Postponed but not forgotten!

Due to extenuating circumstances, Future Remnants has been postponed until the spring.  We are still excited about this project and the extra time ensures that it will be a magical and memorable production.  We’ll be showcasing a short segment from the play in this upcoming January’s FronteraFest 2011 at Hyde Park Theatre.  If you’re interested in participating as an actor, musician, techie or designer, contact Rachel Wiese at exchangeartists@gmail.com.  We’ll be looking for participants with a ride range of skills: mask, mime, puppetry, acrobatics, musical aptitude and improvisation. 

We’ll update this site as the show develops – see you in the spring!

Garden Tea Party

Elizabeth Jackson and her fabulous accordion.

First of all, special thanks to Roadway Productions for the tents, the Griffin School for the tables and tablecloths, Andy Agne and Yvonne Oaks for their food contributions, Claire Seymour for the lawn games set, Lauri Hubert Hoese and Katie Richter for the costumes, and Cleve Weise for helping us set up!  Big thanks as well to Ethan Kennedy, Elizabeth Jackson, David Blackburn and the talented vocalists of the Austin musical theatre community for their fantastic musical performances.  They say it takes a community to raise a child, and I think the same thing could be said for a fundraiser.

The party itself was fantastic, with guests coming from both the Hyde Park

Tea for four!

 and theatre communities.  Several guests were even passers by who were drawn in by the food and the music.  Enthusiastic croquet games ensued (thank goodness I brought the rules with me!) and I had a great time reading three different stories to the children who came.  Two little girls arrived in their princess dresses because they were coming to see the castle!  There were plenty more dress-up clothes on hand, however, so one of them found an even better (and much bigger!) princess dress to wear. 

This couple came because they heard the singing. Little did they know what we had in store for them...

Many thanks to everyone who came out and donated.  We greatly appreciate your time and your contributions.  It was wonderful to see so many friends and strangers.  Please check back with us in the future about Future Remnants, the theatrical event that will be performed on the grounds of the Elisabet Ney Museum in late September.

The princesses enjoy The Magic Porridge Pot.

The singers serenade guests with musical theatre favorites.

My dog also loves tea. He lacks the manners for it, though.

Even babies need fancy hats at tea parties.

There was plenty of shade for everyone. We spread out quilts so guests could really kick back and relax under the trees.

Rachel and Yvonne, garden partiers extraordinaire.

It was fun!  Thanks again! 

-Katherine Craft

Who loves to bake?

Since the tea party is THIS Sunday and Rachel and I are such go-getters, we spent the afternoon baking at her lovely condo.  I had never made scones before but it didn’t take long before (with the aid of a recipe and tips from Rachel) that I figured it out.  There may be nothing better than a warm scone right out of the oven.  Except, of course, for a scone covered in jam or lemon curd and eaten on the grounds of the Elisabet Ney Museum on a Sunday afternoon. 

It’s come together!  We’ve got the musicians, the food, the chairs, the blankets, the beverages and I found some great books at the library to read for story time.  Everyone loves The Legend of the Bluebonnet and I also found a book of German fairy tales for kids.  So we’ve got Texas and Germany represented in both pastries and stories. 

We hope to see you this Sunday, May 23rd, behind the Elisabet Ney Museum for scones, shortbread, cucumber sandwiches, live music, croquet, bocce ball, story time and the high tea costume table.  There’s plenty for all!

Second Script Development Workshop.

On May 9th, 2010, The Exchange Artists held their second devising workshop on the grounds of The Elisabet Ney Museum. For the first half-hour participants darted under cover every time the rain got too intense, but by 3:30 p.m. the workshop continued under clear skies. Led by Rachel Martsolf, Artistic Director of the Exchange Artists, the workshop was attended by both returning and new participants. After a brief warm-up of creating group shapes in relation to the space and some synchronized dance stepping, Rachel sent the group out to capture a mind’s-eye snapshot of any part of the space, from any vantage point. Then each participant took a real photograph of their chosen perspective. Here are their views.

Michelle's snapshot

Vicky's snapshot

Kat's snapshot

Sara's snapshot

Claire's snapshot

Everyone then imagined a character who would be comfortable and appropriate inside of their picture. As you can imagine, these were not all human characters!

Bringing the group back together again, Rachel divided the lines of Tennyson’s poem “Palace of Art” between the participants who then set movement to their assigned lines. After teaching each other their set movements, the group performed the poem together in a circle. “Palace of Art” was a favorite of Elisabet Ney who delivered the poem at the dedication “Ney’s Castle,” a previous studio which influenced her design of “Formosa, ” the Austin castle which still stands.

