Catching Up... plus Register to Vote!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

In Texas the deadline to register to vote in this November's elections is: October 9.



Now, about catching up...

It's been kinda nutsy here, what with one thing and another.  So I'll just shove a few photos (in no particular order) here to show what I've been up to:

Hir at Stage West in Fort Worth - photo courtesy of the theater.

Hir was a really interesting script - gender and family politics... on steroids kinda.  Funny and awful.  A highly detailed - and usually messy - set.  Below is a snap of stencil painting the kitchen wallpaper.  The wonderful prop designer found tons of great stuff!  Including those crocheted pillows on the sofa.

Below is a construction photo of Bread at WaterTower Theater.  In the center you see the faux oak revolve (notice it matches the other wood in the room?).  It was surrounded by a moat - into which we rained - and by stylized suggestions of lawn and deck etc.  

This was a successful but quite painful project... 

Bread construction photo - WaterTower Theater.

And below here is a photo of Luna Gale at Circle Theater.  CPS files forever and ever and ever...

Luna Gale, Circle Theater.

Now this next photo is an oldy but goody, Ironbound at Kitchen Dog Theater.  The best photo I've found of the bus stop bench!  (Which, after the show was over, was saved and now sits in someone's back yard, yeah!)

Ironbound at Kitchen Dog Theater - courtesy of the theater.

What else have I been doing?  Well, a long visit in California (best sunset ever because hazy from smoke), various other projects, and the latest update to Minecraft (TM), which is pretty dang cool.  What's better than swimming in the summer?

Minecraft Aquatic update... and a coolo underwater coral tower.

Take Nothing for Granted

"Found" sampler

Thanks to its brilliant embroiderer!

This shall be my new motto.

It exactly describes my year...  I'm almost thinking of getting this as a tattoo.

Sorry for the loooong pause between postings.  There's been travel, special projects, and a whole ton of work in the interval.  By the end of this year I will have designed 15 shows.  Not my all-time record, but still pretty crazy-nuts!  Today's post is just a teaser - in up-coming posts I hope to reflect back on this year and a few of the questions it's raised:

Like:  How to design for rain onstage?  (Two shows so far this year have tested that issue.)  What's with generational turnover in theater companies?  Does Yale prepare one well for a career in theater?  Are there special issues in designing for shows with African-American casts - I mean, beyond the special issues of every other cast?  (Segregation - still a thing?*)  Is WWII actually over?*  And the popular demand: Why is oak so bigoted?

Been a weird year so far...


* Yes.  * No.

Make America Good Again

"Great"?  

"Great" has all kinds of echoes to it - especially in today's America - but even ignoring politics, there's a faint shrill of trumpets to the word, rumble of heroic charges, clash of battles, roar of victories!  "Great" cheers on competition.

But "Good"?

"Good" has a whole different vibe.  "Good" implies not competition, but values.  "Good" contrasts itself with "Bad."  "Good" whispers of morality, ethics, faith, and kindness.

So...

The Washington Post has a great, um, good Hat-Maker tool HERE.

Catch Up Photos

A few pics from shows earlier this year...

The Gazebo at Main Stage Irving Las Colinas:

The Royale at Kitchen Dog Theater:

Now onstage? 

Go see Bread at WaterTower Theatre in Addison - a wonderful new play by Regina Taylor set in Dallas' Oak Cliff.

(And while you're play-watching, check out Pompeii at Kitchen Dog.  I'm gettin' tickets!)

Tax Swamp

Tax Day is always fraught... but they are finally done and sent!

Meanwhile, our Dear Leader is getting an extension for his apparently.

I STILL WANT TO SEE TRUMP'S TAX RETURNS!

Net Neutral Burger

Confused about what "Net Neutrality" even means?  Or why it's important to You?

Burger King (brilliantly) explains:

This is important stuff people!  Go bug your government about it, huh?

Find your Representative HERE.
Find your Senator HERE.

Presidents' Day and The Royale

Presidents ain't Kings.

All I'm sayin'.

I think fair use of mostly public domain images (thanks Wikimedia!)

Meanwhile, at Kitchen Dog Theater, my set for The Royale is being built:

The newly stained floor - photo by Jeremy Escobar

Catching Up... and Getting Ahead

Well, it's been the usual nuts around here.  

At the moment I'm frantically trying to catch up on construction drawings for WaterTower Theater's production of Bread, a new play by Regina Taylor.  (Decisions got a little delayed, as they tend to on premiers, but we're cooking now.)

I've got a couple shows on the boards:  This Random World at Circle Theater and The Gazebo at Mainstage Irving Las Colinas.  Check 'em out!  Coming up soon is The Royale at Kitchen Dog Theater.  

Above and below: The Gazebo by Main Stage Irving Las Colinas

Sketch and photo by Clare Floyd DeVries

Outside of theater I've been doing a little reading:  dipping into the newest translation of Don Quixote (very lively) and a collection Famous Speeches (less so), and just finishing The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt.  Fascinating!  Hard to describe... more or less a look at the philosophical basis for a moral and happy life merged with related recent science.  Sounds dull?  Not so!

TV and film? I've been enjoying the latest Star Wars and the shows The Crown and The Good Place.

But how about my latest and most terrible hobby you ask?  (No, if you have sense you run because that hobby is Politics.  Yeesh.)

TODAY'S PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

If you're not yet registered to vote... go sign up today!

Texas' primaries start March 6th.  And this year in Texas there are actual CHOICES!  So go pick someone you like, huh?  Primaries are important.

Look at the Dallas News' Voters' Guide for who all will be on your primary ballot.  Having actual choices means that you'll have to do a little homework in order to vote intelligently.

TODAY'S POLITICAL PLUG

Let me recommend one candidate for your consideration:

Beto O'Roarke

Here's why I like him enough to advocate for him:  

1)  He's running against Senator Ted Cruz.

2)  Beto refuses to accept PAC money.  Believes in term limits.

3)  He's eager, enthusiastic, and tireless.  He's been driving ALL over the state in his pickup, meeting with regular people, talking with them.  He's 45 but seems younger, partly because he's tech-savvy... and younger, tech-savvier opinions in the Senate can only be a plus.

4)  Beto has experience as US Representative for El Paso (so with real knowledge of border issues - did I mention he's fluent in Spanish?)

5)  He's pro-veterans in a practical get-them-help- kinda way.  I like the practicality.

6)  He believes in - and practises - bi-partisanship.  I don't care what party he belongs to, but he believes in the things I like about the Democratic party... like health care.

7)  Beto seems like a genuinely good guy.  Nice family.  Appealing.  All that electability stuff. 
8)  Plus he was once a punk rocker.  Not sure why that appeals to me... maybe because that's unstuffy? 

First bumper sticker I've ever put on my car.

Please vote.  Your country needs you.