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Getting Wet For Your Art
Apr. 27th, 2009 09:24 amI'd like to talk about two instances of getting wet for one's art.
The first one occurred this weekend when I went to see Twelfth Night at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST). Like many Shakespeare comedies, the plot relied on girls pretending to be boys, a gag which worked better in Shakespeare's time then now. Despite that handicap, the play proved to be hilarious. Partially responsible for the hilarity was the staging.
The entire play took place in and around a swimming pool. The CST folks flooded the stage, creating in the trap a deep area (6-8 foot) and a wading area around it. The back area of the stage was a series of bare cedar risers, capped with a heart-shaped arch. Pretty much everybody went swimming at least once, and the pool was used for great dramatic and comedic effect. I was told by a CST employee over the intermission that the cast spent two weeks at a pool as part of rehearsals.
The second instance of getting wet for one's art was my scuba dive at Cozumel. I am not a certified diver, so I did a two hour "diving for dummies" where a guide takes you out. This was my second dive ever. My first was in Grand Cayman while in the Navy. Back then I was more athletic, and my companions were Navy officers who were at least used to breathing gear.
This dive was with a pair of nurses from Wisconsin, Joy and Mary, and I'm not as athletic as I used to be. Frankly, I spent part of the night before worrying about the dive, in that half-asleep / half-awake mode one sometimes gets. But at any rate, the dive went well and I enjoyed it.
How is this related to art? Well, for the average Joe, it's as close as one will get to being weightless and wearing a spacesuit. It was a good practice session for a budding SF writer, besides being a fun way to spend a morning.
The first one occurred this weekend when I went to see Twelfth Night at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST). Like many Shakespeare comedies, the plot relied on girls pretending to be boys, a gag which worked better in Shakespeare's time then now. Despite that handicap, the play proved to be hilarious. Partially responsible for the hilarity was the staging.
The entire play took place in and around a swimming pool. The CST folks flooded the stage, creating in the trap a deep area (6-8 foot) and a wading area around it. The back area of the stage was a series of bare cedar risers, capped with a heart-shaped arch. Pretty much everybody went swimming at least once, and the pool was used for great dramatic and comedic effect. I was told by a CST employee over the intermission that the cast spent two weeks at a pool as part of rehearsals.
The second instance of getting wet for one's art was my scuba dive at Cozumel. I am not a certified diver, so I did a two hour "diving for dummies" where a guide takes you out. This was my second dive ever. My first was in Grand Cayman while in the Navy. Back then I was more athletic, and my companions were Navy officers who were at least used to breathing gear.
This dive was with a pair of nurses from Wisconsin, Joy and Mary, and I'm not as athletic as I used to be. Frankly, I spent part of the night before worrying about the dive, in that half-asleep / half-awake mode one sometimes gets. But at any rate, the dive went well and I enjoyed it.
How is this related to art? Well, for the average Joe, it's as close as one will get to being weightless and wearing a spacesuit. It was a good practice session for a budding SF writer, besides being a fun way to spend a morning.
