An Outside Eye...

When you have a head cold, there's only so much you can do. Sneeze, cough. Watch, listen. Hear. Learn. See the bigger picture in a whole new light.

Tonight I did a lot of observing. I kept an eye on individuals, and on the group as a whole, and let me tell you, a view from the outside can make all the difference in the world.

The first thing I noticed was the energy: boundless energy that seemed to radiate from each performer, bouncing between them, urging the audience to share in its bounty. I knew I felt it when I was out there participating; it was reassuring to find myself, the picture of an outsider, an anonymous member of the audience, grinning from ear to ear watching them. It hits me more and more as this process goes on that, "Wow...I totally get to do this for a living." We're all playing pretend, essentially. Having fun. Allowing an almost childlike creativity take rein. Sharing that with others. And this is our job...how cool is that?

The second thing that really caught my eye tonight was the development of the "townspeople." Before, these were interesting folk who were fun to watch, but perhaps tricky to place within the confines of the story. It seemed to me that most everyone sided either with Dustin's character or LaVosha's, with a few stragglers in between. I was surprised to see the grand majority take their place in the middle when Kali asked to see alliances. It made me view these characters in a different way. Caught in the crossfire, perhaps?

It's also interesting to note the relationships formed amongst the "townspeople." Within their own group were formed subgroups, or "cliques," as I dubbed them. Outcasts Buckwheat and Tommy's character started to stick together. Mildred and Izzy Crane became gossip buddies. We began to see some structure, as well as character development that maybe we weren't fully noticing before. Every character will be crucial to the final plot, and that's becoming more and more clear.

I'm looking very forward to seeing where this goes next. We have the beginnings of an epic story, all that's left is to keep on building. Next we will devise a titillating title for our medieval tale (try saying that ten times fast)!

With much love and cough syrup,
Casey "Spicy Chalupa" Duke