…is that It Is Always Easier to Apologize Than to Ask Permission.

The United Arab Emirates are, essentially, a federation of monarchies. Beloved, benevolent dictators preside over and protect their respective populations who, in turn, deeply respect and revere their Sheiks.

This dynamic manifests in Experience Creation in some subtle and some not-so-subtle ways — each and every one of them unavoidable and simply a part of the process of work in this industry in the UAE.

Predominant effects are:

The most important seat in the House is that of the Sheik. The focal point of any show to be attended by a Sheik is the seat in which that Sheik sits. From that seat, everything must be perfect, and the show must be blocked and choreographed with that in mind, guarding against inadvertent disrespect being shown to the monarch. This translates down to the detail of avoiding the backs of performers being turned toward the sheik.

This makes for meticulous and oft-times paranoid scrutiny and second-guessing, not only during the concept development and creative stages, but all the way through; as successive levels of Executives, from vendor to client to, finally, government, must vet and approve what is being produced…with the Sheik’s Protocol officers making their assessment at the very last minute – usually the day before the show.

This puts a lot of pressure on every level of the production and company.

At showtime; if the Sheik is behind schedule, the Curtain is held until he arrives and is seated. Should he be ahead of schedule, we need to be ready to go within moments; often, with only a 15-minute advance warning. Everything plays off the schedule and position of the Sheik. That’s just the way it is.

Another, more insidious effect of this dynamic is the Fear of Offense this seems to engender, most especially in Emirati (or any employee) working for the Sheik or in the government. There is such a deeply-rooted fear of offending the Sheik that people are afraid to venture out on any sort of creative limb.

Original content is virtually anathema at that level of culture. “Creativity” is applied in the context of lighting and staging, perhaps, and most often at the sourcing of already-proven acts to be brought in and gathered or juxtaposed “creatively” and spectacularly. If an act is a hit elsewhere, the cachet is in the Importing of the Talent rather than in the creation of anything new.

It’s tragic, really; to see so much money spent to bring in “the best,” while overlooking the power inherent in a well-told, originally-created story or Experience. The style may change, though the story tends to remain within one of a few “acceptable” constructs. This, then, explains why the same story seems to be told, over and over, in ceremonies and celebrations in this part of the world: it’s about the magnitude rather than the possibility of deeper engagement.

Actually, there’s the “scary” word: “possibility.” It is the possibility of disappointing the Sheik that seems to keep the Powers That Be from going out on the proverbial limb.

An irony, here, is that these Sheiks are very likely of the most sophisticated, well-traveled, worldly individuals on the planet. Chances are that they’ve been most everywhere and seen most everything and know far more about what is possible than the legions of Deciders and Protectors that surround them.

This is my opinion, of course; I’ve never spoken to a Sheik. I’d be surprised, though, were there not to be thoughts of, “oh, this again?” in the minds of these men as the umpteenth iteration of what’s come before is presented at yet another ceremony.

But. I digress.

So. Yes. The dynamics, creative and detail of virtually any experience or ceremony in the Emirates can hinge on the perceived whim or desire of the relevant Sheik. Ergo, a month before the grand opening ceremony of Yas Waterworld, last month, it came to light that the His Highness was no longer available for a nighttime ceremony; it was going to be taking place by daylight.

When a decision such as this comes down, there is no Appeal. It is absolutely what it now is. Daytime.

At first, there was a Moment of Grief for the beautiful opening ceremony that we’d written…

• Fireworks: Gone
• Flaming Poi: Gone
• Flaming Torches: Gone
• Giant, glowing Pearls in Procession: Gone
• Lighting Stunt with the full cast: Gone
• Myriad, wonderful KO nuance: Out the Window

Then; after that bit of self-indulgence…

• New Show: Coming Right Up!

This was actually a fantastic opportunity for creativity, and I can say without hesitation that it was the best thing that could have happened for this show. We had to respond nimbly to the change, and what we created was far more suited to our audience and the venue.

