Core Work 1.23.20 — “History is like square dancin’. You may switch partners but the steps are the same.”

Core Work 1.23.20 — “History is like square dancin’. You may switch partners but the steps are the same.”

Post by Emily Hartford, photo by Heather Cohn, collective note-taking recorded by Heather
Post title from Jason Tseng’s Heavenly Kingdon

WHO: Arthur Aulisi, Rick Burkhardt, Heather Cohn, Carissa Cordes, Zach Ezer, Rand Faris, Omi Ford, Tatiana Grey, Emily Hartford, Liza Kravchenko, Dominique Rider, Corinna Schulenburg (video chat), Jason Tseng; with Lori Parquet, Isaiah Tanenbaum, and the Rage Play cast taking press photos nearby!

WHAT: Reading and discussing the opening of Jason Tseng’s folk musical Heavenly Kingdom; reading the conclusion and grappling with key dramaturgical questions in Metra (A Climate Change Play with Songs) by Emily Hartford and Ned Massey; reading, discussing, and sharing around Dominique Rider’s play Racial Bonus, an expedition into racism in queer geek spaces; and a movement experiment led by Heather Cohn, to explore the Wolf Space in Corinna Schulenburg’s trans werewolf play, Pack.

HOW: It was a joyous eddying of old friends and new collaborations–with longtime Friends of Flux joining for their first Core Work, and jumping into work with original CW attendees and new-NEW folks! And, it was Creative Partner Heather’s first Core Work! We got to go deep into three texts, and get into our bodies with Heather’s Boal-inspired flocking exercise.

COLLECTIVE NOTE-TAKING:

• Jason–I was so happy to see so many new faces to Core Work and a bunch of people diving deep with total trust is very inspiring. Down with how everyone was so game with the musicality in the pieces.
• Dominique–I loved the knee workout at the end.
• Carissa–”Gender, am I right” [Racial Bonus quote]. 
• Dominique–I’m really thankful for Omi and his willingness to share his own experiences. 
• Omi–I’m excited to be here. I had no idea what it was going to be like. I’ve enjoyed this entire process. It’s great to have a place where people can come and get constructive feedback and work together to build something. Movement isn’t something that I’m confident in, but didn’t feel as anxious as a would normally.
• Tatiana–We were saying before we started–it’s so nice to see familiar faces that are ‘seasoned’. To dip out of theatre, and dip back in. The whole world has changed, but here I am back at the same table with some familiar faces. And I realize in some ways, the world has changed for the better.
• Emily–I had a lovely experience of history and newness too, in the movement exercise. I’ve probably done this same work before with Carissa, and that felt familiar to follow their lead–and then to shift to Rand, having the experiment of your embodiment and movement for the very first time.
• Rand–Dominique, I liked what you said, that you don’t even play D&D. You took this topic that’s not part of your everyday life and dove in. I came in in the middle and just caught on.
• Carissa–I want to read all the plays.
• Liza–I haven’t gotten the chance to be theatrical in a while. It’s always a joy to do that. This is a very kind and critical and creative space–thank you.
• Emily–Jason’s prolificness is stunning. Originally there was another play on this slate, in addition to the one you brought in last week. I just love the hundreds of plays that come out of Jason on a regular basis. And I’m grateful to Dominique and Zach, bringing in your collaboration in this space. With Jason and Rick too, it was cool to have existing collaborations come into Core Work.
• Zach–Thank you for having me. I love open, fluid spaces like this. It’s nice to be in one.
• Corinna–I want to share how good it feels to have Heather there instead of me. It’s nice to see her lifting up this play we’re working on together. One of the things that happens in the play Pack is the challenging of this assumption of the Alpha Wolf which actually happens just in captivity–when wolves are free, they share power in a totally different way so watching the leaders shift in the triad so effortlessly was exciting. 
• Jason–Thanks Dominique for making me rethink all of my gaming experience. 😉