday afternoon I'm standing in McLaren Park beneath 100-year-old trees. Far off to my right is the bay, glittering in the sunlight. Everything – the scents, the little paths running between bushes and trees, the immense quiet, broken only by the squawk of a crow and the rustle of the breeze - brings back memories of Australia, of my childhood years, of times both delicious and sad. I've left my laptop back in Berkeley and my phone in the car. I have a bottle of water and a banana and a jacket in my bag. I want to be truly present for this experience.
This is the scene for PSYCHOPOMP, an amazing walk-through theatrical experience devised by Ava Roy and staged by We Players till late June. It's a genuinely transformational 90-minute journey that you take – by yourself, if you want, or in a pair (I was by myself) – to be greeted at various stops along the way by an actor, gorgeously attired, like some kind of nymph that has emerged from the forest. At every stop, the figure quietly waiting is there just for you, and comes alive just for you - the walk is staggered so that you (and your friend if you are in a pair) are alone with each actor, whose beautiful performance gently lifts you out of your customary world, even out of your learned language.
Taking the journey, I felt that I could see more lucidly who I really am and what really matters. No one tells you what to think and feel - the experience is your own, born of your relationship with the actor and the beautiful parkland, with dogs sniffing in busy oblivion in the distance and ducks gliding majestically over a nearby stream. It's an extraordinary experience, and I am so glad that I got the chance to be there, letting We Players guide me on a gentle trek through the true (non-landfill) part of San Francisco, an expedition that also leads me into familiar, and unfamiliar, parts of myself.
-Philippa Kelly, Resident Dramaturg, California Shakespeare Theater
Performer Spotlight: Chris Steele
Here’s another PSYCHOPOMP Performer Spotlight!
Meet Val Ky and Rie! AKA the band formerly knows as the Valkyries! Our dear Chris Steele puts a punk rock spin on this Norse classic. Here are Chris' thoughts about the site and the Valkyries.
What is something that delights you about your corner of McLaren Park?
How secluded from the world it feels.
What is something that surprises you about your corner of McLaren?
The rock formations peaking out of the hills.
What is something that you admire about your Psychopomp?
How readily they embrace change.
What is something that makes your Psychopomp joyful?
War. And music. And love.
Don't miss your chance to meet Anubis and the other guides of PSYCHOPOMP - get your ticket today.
Photo credit: Lauren Matley
Costumes: Brooke Jennings
Performer Spotlight: Alan Coyne
Meet Cat Sith (pronounced Cat Shee)! Originating from Celtic mythology, our very clever Alan Coyne put a quantum spin on the character, using the famous thought experiment of Schrödinger's Cat as further inspiration. Here's some insight from Alan about the site and Cat Sith.
What delights you about your corner of McLaren Park?
The Calibi-Yau bushes, with their holomorphic n-forms vanishing nowhere.
What surprises you about your corner of the park?
My inability to find it until suddenly I'm in it. It's almost as though my act of observing it causes it to spring into existence.
What do you admire about your psychopomp?
His ability to remain in superposition as both scientific thought experiment and modern-day myth.
What brings your psychopomp joy?
My psychopomp finds joy in moments of breakthrough, like when something seemingly inexplicable is suddenly understood. And vice versa.
Don't miss your chance to meet Cat Sith, Anubis, and the other guides of PSYCHOPOMP!
Photo credit: Lauren Matley
Costumes: Brooke Jennings
El Diablito
A little fun with our amazingly talented music director Charlie Gurke & his band, Gurkestra.
Performer Spotlight: Drew Watkins
Meet Anubis! Our jackal-headed friend that reminds us that dog is just god spelled backward! Drew Watkins plays this mighty figure with grace in PSYCHOPOMP.
Here's some insight from Drew about the space and his take on the Egyptian god.
1. What is something that delights you about your corner of McLaren Park?
The golden light passing through, over and around the trees keeps me inspired. It creates such a lovely contrast between light and shadow.
2. What is something that surprises you about your corner of McLaren?
The wind is listening to us all the time, and even responds on occasion. It will howl for minutes then still in a moment of emphasis. My ever present audience member.
