Begin forwarded message:
> From: Joann Ayres <joannayres(a)gmail.com>
> Date: August 21, 2010 1:33:27 PM PDT
> To: James Ayres <jayres(a)cvctx.com>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
Thank you, Bruce.
Beautifully said.
m
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From: weeklong-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org <weeklong-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
To: 'weeklong-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org' <weeklong-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Cc: rrlmeyer(a)gmail.com <rrlmeyer(a)gmail.com>
Sent: Sat Aug 21 15:12:34 2010
Subject: [Weeklong-l] it is a complex task to make things simple and really quite simple to make things complex
Friends and colleagues.
With all of the reflective and insightful thoughts flying, I feel somehow obligated to make a start at contributing something.
The reunion week is just like a mini-summer. We journey from "wow, this is awesome", to "what have I gotten myself into", to "pit of despair", to maybe, just maybe" to "uh oh" to "damn, that was fine!" in such a tiny span of time. And, after weeks and weeks of angst and anticipation, in the blink of an eye, it is over all too soon.
As I am genuinely struggling to deal with the complicated world that I re-enter, I am amazed at how the simple focus on a unified task can make the world seem so filled with joy (the emotion, not our Joy - who fills the world in her own unique way). Michael, you are spot on about Doc and how he can be remote and analytical, and then, totally unexpectedly, giggle like a schoolgirl (and how remarkable is the depth of happiness when I hear the sound of Doc's giggle/snicker... first heard in spring of 1979 when I uttered the words "my name is Wayne E. Bango"?).
What I love best about S at W is the people. Sure, the unadulterated sense of satisfaction of a task well done, the pure clarity of saying the language and the shared experience with the audience(s) has remarkable power... but ahhh the people we get to do this with, that is the magic. Doc does have a knack for attracting and finding some pretty remarkable folks. I did not get to hear and share the stories with many of you (maybe we should do that electronically), but everything I learned was impressive. Even people I have known for decades have new accomplishments and amazement to share. I am just so very contented and blessed to call you my friends.
I am still trying to transition back into the "real" world, where daily decisions alter lives and jobs and careers, and it is hard to get perspective and into the rhythm again - it is though you have all knocked me off kilter, like a weighted top that needs to right itself. On a very personal note, I want to thank my brother from another mother, Clayton, and Madge the Marvelous - for helping us all get to where we needed to be... and my profound gratitude to each of you for the intimacy and connection that you shared with me (and how you embraced my daughter). It is a treasure that cannot be priced.
Jackie Robinson said: Life is not a spectator sport, a life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives. By this criteria, you all lead very important lives.
more to come...
Bruce
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Hah, I can tell you, until day 5 I never thought I'd make it to this point.
That picture is thanks to Clayton and Jackson and Doc coaching.
m
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From: weeklong-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org
To: Weeklong-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Sent: Sat Aug 21 18:20:53 2010
Subject: [Weeklong-l] Fwd:
Begin forwarded message:
From: Joann Ayres <joannayres(a)gmail.com<mailto:joannayres@gmail.com>>
Date: August 21, 2010 1:33:27 PM PDT
To: James Ayres <jayres(a)cvctx.com<mailto:jayres@cvctx.com>>
[cid:7306904A-7FE4-4C13-98EE-8D037D4C001E]
Sent from my iPhone
It's been almost a week since we were all together.
I apologize in advance for being long winded and for sounding a bit self serving but I can only confidently talk about things as I personally perceive them.
I don't know about you, but as a result of last week, I feel more aware, more alive, more intelligent.
There are so many thoughts and visions that have passed through my brain this week (as is probably true of all of you) and I want to share some of them.....
First and foremost, I want to express how great it was to get to know you. The group blows me away. How often do you get to spend a concentrated period of time with a group of individuals who have lived and continue to live such full and stimulating lives. There is the humor, the intelligence, the love of Shakespeare we all share. We so enjoy each other's company. Robert, Alice, Mary, Terry and I have gone decades without speaking but the moment we were in each other's company, it was as if we had never separated. From the moment I met Craig and Gail, it was as if we were close childhood friends. The nobility of Clayton, Madge's genuine warmth, I could go on and on in this way about every one of you.
I will state confidently, however, there is no other club in the world that would have all of us as members. How great is that?
Around 30 years ago when I began in the movie business I worked at United Artists in a big room, a sea of clerks and cubicles. The German filmmaker Volker Schlondorff had just made The Tin Drum and whenever he came into the building to meet the big boss he had to walk through this room.
He always stopped at my desk to talk. After the third or fourth time he invited me to dinners and parties where he introduced me to people like Billy Wilder, Arthur Miller, and Louis Malle (who became a close personal friend).
Over 25 years later at a panel Volker and I were both on in New York I publicly thanked him for what he did for me and said how glad I was he didn't stop at one of the other desks in the room. His answer was as follows:
"What you have to understand is, life is like making a movie, it's all in the casting. You were perfect casting, meant for the role."
And you better believe, Erving Goffman and Jim Ayres came to mind when he said this.
Enter Jim Ayres. The guy has a perfect eye for casting in life as was evident of the 21 people selected for last week and those selected over the last 40 years. How does he know a guy speaking bad German with no knowledge of Shakespeare is ideal. I'm sure every one of you has his/her own eccentric and unique story (I wanted to hear them all Saturday night, but there was no time). The criteria is all in his head, and we all have to agree, it is rarely erring.
I know, I know, a committee supposedly made these decisions, but I'm not buying it. Sorry for the film analogies (unfortunately it's all I know), but Doc for me is comparable to John Huston and Clint Eastwood in what he achieves and how he achieves it.
John Huston was one of those great directors who gave everyone the impression he delegated everything to others, saying the decision was made by the crew and the actors. But the fact of the matter is when the movie was finished and finally seen, everyone knew it was a John Huston film and everything that occurred on that set was in the palm of his bony hand. When I visited the set of The Dead (Maggie's husband, if I recall correctly, was one of the producers), John was in bad shape, he had an oxygen tank on his back and he could only speak in a whisper. The whole crew was bustling about in a studio in the desert north of Los Angeles. He was sitting quietly in his chair. I watched him. He corrected errors in the details of contimuity noone else on th set noticed. There was an excellent elderly Dublin stage actress who had to sing a song and she was so self conscious about it that every take was a disaster. John pointed his finger to her and beckoned her to come over to him. She came to him, he whispered a few words in her ear, she then performed perfectly on the next take.
I could not help but think about this when Doc mosied over to each of us under the pecan trees rehearsing last week. "Michael, you will never get the character if you don't emphasize the pronouns." "But Doc, as I recall you never liked emphasizing pronouns." "Not in this speech, buddy." And damned, if he wasn't right. I found Grumio
emphasizing those fucking pronouns (although I'm sure not to Doc's satisfaction).
And then there's the Clint Eastwood analogy. My friend Kathy Kennedy likes to talk about how when you go on a set of a movie and you look for the director you can always find him/her because he/she is always at the center of wherever you hear the loudest noise and where the largest concentration of people are gathered. Except when it comes to a Clint Eastwood movie. You go on his set, he's impossible to find. He's quiet, he's furtive. You can't find him in the midst of a hundred people working on a movie and he's probably shooting a major scene at that very moment. Here's Doc again always appearing on the perimeter, yet running the show (I figure Shakespeare must have been a bit like that too).
To my mind, all three of these guys are birds of a feather. One minute they can be remote and analytical, and then, totally unexpectedly, warm, emotional and engaging. And with all these guys the final
performances are similar as well. While rough around the edges, the really good shows are satisfying as hell.
John Huston, Clint Eastwood, and Jim Ayres never sweated the small stuff in the work. They may not share everything on their mind with you, BUT, they always have a vision of how the final performance will turn out. It's never perfect, but that's part of the organic beauty of the piece. It's the important stuff that stands out: with Huston, it was character, with Eastwood, it's always the story, the rest be damned, and with Doc, it's Shakespeare's power of thought AND persuasion and fun, but also Shakespeare's deep relevance to our roles in life.
There is no question we put that performance together on Saturday, but the performance overall was Doc's and I really feel, although rough around the edges (like Huston and Eastwood), the goal was achieved both for the performers and the audience.
All hail Huston, Eastwood, and Doc!
I digress......
Here are a few personal priceless memories of last week.
1-Every night following the first appearance Oberon (Matt, amazing), I would walk out of the barn and look at the sky, the stars, and that tiny cloud or wisp of mist always over part of the moon, and the world of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM was as real for me as midtown traffic. I was transported and convinced.
2-On the day of the performance,
lots of people are milling around. I'm filling out my name tag at the ticket desk next to a little girl who looks at me as I'm writing. I look at her and she whispers to me as a fellow conspirator, "How do you spell Shakespeare?" I see she has just written the word "Camp" on her name tag and I whisper the spelling very quietly back to her as she writes slowly and carefully. Whispers again, "Thank you very much." "My pleasure, you're welcome." Not one hour later I see this little girl again, performing the best Puck I have ever seen in my life! Is this the stuff dreams are made of, or what?
3-A surreal experience on stage: A Winter's Tale, Act 5, and I am into it as Camilo. Mary as Perdita and Jeff as Leontes are weeping, Susan's Hermione is so engaging and persuasive (she's a knockout) and Mike and I are clutching each other deep in the drama agape at the human statue. I'm under the spell. I know my line is next but in my mind, I'm thinking, "I cannot give my line, I donot want to break this incredible spell, it's unbelievable." The spell, however, is broken when I look into Susan's eyes and it says to me, Jeff, and Mike, "Ok, fellas, I don't know if it's my line or one of yours, but somebody better say something." I delivered my line. I have never experienced personal immersion like that before.
