Some Pictures!

Right now we are thick in the middle of rehearsing for the event Faeries, Sprites and Lights and I've already done some very typical stage manager-type things. For example, I now have at least the beginnings of a stage manager kit of my own. So, on the first day we read through the script, I had highlighters for everyone. During an ensemble rehearsal I had index cards and pens to hand out to everyone when we needed impromptu information collected, I had blue painter's tape on hand to tape out the dimensions of the set on the ground so that we could begin blocking, and just today Josh (the assistant director and Theatre and Outreach Manager) managed to cut himself on the tape measure, and I had bandaids and antibiotic ointment out and ready to go by the time he got his hand washed. :)

The fifteen minute scripted show (called "The Golden Touch") was blocked at the end of last week in one two and a half or three hour rehearsal. Today was our first time working the show off book. George wasn't there today so it was just Josh and me. I was on book for line calls, to watch that the actors were sticking to the correct blocking, etc. Fortunately everything went very smoothly today, and there were even some great discoveries and character choices. I love it when those happen. :) I think it will be a lot of fun, especially for the kids.

Here are some pictures of the houses I talked about in the video, as well as some pictures from rehearsals.

This is the main building - built on the site where Frank Ball, the co-founder and first president of the Ball Corporation, originally built his house. He called it "Minnetrista" which means "gathering place by the river" in a Native American dialect.

This house belonged to Edmund Ball, the other co-founder, secretary/treasurer of Ball Corporation. He called it "Neebosham" which means "gathering place by a bend in the river" in a Native American dialect.

This house is called Maplewood. Personally, it's my favorite. :)

This is Oakhurst. This house has four acres of grounds, and was where Betty Ball lived all her life - the inspiration and starting point for Faeries, Sprites and Lights. It is on the grounds of Oakhurst that Faeries, Sprites and Lights takes place.

This building is usually just called "L.L." The house belonged to Lucius Lorenzo Ball - the oldest brother, who was a doctor. It is the plainest house, and now serves as an office building for many Minnetrista staff, including the theatre staff (which includes me). :)





And here are just some pictures snapped during rehearsal. Enjoy!

Come, let's rehearse!

Rehearsals for Faeries, Sprites and Lights have officially begun! We began on Monday last week, this whole week will be rehearsals, all of next week, and then the week after that will be production week preparing for the event on Friday and Saturday nights, July 8 and 9.

Stage managing for this event is much different from stage managing for a regular show. Most of the actors don't actually have scripts because it's guided character improvisation, so when we meet for rehearsals, it is my job to keep track of time, take notes on the developments that come out of the character-building activities that George or Josh do with the actor, occasionally stand in to help, and, of course, provide bug spray.

I still have my office hours in the early afternoon from 1:00 to 4:00 when I send emails, track down and collect paperwork, and do various and sundry other tasks that Josh or George need done.

Rehearsal is typically from 4:00 to 7:00. Character-building rehearsals usually consist of a few physical warm-up types of activities, followed by possibly some improv games or walking around and interacting in character. Sometimes we send the actors off on their own to reflect and create back story for their characters in their heads and figure out things like mannerisms, etc. that would be unique to their character.

Today, the finished script for "The Golden Touch," - the show within a show that 3 of the actors will perform during the event - was given to me with just minor tweaks necessary. We did a read-through yesterday and two more read-throughs today. Unfortunately, Nic, who is playing the father of the "Larke Family Troupe" is sick and not doing very well, so he hasn't been able to be there for the last couple of days. We're waiting to see what happens with him. George is starting to wonder if we'll have to have Josh understudy and possibly perform for him. We'll have to see.

Pictures to come!

Oh, and here's the poem I talked about in the video about the history of Minnetrista -

The Fairy
By Elisabeth Ball
July 1917

Once I saw a fairy...
Tiny in the grass.
She moved along so quickly
I hardly saw her pass.

Yet I know it was a fairy,
For the shimmer of her wing
Left a little flitting sunbeam
On a web where dew-drops cling.


So there you have it. Betty Ball and her love of faeries. :)

The History of Minnetrista (According to Kendra)

Weeks 1 and 2: So what does a theatre intern DO exactly?

I'm a little late getting started on this blog and I apologize. I thought I'd heard tell somewhere along the way that with every IWU Communications internship there was supposed to come a blog but I was a little late getting enrolled in the actual class and forgot to ask for the syllabus. Sooo... here goes.

On Tuesday, May 31 I began my internship with Minnetrista Cultural Center in Muncie. I soon found out that interning at Minnetrista is 1) not much like I imagine interning for a theatre company would be and 2) probably not much like interning for any other company. In some ways, Minnetrista is a world unto itself with a rich history and culture all its own. My first week on the job (Tuesday, May 31 and Thursday, June 2) was mostly orientation and education on the history of Minnetrista, which I will elaborate on at a later date. Week 2 actually started to have more of a job-like feel to it.

Minnetrista itself is a... well... they call it a cultural center. According to their website -

"Minnetrista is a museum and cultural center that serves the people of East Central Indiana. Minnetrista offers exhibits and programs for children, families, adults, scouts, teachers and students that focus on nature, history, gardens, and art.