3. What is something that you admire about your Psychopomp?
The playfulness of Anubis is the biggest surprise. This god of mummification and guardian of souls, really just wants to connect with the joy and the light of this world.
4. What is something that makes your Psychopomp joyful?
Anubis loves company. Working in isolation to makes the dog god eager for human interaction, and he perks up with excitement whenever he receives a visitor.
Don't miss your chance to meet Anubis and the other Psychopomps!
Photo credit: Lauren Matley
Costumes by Brooke Jennings
Photo by Lauren Matley
Estamos muy cerca de estar listos para compartir PSYCHOPOMP con ustedes.
Y de vez en cuando las cosas cambian... se alteran... y no se siguen los planes.
Nuestra querida Regina León sufrió un accidente el domingo y está en la unidad de cuidados intensivos. Aunque podemos relatar, con un suspiro enorme de alivio, de que ella está esperada a hacer una recuperación completa, será un proceso largo. Sus pensamientos y deseos curativos para ella son muy apreciados.
Regina hace el papel de Ix Chel, la diosa Maya de la luna, del agua, de la tejeduría, y del parto. Su obra nos hace recordar de ciclos, de vaciar y rellenar, y de dejarse ir con comodidad. Con su habilidad de juntar las temas de nuestra obra entera en una sencilla total, ella era la parada final de nuestro viaje. Honramos el trabajo de Regina y la bella, sabia, y graciosa Ix Chel que ella ha creado, con una instalación en su parte del parque. Aquella será una invitación de meditarse y reflejarse en el viaje, usando los objetos rituales que fueron las herramientas de Ix Chel.
Estamos en contacto con la familia y los amigos de Regina, y estamos trabajando para ayudarles en cualquier manera sea útil. Favor de registrarse aquí si tiene interés en ayudar.
Gracias de nuevo por sus pensamientos curativos para Regina, y por pensar en la sabiduría de Ix Chel durante su viaje con los PSYCHOPOMPS.
What is a psychopomp?
You already know what a psychopomp is, even if you’re not familiar with the word itself, because they appear in almost every cultural tradition, religion, and philosophy. Originating from the Greek “pompos” meaning conductor or guide and “psyche” meaning soul or spirit, Psychopomps are spirit guides. These beings exist in the liminal, the in-between, guiding souls between worlds. Think Anubis, the jackal-headed egyptian Dog...er God, or Hermes, that tricky messenger of the Greek pantheon, or the Valkyries from the Nordic tradition who ferry warriors to the epic Valhalla.
Though they can appear in human-like form, they’re frequently depicted as animals, especially winged ones. Taking flight through the sky and through our imaginations, birds seem a natural choice to traverse the spirit world, reaching heights that we are unable. Whip-poor-wills, Ravens, Crows, Cuckoos, Owls and Sparrows have all been cast in the role of psychopomp. In Greek and Roman mythos, bees are considered a sacred insect with the ability to travel the spirit realms. Other traditions endow more earthbound creatures with these supernatural tasks. Aztecs and other Mesoamerican cultures see man’s best friend guiding us to the “other side”. Still other cultures entrust these powers to superhuman forms such as the blue skinned, four armed Yama of the Hindu tradition
In our PSYCHOPOMP at McLaren Park you’ll see eight different spirit guides represented from seven different cultural traditions from the Mayan Ix Chel to the Chinese Ox Head/ Horse Face and everywhere in between. At once mysterious and wise, wacky and wild, spectacular and most surprisingly: fabulously funny, their purpose is not to judge, only to guide.
Join us on the journey to meet these leaders in the liminal, these experts in entropy.
On such a full sea are we now afloat
Check out this article featuring pictures from our 2018 production, CAESAR MAXIMUS.
Photo by Lauren Matley
Our decision to adapt Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar was very much inspired by the tide of these modern times…
We Players’ 2018 production Caesar Maximus centered on the rise of tyranny, brutal mob violence, and the fall of democracy modeled by the late stage Roman Republic. When our own democratic system is so directly modeled on the Roman power structure - are our current circumstances so surprising? Caesar offers warnings and guidance for how to proceed, but we must listen and learn! Will we ever?
