New Year N Stuff

Herro! Happy belated new year, folks. Hope everyone is enjoying (*surviving*) the snow/cold on the East Coast. It's been an incredibly inspiring/productive /generally rad month and a half, let me tell you.
Starting with....

1. Pig Iron. During the first two weeks of January, I spent upwards of eight hours a day in a workshop with Pig Iron Theatre Co. called "Something from Nothing." During the workshop, we focused on building a strong/creative ensemble (we were a group of eighteen), and as the name would suggest, creating original work "from nothing." We did a lot of improv, we learned to sing in Norwegian, we explored Greek myths, we created super strange characters based on photographs of the Western U.S. landscape, we studied Charlie Chaplin, we bonded. I can't recommend this school/their educational programming more highly. Such an intense and incredible way to jump-start 2015. 

2. Cape Cod Philanthropy Day. Back in December, I went home to the Cape to participate as a panelist in Cape Cod Philanthropy Day. It's a pretty fabulous event on Cape Cod, facilitating community engagement and honoring do-gooders in the human rights/arts scene. I participated on a panel (with my lovely mother) about inspiring and educating the next generation of philanthropists. Philanthropy is important n stuff.

3. Bicycle Face! I've spent the last few months drafting a solo show. It's about ladies and feminism and academia and bicycles. It's set in the past, present and future. And if all goes as planned, it'll be debuting in the Philly Solow Fest this spring. More info coming soon, as I start to workshop this beast!

4. Philadelphia: The Great Experiment. That thing I was an extra in (back in October), debuted in January on ABC. Check it out! (To be more specific - I was an extra in Episode 8 of History Making Productions' series about Philly. The piece explored the early life and contributions of Ben Franklin.) I'm in 0:53-0:58 - the grimy/grinny girl in the cape on the boat. Congrats to my buddy Andrew Carroll, who plays young Ben Franklin.

5. Fifty Days at Iliam. As of this past weekend - I've officially embarked on another exciting new project. Myself and a team of *roughly* ten other Philly/New York (and beyond) - based theatre artists are collaborating to devise a piece about the Trojan War. We are using the Fifty Days at Illiam paintings (by abstract expressionist painter Cy Twombly) as our working vocabulary and source of inspiration. They reside in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and are described as Twombly's take on the final fifty days of the decade long siege of Troy. Here's our facebook page, if you want to learn more about the project. Some stills from our first session devising to the right. The project will debut in the 2015 Fringe Festival - though in the meantime, we'll be having free monthly showings of the work-in-progress! Next one is March 8th. Deets will be posted on my homepage.

5. Other stuff! In my *free* time, I've been lucky to see some really wonderful art n theatre in the city. Shout-out to InterAct and their astonishing production of Jen Silverman's The Dangerous House of Pretty Mbane. A stunning piece, with the subtle power of a sledgehammer - tackling the political sphere in S. Africa, particularly with regard to corrective rape policy and journalistic privilege. Also had the chance to check out a reading of When The Rain Stops Falling at the Wilma, as well as a screening of the documentary Under Fire. Also also caught Brat Productions remounting of The Future - a super fresh/funky punk cabaret post-apocalyptic clown show/concert. Woot. Lastly, I participated in a workshop reading of a really exciting play-in-development by a really exciting local playwright.... Brian Grace-Duff! Check him out.  

6. Mixtape Poetry Project. On Feb 24th at 6pm, I'll be reading (along with lots of other poets) at the Kelly Writers House as a part of Michelle Taransky's Mixtape Poetry Project. Taransky has assembled twelve poems into little "mixtapes" (4"x2.65") and is distributing 'em. We'll be reading the poems we submitted as part of the launch. Check out Michelle! (Her poetry is super duper exciting). 

7. Coming soon.... Got a few other things cooking on the back burner, too. So. Check back soon! (A reading, that poetry-chapbook I keep talkin' bout, etc.)

That's all for now. Stay warm stay warm.

Warmly,
Hannah