A co-op can dream, can't they?

This month has been full of exciting conversations with lots of creative dreamers.

I met with one of the leaders of the Austin Creative Re-use. ACR is basically the same sort of program as the Austin Scenic Co-p but its for visual artists. I also had a conversation with a few film industry folks discussing ways and interest in creating a film centric re-use center. The conversations all sort of melded into lots of big dreams about creating a giant creative re-use facility with storage space as well as shop space, studio space, and classroom space. In the next few months I am planning on coordinating a large meeting with the visual arts, theater, and film communities about how we can start to work together to make Austin a greener city with an emphasis on the arts and arts education. Lots of day dreaming and scheming...

The other energizing conversation that we had this month was with the theater companies that currently use the Co-op. We had a meeting to talk about implementing a membership and what that would mean, what it would cost, what the benefits would be, and if people would be willing to pay a membership. The consensus was that people would be willing to pay a membership if our services expanded. People really need shop space and storage space. They want a place for their extra set pieces and they want a place where they can paint and build. The plan as it stands now is to continue with a piece by piece rental structure, and then hopefully implement a membership in the fall, recognizing that most folks will not want to be members until we have additional space to meet their other needs.

With all of this dreaming and scheming the main thing that we have learned is that we need more space. We need a larger shop, we need more storage, we need studio space. There is not enough room at SVTs facilities alone to create the Co-op we want and the community needs... so the next steps are taking a long hard look at what steps we need to take as a community to creating this kind of giant re-use complex that we are all dreaming about...

Jenny Larson
Austin Scenic Co-op
Salvage Vanguard Theater

A note from Fairview's Principal on collaborating with a theatre

Our relationship with Northlight has come at a good time because I have very open teachers who see the value of having studentsparticipate in theatre workshops and attend professional theatricalperformances. Without buy-in from theteachers who will be asked to coordinate events and miss students for normalclasses, the success of our program would not have been as great. I think that it was critical to be involvedas the Principal to select lead teachers who I knew would be receptive to thistype of experience and would view it as a great opportunity for the studentsrather than an encumbrance on their curriculum.

The students at Fairview have greatly enjoyed the chance to be creative in a purposeful way when the artists have come on-site to discuss the plays and play several acting games. Each time, the kids are very active and I am surprised by the students who step up in this setting. Some times this has been the student who behaves timidly in the classroom, but can open up in a more creative environment. Each time our students have gone to see a production at Northlight, they are not only experiencing professional theatre, but building etiquette skills on how to purport themselves in this type of environment. Hopefully, events such as these, early on in their education life will spur a life-long appreciation for the theatre.

Finally, Fairview has a tremendous auditorium facility with updated sound and lighting systems. For the previous 15 years, the space had been dormant when it came to developing a middle school theatre production. This was viewed as a gaping hole in our otherwise robust extracurricular offerings. With the help of Northlight,we are in the second year of Northlight on Campus. This group has opened up a vehicle of school participation for an entire new sub-group of students and we are anxiously awaiting their second production in April of this year. The artists who have led this group have been wonderful to work with and have developed high quality experiences for the students. We have been extremely pleased with the relationships formed with students and the type of training received by participants.

-David Russo
Middle School Principal
Fairview South School, Skokie, IL

Sustainability...

This month is all about sustainability.

We are having a meeting with the companies that use the co-op the most frequently to discuss membership fees. Currently we have two tiers of Co-op users. The big money pants institutions and then the smaller non-profit or individual artists and arts organizations.

The big money guys have always paid for the use of the Co-op stock and the Co-op crew. The smaller organizations have been getting access to the stock mostly for free. They sometimes pay a small piece by piece rental fee and if they want Co-op crews assistance in construction they sometimes pay a small fee... but mostly, these groups have been using our services for free for the past four years. It may be a hard thing for them to swallow the idea of paying a membership fee. The bottom line is however that without creating some sort of revenue stream for the Co-op we will not be able to sustain. So next week, we meet with these smaller organizations to talk to them about what they think is reasonable...

We are currently applying to several foundations for support, in hopes of keeping the fees low as well. We are also trying to cultivate more relationships with larger institutions. Currently we have four of those relationships- two universities, one private high school, and one regional theater.

The TCG Ah Ha Do It grant has been invaluable in helping us take steps to grow the Co-op effectively but that funding is going to run out. We would hate to take a step backwards with this program. The goal right now is to do anything we can to prevent that step backwards... I am also meeting with other area re-use services to ask them about their funding, their membership fees, and their overall structures. We have been playing with the idea of expanding our tool share service to the city to get a larger membership pool as well and we are investigating that as a possibility.