In short, it became an “interrupted” ceremony. Beginning as a “formal” ceremony on a wide, “floating” stage before the primary set piece of a beautiful dhow at the end of a specially-built jetty, jutting into the center of the wave pool; the experience rapidly evolved into an invasion of bandits, the theft of the pearl, the kidnapping of our heroine, the rescue of the pearl and the heroine and ultimate safe-placement of the pearl…a placement that sparked a spectacular, six-minute Bigger-than-Bellagio fountain show from behind the dhow and throughout the Wave Pool.

It was a huge hit…and there was one, big, surprise that helped to make it so…

The VIP stage was built out, over the wave pool, and from that extended the stage and the jetty to the dhow. At the Exciting Moment of Transition, when the bandits attacked, these bandits were staged in hiding places throughout the set, including under the jetty. Including under the stage, about 5 feet from where the Sheik would be sitting.

Yes, I’m about to come around to the point of the title of this post.

When the fantastic, rubber-faced Sam the Bandit leapt from beneath the stage, he was choreographed to leap, turn, face the Sheik and shout, “Yaaaarrrrrrggghhh!!!” with hands outstretched. Now, I never actually said to Sam that that was where the sheik would be sitting; I just aimed him toward it.

As this idea had come to me, I thought to myself, “…let’s just see how far we get with this…,” and proceeded through the rehearsals.

Time came to show it to the client execs. They sat in the Sheik’s seats. Sam leapt and shouted. They laughed. I don’t think they put it together. Now, I didn’t actually ask if they thought it would be okay for the bandit to growl at the sheil…but there it was; right?

The Sheik’s Protocol Officers came to see a final, dress rehearsal. Same thing. Again and after, I didn’t actually point out that this blocking might be considered a little unorthodox; I just let them see and approve without extra scrutiny.

I mean, if I know Sheiks (and I don’t), I believed that he would love the surprise. After all, the man’s human, right?

Right?

So. Sheik shows up. Show begins. Lots of pretty and colorful people, populating the stage. Slow music. Procession. Cute little Safia carries the Pearl toward the jetty. Suddenly, there’s a resounding crescendo, and the Bandits appear from everywhere.

In one, fast move, Sam leaps up, around and leans, leering, toward the Sheik, arms outstretched and loudly growling, “Yaaaaaarrrrrrgggghhhh!”

His Highness, startled, looks at him for the briefest of moments, then bursts out in a big, unrestrained laugh. BIG laugh. (I’ll bet that no one has said, literally, “Boo!” to the gentleman since he was a child.) He loved it, and continued to chuckle through the rest of the show.

Seeing this, the rest of the cast responded with extra-adrenaline-enhanced performances and the show was a fantastic hit.

Happy Client, Happy Sheik, and I’m Quite Happy to not find myself in a police escort to the airport.

I believe, and will expand on this with the proximate post, that there is great opportunity for the creative production entrepreneur who is willing to hold the line on creating the best experience possible; running a production with a strict set of deadlines (and tangible ramifications for missing same), ample time for creative and committed to raising the bar of compelling connectivity within Experiences produced in the UAE and that part of the world.

That will include enlightening clients to the rewards of original content and the offering of the strategically unexpected. It will be an uphill effort; I believe it can very likely be profoundly rewarding for all concerned.

imho.

 

Download the free eBook for iPad, “imho,” from iTunes or the iBook Store

 

It’s New Year’s morning in Dubai, so let us begin with a Resolution for All Producers.

As Producers, let’s resolve to always pay our people on time.

So often, I see the effects of sluggish or sloppy payment processes on the life of the freelancer – tech, production, artist or other.

Terms such as “net 30,” “net 60,” statements like “…we pay all our invoices quarterly…” are virtually incomprehensible, generally irrelevant and always frustrating to the average (and above average) talent one hires.

Further, these people work for you; not your client. It is irrelevant to them and to your relationship to and with them whether or not you have been paid for the work or show. YOU owe the money to the team, not your client.

Respect that.

So many people are uncomfortable around money and their own financial situations. Asking for money can feel deeply demeaning to most people. Be sensitive to this and find ways to avoid that doubt and discomfort that are far too often concomitant with working as a freelance artist or consultant.

It’s not that difficult.

When a production is mine; one of my favorite moments is when I am able to circulate through the team during warm up or pre-rehearsal, quietly handing out checks face-to-face and hand-to-hand with thanks for all the hard work that’s been put in. Paying in this manner shows tangible respect and helps cement the bond of trust between you and your talent and tech.

