Mummies and Snakes: Days One and Two of an Erstwhile Residency

I set out from Chicago on May the 26th, ready for a summer filled with theatre, writing, and semi-laborious farm work. The plan for the three months in which I am living in Ohio is to direct the Free Shakespeare! summer tour of "As You Like It", my first directing gig since the Lionface Winter One Acts of 2011, and my first full-length show since college. (let alone my professional debut...did I mention I'm getting paid?!) I'm greatly looking forward to the challenge of working on a touring company, getting to know the cast, and playing around with the text of one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies.

But in the meantime...

My other goals mostly pertain to finally sitting down and getting some writing churned out, away from the rigors, pressures, and distractions of city life (a.k.a., paying rent and hustling tables at the seafood restaurant of my employ). Not that I haven't been writing/working since I finished up the first draft of the second Atlantea book in February; I simply feel that a few months in quiet solitude in the country (when I'm not directing) ought to lead to a new found lease on creative output. Case in point, over the next three months, I plan on working on:

• two new plays, including my long-promised full-length take on Hunter S. Thompson
• the second draft of Vol. II of the Atlantea Chronicles
• a new book, a comedic mystery in the vein of Christopher Moore

I'm not sure how successful I'll be at getting ALL of that done (between daily farm chores and devoting myself to the necessities that come with directing, ample free time doesn't seem like it'll be in high demand), but I know from past experience that writing a play (while a time-consuming process) takes about 1/4th of the time required to churn out a 450+ page fantasy novel. In addition, I've gotten much work done on the first play already, and hopefully will be looking to set up a reading of it sometime in early July, before "As You Like It" jumps into crunch-time/tech week. In addition, having moved further along with my writing, the second draft of Atlantea should flow a lot more quickly than did the first draft. Case in point, writing it took almost half the time that it took to write the first draft. If I edit/revise two chapters a day, I'm hopeful to get that banged out by the time AYLI wraps up in mid-August, if not sooner.

The Hunter play greatly excites me, for several reasons. I've already found great success with two shorter versions of what I'm envisioning, though both were in college environments. With that being said, a funny joke is a funny joke, and the writings of the good Doctor naturally lent themselves towards the frenetic, slightly absurdist staging with which I decided to write the play. I'm a huge fan of Thompson's work, and have been working to get my hands on nearly everything he ever wrote, so as to better immerse myself in a world that might pour out this play in the way that I can see it in my head. To that end, towards the end of August, I'll be vacationing in Denver, and plan on making a pilgrimage to Aspen, where he once ran for sheriff, while working on the first draft of the play.

As I continue to hash through the ideas that I've orchestrated in my head, I'll be finished with the play by September/October and looking to submit it to the Cincy Fringe Festival (going on now!) and trying to get this behemoth staged for a mass audience. If this goes according to my (slightly imagined and very feverish) plan, "Hunter Thompson Strikes Again!" will be staged next June of 2014 in a small theatre space in Cincinnati at one of the largest and most well-attended fringe fests in the country.

Until then, I probably should write the damn thing.

Segway! I've been busy the last two days!

Yesterday, I arrived in Cincinnati, where several of my oldest friends and I attended an evening concert of a funk-R&B band called Here Come the Mummies. Based out of Memphis, TN, (or Egypt...) the core concept behind the band is that they play sizzling funk with marvelously unsubtle innuendos...while dressed as mummies.

The above hooligan is my favorite member of the band (as of yesterday), Java Mummy. Playing percussion, he's somewhat off to the side, if he were to stick with the formal staging. However, this rampaging bundle of energy leaps and bounds all across the stage, sometimes taking lead vocals, sometimes disappearing and coming back in a gorilla suit on a tricycle. If bands voted on the NBA Award for 6th Man of the Year, Java Mummy would be an annual threat to take home the trophy every year. No contest.

Today, I set to work out on the farm (because I've got to make SOME money this summer, and also it gets boring around here during the day, so it makes more sense to keep busy by being useful than to play MahJong Titans all of the damn time). My chores included building a chicken pen, clearing brush, and gathering eggs. While these might sound relatively simple, let me just state that I've already got three blisters on my hands, and am not entirely sure when I'll ever be clean again. Oh, and I found a snake!

So that's me. Living the dream on this random "three month artistic residency" of mine. Stay tuned for more updates as I work on these projects, churn out some Shakespeare, and see the world.