I built my soul a lordly pleasure house

Wherin at ease for aye to dwell

I said “Oh Soul make merry and carouse”

Dear Soul for all is well.

The group then set out to travel throughout the grounds performing “The White Snake,” a Grimm Brothers fairy tale. Rachel distributed dialogue and character assignments from the tale and read the story out loud while the characters, choosing where in the space to be at the points in the story where they had dialogue, moved the whole group from grassy knoll to creek bed, up stairs and under balconies. During the reading of the story the group acted as servants, geese, fish, ravens, royalty, ants and villagers.

Some lines from “The White Snake”…

Ant King: “Why cannot folks, with their clumsy beasts, keep off our bodies? That stupid horse, with his heavy hoofs, has been treading down my people without mercy!”

Princess: “He shall not be my husband until he has brought me an apple from the tree of life.”

The group then replayed the entire story with no narrator, and the opportunity to change the plot, characters and outcome as they desired. The ending was certainly different! And a few intriguing conflicts came up — between animals and people, and between those who understand magic and those who cannot see or sense it going on around them.

Then the group took a brief tour of The Elisabet Ney Museum (which was open!!) and began comprehending the style and beauty of Elisabet Ney’s sculpture. Some pieces really stood out for discussion: a bust of Jacob Grimm, for one, and a full-figure sculpture of Lady MacBeth.

In the final exercise of the day, Rachel designated two groups and gave the following assignment. Create a short theatrical composition containing three things: an element of surprise, a synchronized movement, and one change or alteration of the space. The resulting short works were wonderfully designed and executed, highlighting the workshop’s open creativity and tactile connections with various elements on the grounds of the museum.

Kat and Michelle preparing to greet guests with branches

Sara going hunting

Claire and Vicky in hiding

Participants of the Second Script Development Workshop were Katherine Craft, Claire Seymore, Vicky Vegh, Sarah Saltwick, Michelle, and Rachel Martsolf.

The Third Script Development Workshop will take place from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. on June 1, 2010 and will be led by Claire Seymore. All theatre artists are welcome; please rsvp to exchangeartists@gmail.com.

First Script Development Workshop

On April 25th, 2010, the Exchange Artists held its first script development workshop on the grounds of the Elisabet Ney Museum.  Katherine Craft, one of the project’s directors, led the workshop in order to discover what kinds of characters and stories could be created in this large, outdoor place.  It was a hot, sunny day but the participants, strengthed by granola bars, fresh fruit and (kind of) cold water, developed brought a number of ideas and scenes to life.  Katherine guided the group in physical and vocal warmups before leading them around the space, encouraging them to yell out words that came into their heads.  “Dappling shadow, birds, childhood, sway, remnants, stone, treacherous, earthy, archway, careful and rotting” were just a few that Katherine scribbled down as the group explored the museum grounds. 

Next, everyone found an object that intrigued them – these varied from a beautiful round window to a tiny shell.  Everyone got into pairs and described whose object this was and what it meant to them.  From these discussions came descriptions of a water spirit that lives in the creek behind the museum, an ageless man who lives in the trees of the grounds, a young spoiled girl and her more humble admirer,  and two characters – a man and a woman – who live in different times but who both faced the ache of leaving a much loved place behind as they became adults.

As the discussion continued, many of the characters seemed to belong together.  The characters were put into pairs and their creators got together to make three images from their lives.  As the participants created the still images, Katherine then asked everyone to come up with a line that their character might say in that moment.  The frozen images became small scenes that hinted at the huge possibilites for telling stories in such a spread out place. 

Finally, the group used the words they had all shouted out at the beginning to write an exquisite corpse style poem, in which they had to use two of the words from the list to write two lines of the poem, but they could only read the line written just before theirs.  Here’s what the group wrote:

Visions

The solitude was oppressive.
The open space became an earthy tomb.
I never should have hidden here to look,
Daddy always said lust
          was treacherous business.

Secrets hidden by shadow of darkness,
The billowing dust the conjurer of fantasy.
I wander and feel the history.
The remnants hiding beneath my feet, above my head, invisible in the air.
Through the archways and windows
Secrets from the past breathe
          into my skin.

 I close the gate. I open the gate.
What to let in? What to let out?
As time flies by the visions come less often. But
          sometimes,
I can still see them,
I can still
         remember.

Participants: Rachel Martsolf, Claire Seymour, Sarah Saltwick, Alicia Maher, Shannon Quisenberry, Trey Deason, Vicky Vegh and Katherine Craft

The Exchange Artists held the second script development workshop this past Sunday, May 9th from 3-6 pm.  The third and final workshop will be Tuesday, June 1st from 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm.  Please join us!  Wear comfortable clothing and shoes as we’ll be outside for the duration.