They enter the stage happier, upbeat, energetic and are able to leave the production – physically and mentally – confident and complete, with no doubts as to where and when they’ll be paid.

This is Big Stuff.

As the name of EMILY, the political group, says, “Early Money Is Like Yeast.” It will grow your reputation among your peers and performers, it will grow your caché with your resources. You’ll achieve greater results with these stronger relationships.

I have worked with a company in the UAE unlike any other in this respect. On the first or second day of my first collaboration with them, in 2011, the Accountants called me in and handed me the contract-specified per diem for the entire contract in cash, up front. No receipts necessary, no waiting, no outlay of my own funds – and I could buy groceries or restaurant meals, pay for gasoline or taxis with no “approval” process.

This made it so easy, and showed me and the other consultants that we were supported by that department and company in getting done what we were brought over to get done.

Great system, imho.

On the last day of the contract, once again; we were called into the accounting office, handed a check, sent to the bank on the first floor to cash it before leaving for the airport. Clean and neat; respectful and easy.

I’ve seen this company send a driver two hours to another city to offer performers their pay in cash as they are working during banking hours, away from their home cities and banks. This is a great policy, and makes people feel appreciated in a fundamental and security-encouraging way.

It does take the producer (you…us) planning; advance conversations and familiarization with the process and logistics of the Financial People, probably some invoice-gathering at a busy time; but it will yield a cornucopia of great results.

Try it.

WAIT: according to Yoda, “…there is no ‘try’!” Just do it.

Now, on to…

Respect.

It is critical to be sensitive to the natures and processes of your Creatives. Frankly, it can be darn expensive to dismiss or eschew this sensitivity.

Not so long ago, I had the enlightening misfortune to have participated in a creative overview & notes meeting on a production of great magnitude … an experience that epitomizes how not to treat one’s Creatives.

The purpose of the meeting was to give meticulous direction to the development of the visual creative to a team of consultants, four time zones away, via Skype. To participate in this meeting, the Creatives had to be up, awake and alert quite early in their morning.

Anyone who knows and has worked with Brilliance knows that many such artists tend to be late risers. Ironically, the Creative Director in charge of this very meeting is rarely in his own office before 10:00am; yet had called this meeting for 9:00am in the time zone of these Creatives.

We were gathered in the conference room for a meeting scheduled to abut this Creative briefing…and this previous meeting began to run overtime. Several reminders that we had these men waiting in their studio for us to connect with them went unacknowledged by the Creative Director for a full 40 minutes; at which time he announced that he needed a cigarette, and left the room with a few other members of the Executive Team to have a smoke.

Twenty minutes later, one hour past the scheduled time, the meeting finally commenced. One could see, on the faces of the remote Artists, their ire at being treated so dismissively. This early interaction, unfortunately though not surprisingly, colored every future interaction between this company and the Artists, both electronically and in face-to-face meetings…and definitely in the quality of the finished product.

This was an exceptionally expensive hour. Not only in the context of the practical costs of paying for an hour of creative consulting time that was completely unused, but the negative effects of this dismissive and thoughtless act were felt through the rest of the production. Treatment such as this can (and in this instance, most certainly did) color the tone of an entire production, and have far-reaching costs well beyond the immediate and tangible.

Again: such disrespectful disregard for the time and process, the work, of one’s team members affects not only the working relationship but also the actual product.

Irrespective of one’s commitment to professionalism; when one is treated poorly, it will ultimately affect the nuance of the work and the relationships among the collaborators, especially when it comes to “crunch” time. Ultimately, it affects resilience, responsiveness and – most critically – Creativity.

It is a wise discipline to develop and hone; to remember one is dealing with people who have lives and schedules of their own. You do know own them, they are not your property to pull off a virtual shelf and use at will.

Respect your Team. Show it.

Be it Resolved…

Happy New Year!

A couple of stocking-stuffers for Producers and Prospective Producers…

No Room for Kings.