Minnetrista's 40-acre campus includes beautiful gardens, a modern museum facility, an historic home, Nature Area, numerous sculptures, and a portion of the White River Greenway." 

If you want to know more about Minnetrista, feel free to visit their website: http://www.minnetrista.net/.

Their educational program employs theatre as a chief teaching tool, so they have the "Theatre Preserves" which is a touring group that goes to local libraries and elementary schools to perform for the students, and they also have a variety of theatrical events. That's where the "theatre" comes into this internship.

So. What will I be doing? I've been working through that question myself.

Firstly, I'm the stage manager for this year's Faeries, Sprites and Lights event, which is a theatrical event involving eight actors, a band that plays music for the duration of the event, and many activities for the children. Where the actors are concerned, most of the event is improvisation. The eight characters are stationed around the grounds at Oakhurst (Elisabeth Ball's historic home). Parents bring their children to the event, and the characters interact with the children and families. Each of the characters has a back story, and they each have a relationship with each other. Some of the back story details that these characters have each been invited by the faeries to their mid-summer celebration on the grounds of Oakhurst, and each for a different reason. There are faerie and sprite houses placed all over the grounds at Oakhurst, and everyone is free to explore and see as many of the sights as they can see. The story goes that Queen Lilliana, the Faerie Queen, wants to patch things up with the humans and revive the friendship. That's why everyone has been invited to the celebration. Prince Greenhorn of the sprites, however, doesn't think so and therefore the faeries and sprites are still invisible to the humans. There's not a whole lot of difference between a faerie and a sprite that I know of, except that faeries have wings and sprites don't. And I think the story behind that is that the sprites were so mischievous that the faeries took their wings away. I don't know what the difference between them was before that. :) So that's some of the history behind the event.

There IS an actual stage to manage. During the event there's a play-within-a-play of sorts. Three of the eight characters constitute the "Larke" family - a traveling troupe that puts on shows. This year's show will be "The Golden Touch" - a re-telling of the King Midas story. That will actually have a script, a stage, and a set that I will be in charge of managing. This involves making up binders for the actors, taking blocking and line notes, resolving any conflicts that might arise, and making sure that lights, sound, props, costumes, and actors are all ready to go by July 8 and 9 - our event days.

So far what I've been able to work on has been stage manager-type responsibilities. I attended several meetings including a general theatre meeting, a set design meeting, and a marketing meeting for the Faeries, Sprites and Lights (FSL) event. I've also managed to pull together some resources and prepare binders for each of the eight actors with rehearsal schedules, character information, and maps. This has all been preparatory work.

But stage managing isn't to be my only responsibility for this internship. During my office hours, I will also be a dramaturg. For those who don't know what that is, please check out the link. Basically what this means for me is that I will be creating and compiling a style guide. I will be doing some research and answering questions like, "What is a faerie?" "Why does Minnetrista spell it with an 'e' instead of an 'i'?" "What do faeries and sprites wear?" "What exactly is the difference between a faerie and a sprite?" "What do their houses look like? What are they made out of?" I think you get the picture. Basically, this is the 5th year for this event and they're looking to start establishing a sort of precedent and reasoning for the overall history and appearance of things, etc. The dramaturgic work will most likely be concentrated toward the latter part of the summer. Although on my second day I did get to photograph each of the faerie houses for inventory and so that I can begin working out what faerie houses are made of.

On the first day I met with HR and signed some paperwork. Then I met Josh Moore - the new Theatre Outreach Coordinator at Minnetrista. It turns out that the new Outreach Coordinator (Josh) started the same week as two new interns. Josh started on Monday, I started Tuesday, and then the other intern, Melody, started on Wednesday. Josh is technically right above me... I think. But George Buss (whose title is "Director of Experience and Education") is actually my supervisor.

George and I then walked down the lane past all the different houses (I'll touch on them when I talk about the history), and showed me to the office in the L.L. Ball house where the intern work station is. I had lunch with George, Josh, and Nic Blevins who is the summer touring actor along with Tonya Kunkel (Cody Konschak's internship position from last summer). Nic is acting in Faeries, Sprites and Lights also, as well as being the props master. He works for Exhibits at Minnetrista on a regular basis.

My schedule for the summer is a little crazy. These past couple of weeks I've been at Minnetrista two days a week on Tuesday and Thursday from 10 am to 3 pm. On Monday/Wednesday/Friday I've been working at the library at IWU. I've only had office hours at Minnetrista so far. This coming week begins rehearsals for FSL, which are from 4 to 7 pm every day. Not every actor is called every day, but rehearsals are every day. Before rehearsals, I will have office hours from 1 to 4 every day. So I will be at Minnetrista from 1 to 7 pm every day until our actual event days, July 8 and 9, and FSL will go from 6 to 9 pm on both those days. After FSL is over, I will go back to office hours two days a week, like I have been been these past two weeks, and I will mostly work on the style guide.

It's probably not like what many theatre interns do, but this is the beginning of my answer to "So what does a theatre intern DO exactly?" :)

At some point during this week, I'll try to post some pictures and share some of the history of Minnetrista, because the history is key to most of what goes on there.

The people I work with are fun, I've liked what I've gotten to do so far, and it's just the right mix of history and a little bit of magic and imagination. I think it's going to be a great summer. Hopefully it just gets better from here!

Thanks for reading!