Anna - The Journey to find Ismene

There are so many traits and events in Ismene’s life that are so personal to me, so playing her should be easy, right? The answer is not that simple. Ismene’s life is her own, and cannot be burdened by my own personal struggles. In the Dream Theatre style of acting we have this saying “raise up into the character, do not bring them down to you”. Jeremy taught me this and though it seems to be a simple phrase, it is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I will say that in the past 8 years that I have been part of Dream Theatre I am continuing to explore and strive to understand and implement this particular part of our method. When acting, it is easy to get caught up in my own personal emotions, my own personal dramas and stresses and especially my own personal fears. It is so tempting to take a character’s revelations or catharsis and pull my own emotions into it so I can get the feeling of that revelation or catharsis for myself. If I feel all my own emotions of stress, fear, sadness and joy and put them into Ismene, then it will not let the audience feel these things, it will not be for them, it will be for me.

The most amazing discovery I have made in acting happened in Dream Theatre when I found those moments of completely letting go of Anna and raising up into Ismene. In 2008, when I played Ismene for the first time, I was so terrified. I thought, “How can I ever live up to this girl? She is so smart, strong, brave and innocent!”. And then it happened it wasn’t about living up to her; it was just knowing her and admiring her. And the magic moment happened not when I felt Ismene’s feelings in front of the audience, but when I introduced what I knew and admired of Ismene to the audience. And for the first time, I felt the audience raise up with me. And the most amazing thing about that is that I did get to feel personal joy. It wasn’t my feelings that went into Ismene, but her feelings and the audience’s feelings that went into me.

This time around, when we started and I knew I wanted to play Ismene again, I had all these other motives and agendas that I wanted to put on Ismene. But again, what does this accomplish? Who does it inspire? So again, I remind myself, Ismene is not for me. We joined with this production as part of a world-wide community of theatre makers to raise awareness and hope for those struggling with their fate of having breast cancer or having a loved one with breast cancer. And I say that Ismene is for you Audience, I am committed to introducing you to Ismene along with Rachel as Procne, Alicia as Philomena, Mishelle as Erin and Annelise as Iphegenia so that you can find the inspiration, courage and hope to fight against the wrongs of this world that steal away innocence. Then when we leave the story and go back to our lives, we find that we have all “risen up”.

VIDEO: The Grisly/Glorious Radio Interview

WGN's Scott Stantis is very good at interviews.

Bil - Feedback (Loud and Clear)

On Thursday night I saw the opening performance of "The Grisly/Glorious Adventure of Christopher Robin, Winnie-the-Pooh and Billy Moon" down in Pilsen, and I can't stop talking about how much I loved it.  Being that I wasn't part of the rehearsal process on this show, and not having seen the completed set, I really didn't know what to expect.  I'd read the script, and I knew the cast and crew are incredibly talented, but still I was surprised.  I can't say enough how proud I am of Dream Theatre Company for making one of the most magical nights of theatre I have seen in a long, long time.  I haven't cried in about ten years, but I came damn close to crying during this play.

I'm still kind of starry-eyed about it, even on a Saturday after not enough sleep all week long.  And of course, I'm thinking to myself: how can I convince people that haven't seen the show that it really is as good as I'm saying it is?

And so, while causally loitering in a Starbucks at a mall in the suburbs like some jerk, I see a note posted on good ol' Facebook blasting theatres in this town for being a bunch of jerks.  I'll repost it here, because I kind of want everybody to read it, but because of the controversy it will inevitably spark, I'll keep it anonymous:

Dear Theatre

Okay I'm not much of one for Facebook notes and publicly stating any sort of real opinion on social media, but I've got something to say. THEATER SUCKS!!! You heard me!  THEATER. SUCKS. I moved to Chicago looking for good theater. Inspiration. Excitement. Passion.... Please. I'd rather go to the dentist. Offended yet? Good. I'm offended by theater. We've forgotten our audience. We've forgotten why we are doing this... or maybe I've just decided that our reason for doing it, isn't good enough anymore.

I look at theaters desperately trying to fill seats as more and more theaters file for bankruptcy. Theaters constantly having talks about how to get the younger generation excited about theater as their subscribers just get older and older. Well honestly... have you tried?

What I see is a group of people so desperate to create a place for their voice to be heard, that they've created an art that only they can appreciate. Its boring. Its heady. Its... uggghhh.

We are living in a time when our lives are bombarded with intensity and tragedy. There is a reason why our generation doesn't seem to want to grow up. We are desperately looking for a release. An escape. Wars, tsunamis, foreclosures. We don't want to think anymore. We have to think every day just to survive.