Time will tell what solutions we find... Wish us luck!

Jenny Larson, Salvage Vanguard Theater and The Austin Scenic Co-op

Student challenges

I’m teaching mainly fifth graders this year for YO NOLA, which has been an incredibly fun age; the kids are still young enough to be playful, but also have a level of humor and sophistication that fourth graders don’t have. However, as we get further into the second half of the year I’m noticing some changes in two or three students (as are teachers in their other classes). Mostly it has to do with attitude, a willingness to participate, and a real joy for the material. This joy, clear and present in the first semester is now hidden behind a veil of aloofness. Ah yes, a veil of aloofness popularly called “adolescence”.

However I hesitate to distill such a complex set of behaviors into one word. The truth is these students are going through a lot in their lives beyond hormonal changes. A few of the students have very difficult and erratic home lives, some of them have anger issues, and some of them just have trouble resolving social differences with their peers. I don’t mean to exaggerate; I have a great group of students who love to perform. But the factors I just mentioned make it difficult to figure out how to both support a positive class atmosphere while ensuring that the students who are having trouble stay in the class.

I’ll give an example.

I have a student who I’ll call Stephanie. Stephanie is a brilliant writer, a poet, a great performer, and an intelligent thinker…when she wants to be. Depending on the week, Stephanie will either be my star pupil or my biggest pouter. On bad days Stephanie refuses to participate in activities and sulks in the corner. If I correct her, she sulks more; if we talk about strategies to get her more involved, she shuts down. So, we (I mean my co-teacher and I) took action. We sat down with Stephanie and reminded her of the contract that she and her mother had signed to be in the class. We asked her to stay out of the class for one week in order to think about whether she really wanted to be a part of the program. So she did. Stephanie took it seriously and came back to the class and seemed to really jump in with two feet. And yet… I’ve noticed that some of those bad days are creeping back into our routine.

The problem with all of this is that I have no intention of actually letting Stephanie ever get ‘kicked out’ of the class. Not only is she incredibly talented and funny, I strongly believe that this performance outlet for her is a rare opportunity and an important part of her day (even though she might never admit it). Some of her writing was performed as part of our first semester celebration, and I know how much it meant to her. Stephanie comes from a tough home and she needs every positive outlet for her creative energies possible. It does make it difficult to give “shape up or else” threats when, in reality, I have no intention of getting to the “or else.”

So we continue. I try to put her in as many positive situations in class as possible, while making sure that her attitude on the bad days doesn’t effect the entire class. We’re going to perform some more of her writing as part of our final performance, so I’m hoping that this will be a motivating factor in the last part of the year. The joy in all of this, of course, is that performance and creativity can be truly healing and nurturing for a student like Stephanie.

Chris Kaminstein

YO NOLA Instructor

Southern Rep

Proof is in the pudding...

This month I wanted to share some photos of Salvage Vanguard's set for our current production, CIVILIZATION (all you can eat). This set was built for a total of $275 smackers. I am not even exaggerating. We gave Connor (who designed) a bigger budget than that, but through the use of the co-op he was able to save the company ALOT of dough! The proof is in the pudding.

These images are from load-in, tech, and opening weekend performances... The build images are not the highest quality, but hopefully it gives you at least an idea... Check it out...

(production photos by Erica Nix, Jude Hickey and Florinda Bryant pictured)

Jenny Larson, Salvage Vanguard Theater/ Scenic Co-op

Thoughts from a Playwright writing for Kids

One of the many lessons I’ve learned as a Teacher is that Ido just as much homework as my students (if not more); I want them to passtheir tests every bit as much as they do, and I’m constantly worried about myperformance in class… only from the front of it instead of crammed behind asingle-seater desk. I’ve also learned there’sno way to prove these truths to my students, and that’s probably for thebetter.

What I didn’t knowuntil this week is that all those nervous jitters I got as an aspiring middleschool thespian during the first table readings of a new play are all still therewhen you’re the adult who wrote the play (only even more nervousy and morejittery.). Attending the firstread-through of the play I wrote specifically for the talented kids at Fairview,I was a big blob of anxiety.

What if they don’t like it?

What if they don’t like me?

Why didn’t anyone laugh at that line?

Who wrote this trash?

That kid is super talented, I hope I wrote a good enoughpart for her.

OH MY GOD A TYPO!!!!