We released a film inspired by the original production in August 2020. Learn more and view the film here.
A Letter to our Community
We believe that BLACK LIVES MATTER. In this time of intense upheaval, we want to participate actively in the fight for racial justice and social equality. We recognize this is a crucial moment to raise our voices for what we believe is right. We understand that our BIPOC friends, collaborators, family members, and community at large have suffered immeasurable harm and continue to suffer daily injustice due to SYSTEMIC RACISM. We are committed to supporting and uplifting the voices and stories of BIPOC people, at home in the Bay Area and across the globe.
We are taking the daily traumas of political chaos and hateful divisive leadership and the horrific injustices daily inflicted on black and brown bodies and psyche very seriously. We are committed to making spaces that feel safe and welcoming for all. We are committed to wielding our art as a tool for personal and social healing and transformation.
We are grateful for YOU, our community, for your voices, for your feedback, for your stories, for bravely sharing your truths to help shine light into our dark corners, to help illuminate our blind spots that we might see our shortcomings and strive to improve our practices and acknowledge past harms. We invite your story to join our circle. We bow with humility and reverence to the Native lands we walk on in our home here in California. We give thanks for the opportunity to learn and grow.
We are here for you, with you.
We are ready to do the work with you, for you.
We thank you.
We love you.
Land Acknowledgment
We acknowledge the forces of nature all around us and express our gratitude that we get to pass through this place as gracious guests.
We give thanks to all those ancestors who have walked before us.
We acknowledge what a privilege it is to walk on these same lands today, and we touch the earth with humility and gratitude.
Our Bay Area park sites have included numerous Native territories, primarily Muwekma Ohlone, Coast Miwok, and Graton Rancheria lands. In addition, we have worked on lands native to the Ramaytush, Chochenyo, Awaswas, Tamyen, and Karkin tribes.
Our greatest wish is that all people will one day feel safe and feel a true sense of belonging in these precious public lands.
We invite you to find out more about the land you are standing on. Visit https://native-land.ca/
We Players’ Accountability Statement
Every day, national systemic oppression and racism are becoming more painfully obvious and unacceptable. Those of us who have had the privilege to function within the system must raise our voices and wield our privilege to fight and to end the injustice. We are committed to meeting the moment, and the theatre community that we celebrate being a small part of, must also ascend to meet this moment. On behalf of our extended community, We Players’ Board of Directors and staff take responsibility for our part in this system. Our doors, hearts, and minds are open to hear directly from any injured individuals who wish to share their stories. We honor restorative justice processes and we respect the sovereignty of each individual. We commit ourselves to ongoing inquiry into our intentions and practices, to learn from our shortcomings, and directly address - with a commitment to changing - any harmful behavior within our organization, and to use any influence we have in the industry to help others to do so as well.
The recounting and collection of stories from the BIPOC community about the unacceptable behavior they’ve endured from legacy white organizations and the leadership of those institutions is the foundation for The Living Document and We See You White American Theatre. These documents have made obvious the painful inequity and overt bias in our community. We extend our deep gratitude to all those who shared experiences, knowledge, and resources to both documents. We acknowledge the pain and cost of both time and emotional energy in the creation of these valuable guides to instruct and inform this necessary work. Thank you.
We're in the process of reviewing these documents item by item and creating an anti-racism company manual that is available on our website and will be issued to all actors hired to work with our company. This is a necessary addendum to the Community Guidelines that we implemented in 2012, our inaugural year as a 501c3 non-profit corporation. Our Community Guidelines is an ongoing work-in-progress, with suggestions from our community members, and an ongoing practice of self-reflection, informing edits and additions each year. So too, our Anti-Racism Manual is an active document that is evolving as we learn and grow and will be continually responsive to input.
An Angel Has Left The Island
It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of dear We Player Michael Moerman. Michael played our Mentor in The Odyssey on Angel Island- the title was befitting given how much wisdom Michael always had to share- and remained a beloved part of our community. His bright, twinkling eyes were such a welcome sight at productions and events, his intelligent and perceptive feedback about the work always lent a new perspective, and his grace and kindness were so comforting in troubled times. We will miss you here on Earth, Michael, but will take comfort in our memories and the lessons you taught us.