If you want to up your sales and get the younger generation into your theaters, give them a way to escape. Why do you think Glee is dominating television? I don't know about you, but I just want to be able to find a place where for 5 minutes a day, I can forget that I can barely pay my bills, or that any day now, some country might nuke us. Give people a reason to feel happy again. With divorce rates as high as they are, why would I want to watch another play about an unhappy couple. Show me a love story. Give me reason to believe in relationships.

I will say that the thought provoking plays have a place in this world. Art should be used to make people think. But know who is going to be doing the thinking on the receiving end and remember that this isn't about your crusade. Its about your story. And yes, even in the theater, stories can end in hope. Actors DO know how to smile.

Now can you please try wearing some colors?

You can imagine how offended I was until I read the sentence asking if I was offended yet.  Then it occurred to me that this is feedback from a theatre-goer.

As a theatre artist, especially one in Chicago, it's easy to get defensive and shrug this message off with a how-dare-you-insult-this-great-city and a you-expect-too-much or a you-just-don't-get-it-do-you attitude.

But I refuse to do that.  This message was written in earnest, and posted on Facebook for all theatre and non-theatre personnel to see.

THIS IS FEEDBACK.

Theatres are businesses, too, and audience members are our customers, and what should a business do if they want to attract more customers?  Listen to customer feedback.

So, yeah, theatre community – looking for ways to attract younger audiences?  Rule number one ought to be: listen to young audience members.

Feedback from younger audiences is rare.  More often than not a young audience will give up on an art form that fails to please rather than make any effort to try & improve it.  What we get with the above Facebook post is almost invaluable.

True, the post is not specific feedback, not geared at any one specific theatre company, but I've always thought of the theatre community as one big family, and so really, this message is for all of us.  We all need to bring the magic.  All the time.  We need to make it worth someone's time and worth their money to come out & see the products of our hard work.  Our time is valuable, but so is theirs.  We need to be accessible.  We need to be open.  We need to be honest.  We need to ditch the egos and create some wonder.  We need to be – in the parlance of our times – awesome.

And I will state once again how proud I am to be part of Dream Theatre Company.  These artists work hard, they make it easy to go see a play, they give the audience a show they'll be thinking about for weeks or even months afterward, and for all the "edginess" and the "fringe persona" of this company, they truly show the goodness of human beings.  It's fun to see plays here.  And after each play, the cast is available to talk to in the lobby, devoid of snootiness and pretensions, and eager to hear whether you liked it or not.

You can talk to them.

But because no theatre company should pretend to be perfect, we remain open to criticism.  If you want something from us that you didn't get or don't think you will get, or anything you think we could do better, please talk to us.  We're here.  We have ears and brains.  We'll use them, I promise.

Jeremy - The Strange Relationship of Billy Moon and Christopher Robin

While working on the program I decided not to do a writer's note. I had some things that I wanted to talk about, but I thought it better not to bother you. Sometimes it may be better to just leave you alone and let you sit back and hopefully enjoy yourselves. My work is called dark so damn often that perhaps asking you to "enjoy yourselves" seems like a bad joke coming from me, but I always want you to enjoy yourself. I don't look for the next dark place to lead us into. I just try and tell the kind of stories that are important to me. And for those of you who keep coming back, that are important to you too.

Since we have this blog, I figured that I could say just a few things to any of our wonderful Audience that may be interested. I will try not to spoil anything for you.

The show you will see is not the truth.
Sure there are pieces of the truth. Billy Moon did have a tumultuous relationship with The Great Man Himself. He spoke about it many times in his memoirs and in the press.

"It seemed to me almost that my father had got where he was by climbing on my infant shoulders, that he had filched from me my good name and left me nothing but empty fame".
-Christopher Robin Milne

That fact as well as other facts are presented in this production, but they are not the truth. I made a lot of assumptions and speculations with Billy Moon's actual psychlogy. I'm sure that I ignored several facts that I could have discovered but decided not to research. I was not interested in telling the biography of Billy Moon. I was not interested in telling the story of Winnie-the-Pooh for that matter. In fact, there isn't one sentence from any Winnie-the-Pooh story past "Oh Bother", "Silly Old Bear" and mentions of certain imaginary places that we know so well. There isn't one sentence from Billy Moon's autobiography or newspaper quotes.

What I was most interested in writing about- was us.

The feelings that we have as children don't go away. They don't simply vanish with time and experience. Who we were at age 7 is who we still are at age 37. (I wanted to say 6, but I just turned 37 dammit and it annoys me.) Our innocent or broken child hangs around. He lives somewhere just behind our eyes. Sometimes his joy comes through, and whoever is lucky enough to be looking at us will see this spark of excitement and wonder. Sometimes his pain comes through and we turn away and hide him from others. Sometimes he simply comes forward and asks us "Why?" Why are you ignoring me? Why are you doing things that you know are wrong? Why aren't you having any fun? Why are you lonely? Why are you ignoring me?

