9 October 2012

Initiation Trilogy: Gay Vancouver

Last week I did an email interview with Mark from Gay Vancouver. Here's a snippet:

How did you land on the three pieces that are part of the show?

As soon as I realized that I wanted to adapt three works of poetry, I knew immediately it would be Glossolalia, What it Feels Like for a Girl, and God of Missed Connections.

As a book, What it Feels Like for a Girl is very dramatic—there is dialogue, there is narrative, there is a climax. It’s a piece that lends itself very well to the stage.

God of Missed Connections is very dramatic in a completely different way. Although it has unifying themes, it’s definitely more of a collection of poetry rather than a narrative. That said, I knew this book quite well and like Glossolalia, many of the poems felt like monologues. I knew I could craft something exciting from it as the book itself is so compelling.

You can read the whole piece here.

Also, I'd like apologize in advance--these next two weeks are going to be very Initiation Trilogy heavy. What can I say, I'm excited!

8 October 2012

a lot of boys don't bother growing into men

"And the problem with being a boy in a man's body is that, basically, in this world, it isn't a problem. It's commonplace. There are lots of boys in men's bodies walking around--I work with a few of them. Some of them are my age, trembling on the precipice of the big four-oh, and some are even older. What I'm saying is, a lot of boys don't bother growing into men, because they don't have to--their bodies have already done it and it turns out that's all anybody requires."

from Lynn Coady's The Antagonist

7 October 2012

weekend of wonders

Last weekend was an amazing, dream-fulfilling type of weekend.

On Saturday, I was lucky to be one of sixteen chosen to attend an all-day master class with Lynda Barry, hosted by the Vancouver International Writers Festival. We were given strict instructions to not socialize until after the workshop was over, but I did have lunch with my husband and John Vigna who was my desk mate. We mostly followed the rules by not talking about the content of the workshop, but did talk about it briefly to agree that it was fantastic.

I have never taken a class like Lynda Barry's, though any of you familiar with her work is probably not at all surprised by this statement. I was completely impressed by her and how she conducted and organized the class. I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to learn from her. I was given tools that I hadn't considered before, and even better, that I know I will use. If you ever have a chance to take a workshop with her, move mountains to make it happen. I'm so thankful that I had.

And to top it off, she gave me a hug at the end. I'm a lucky, lucky lady.

*

On Sunday, my dearest friend, Jennica treated (TREATED!) me to the Madonna concert. We went with Nancy Lee and her husband John Vigna. I rarely go to concerts and I have never been to something like that. It was a visual assault and simply amazing. Sure, I don't really know her new stuff, but man alive, Madonna can put on a show. And she made sure that some of her oldies-but-goodies were represented. My two favourite Madonna songs were done (Express Yourself and Like a Prayer, in case you were wondering) and they were phenomenal. It was spectacle and theatre and left me giddy for a long time.

*

On Monday, it was my birthday. It was strange to be away from my husband and my boys, but I got the best gift. The universe gave me the first day of rehearsals of my first professional theatre production. Yes, dear reader, Initiation Trilogy is in rehearsals and I was fortunate to be in the room for the first three days of rehearsals. I would have liked to have been there longer, but I had to get back to my family as Kevin had to leave town.

There is so much I want to write about the process of bringing Initiation Trilogy to life and I know I won't have the time or space to do it in, but will try to in subsequent posts. Right now I will simply say that the first day was magic and that I am so incredibly lucky to have the creative team on this piece.

6 October 2012

Vancouver polygamy


I've had a few people ask me if I thought that there were polygamists living in any of the cities I've lived in recently: Edmonton, Vancouver, and Victoria. I don't know Victoria enough to say one way or another, but I can definitely say that there are polygamists in Edmonton--though I'll leave that to another post.

Polyamory is alive and well in Vancouver--they even have their own website, but polygamy I'm less certain about, though my hunch is that yes, it is being practiced there. Why not? A prominent member of the Chinese community was an open polygamist a century ago:

The original [Wing Sang] building, a two-storey Victorian Italianate structure went up in 1889, back when the population of Vancouver was around 15,000 and extremely hostile towards the Chinese. Yip Sang operated an import/export business, a bank and a travel agency and sold everything from Chinese silks and curios to opium—which was legal until 1908. He added a third storey in 1901, and in 1912, a six-storey building went up across the alley connected by an elevated passageway to include a warehouse, a meeting place, and a floor for each of his three wives and their 23 children.

You can read more about the Wing Sang Building here.

5 October 2012

Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for right now and so much news to share, about Glossolalia, about Initiation Trilogy, about the good fortune of friends, about the generosity of good friends, about the creative spirit and creative leaders. I have many posts I should write, and I hope to, but right now I am skirting those and have an appeal for advice.

We're not really celebrating Thanksgiving this year. My husband is leaving tomorrow morning for Toronto for the opening of Tear the Curtain and I don't have it in me to make a turkey dinner for just me and the kids. I want to do something special, however. If you have any suggestions on how to mark the holiday without a turkey feast, I'd love to hear them. (Also, I don't make pies, that's Kevin's territory. No pumpkin pie or turkey? I can't believe it!)