Bard:Live! Programs
www.fringefestival.org
|
Living the Questions |
Performance
artist Rachel Nelson and photographer/activist Chante Wolf collaborate in a
cabaret evening exploring the Big Questions. No answers, mind you—just posing
the questions, and inviting you to do the same.
Red Eye Collaboration
Theater
15 14th St. W, Minneapolis 55403
Thurs, Aug 2 – 5:30 pm
Fri., Aug 3 - 8:30 pm
Wed, Aug 8 – 7:00 pm
Sat, Aug 11 – 5:30 pm
Tickets: Uptown Tix 651-209-6799 www.uptowntix.com
IIn this “response” collaboration of theater and photography, Nelson’s “BardLive” cabaret of songs, stories, and poems is answered by Wolf’s entr’acte video photographic sequences. A drumscape created by Sally Blumenfeld and Linda Melcher carries the heartbeat.
Performer/writer Nelson and photographer Wolf share an activist bent. Wolf currently runs the Minneapolis office of Veterans for Peace, the show’s co-sponsor. Nelson’s CD of original songs Change is a Thousand Hearts explores topics of peace, community, and deep ecology.
Nelson’s BardLive creations are thematic montages of song, story, and poem. She combines her experience as theater musician with her training in the Margolis method of physical acting to blend music with stories or poems, and let songs tell stories. “I love storytellers like the West Coast duo Eth-noh-tec, who combine a sophisticated sense of theater music with movement and storytelling.”
Chante Wolf said in an interview with Ellen Hinchcliffe in the January 2004 issue of Z magazine, “Leave No Child Behind has a stipulation that schools must give the names, address, and phone numbers of juniors and seniors to recruiters
on demand . . . Veterans for Peace wants equal time with ROTC in the schools and wherever they have recruiters present. . . to offer balance.”
Come. Live the questions with us for an evening. Atmosphere by activist/photographer Chante Wolf, drumscape by Blumenfeld and Melcher, final questions by you.
| A BardLive Production |
Chante Wolf's participation sponsored by Veterans for Peace
Rachel Nelson is a fiscal Year 2007 recipient of a career Development grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council (www.ARACouncil.org) which is made possible through an appropriation from The McKnight Foundation.
Living the Questions
Written & Performed by Rachel Nelson
Directed by Kym Longhi and Beth Brooks
Photographs by Chante Wolf
Videographic photo sequences by Kym Longhi
Drumscape by Sally Blumenfeld and Linda Melcher
Rachel Nelson (performer, script, songwriter) has plied the trade of live performance as musician, songwriter, poet, and storyteller for over 20 years. Her BardLive shows have covered topics like deep ecology (Finding Our Place) and global economics (Rachel’s Rent Party). Her CD Change is a Thousand Hearts features her original songs and can be previewed at http://cdbaby.com/cd/rachelnelson. Rachel has been a featured storyteller for the last two years at the Northlands Storytelling Network Conference. Her children’s CD I’m Awesome! features both stories and songs. More info at www.bardlive.com
Kym Longhi (director/dramaturg, videographer) is a longtime member of the Margolis-Brown Theater Company, where she has acted, directed, taught physical acting classes, and served as Education Director. Some of Kym’s recent credits include creating, scripting, and performing Remembering Etty; creating, scripting, and directing A Shrewd Taming at the MN Fringe Festival; and touring The Human Show nationally and internationally with the Margolis-Brown Theater Company. Kym works as a video artist with JP Productions of Minneapolis. She is also a bead artist, a mask maker, and a costumer.
Beth Brooks (scene director) is a founding member of the Margolis-Brown Theater Company. As an actor, she has toured shows with the company nationally and internationally, including The Human Show. Beth's skill in physical acting and her zany sense of humor were crucial in shaping the way this cabaret script came to life on the stage.
Chante Wolf (photographer) is a Gulf War veteran who counts Kathy Kelly and Julia Butterfly as two women who inspired her journey from veteran to peace activist. A sought-after speaker from Veterans for Peace, Chante currently runs the Minneapolis office of that organization. She is a National Geographic-award-winning photographer whose photos range from chronicles of the Iraq peace movement to portraits of people and the natural world. Read Ellen Hinchcliffe’s entire interview with Chante at http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/War_Peace/Veterans_Day.html KFAI radio’s Lydia Howell interviewed Chante on Memorial Day: http://www.kfai.org/node/2452 Learn more about Vets for Peace at www.veteransforpeace.org Email the Mpls. VFP office at vfpchapter27@gmail.com
Sally Blumenfeld (percussion) is a professional astrologer, a bead artist, and a musician. She studies percussion with Michael “Stix” Kiley. She has previously done theater music as a keyboardist/percussionist.
Linda Melcher (percussion) studies percussion with Michael “Stix” Kiley. She is an educator who believes passionately in teaching for the good of the whole, while honoring each student’s point of view. She also serves as co-producer, publicity consultant, and costumer for Living the Questions.
Hairstylist: Linda Baez-Beckfield, Salon, Etc., St. Paul, MN
THANK YOU'S
THANKS to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church for donating the flats for Chante’s Red Eye exhibit, to JP Productions for graciously providing video editing equipment for this project, and to our directors Beth Brooks and Kym Longhi for taking this piece in new directions.
Special thanks to Kym for your beautiful video montages, the last unexpected gift in this project.
LIVING THE QUESTIONS
Audience response questions, 2007 Fringe shows
A lovely part of our show was the invitation to audiences at the end of the show to write down and leave beside Chante's photos one question they wanted to live now. Here are some responses.
What question do you want to live now?
How do I re-discover my creative voice?
How do I get my voice?
What can I do for peace?
What does it mean to parent young adults effectively?
How can the anti-war faction get their message across effectively? How can we gain media access?
How can women be heard?
Will we survive global warming?
Has this civilization deserved a third world war?
Where have all the trees gone?
How to make hearts peaceful?
What happens now?
When will everyone believe there is enough for all?
Why?
Does faith start and move forward from the Bible? Or, does it rise up to and is limited by the Bible?
How eternal is the now?
Do I know how to be happy?
What is my art?
Why do we allow the South to vote?
How can I touch hearts?
What do I do with truth and secrets?
How can I be the most authentic person now?
Will her journey thru psychiatric illness end in safety?
What is fair?
Where is hope?
What can I do to live better?
Why am I always living my life in fear?
Where do I go from here? Will anyone
know?
Why do I feel like I’ve lost my voice?
Why can’t love guide all of the things we do?
How can my creativity heal?
What is love?
Can I be a redwood tree in my next life?
What prevents me from living up to my full potential?
“How?” The quote by Gandhi says it best—“You must be the change you hope to see”
Are we ever to make the difference?
When do our lives become one again?
10:10 ?’s
Why do we honor nationalistic chauvinism? (patriotism)
Will we in America ever again be able to offer the world hope & inspiration?
Can I change the world by changing myself?
How to unify?
What is my role?
How might I stop worrying that others see me as overweight & ugly? or . . .
How might I accept my own beauty?
Will we survive global warming?
Do I know how to be happy?
Thank you for again reminding us of all of creation and Peace.
Acceptance is important—how can I live acceptance?
What will my experiences be in my 60th year?
How can we find a way to peace? War isn’t the answer.
How can I remember that “I have a voice”?
? (a response to “what question do you want to live now?”)
What are you going to do now?
How can I work to influence Congressmen to include the Fairness Amendment in the Farm Bill 2007?
Why do people hurt each other?
What does it mean to be truly human?
Where will the earth mother send me now? Lead away . . .