Why do you wish I was destroyed?

Billy Moon's child did not live behind his eyes... He lived happily in a book and was loved by millions... This child, who did not live behind his eyes, was not only living with the kind of innocence and wonder that Billy Moon was not ever allowed to feel, but it seemed that he also took Billy Moon's only friends away with him.

Imagine peering out a window and seeing the child you were and the friends you loved living happily and content, children forever, without you... Never needing you... Never knowing that you were watching... Never even truly knowing that you exist...

Now imagine trying to turn away from that window only to face a crowd of millions wanting their turn to watch the happy child and his silly old bear... And when you push and shove and try and get them to leave you alone, they push back harder telling you that they won't leave you alone. That your child isn't your child anymore. Your bear isn't your bear anymore. Your childhood isn't yours anymore. It's theirs! Theirs! Theirs!

So even though this story is not the truth, I do believe that it was Billy Moon who was always asking his inner child "why?"

For tickets and more information.

Rachel - Divine Chaos

This weekend, the cast and crew of The Grisly/Glorious Adventure of Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh, and Billy Moon toiled and created and finalized the set and world of the show. I was amazed by the dedication and creativity of all involved. There is something so inspiring in seeing a group of people moving independently and yet all serving the creation of a single goal.

While I worked on upholstering the chair for "the Great Man Himself," Mishelle diligently created her toy rifle for Christopher Robin. I saw Annelise painting branches and making "grass" for the Hundred Acre Woods. While Kristi painstakingly strung beads for the "rain" in the lobby, Chad and Alicia jumped in and tackled the unfinished/unpainted walls and transformed the whole room in the process. Giau and Jeremy fought with, and ultimately conquered the new projector while Anna busily hung and wired lights on the stage.

It was as if I was watching a strange and intricate dance in which each person gave or took space (or tools) as needed.

How wonderful it is that we can all truly own our space, our world, because we took the effort and gave of ourselves in the making of it. We hope you all will come enjoy the fruits of our labors and enter into the wonderful magical place we created together, for you.

VIDEO: Ismene Promo (2)

Jeremy - Ismene Chicago

http://theismeneproject.com/

Te Vegas: Illustration by Spent Pencils Toronto

The Chicago Production of ISMENE will be something very special. This will be our fourth time bringing ISMENE to Chicago, and each time we explore new interpretations and dive deeper into this mythos of this fascinating play. ISMENE is the show that started all of my Greek re-imaginings and has always been at the center of their universe. Every play that further expanded on the new rules of our Greek Theatre had to answer one simple question, "Does this stay in the context of ISMENE?" And yet, after producing the new ANTIGONE, MEDEA, THE AGON TRILOGY (AGAMEMNON, ELECTRA and ORESTES) and MEDEA (there is a new MEDEA also on the horizon, but we'll talk about that later) Ismene's world has been completely fleshed out. The rules of this universe are now set in stone.

We (and our Audience who has taken this long journey with us) have walked along so many of these characters. We've stood on the black beach with Medea, we've walked on water and into the ship of death of Agamemnon and Cassandra, we've stood covered in blood, hair and dust in the ruins of Thebes with Antigone, we've crawled into the chorus filled swamp with Electra, and we have even gone to the dead center of Hell and witnessed the very end of everyone and everything...

Although ISMENE was the first play written, to me it has always been the true ending to this long story. And for the first time, we are going to bring our Audience the full realization of that ending. From the earthquake till the final confrontation with fate, we hope that you will leave the theatre truly satisfied with the story's conclusion. I am so happy to bring this show to you.

This time - we are going for our most raw production yet. The Dream Theatre style has changed so much from ISMENE'S now archaic beginning back in 2004. As such a young company it was very clear from the start that we truly didn't know just what the Hell we were doing and what we had discovered. It would take several years before the ISMENE would be realized, and that discovery would open the door to the Dream Theatre style. And so, dear audience, with fresh eyes and years of laboratory style training, we are going to explore the school of Arktoi in all of its shadows and deepest secrets like never before. And you will be right there with us. What should you expect? (Wicked smile.) Trust us. How exactly are we accomplishing this? It's much better if I don't divulge any more. Just know that this is the perfect play to throw open the doors of the New Dream Theatre. From its shaky start to its short lived triumph as part of the ANTIGONE PROJECT (almost 3 years ago now), I promise that this will be our definitive production of ISMENE.

And I for one, can't wait.

-Jeremy


About The Ismene Project...