There are no Kings on a Production Team

Just one of the great things about being a Creative Consultant and able and available to work anywhere in the world is the opportunity to encounter, mentor and sometimes team up with individuals from other cultures – to learn how they do things, how they might think, to be able to teach and to learn how to teach in a given culture.

Children of privilege show up, all the time, wanting to learn and create a career in production, film, theatre… The Key is the burning desire to learn…

While in Dubai, I was invited to give successive guest lectures on The Nature & Management of Creativity at the EMDI Institute of Media & Communication ( http://www.emdiworld.com/dubai/index.html ). The classroom of nearly 50 students is a powerful microcosm of this part of the world.

Pakistani, Indian, Lebanese, British, South African, Sri Lankan…these students are from everywhere. The unifying factor throughout the classroom was a virtually tangible thirst for knowledge and a desire to work; to take what is learned back to home countries and make a difference, to build a life and share with others.

We put some of these students on the team for the National Day event, here in Dubai. Though they were assigned at the lowest of levels and asked to do everything from untie knots to glue things together, they jumped at every opportunity (well, most of ‘em!); embracing the chance to be among a killer team of professional creatives, stage managers and technicians, to observe from inside a production of magnitude and to be able to ask questions of anyone within earshot.

These are great young adults, and it was great to get to know them, a little bit.

Impressive, too, has been witnessing the setting-aside of ego in order to learn. Not every culture facilitates such breakthrough. Many, though not all, of these students are Children of Privilege who don’t actually have to work, who are used to deference and exception in their personal lives and are able to set aside that mindset in order to actually learn.

Their Passion trumps their Privilege, and that’s impressive. Impressive…and necessary to truly learn anything.

No matter how highly ranked in one’s native society might be an individual, when on a production team, that person must be part of that team; accepting responsibility, taking direction, being corrected when appropriate in the context of the team. Nobility does not alter the job of the film or music editor, the script supervisor, the cultural consultant, the project director, the intern… In my experience, I have seen Ego obstruct Learning and add significantly to the cost of a project in far too many of the cultures in which I’ve been able to work (including the US). And Ego can be a very expensive quality to bring to a Production.

It sure chaps my hide when I do see it. Missed opportunity is a painful loss.

Ego. Park it.

To the Google!

Before meeting with someone new – be they prospective client, employee, partner, investor, resource, vendor – Google ‘em.

There is a Certain Demographic that already knows this. I am regularly surprised, though, at the number of professionals who blithely make no use of this undemanding and accessible, richly informative tool.

Countless are the times I’ve shown up for a First Meeting, sometimes scheduled weeks in advance, and been asked about my “background” by someone who, imho, should already know as much about me as I know about them.

Before sitting down across a table or desk from someone, know as much as you can about who they are and what they’ve done; especially in a Professional Context. This is simple stuff.

Frankly, when I discover at a First Meeting that the person with whom I’m meeting has not taken even a few moments to do such research – whether they be potential employee or potential client – I am compelled to take another look at whether or not I even want that individual as partner, teammate or client.

The ramifications of that failing are, frankly, profound and often critical…and could adversely affect a potential working relationship.

Laziness, ignorance, fear of the interwebs, whatever the cause… The reticence to appreciate and access the tools of the web indicates what it indicates; irrespective of rationale, it’s a Big, Red Flag in every respect.

Keeping abreast and conversant in the ever- and rapidly-evolving platforms of social media, research tools, communications platforms, et cetera, is critical for survival in business – especially in the business of Experience Creation and Production. Eschew it and risk your very livelihood. Eschew it for long and the task can seem insurmountable.

Believe me; as decision-makers grow younger, knee-jerk evaluations are made on what may seem insignificant or incidental to you, but are indicative of a relevant savviness – or lack thereof – that could easily cost one a gig or a client.

One’s email address, alone, can say enough to remove one from consideration.

Yes; really.

In an era when a personal or professional domain name costs only a few dollars and takes less than five minutes to set-up; a hotmail, yahoo or (ancient) aol email address speaks of irrelevance and datedness without any interaction whatsoever.

Get up to speed, get up to date…or simply retire.

Is that harsh?

I’m just sayin’.

