Grinder's Grumblings

TS Eliot wrote "April is the cruelest month." It's also turning out to be one of the busiest. As I careen ever-less-gracefully into middle age I'm finding that spring is the most hectic time of my year. Some of that is due to the weather, and the myriad of things that start to grow (or start to be born) at this time of year. Some of it is due to the cyclical nature of the day job, with spring and fall being natural times for major projects to come to fruition: spring tours free of weather cancelation worries, end-of-year dance recitals, etc. And some of it is simply due to the frustration of being too busy to get time to work on my summer shows!  I still don't have much work done on my upcoming shows,  not as much as I had hoped, anyways. I still don't have pictures of set pieces to show you. I did get the boxes done though, so I suppose that's something: And I have made some progress on the shows. Maid of Stone has a few set pieces built, a partial cast (

 It doesn't feel like winter tonight, but I know it still is - at least it certainly felt like it yesterday. I know it's still winter, but I know we're coming to the end of it. I'm running out of time.  I had hoped to fill this month's blog posts with images of half-built set pieces, the beginnings of something amazing emerging from the darkness of the shop, and maybe even a few glimpses of what I hope will be a transformational year in the visual design of our Ennotville productions. But alas, as always, my plans are thwarted by reality.  The reality is that I've been too busy. Weather notwithstanding (I don't feel very creative when I'm freezing cold) there just haven't been the minutes to get stuff built. Yes, I'm still plugging away on the boxes, as those of you who read my last post will likely recall, but they're still not done, and it will take a huge effort to get them done this month. To say nothing else of the half a dozen other thi

One of my projects this winter (I have way too many winter projects) is to clean up our tiny basement, turning it from a low-ceiling dumping ground for rubber boots, unnecessary counter top appliances and other assorted kitsch into a true scholar’s bastion. As an avowed minimalist there’s not much in the way of “stuff” that I attach much meaning to, and I’m unlikely to ever be any sort of collector, but one of the things I do value is my aging collection of printed literary material. As you might imagine I do have a fair number of plays, but I also have some works of fiction, philosophy, poetry, and a collection of non-fiction works on topics like woodworking, agriculture, and of course stagecraft. As a theatre-maker, writer, farmer, and carpenter I actually do make frequent use of these materials, and organizing them has become increasingly difficult, especially as life has gotten in the way, and the basement has become ever more crowded with stuff we really don't need or want. So

Happy New Year from Grinder Productions!  It’s a new year, and that means that it’s time to announce our new season. After a whirlwind of activity in 2023, where the company put on eleven plays over four productions, this year will be less about the number of scripts that we stage, and more about how we stage them. This is a year to focus on the process.   Our theme this season is Healing, Health, and Hope. Let's face it - the world has got some problems: war, sickness, greed, hate, and greenhouse gases all had a banner year in 2023. Hunger, poverty, homelessness, and inflation all competed, alongside many others in a macabre beauty pageant, vying to be crowned "Preventable Problem of the Year." Political machinations at home and abroad (and especially in our Screaming Cheeto-endowed neighbours to the south) have impeded the boring, necessary work of sane and sober people to move the needle on many pressing issues. Most alarmingly, we've seen a rise in people talking