This past weekend I performed in Suzan-Lori Parks’ 365 Days/365 Plays that was produced by Smart Gals Productions.
There were a total of 5 of the plays performed and one of the Constants.
“Empty Bucket” was a one actor performance, where the actor carried water from one bucket to the other with a thimble. The actor could involve passerbys with an extra thimble or the actor could just focus on the task.
“All’s Not All Well” was not performed by actors but Smart Gals posted flyers of Dad’s in search of a home, with descriptions of each’s personality, strenghts, and a photo of themselves.
“Net” was performed with three actors. All three were playing a card or board game until an audience member showed up. At that point the actors worked their lines into the improvisational talk.
“David Hampton Daydreaming” was the fourth of the plays, and this was “performed” by a peddle boat peddaler who had a big sign on the back of the boat with two arrows pointing to opposite directions and the sign showing “Be Famous – 235 Miles”
The fifth performance was the Constant of the mourning woman.
Originally I was asked to perform in “Net” but at one of the rehearsal meetings I was asked if I could perform on one of the afternoons the “Empty Bucket” piece. I happily said yes. I put the entire weekend aside for this play, I attended 3 of their 5 free writing workshops and I was really committed.
The plays were mostly interactive with the audience and peoples reaction was always fantastic. When I did the “Empty Bucket” piece, I got kids to help me carry the water with the extra thimble. A hispanic couple who didn’t understand what I was doing helped me and so did many other passerbys.
The “Net” was fun, because I could interact with the other performers and the audience alike.
But the Constant was the most rewarding for me as a performer. Performing as the mourning woman was not of my interest, but when one of the performers couldn’t make it, for some reason I jumped on the opportunity.
I had no idea how I would mourn and cry for an hour in a public space. I had no idea if I was up for this challenge for this intimacy. But once I stepped into the role, holding the black umbrella, dressed in all black, there was no stepping back, no thinking about it, but I had to do it.
And, wow, was it a great exercise. I cried for an entire hour not realizing the passing of the time. I cried for the worlds poor, I cried about this worlds injustice, I cried because there was trash everywhere, I cried for my grandma, my sister and for the people who died in the war.
People came up to me, talked to me, took my picture and asked me questions about the play. And I didn’t stop my mourning, didn’t stop my crying. It was a fantastic experience.
I want to thank Christine Berry, the founder of Smart Gals, for trusting me, for believing in me and for giving me this gift of learning about myself. As an actor and as a person, I learned a lot this weekend.
(People, who wrote about this weeks 365:
