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1984 - On the Road
- Salt Lake City
"THE WRITER."
I'm not going to all the gigs - hey, they don't all want
"THE WRITER,"
but I'll be doing some of them, and right now that's Salt Lake City, Utah, and Melbourne International Arts Festival, Australia. Utah/Australia... so different, so diametrically opposed... literally and figuratively opposite ends of the planet in so many ways - except, of course, they are both possess a plethora of caucasians. Which, by the way, I can point out in my own inimitable style, since I am, apparently,
"THE WRITER."
Salt Lake City
This is one place I never thought I would be. When I was a kid, Utah was America's own little slice of apartheid South Africa, only with harems. But I met a few of the people from the presenting University back during the first LA workshops, and again at the opening, and they seemed nice. Utah was always on the list of places '84 was going to play. "THE WRITER"
has arrived. which has got to suck. Bad enough if the director shows up to peek over your shoulder, but to have the person who wrote it there to maybe tell you how you are not fulfilling his/her vision - what an annoyance. Monday
Workshops, and interviews. Today was workshops and interviews. I agreed to do whatever I could to help promote the show, since I'm only going to be here half the week. Oh, I should talk about that! See, these two gigs - Salt Lake and Melbourne - are taking place AT THE SAME DAMN TIME! Just worked out that way. I was supposed to spend a week at each, but the dates kinda collided, so I am spending half a week in Salt lake, cramming in all the stuff I can to help get a crowd, then jumping on FOUR PLANES to get to Melbourne for the rest of the week. The fight alone will be almost two days long.
Did I mention I'm THE WRITER?
The workshops went well. The first one was at a local high school, the second one was at the theatre. The kids were really good, willing to play, and the teachers were really involved. Some teachers seem to think visiting workshops are just a chance for them to lay their burden down for 45 minutes or so, but these two were interested and everything.
And by the way, these people are doing a great job of advertising! There are 1984 banners up and down the street!
After the first workshop we did an interview on the local PBS radio station. That was very interesting. It was a panel. There was a guy there - an Orwell scholar - another was a Republican who runs a kind of legal think tank at the University. I thought this was going to get very messy - one saying I had no business soiling a classic with my stinky philistine ways, the other calling Homeland security to see if it's too late to deport me back to Africa.
But again a surprise. Both of them were very nice - and not that fake, pod person nice. And when it came to why 1984 is so relevant to the U.S. right now, we all agreed. The show went well, we had some good questions - it was almost like Berkeley...
This is Utah?
And then, after the second workshop, there was a meet and greet where one of the funders invited me to dinner with one of the theatre's most generous supporters, who happens to be... this big , out lesbian millionaire. In Utah. Now, don't get me wrong - she wasn't Medea Benjamin with bucks- thought that the Estate Tax should be repealed, and she argued since she is rich (with inherited money, which I guess slipped her mind), anyone should be able to generate wealth with just some simple, common sense. Which I guess her parents used to put her the position to give away tens of thousands to the arts. But still she's a "liberal" out lesbian. In Utah.
Utah?
Just to remind you, here are some pictures of the Mormon Tabernacle:
Now think - reasonable Republicans... hunky boyfriend... millionaire lesbian... Either these people are incredibly brave, or this place isn't so cut and dried. Or both.
Tuesday
I get picked up by Greg, and Sheri, another remarkably helpful person, and this time we are off to be one the local conservative talk radio show. why they are having us on, I don't know. Even Greg is a little nervous about it. He keeps telling me we have to do this show... it's the biggest show in the area... since all the conservatives listen to it, and since almost everyone is conservative, this will reach just about everyone. This is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard in my life.
The host of the show looks like a much more fit, not addicted Rush Limbaugh. I see on the list of shows the station plays O'Reilly is positioned. There is one of those little mechanical American flags on the console - not waving, probably because the noise would get picked up by the mics. Now this is the Utah I've been waiting for! Bring it on!
But there was no bringing of it on. First thing the guy says is that one of the most depressing days of his life was 9/12- because of how eagerly Americans were to give up their rights for security. The guy had doubts and questions about the Patriot Act, both the war on Terror and Iraq, the whole Administration power trip. Another Red Stater lost to Bush. We talked about the eroding of the Constitution, and how Americans have to take back our government from those who use fear to cow the citizens. We're all quoting 1984, talking about Big Brother. Man. Turns out Utah has really suffered under lots of Bush's idiocies, especially "No Child Left Behind," so even the conservatives in the state are sick of his incompetence. And show ticket sales went through the roof!
I had some time off this afternoon, so I went out to see a little of the town. That's when I took the pictures of the Tabernacle. It was a little creepy. It's not, in my opinion, a very attractive or impressive building on the outside. It looks like a cheap castle. But I guess the real nacle of the Tabernacle is inside - which you have to be saved to see. I went down into the entrance, though, and was meet by the whitest people I have ever seen. And i don't mean that in the Lawrence Welk way - I mean white! White people, with white hair, white, pants, dresses, down to the white buttons and white bows. I think the idea is entering the Tabernacle is like entering Heaven - white Heaven, and everything is spotless. I just wondered how you got the gig. Do you bleach yourself, or do you have to age into the job? And what if you are young. but prematurely white haired... is that like cutting in line? And is there some second team, dressed in all gray with hair to match, in another room, just waiting to move into some white shoes, and get that much closer to the pearly gates?
And these people were close. When I walked in there was a guy next to the door, seated in a big comfy chair, curled over so far his spotless white hair was brushing his spotless white pants, and he was spotlessly dead asleep. I walked past him, careful not to disturb, and saw three ancient snowballs looking quizzically at me. " Can I help you?" the biggest, and snowballiest asked. I said I was just looking around, and he directed me to some exceptionally dull pictures of Jesus touching some animals. And in that room, watching over the paintings, a man almost translucent in his whiteness - and also dead asleep. No wonder these people have a choir! Apparently the sound fends off narcolepsy, and the "going into the light" they are so whitely dressed for.
Back to the 1984.
Another thing the presenters in Salt lake did was create a website for the show.
It's got a comment board, talks about all the discussions, and community events going on about the production - and there are alot - most of which I will miss.
Now, up till today I haven't had much contact with the cast - I've just seen them in passing in the halls, or at breakfast. But tonight we have a Book Club event that should be very interesting. Contrasting and comparing scenes from the novel and the play. I've given up on being pilloried, and assume it will be fine.
(Michael Exits. Time passes. Michael Re-enters)
It was fine. Good crowd, and it's unendingly cool to see one's work come to life like that.
I know, I wrote "one's work," which sounds kinda pompous, but when I put "my work," it sounded narcissistic, and when I put "your work" it sounded dumb - I don't know you.
Now, this cast is different from the cast that opened the show back in February, and different from the cast I saw toward the end of the run in May, and still different from the one that went to Greece, or Melbourne. So each time I see the show the dynamic is a bit different, too. And that takes some getting used to. The ages, for instance. This cast is younger than the first cast, so the idea that some of the Party members are veteran interrogators ( you have to see the show) doesn't work, unless they went into the torture business in grade school - but given the world Orwell created that quite possible. And one of the questions was how each of this particular troupe felt about the novel, and the chance to work on the play. The actor's were very eloquent, and got across the importance of the whole thing to them. I think everyone - audience, too - understands how critical this moment is in the history of our Nation, and Democracy. Will we all stand aside and watch our rights destroyed? Will we simply blush as the innocent are tortured in our name? Will we sacrifice what we are fighting for to protect it, and condemn as traitorous anyone who points that out?
"We had to destroy the village to save the village" is the old quote from the Vietnam War. Are we just going to replace the word "village" with Democracy, Civil Rights, or the Constitution?
Don't get me started.
The book thing was fun. I was especially impressed with the new actor who was playing Party Member Three. It's a tough part, and tough I won't get to see him perform this time, I am looking forward to seeing him in some production down the line.
So this was a long day. After the reading thing (I forget what it was, but the sponsoring club's germanic name had the unfortunate initials K.K.K. - Kommunity Kulture Klatch, or something like that) Greg just took me out to one last dinner in Salt Lake. I have not bought myself a meal since I got here. He seemed pretty up about the whole thing, and with sales up he hopes the Salt Lake audience will have a whetted appetite for even more challenging stuff next time. Not that I'm being pushy, but I do keep bringing up the Mime Troupe. Not my fault! People keep asking about what else I've written, and I have to be polite... so I pitch "GodFellas" to everyone, hoping , well, if they like a show about Big Brother, they'll love a show about the Separation of Church and State. In Utah. I think even the Millionaire Lesbian would have a problem with that, but I did slip Greg a DVD before i left, so we'll see.
Now I'm getting ready to leave. Wally is picking me up at 4:30 in the bloody morning, so I can make my in SF connection to LA, to Sydney, to Melbourne. I'm just going to stay up all night, so I can sleep most of the way there. This is why people drink on planes, so the trip seems shorter. For them. For everyone else dealing with their drunken ass it's interminable. I'm also trying to book GodFellas around the country while I'm out here on the road, which is crazy, but SFMT doesn't have a booker right now, and much of the company's energy right now is being spent with fighting off the undead, who are assaulting the Troupe. And I am not kidding. Something has crawled out of a too shallow grave, and is trying to claw it's way into the building. Yes, it's a metaphor, but if I put the truth you'd see that an assault by Zombies reflects the truth, and might be preferable.
Update!
One. Got an email from Australia which actually asked if I could do two radio interviews on the day I land. The producer from the Festival knows this is going to be tough, but says the shows are very high profile, and - and she actually wrote this " Both are quality, high-profile and in all honesty the perfect vehicle for an artist of your stature."
For those who don't know me, my stature is about 5 foot eleven inches, though Velina thinks I'm going a little tippy-toe to get that.
On the other hand, I get to SFO and it turns out my flight to Australia is not 10:30 am, but p.m.! So I didn't have to stay up all night, I didn't have to miss the next cool-ass event in Salt Lake - a panel on media control and propaganda - but this did give me a chance to see Velina for a few moments before I passed out.
So it was worth it. Now it's off to Aussieland. Because I am
THE WRITER!
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Man, they are good!