it has been so long since i've been truly settled somewhere that i don't really know what it feels like anymore. six months in chicago and i'm just feeling finally in the swing of things and now in three weeks i'm leaving for maine, to work on of farms and fables with open waters theatre arts. and after THAT, off to berlin on a fulbright grant. for one year.
so where's my home? is it pittsburgh, a city i love and grew up in but don't plan to live in anytime soon? chicago, a city where i've had a fantastic but all too brief run? are my friends my home? they're scattered everywhere.
basically, i'm thinking a lot about home. the idea of it. sooner or later, there's a play in it.
with three weeks left in chicago, i finally got batteries for my camera and took a few pictures of some of my haunts.
i mean...how can you NOT adore that library? it has a winter garden on the ninth floor. absolutely mindblowingly open airy gorgeous.
i live in pretty much the best neighborhood in chicago. lincoln square is quiet and pretty and residential and safe, but it's also got more than its fair share of delicious restaurants and fun bars and bookstores and toystores and coffeeshops and fountains. also my apartment is huge and dirt cheap.
so, what's my life been like in chicago? well, here's the run-down.
- i started worked at about face theatre as a theatre management intern the week that i got here. that kept me busy and gave my life some structure. since it took me until the end of january to find a job, i am endlessly thankful for it. i might have lost my mind otherwise.
- november and december were pretty miserable and lonely, but on the plus side, i watched all four seasons of dexter. and i had a great new year's visit from charlie, mindy, and tony that marked a turning point.
- throughout january, i worked with red tape theatre as a playwright for their annual fresh eyes project -- city lights, receding got an awesome intensive workshop. i met some great folks, pushed myself to take some risks with the script, and basically enjoyed the hell out of myself.
- in january i also started an internship at lookingglass theatre company, a very cool chicago ensemble with a focus on new work and physical theatre. mary zimmerman of metamorphoses fame is in the ensemble -- that'll give you an idea of the kind of work they do. i've been working in touring production management, which means, among other things, i've worked on this incredible show called hephaestus which is pure circus magic...i am still at lookingglass through the end of my time here.
- thanks to a referral from about face's marketing director, i spent the past 2 months working on a brand new devised adaptation of iphigenia that we call effie. another amazing ride that has taught me a lot about devised work. we got torn apart by chicago theater blog -- a shame in that the review is pretty off the mark, criticizing the show for its lack of irony and fun: there are certainly a pile of problems with the show, but lack of irony ain't one of them. regardless, we are pretty damn proud of what we managed to make from scratch in 2 short and crazy months, and we're excited to make it better in the future.
- oh yeah, i've been working in the atrium wine bar at fox & obel food market. i don't make much money there and i'm done this weekend. but i know a spot more about wine.
- my short play eighty-four was chosen to appear in sketchbook x at collaboraction. which is...kinda a big deal. playing most of june at the chopin theatre.
- i've seen a lot of theatre. i've made a lot of connections. i've even started to make friends. i've been biking like a crazy person since march and lost like 20 pounds (i LOVE biking). the weather's finally nice for the most part and there are tulips everywhere and now i'm leaving.
parag and charlie visited last weekend and it was epic, glorious, everything you'd want a weekend with your best friends to be. we got a little bit obsessed with over easy...we may have gone there twice. it's effing delicious.
these guys are my home. maybe someday we'll own a house together. we won't all have to live there all of the time. but it'd be a place to come back to. so that i feel like i have a place in the world.
