The Dozen Disasters that Stalk Me

 It's been well over a month since my last post. A lot has happened. A couple of my "Four Big Things" have come and gone. Huge changes at work - new possibilities and new responsibilities. Lots of birth and death on the farm. We finally bought a bull calf. He's a bit small, but eager to get to work. In keeping with our tradition of naming herd sires alphabetically, since this is our first bull Jules has decided to call him Angus:

Got some surprising good news - my script "Good People" was "good enough" to be accepted into the 10 minute play competition at the Grand River Arts Festival, taking place in Brantford this September. We were accepted based on the script alone, but the competition itself is all about productions - 15 short plays are in the running for bragging rights and cash prizes. I've never done anything like this before, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. Thanks to our workshop production of this play in Ennotville last summer I already have a great team in place, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of competitive theatre - that's something I've never done before.

But the most important thing is that this week I finally, finally get to start rehearsals for my summer shows. It has been almost a year since I was in the director's chair, and even longer since I directed anything more than a quick sketch. For those of you who know me, you know that directing plays is my happy place, and it's something that I need to do in order to feed my creative soul. 

And as I'm sure you can tell by this blog, my creative soul is in dire need of some nourishment. Tonight was our first rehearsal, and it was amazing! The cast were throwing ideas around back and forth, new scenes were contemplated, and new layers of meaning were discovered in the text. I got to hear the work read aloud for the first time, and my mind is buzzing with ideas for additions, deletions, and rewrites. As always, I like to post the picture of the empty rehearsal space, in the last few moments before the actors arrive. I don't really know why I do this - I guess it's just my little tradition:

I know it's just one night, and there's still a long ways to go, but hopefully over the next few weeks I'll finally have the time to slow down and enjoy the rehearsal process. It has been a very, very long year. I feel like I've been through a lot. I feel that joy has proven elusive. I feel like there are a dozen disasters that stalk me. 

But still... I do plays. That's pretty awesome, isn't it?