Grinder's Grumblings

Year of the Blue Jay? Dear friends and fans of Grinder Productions, Happy New Year! As always, this is the day when I announce the shows that I'm planning to do in the coming year. Sometimes I have a theme, sometimes I don't. For 2026 there is no theme, just a couple of shows that I hope you'll enjoy.  Our first show is called Dirty Deeds at Handlebar Dan's House of Old Wives, or, How Sally Simple Saved the Sarsaparilla Saloon. This is a “gay-nineties” melodrama (think of it as the American version of a Panto, if that helps). It calls for exaggerated, over-the-top performances. Actors shouldn't hold back, or try to over-analyse characters, and the audience is encouraged to cheer for the heroes, boo for the villains, and have as much fun as the actors on stage.  Instead of our usual set-up, for this play we're going to transform the Ennotville Library into Handlebar Dan's, with the patrons seated at tables, cabaret-style. Maybe we'll even get Dan to serv...

Picking a season is like playing chess... against an evil master! This post is just a quick reminder that the Grinder 2026 season will drop, as usual, on New Year's Day. I'll be announcing the two shows that we will be doing this summer at the Ennotville Library, and maybe one or two other things that may or may not come along.  Have we got a story for you! Picking the season is something that has always been very important to me. Out of an infinite number of plays and an infinite number of dramatic possibilities I narrow my choices down to just a handful of shows. In this case there are two, but sometimes a season is only one show, or three shows, or three dozen shows. I don't think the actual number of shows is all that important, actually. What matters is why you chose them.  The Assistant Director fell asleep on the couch... And the older I get, the reasons why I chose them become more and more important to me. I find that odd, because I thought as time went on I would ...

Most of the time I devote this space to all things Grinder, but this month I'd like to take a small detour, and talk a little bit about my writing.  Writing is and always has been a primarily creative outlet for me, rather than a source of income. I try to write every day, and I can't go too long without writing, even if I try not to, or even if it's not convenient to do so. I always have a notebook in my pocket, so that I can write whenever I do get the chance. For creative work I compose exclusively by hand, pen to paper, writing in cursive (if you don't know what cursive is, ask your parents). Over the past year or so I've taken some steps to further develop the writing-as-business side of things, as I struggle, however slowly, to take my creative career to a new level.  One of the first things I did was to give in and finally start paying for a website once again. I hadn't paid for web hosting since the old Grinder era crashed back in 2010, but now I am the ...

Back to the blogosphere. It's been a while. The plan this year was to post at least once a month, and when I had a show in production, at least once a week. Needless to say that reality got in the way, as it always does, and as the Bard once said, Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of Resolution Is sicklied o'er, with the pale cast of Thought, And enterprises of great pitch and moment,  With this regard their Currents turn awry,  And lose the name of Action  In other words, a lot of things didn't go according to plan this year, as usual. But out of that darkness, there came a lot of light. There was Maid of Stone, finally brought to life by these three fine actresses. This show was the rock upon which I was able to build a season.    And if the cast of Maid of Stone was my rock, then it was the next four ladies who were my life raft. I had planned to do a Greek Tragedy this year, but when that fell through and I put out a call f...

We're almost there. The Grinder 2025 season is almost upon us. This year, we have show posters: Sets, props, and even some sound are all in place - lighting and costumes will have to wait...    ... but the assistant director has given everything a good look over, and he seems to approve. While there's clearly more work still to be done, I'm very happy with how I've managed to turn things around this year. There are no guarantees, but with any luck this summer I won't be scrambling to build something at the last minute, figure out a major blocking problem, or waste time working on something that could have been done months ago. I hope, instead, to focus on other things, like rehearsals.  To do that, of course, I must overcome my greatest challenge, finding actors who fit my roles and are available in the summertime. Even there I've made more progress this year than in the past but still, with just a few weeks left to go before rehearsals, I have some roles that I...

Well, maybe not... The promise of spring on the farm has yet to materialize - this little one is actually a very late arrival from the winter season. The air is still cold and wet, as is the ground. The cattle are in mud up halfway up their legs if they dare to step outside (which they do). We didn't tap the maple trees this year, so aside from some buds on the willows down by the pond you'd be forgiven for thinking we're still in the middle of last winter. But despite the weather the calendar marches on, and I know that spring will be here eventually. If past years are anything to go by I think our spring will be very short, and the heat of the summer will soon be upon us.  Despite it still being too cold for me to get much done in the shop Grinder Productions prep work for the summer season is coming along well. Casting is underway, and while I'm not there yet I'm a lot further ahead than I was this time last year. As always, I'm on the lookout for new talent,...