Core Work 2.3.20: Late November

Post and photo by Emily Hartford. Photo of Christine’s direction of Salma’s “The November Monologues” from Revolution/Train

WHO: Leila Buck (video chat), HJ Farr, Leila Ghaznavi, Emily Hartford, Kitty Lindsay, Rocio Mendez, Jason Tseng, Christine Zagrobelny, Salma Zohdi

WHAT: Reading and discussion of Jason Tseng’s play Asynchronous, a planet-hopping sci-fi play; sharing and conversation from Leila Buck’s new solo work–reflecting on identity, migration, home, separation, boundary-crossing, and and and…; Salma Zohdi’s Revolution/Train, exploring cycles of hope and cynicism in Egypt’s revolution and revolutions worldwide. 

HOW: We had a grand time playing in Jason’s future sci-fi gumshoe story–complete with maverick detectives, soothing AI holograms, interplanetary travel, and…MURDER. Jason is planning to transform Asynchronous into an audio drama, so we discussed what that made us imagine–and the new possibilities for the play that it opened (as well as the cool visuals that we’d miss a bit!). We were treated to Leila Buck’s reading of material from her new solo work. This was the first time someone has performed their own work, and it was intimate and entrancing–even via Google Hangout. Then, we got on our feet to explore some new text called “The November Monologue” that Salma is playing with for Revolution/Train. There were three directors in attendance–so Emily, Kitty, and Christine tag-teamed ideas with our actors (Jason, HJ, Rocio, and Leila G.), about how to play with movement and embodiment for the direct-address text.

COLLECTIVE NOTE-TAKING:

• Rocio–Well that was fun! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read Sam (in Asynchronous). I wish there were more opportunities like this for female-identifying performers–to play someone immature and vulgar. And, I really enjoy how vulnerable this space is.
• Christine–I was really moved by how Leila’s opening of her piece had the ocean as a connection and a border, and took us in and out of so many different ways that relationships across distance exist. 
• Salma–I just want to say thank you–I’m really thinking about Jason and Leila’s last comments on my piece, about what is the journey we’re taking, and what is the destination. 
• Kitty–I am always grateful to be here with Flux people, my favorite people. The last session made me nostalgic for Flux Sundays–I really loved taking the pages and trying different things with actors–exploring the text in that way and getting to know actors and experiencing their talents. I love to play and that’s why I always come back to Flux.
• Jason–I’m really appreciative of how long we sat with my pages. So thank you for that. And for being game. I really enjoyed HJ and Emily’s soothing AI voices. They are my fave characters.
• HJ–I have a tendency to fall completely in love with any character or any show I’m in–it’s nice to know that it can happen so quickly, when I read something once, or even listening to someone’s story when their heart is so open or playing with something over and over and exploring all of the ways it could express things differently. It’s so nice to fall in love like that whenever I come to this space. So thank you for giving me things to fall in love with.
• Leila G–The range of stories and breadth of voices in this space–space odyssey, personal journey, revolutionary theatre. I’m very grateful to be a part of this moment.
• Leila B–I was so grateful to you all for your encouraging and generous feedback–it gave me hope that there’s something to explore, especially since it’s so so new. And I’m so sorry I missed Jason’s piece. I loved watching Salma’s piece since I’ve heard about it, and loved watching the evolution and Christine working with the actors. 
• Emily–I really love when someone uses Core Work in a way it hasn’t been used before, so it was so cool to experience Leila performing her own work. And I was very excited to tag team with Kitty and Christine, and play with that new format too.