Our Mentor guides us to our next adventure.
Michael recorded several beautiful poems by Wendell Berry and Joseph Stroud. We'd like to highlight one in particular, The Peace of Wild Things. that seems especially relevant in these uncertain, sad, and scary times. In true Michael style, he's left us with words that help us feel seen and validated while they comfort, uplift, and restore faith. We love you, Michael.
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
“He would always give me a warm greeting that spanned his entire face -- a combination of kind, grounded, and inviting mischievousness. The last characteristic always makes me smirk-smile when thinking of Michael and how I loved talking with him and how it felt special -- like I was part of a coveted club -- to be in his presence.” - Claire Slattery
“When I remember Michael I think of his warm smile and kind eyes. When I think of our time on the island creating The Odyssey together I remember his openness, positivity, knowledge, and passion for theatre that he shared. He helped create the Odyssey family that made that experience so special. There was a scene where as Athena I was speaking through/controlling Michael as Mentor, but because I was behind him he had to be the one I followed. I hold that memory of connection dear as we danced at a distance, him leading and me following, me leading and him following.” - Julie Douglas
Michael as Tiresias in the house of the dead. A raven would daily perch above him, and caw out his approach. Site-integrated theatre magic! Michael was incredible: he climbed a 12 foot ladder to the 2nd floor of this blasted out old hospital building.
“...somehow we got onto the fact that Michael was also retired from teaching at UC - in his case UCLA and, moreover that he had also been in the Anthropology Dept, though he was a social anthropologist, and I - at UCB - an archaeologist. What was amazing to me at the time was that he had followed his dream after retiring and had become a successful professional actor. That’s what we talked about. I don’t even remember asking him later what was his special field in socio-cultural anthropology. What is amazing and I wish I could have told him is, that I recently learned that he had written some seminal research on the nature of conversations in non-industrial societies. I found this out because I was hunting for any literature on that theme that I could use as a resource for my imagination in prehistoric conversations.” - Ruth Tringham
“Every time Michael was at rehearsal I knew there would be a lot of laughter, and that delightfully impish grin of his -- which he would tuck away when the scene called for seriousness, and fish out again once he was off stage. That smile was just a hint of Michael's kindness, warmth, and great good humor.” - Rebecca Longworth
“My sweetest memories of Michael were our walks to the Cyclops cave after I had dropped the gods off. It was just the two of us, such a rare thing in The Odyssey's crazy jigsaw puzzle of moving people back and forth. I always found Michael to be very centering, with his demeanor and experience grounding us all.” - Eileen Tull
”Michael always had a twinkle in his eye, and a kind word to share. Our elder on Angel Island, he often helped ease the tension with humor and wisdom. May his spirit be in peace. May the sharing of our grief for his loss and joy for Michael's life deepen within you the love and lessons he shared.” - Lauren Chavez
“I only had to introduce myself to him and instantly this brilliant spirit and genuine character was revealed. His lust for life, adventure, laughter, his theatrical talents, and warm hugs and smiles could fill a room with joy. Little did I know that this past March would be that last time I would receive one of his cuddly hugs. I am so grateful to have had the 10 quiet minutes to reconnect and share a few laughs with him at that time. His light will continue to shine bright in the legacy of his work and in the hearts of those he has touched; including mine. Sending you light and love Michael, and to your family as well.” - Lauren Matley
“I had the pleasure of becoming friends with Michael when we both performed in The Odyssey on Angel Island. From the very start, Michael's beautiful spirit, his kind heart, and his talent and passion for theater were ever present. Michael had a sparkle in his eye, both on stage, and off. On stage, Michael was powerful, a source of great strength, mixed with a beautiful vulnerability, and a willingness to share his emotions so truthfully. Off stage, Michael was gentle, intelligent, such a beautiful soul. We spent many moments discussing Michael's love for his family and his deep bond, and love for his wife, Pat.” - Libby Oberlin
Standing Together
Dear friends,
We are mourning with you. We are so deeply saddened and angered by the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. And we know it's not new. We haven't forgotten or forgiven the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland and the far too many others who've lost their lives to police violence.
