Grinder's Grumblings

 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

It's been almost a month since we brought the curtain down on our summer season at the Ennotville Library, and I'm only now just getting a chance to write about it (and even this one is going to have to be a quickie). After a whirlwind year of playing catch-up in my non-Grinder life I'm now, finally, no longer playing catch-up, but actually doing some badly-needed catching up.  On the whole I'm very pleased with how things went this summer. Did they go according to plan? Of course not! But they did go, and we put on two weeks of shows, including a week of all-female works. We also raised some money for the Library's new HVAC system, which I'm pleased to report has now been installed and is doing what it was intended to do. Those are two really big boxes checked for me.  But of course, as Stanislavsky purportedly said "contentment is the enemy of the artist," and for all the success we had this past season I want to build on that success, and do even be

It seems like only yesterday that I was putting up a post about getting ready for rehearsals, and now here we are, just days away from opening. My plan had been to put out a post a week while we were in rehearsals, but things have been such a whirlwind of activity over the past few weeks that I've been racing just to keep up. Here, finally, I have a somewhat quiet evening, and a few moments to collect my thoughts on this production so far.  First off, I'm pleased to report that the show is coming along quite well. Lines are being learnt, blocking is being retained, characters are emerging. The funny parts are looking like they're actually going to be funny - that's not always a given with any play, let alone a collection of plays that are all well over 100 years old.  Second, we're also selling tickets! Plenty of people have bought tickets to the show already, and more sales are coming in all the time. With only 80 seats available in total I'm now at the point w

And here we are! Final preparations are almost complete for our two Ennotville productions this year. On the week 1 front, “It’s Too Hot in Here” is, well, heating up. The set this year is looking a little different than the past couple of years, but I still haven't managed to "think outside the box" as much as I'd hoped to. Still, this is taking things in a new direction, and doing stuff that I've never done before. Of course, there’s much work still to do - costumes are going to be a big part of this play, and we can’t really start on that until we have that other main element in place - the actors!  Luckily, we’re almost fully cast, and I'll be showcasing all of them in some upcoming posts. I'm looking forward to working with what is turning out to be a great mix of old friends and new. And we even have something we don't normally have for one of my Ennotville shows - tickets. Since this is a fundraiser we are selling tickets to this show only, and