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365 Days/365 Plays: In the beginning. Ellipses.
Excerpt from Day 2 (Nov. 16): Father Comes Home From The Wars (Part 1)
Father: Hi honey, Im home.
Mother: Yr home.
Father: Yes.
Mother: I wasnt expecting you. Ever.
Father: Should I go back out and come back in again?
Mother: Please.
We're going to say this right now and get it over with: get off your arses and participate in this yearlong national theatre festival. which is being held simultaneously around the world from this week to a year from now.
Last night's performance of the first 7 days/7 plays of Suzan-Lori Parks' 365 Days/365 Plays was enlighteningly delightful. Presented by The Center Theatre Group, LA's "hub" theatre (they own the Ahmanson, Mark Taper and Kirk Douglas), the short miniatures were performed site-specifically on the Music Center Plaza, in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion’s lobby and at the front steps of Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Intermixed within the 7 plays, Parks allows The 3 Constants to be "sprinkled" at the director's discretion throughout the performance. Director Bart DeLorenzo's best work was with The 1st Constant (Remember Who You Are) [pictured above] where he took the 11 sentences and stretched it out into a zen-like Chekhovian moment, all too appropriate for the Music Center decor that was already in place for the Holiday season.
Other highlights included the incredible acting of Leonardo Nam (the "other Leo") and Parks spotting her good friend, Don Cheadle, and running up to him crying, "I didn't invite you," as she laughed.
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The night was not to be in total perfection with the variables that come with an outdoor performance: wireless mics plus wind do not equal a great combination and a flat level stage with hundreds of people does not allow for easy-viewing, unless you found your way to the front or side of the audience for each of the plays, which were all in different locations. Parks, herself, had a hard time viewing her own plays; even one time being asked by a security guard to step down from a tree planter bench that she was using to gain some height over the audience.
More pictures after the jump...
Suzan-Lori Parks watching #2 of 365:
Father Comes Home From The Wars (Part 1)
The 3rd Constant (Inaction in Action)
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#6 of 365:
Here Comes The Message
#1 of 365:
Start Here
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#5 of 365:
Veuve Clicquot
#7 of 365:
Fine Animal
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