4- A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 5, as Peter Quince on stage I am to prompt the mechanicals for any missed cues and lines. On the day of the performance I decide to use the actual scene on the page to prompt the mechanicals. I felt like a Samuel Beckett play had taken over our lives. The mechanicals were perfect in all their lines, the members of the court were a disaster (with the exception of Alice's Demetrius). As I read the script and the characters of the court were making up lines all over the place or moving back a few pages and then forward a few pages (Mike's Lysander became a Robin Williams improvisation compared with what was on the page), I really thought I was losing my marbles and started
thinking, jesus, in our version of the play the court are the wacky mechanicals and the mechanicals are the correct characters. It was a whirlwind, I thought I was in the Twilight Zone. But it all turned out well, the audience was not looking for a wacky court and the mechanicals delivered on the wackiness they expected.
I have to say, I was breathless when I left the stage.
Forgive my musings. I just can't stop thinking about this stuff.
More later and I hope to hear from you as well on your memories.
I wrote this on a plane, am headed for the Sundane Producer's conference, instead of working on a speech I'm supposed to deliver.
But as I learned from Terry and Camp Shakespeare students last Saturday, the key is to play. And last week for the first time in 35 years I played and they're in for a hell of a speech this weekend, because I am going to play. Will let you know how it goes.
But thank you for all, you all really mean the world to me and long may memories of last week grow and linger and I really hope and pray we can keep up our connections.
With deep love and appreciation,
michael
Jenifer at The Shelby is missing one pillow from Henry's House and two
pillow from The Schoolhouse. And three pillow cases. She has found
two phone chargers. Please let me know asap about the pillows and
cases, guys.
Doc
Dear folks,
By the time I had the presence of mind to order one of the DVDs, the DVD
makers had folded up their table and left. Does anyone here know how I can
obtain a DVD or whom to contact?
--Mike
I will be willing to contribute too but I have no idea how those pillows could go missing.
----- Original Message -----
From: weeklong-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org <weeklong-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
To: weeklong-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org <weeklong-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Sent: Thu Aug 19 22:34:24 2010
Subject: Re: [Weeklong-l] Pillows and Cases
Doc- I believe I brought home the same pillows and cases that I took, and Mary confirms this. I don't think we loaded any pillows into your truck, just plastic bags full of mattresses and four cots. I did take pillow cases off of the pillows that remained in the room I used (the kitchen room at Henry's) and put them with the towels. And I have my phone charger.
But like Clayton I'm very willing to contribute to cover this or any other deficit.
--- On Thu, 8/19/10, James Ayres <jayres(a)cvctx.com> wrote:
> From: James Ayres <jayres(a)cvctx.com>
> Subject: [Weeklong-l] Pillows and Cases
> To: Weeklong-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> Date: Thursday, August 19, 2010, 5:55 PM
> Jenifer at The Shelby is missing one
> pillow from Henry's House and two
> pillow from The Schoolhouse. And three pillow
> cases. She has found
> two phone chargers. Please let me know asap about the
> pillows and
> cases, guys.
>
> Doc
>
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Dear friends,
I spent 9 hours in airports and 9 hours on a plane on Tuesday/Wednesday, and I am still recovering from that purgatorial state and from the rigors of our week in Winedale. I am also slow to process events that have had great emotional significance for me. That's why I've not written before now.
I admit to feeling some trepidation about returning to Winedale: to my 20-year-old self, to acting again, to The Barn and its memories. But I see now that I was foolish to worry: from the first, every last one of you embraced me as if I were an old friend and made me feel I belonged there. And I can say without even an iota of exaggeration that I have never been in the company of so many extraordinary individuals. All of you so gifted in multiple ways and all of you imbued with the special passion for Shakespeare and for communal creativity that makes Winedale Winedale. It was rare company, and I am profoundly grateful to have been with you all--singing, eating, working, sweating, checking our streams. Extraordinary.
Here's how to contact me when you come to London:
>From the States, the number is 011-44-20-7374-2550. The address is 161 Lauderdale Tower, the Barbican, London EC2Y 8BY. I can't offer to put you up, I'm afraid, but I can feed you a good dinner and go to the theater with you and introduce you to Russ, who is prepared to love you all after I've reported on our time together. Please, please call if you know you are coming. I'd be hurt if you didn't.
If you've requested book titles or websites or other information, I'll write to you separately.
For now, I send my love and gratitude.
Gail
I have no pillows or pillow cases.
Jeff, Is it possible the pillow you loaned me ended up with a Shelby Inn pillowcase on it?
m
----- Original Message -----
From: weeklong-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org <weeklong-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
To: Weeklong-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org <Weeklong-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Sent: Thu Aug 19 15:55:56 2010
Subject: [Weeklong-l] Pillows and Cases
Jenifer at The Shelby is missing one pillow from Henry's House and two
pillow from The Schoolhouse. And three pillow cases. She has found
two phone chargers. Please let me know asap about the pillows and
cases, guys.
Doc
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Dearest Weeklongians,
Here are some random shots from my phone-camera. I've black-and-whited them
to camouflage poor photo quality.
Love to all of you!
Susan
--
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is
invisible to the eye." (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)