As we all sat in a circle and took turns reading line byline, with everyone getting equal opportunity to speak (Socialists!), I became hyperaware of what in the script was working and what wasn’t. It reminded me of atime that Devon (Northlight's Director of Education) commissioned me to write a play for her theater company, Dogand Pony. Due to circumstances outsideof the control of the Theatre Gods, they needed a playwright, and needed onefast. I was hired last minute, andturned in a first act in just under seven days, a second act in three. At thatfirst read through, with seasoned professionals, I was nervous, sure (thescript hadn’t even been spell checked), but I knew if the whole thing fellapart on the table, everyone there would understand and have the tools to helpme put it back together. They were,after all, “lifers” who understood the often crazy nature of the business. Everyone at the table that night was fluentin a theater vernacular that would allow me to verbally sand over any of theiranxieties about the hurried outline I’d dropped in front of them and said“Okay, perform this!” I could explain itaway. I could say, “Don’t worry, thatpart’ll beef up in act two.” Or “Thatmonologue is really short-handed now. It’s more of an outline for what I wantit to be after I’ve spent more time with it,” and all would nod knowingly andtrustingly.

Fools.

But kids, on the other hand, are not fools. And especially not these kids. And they’ve not yet developed the theatervernacular that allows me to explain away any of the textual issues they mayhave with the script. If somethingdoesn’t work on the page, I’m going to hear about it. Immediately. With my old bones sat on the floor in a spirit circle, every kid’s eyestrained on this thing they’d been anticipating since the beginning of theschool year, I wondered how I might explain away any issues with the story, orcharacter arc, or lack of poetic plasticity. I mean, the best I could say would maybe be “This is gonna be fun. Trustme.”

But, at the end of the read through, they did trust me. And they did have fun. Many were excited, already talking with theirfriends about who wanted which parts and which were their favorite lines. I could have been there or not. The play’s the thing! And every young actor in that circle found atleast one character that she or he wanted to bring to life.

The students are going to have fun because they aredetermined to have fun. Almost as muchfun as this grumpy old playwright will have watching them bring it tolife. But, of course, there’s no tellingthem that.

by: Philip Dawkins - Playwright of Rodeo, a commissioned play for the Northlight On Campus program at Fairview South Middle School

Is the world going to end in 2012?

I woke up this morning knowing exactly what I wanted to blog about this month. Was I motivated by last night’s zombie dreams? Or was it the apocalyptic play I watched a couple of days ago? Maybe the looming fears that the Mayans were right? Or was it yesterday’s rehearsal for the show about the hopeless and inevitable collapse of civilization that motivated me? Well, it is probably all of those things a little bit, and then some more…

Is the world going to end in 2012?

I don’t know, and frankly I don’t really think so. The world will change, definitely. But end? And honestly I guess I am less curious about that question and more curious about how that looming thought, idea, and nightmare changes the ways we interact with one another.

Where am I going with this? Okay so I woke up this morning thinking about the goodness of mankind, and the kindness, and these almost revolutionary actions that are springing up from our current political and social climate on a national and international scale. There are grand and obvious actions like the Occupy Movement, but there are also these small ways, in our theater communities, that we are becoming less competitive and more harmonious. Across the country I see individuals and organizations making movements towards a more amicable and sustainable theater environment. The Scenic Co-op is obviously one example of this sort of movement. We share set pieces with companies who can’t afford to purchase everything new. We recycle set pieces so we can make some small difference on the growing landfills. But we are certainly not the only ones taking these revolutionary steps.

Just a couple of examples include: Polly Carl’s HOWLROUND. The HOWLROUND is all about conversation across the nation across budgets, across race, across aesthetic. Because of HOWLROUND our community is talking to each other more than they ever have before. Another example is Vjay Matthews and Jamie Gahlon’s New Play Map, which is a map of the country and all the new work happening across the fifty states. It’s another attempt at keeping us connected and talking to each other, supporting each other. There is also Austin New Works community, a collective of Austin theater makers researching sustainability and community. Instead of fighting for a piece of the pie, lets share the pie. There are really enough slices for everyone. The list of theater makers and artists taking these actions goes on and on with TCG Exchange, The Center for Sustainability in the Arts in LA, Materials for the Arts in New York City, MECCA in Oregon to name a few… I am thrilled by these actions being taken to do away with the idea of “haves and have not’s”. People are questioning hierarchy and actively trying to support each other.

This makes me wonder, if our imminent doom weren’t right around the corner would we be playing nice? I don’t know. I don’t even know if the why matters. My suspicion is, that hard times do drive people to the next best thing. I think these difficult circumstances do motivate beautiful transitions and transformations. It’s thrilling. We are actively researching and instituting these revolutionary ideas that all focus on a “coming together.” It is beautiful, and inspiring, and it gives me hope.

Jenny Larson, Salvage Vanguard Theater/ Austin Scenic Co-op