These tragedies continue to rock us to the core, to serve as an assault on our collective humanity- though we're no longer surprised, there's a grief that grows deeper with each new name. Communities of color, the black community especially, are unfairly burdened with the task of navigating a system that was designed to exclude and oppress them, a system that constantly takes and has nothing to give. We stand in solidarity with those all over the country who are fighting to dismantle this systemic racial oppression. Black lives matter.
We consider the building of community to be an essential tenet in creating civic spaces for public discourse, so we'd like to take this opportunity to be in conversation with our community. We are committed to listening, to hearing the ways in which we can be better allies, to having hard conversations, to finding opportunities to more fully practice inclusivity and representation.
We are hopeful that the deep pain and unrest that our nation is feeling will be translated to compassion, to change, to progress but we know it won't happen easily or without the help and support of everyone who would like to see a different future.
We encourage you to research and donate to organizations that support this important activism. Here are some other ways to help, and articles that we've found useful:
Our hearts are heavy with deep sadness and anger, but full of hope for progress and willingness to do the work.
Standing together in love,
We Players
We Players & COVID-19
Dear Friends,
We hope this letter finds you safe and healthy, able to find moments of calm and joy.
As an arts organization we're so aware of the therapeutic effects of our work and of the importance of connection in crisis- we want to contribute what we can to our community in these times and the constantly changing guidance from the CDC makes it challenging to figure out exactly what that is.
We would like to press on, scrappy as ever, innovating and inventing our way around each new obstacle. We would like to flex our highly-developed problem-solving muscles, and show off our specialized facility and dexterity with change. We would like to embrace the fresh air of our outdoor stages, distribute distance-enforcing suspender-ed hula hoops, and present the show as scheduled. But we can’t, in good conscience, continue on. The health and safety of our immediate and extended communities is too precious to us.
So instead, we meditate on the myriad challenges that we’ve faced in our twenty year history. Insurmountable as they seemed in the moment, we survived the adversity, buoyed by our community. Fortified by these experiences, we look forward to a time when this too will reside in the realm of memory- when it will be another war story, another lesson in graceful grieving and efficiency of effort.
We will fall down the rabbit hole into Looking Glass Land with What Alice Found There in Golden Gate Park in Spring of 2021! Meantime, we’re committed to creating art, wonder, and opportunities for engagement. We have so many ideas of ways to interact with Wonderland both now and when restrictions and precautions have eased. Stay tuned!
If you’ve already purchased tickets to What Alice Found There: first of all, thank you for your enthusiasm and support. We hope you will consider treating unused tickets as donations and strongly urge you to consider supporting the arts at such a vulnerable time, but understand everyone’s situation is unique, and we will process refunds upon request. Though it’s a year away, we’d also like to offer the option of redeeming your ticket for a credit to our rescheduled 2021 production. We’ll be in direct communication with Alice ticket holders to discuss options. If you’re in a position to support art and artists at this time, we’d be so grateful!
We’re taking these challenging times as an opportunity to practice responsiveness divorced from unnecessary reactivity, prudence without panic. It is with kindness and care, compassion and patience that we will all weather this storm together. Thank you for being part of our family.
With care and concern, optimism and hope,
We Players
The Whos and Wheres of Wonderland
Looking-Glass Locations and Carrollean Characters
By Britt Lauer
As we finish our Wonderland episodes and head through the Looking-Glass, we wanted to do a quick rundown to help you keep track of the two stories as so many depictions take material from both books. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is the first of Carroll’s novels, written in 1865. Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There is its sequel and was first published in 1871.
Over the road and through the dell
Follow the Rabbit to where he dwell
Down she went as up she fell
As she shrunk, her tears did swell
Existential friends appear
Cheshire Cat, from there to “here”
The Caterpillar with a jeer
That old white Rabbit, never fear
Here Alice is in Wonderland
To join the Caucus, take a stand
As for birthdays, none are planned
Let’s paint the roses, lend a hand!
A deck of cards is this land’s theme
And royalty’s not all they seem
The Queen of Hearts will yell and scream
From her head comes smoke and steam
So Alice says “Well fine, okay!”
