And then a tad more...

ON THE STATEN ISLAND FERRY

Hot sea salt from the New York Summer

The crowds, backpacks, cameras and kids

I forcefully ignore

My head is full to the brim with romance

and lost romance

and potential romance

and not always of the romantic variety

A bum said to me on the street today

'Don't let the bright lights of the Big Apple damper your inner shine'

Quite. I wont. But first, transgressions...

This skyline is magic, but no Owhiro Bay on a clear as crisp as clear day, it's not quite that understated. Or that pure.

Oh - Energy to burn!

But wish for lack of bumpy, tired eyes.

Too much fun

Not enough fun

Miss friends but don't want it to end.

Here she is! Lady Liberty and not for one moment an icon of tourist haunts

A Lady standing tall - Wahine Toa in stars and stripes.

Seems a bit easier now. The hot sea salt and my hair

blowing in the not so common New York Wind

After a shorter day on Saturday - we finished at 5! - we were invited for dinner at Christina Rouner's incredible apartment -Samone and I schlepped out to Brooklyn and had lovely company, wine and food. It was the first time I really got to showcase my wild sense of humour and it was appreciated!!

On Sunday day I went to Roy and Helen's - Mum's friends from long ago, I just took the train out to Brooklyn again and proceeded to get extremely lost but took some AMAZING photos. To be Attached at later time. They are a lovely couple but it was so hilarious, after lunch, I needed to make tracks - I had planned to walk the Brooklyn Bridge but it was raining cats and dogs. So Helen says 'I insist you take an umbrella.' I'm like 'Thank you, that;s lovely' And then she can't find her cheap one to give me, so she says, let's walk down to the shop and I'll get you one. And I say 'no, don't worry about it - I do have a raincoat' and she says 'Nonsense, it's pouring - you must have an umbrella' and this goes on for some time. Finally I give in - just as we're exiting she says 'Oh look , you should probably go with this umbrella, buy yourself one and come back and give us ours back.' ... Well. I was rather put out, as I didn't really want to spend any money, but off I went. The cheapest one was a leopard print one for $10 so I grudgingly got that. When outside, I opened it, and it was childsize - I was livid - I took it back into swap it and they wouldn't so I traipsed up the hill, no dryer than I wouldve been and $10 richer. Ah... que sera sera.

Back in M'Hattan, I met up with Hilary Halba, who specializes in verbatim theatre in NZ. And we had the most interesting convo about tectonic and progressing our own work. It was lovely in the cold to have hot chocolate and coconut cupcakes from the famous Magnolia Bakery and have a TRULY interesting discussion - I think she is going to prove very useful in the development of my verbatim piece.

Then, that evening, I went out to meet Katie for a lovely Italian meal and all round girls night out. We saw 'Eat, Pray, Love' and it was actually a great girly chillout flick. A bit long. But it was filmed in the most appeasing style, lovely colour palettes and music - the costumer designer must not have like Miss Julia because half the outfits she was in made her channel a school marm. Yeesh.

Last night I met up with Missy Ang and had dinner at a wonderful Moroccan place called Shalel on 70th and B'Way - so nice, polenta and salmon and wine. It was great to see how she is approaching her career and - humbly mind - making things happen for herself. It was very inspiring.

I am in the place of rethinking my goals and organising my immediate future. I have realised it is important for me to figure out what I can do in NZ - because it is likely I will have to be home for some time at some point! Looking at prospects.

Notes from rehearsals:

-Motifs - eg the reporters - moments, key indicators to show us who you are.

-In original show, screens descended to aid the feeling of descending. This show is touring on a small budget. How can we create that feeling of descending?

-Comparision in Anna DS works - not about the actor being aware or self conscious of their characterizations. It is about the character's relationship to the STORY not just the characters.

-Making characters identifiable - when you're playing the same archetypal character a lot, there need to be specific indicators for the audience in voice/physicality/breath

-Investigation: keep searching, keep discovery alive. Active rather than passive - some of these actors have been performing these parts for 10 years. They have to re-engage.

-The actor needs to be really in the moment - where does the event happen? In the audiences imagination!

-Leigh was talking about Steven Wong coming into their 1st season's rehearsal and they were having trouble with the homecoming parade scene. And he said - you guys need to do the best acting of your life. You need to really be in the scene. Get the specificity in detail of a cheerleader (say) because the scene NEEDS to be alive for the audience.
-Today they did the angel Action scene which sent chills up my spine. A very well structured - both dramatically and physically/rhythmically scene. But it does make Romaine Pattison a hero and Rev Fred Phelps a villain - which an audience loves. Conflict. However, the premise for the work is giving everyone a voice. And Phelps' voice is judged. Is that correct?

In the sense of the 'show' I say yes. Connecting to the reasons behind the verbatim, I'm not sure.

- Character changes - problem solving - what are the rules? Do we make the audience aware or not?

- Playing the 'drama' not the outcome. The audience know Matt Shepard is dead. We have to keep them chasing us - be wanting to chase us.