7 cities -- Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Dublin (Ireland), St. John's (Newfoundland, Canada), Toronto (Ontario, Canada).

8 women directors -- Liz Bragg, Heather Chamberlain, Amy Flood, Sharon King-Campbell, Megan Murphy, Aislinn Ní Uallacháin, Ruth Pe Palileo and Anna Weiler.

1 play -- "Ismene" by Jeremy Menekseouglu of Dream Theatre Company.

1 goal -- Raise awareness and funds to support the heroines who battle breast cancer every day.

The play "Ismene" will open in May 2011 in cities all over the world.

Courtney - If You Do Nothing, There Will Be No Result- A Hippy Dippy take on Downward Facing

As the opening weekend of Downward Facing comes to a close and we prepare for the continuation of a beautiful run, I find myself being sucked into the world of spiritual, yoga-centric musings in which Lilly-Anne no doubt lives. It's not that these thoughts are entirely new to me. I spent three months at this time last year Wwoofing in Hawaii at an eco-friendly retreat. During my stay, I was surrounded by people that consistently consulted astrologers about their year to come, twisted themselves into knots on a yoga mat before breakfast, and regularly referred to people and places as "magical". I guess we were in a paradise of sorts, so why wouldn't they be enthusiastically optimistic? But still, it's a new world to be thrown into for a habitual city dweller.

However, I can't deny that these type of philosophies and influences have had an impact on me since coming back. And playing Lilly-Anne has made some of that resurface, so forgive me for diving into hippy dippy talk at this time, but I feel it's relevant to our show.

Specifically, I'd like to address a quote from the Bhagavad Gita that I feel addresses both our play and the idea of making/presenting art in one. It goes as follows:

You have the power to act only
You do not have the power to influence the result
Therefore you must act without anticipation of the result
Without succumbing to inaction


The Gita goes on to say, "you may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing, there will be no result."

Though there are characters who take strong action from the start of the play (Dasher travels whenever he gets the urge, Jenna acts on her desire to have a child, and Lilly-Anne creates her dream business), I find that the conflict arises from the two characters who are more reluctant to take action: Janna and Flax.

Janna has trouble committing to her relationship because the idea of Jenna's child scares her. Flax does not want to leave her stoop, perhaps because this is the life she wants to live but also because she is probably afraid to change after living the way she has for so long. So I love that in the end of the play, Janna does take action and commits to Jenna, and Flax takes action by finding her own path, though we don't necessarily know what that path is. Essentially, these characters cease stagnancy and embark on taking action, whatever the result may be. The Gita also emphasizes that "action conquers fear," and in both of these situations, it clearly does.

And as I said before, I feel that these quotes apply strongly to putting on a show or creating art as well. We can't know what the result of our efforts will be. But we are taking action in a way that makes sense to us, and that way is creating. And we are brave enough to share what we are creating. So I am reiterating in my mind that I "have the power to act only," and yes, I'm aware of the double meaning due to the fact that I'm an actor in this show.  I guess I'm just saying that I often tend to focus on the results of my efforts. But according to this philosophy, that isn't really important at all.

PS- this might all be crazy talk because I think Lilly-Anne has hijacked my brain.

Mishelle~Wanderlust {said with a 'vuh'}

Children's stories are guttural, which is why they are typically made from the most base emotions and all the actions a human being is born with. The interest in the body, the soul the spirit the way we all have the same mechanical reactions and development no matter the location, the culture, the time of day, the country, the hair cut or color, we all got skinned knees. Which brings me to the greatest thing about playing a child in a play, or writing a child into a script: that culture, race, location all those affectations don't matter.

As children we have dreams. These dreams are about the amazing things we will do and places we will go as adults. Wanderlust. As adults we have dreams about all the things we could of done when we were children {but weren't we too meek and stupid! or bold and reckless!} less attached, less...intellectual. I'm not saying children aren't smart. If anything, they are more in touch with their true brains than we as adults are. But I am a believer in clear thought, and I find that our desire to tap into our childhoods again is a sort of mental pedophilia.



My childhood wanderlust was to have the freedom of an adult, so I could do, see, eat, drink, fuck things I could not then.
My adult wanderlust is to be a kid and be free from wanting/needing to do, see, eat, drink, fuck things I could not then.

Unfortunately neither is satisfying, unless we quantify them as so, but both come from such a different place in the body and mind that there is no possible way to truly rate our lives in such a manner as what time was better.


I find most actors approach being a kid on stage by being uninhibited and silly, unabashedly larger than life, with an unbalanced scale of life vs death. But I think, that being a kid is much simpler, it's constant contemplation. Puzzle solving and discovery. And how the base human responds to that venture, is the epitome of a child-like mind.

-mishelle