If you insist, I will, I’ll stay
I promise I will play croquet
If not tomorrow, then today!
Now the trial-tarts to save
Stolen by that Hearty Knave
With witness that the Hatter gave
And treacle that the mouse would crave
So that is Wonderland, you see
Not much madder could they be
Go ask Alice over tea
She’ll only sigh and pat your knee
Another land to go exploring
(Or maybe just the Red King Snoring)
Lies behind her own reflection
But which way, there’s no direction
A backward poem first she’ll find
Which warns about a thing unkind
The Jabberwocky, as it’s known,
That has a story all its own
Next, the flowers dress her down
Then the Red Queen comes to town
This second book is chess inspired
They’ve barely moved, and yet she’s tired
Now at first she’s just a pawn
So she sets off ‘cross the lawn
Seeing an egg with a cravat,
She’s very worried he’ll go “splat”
Then the Tweedles, yes that’s right
Don’t stay too long, they’ll start a fight
Like Lion and the Unicorn
But with less cake and much more scorn
Next we meet the Knight in White
His inventions aren’t quite right
A man of melancholy, he
Never seems to let things be
Hooray! We’ve reached the eighth square.
No more rush, the here is where
Alice will be crowned as Queen
And by all she will be seen.
Now you know what which is who
Where each one lives and what they do
So follow Alice all around
In hopes what’s lost will soon be found!
Happy Birthday, William!
Today, April 23, is William Shakespeare's birthday, and whether you believe he was the author of those treasured 37 plays or a front for an embarrassed aristocrat, whether these pieces were penned by one man or many, by Sir Francis Bacon or Queen Elizabeth herself, there's no denying that these texts were composed in times of turmoil. (We’ll happily argue authorship with anyone who’s inclined, but we’ll just say we definitely don’t fall on the side of Bacon.)
Without the medical advantage of vaccines, the Bubonic Plague ravaged London three times in less than 15 years, closing theatres and other public gathering spaces each time. Some of the most beloved works in the theatrical canon were written while theaters were shuttered. King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra- works that are still performed constantly more than 400 years later in an effort to do justice to the poetry and lyricism of the language- are all likely to have been written while Shakespeare was "sheltering in place".
We miss seeing YOU and all the members of We Players' extended family in person, but look forward to the time when it is safe to gather. We ground and calm ourselves with the thought of one day soon sharing the same physical space again to create work that strives to speak to the human condition. We're looking forward to the art that comes out of this era, the catharsis to be had in characters who reflect our grief back to us, and the renewed appreciation for the simple joy of joining together in artistic communion.
In the meantime, let's cut a slice of virtual birthday cake! And raise a glass to Will and to the very human impulse, in times of crisis, to create.
Photo by Stacy Davis
Happy Spring Equinox!
The spring teaches us about possibility and to trust in natural cycles. The cold begins to break, the possibility of leaves on previously-bare branches begins as flashes of new green peek forth.
My garden’s roses are showing their first teeny tiny buds. They will bloom powerfully right on schedule - unafraid - unable, even - to hold back their beauty and scent.
I heard a new reframing recently addressing the virus emergency: "Physical distancing, social solidarity."
Character is revealed not when things go right, but when things go wrong.
May this equinox remind us that hope springs eternal, that change is inevitable, and growth is possible.
While we maintain our physical distance, may our social bonds grow stronger than ever, as we accept and celebrate that we are all connected, to each other, and to the earth.
-Ava Roy, We Players Artistic Director
_______________________________
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Working at Montalvo Arts Center's Lucas Artists Program
Founding Artistic Director of We Players Ava Roy
Guest Artist
U.S.A.
Photos by Isaiah Plaza
Early morning: Crack eyelids, catch streaks of luminous pink across the sky.
Morning warming: Mist rising off the ridge of deep green pines.
Glass table strewn with papers.
Concrete floor strewn with papers.
Coffee table scattered with books.
Gathering. Sifting. Collecting. Organizing.
I’m assembling a script. Writing bits of it. Mostly rearranging.
Envisioning characters, direction, design, audience participation.
What Alice Found There
Stretching from Rose Garden to Windmill in Golden Gate Park in April and May 2020
Here, Montalvo.
Precious. Space. Quiet. Time.
Synthesize. Prepare.
Afternoon: Snacks, stretching, sit on a cushion, clamber in the forest.
Afternoon: Work. Computer screen. Shift the books and pages about.
Evening: Descend the hill. Set the table. Break bread together.
Be daily ever more honored, surprised, delighted, moved, inspired by the company we keep here.
A privilege.
A gift.
To read more about artists working in the Lucas Artists Program at Montalvo Arts Center, visit their blog here.
Remembering these special places
“I was at Sutro Baths yesterday and it brought back the otherworldly experience of witnessing your production of Ondine in 2015, of the unlikely synergy you created between the drama and surroundings. The breaking waves and the Old One, the forest and the difficulties of living with one foot in the human world and the other in the oceanic consciousness.”
-Ted Greenwald
Have you visited a We site years later and found yourself replaying the performance in your head? Maybe you discovered one of your favorite parks by attending a We Players show? Or a familiar place took on an entirely new meaning after seeing it transformed?
Keep sharing these memories, we love hearing how our work has affected your experience of a place!
Performer Spotlight: Ava Roy
“My sea-gown scarf'd about me”
-Hamlet
We caught up with our Artistic Director, Ava Roy, to talk about memories of past work and about Undiscovered Country!
What was your first show with We?
My first show with We Players was Romeo and Juliet in spring 2000. I was a freshman in college and had just turned 20. The performance blasted off in the student union/ cafeteria at high noon with the Montague and Capulet brawl. The audience doubled in size over the course of the performance, as passersby joined the procession and became audience members. We traveled through the campus, using archways, corridors, and other impressive architectural features of the Stanford campus as our backdrop.
Romeo and Juliet were married in the center of "The Quad" and ultimately were bound to the Burghers of Calais Rodin sculptures with red ribbons as their tomb. I played Juliet. And directed. And made all the costumes. And so on. This was the beginning of We Players and the earliest stages of development of our company philosophy, methodology, and aesthetic!
Four words to describe working with We?
Visceral, demanding, sensational, surprising
Describe a favorite memory working with We.
A favorite memory?! There are too many!
Here are a few...waiting backstage as Viola at the top of 12th Night. My backstage was a little rowboat, tied up to the schooner Alma. I'd drink tea and huddle in blankets while Captain Tom waited for the walkie-talkie to cue us to row to shore. One day my dad was on the boat with me. That was especially precious. Or maybe waiting backstage as Ondine on the edge of the cliff at Land's End and observing two baby seagulls hatch and fledge over the course of the run. Or perhaps climbing to the top of Angel Island with my brother and listening to the sounds of The Odyssey waft up from around the island and watching the audience procession wind along the perimeter road. Or maybe all the many times and places I've spied on the audience from hidden locations on Alcatraz, and from the tall grasses on the Albany Bulb, or lying on my belly on the balconies at Montalvo or... every site has its secret nooks and unique vantages.
What is your favorite thing about working on Undiscovered Country?
My favorite thing about working on Undiscovered Country thus far has been the celerity and ease with which the script has emerged. I am writing it, but it feels more like it is writing itself and I am playing a supporting role. It has felt very organic and surprising from the first draft to the current (fifth ?) draft. My #1 favorite thing is working with this group of collaborators - thoughtful, dedicated, kind, communicative, sincere, and very talented artists one and all.
What has been surprising about the process?
How much I am appreciating the anomaly of walls, electricity, and plumbing!
Most We Players' performance venues are physically demanding and intense. This is part of the power of these sites, that they ask performers and audience alike to lean into the difficulty of wind and weather, to navigate hills and uneven terrain, and awaken their senses and enjoy heightened awareness. So it's come as a surprise how lovely it is for this rare bird of a show to occur indoors (albeit in a beautiful historic building with its own character and unique qualities), with heat, electricity and a bathroom less than a half mile hike away! Who knew how nice that could be?!
Don’t miss Ava in Undiscovered Country. Only three chances left!
Photo by Lauren Matley