[Feel free to download the interactive book, “imho,” for iPad from the iBook Library. And, by “free” I mean it won’t cost you anything…]

…picking up the conversation from the previous post…

As Producer, as Leader of the Team, Admiral of Your Chosen Metaphor, you set the tone and establish the standards of and for your Team. It is your example by which members of your team should be inspired and offer themselves measure. Your integrity must be sacrosanct; the respect with which you treat others should be unshakeable, your communications clear and complete, your leadership inspirational and enlightening.

This really isn’t difficult, if the commitment is within you. That and a little zen discipline and you’re there.

As producer, you stand accountable. Responsibility for anything that goes wrong with the production is on your shoulders. This means that you jump up and acknowledge responsibility for anything that goes wrong or falls short without a second thought. Never let an employee take the fall; not publicly, in any case.

Conversely, anything that goes uniquely or impressively right with the production is an opportunity for you to publicly acknowledge the professionals on your team who are or were directly responsible for what stood out. ‘Tis a good Rule of Thumb to simply never take credit; always find someone to credit, or simply credit your Team.

Without that team, you’re just a big, good-looking bundle of Good Ideas (and maybe not even all that good, without the collaboration of the gang that makes it great).

Remain approachable. Work to be approachable, watch out for seeming “too busy” to be interrupted. Each such interruption likely bears the potential for some Learning, some Evolution, some exchange of ideas or even the sharing of some bit of information that can perhaps save time and or money, down the line. Guard against dismissiveness and discount no one.

Vest your people with responsibility and let them know you mean it. (This takes discipline for the Type A; but if s/he really wants to build a dependable and ultimately reputable team, then delegate, one must … and mean it).

I launch virtually any production with a few, regular conversations; one of which is the stressing of the fact that, on my teams, no one will be penalized for making a mistake, miscalculation or mis-judgement. Penalty is levied when that mistake is hidden or kept secret.

The moment one sees that what is intended may not happen as envisioned; that’s the moment to raise the flag.

Someone makes a mistake: that person is probably the person best qualified to devise and implement the solution. Ergo, when someone comes to me with a mistake, my first response (after the “oops,” “omg,” or “holy cr*p!”) is usually “well, what would you suggest we do?” And we figure it out together.

This teaches practical skills and problem-solving and is a compelling and resonant example of the trust you are placing in your team. This makes what you have been saying tangible and makes you trustworthy to them.

And, pertinent to what I was saying, above; should one of the team come under fire for a real or perceived error, the immediate response of the Producer is to stand by his team and take any heat, resolving direct responsibility issues offline and in private.

If your team knows you will stand by them, they will go the extra mile for you, push their own envelopes and take considered (and some not-so-considered) risks in the pursuit of higher standards of storytelling and production.

I want to underscore the Responsibilities of the Producer from last week by reprinting the comment from Ben Tripp, brilliant artist and author…

“The one-point-of-contact thing really is critical.  A couple of other things that happen with diffuse communication:

Conflicting critiques — a couple of executives may have directly contradictory opinions.  They deliver their reactions independently and expect results.  This leads to creatives acting as liaisons, taking sides, or believing the process had broken down (which it has).

In addition, specialists can create difficulties by delivering their criteria without regard for the rest of the show — I was once on an entertainment project in which the PM gave equal voice to a guy way upstream whose central role was leasing real estate.  So the entire design ended up geared to making it really easy to swap out retail tenants.  

You need communication to flow through the point man — the filter.”

Time and again, I see weak producers taking opinions from far too many others; not trusting professional instincts enough to take responsibility for the result. Go out on a limb, dammit, and stand behind your beliefs, your instincts, what you trust in your heart.

To illustrate, I am going to repeat an anecdote I’ve cited, before, in this space…

Twenty years ago, in the final months of run-up to one of my first globally-visible ceremonial spectacles, the Board of Directors suddenly began to second-guess and challenge my concept and the execution of it (because, as you know, everyone’s a Producer). I spent many a sleepless night exploring the course I should take. Finally, winnowed it down to this crux:

• If I capitulated and caved, if I made the changes the Board was seeking, and the production was a failure, I’d have nothing…just the fact of the empty failure on my shoulders.
• If, on the other hand, I stuck to my vision, refused to capitulate and held the line…and the production was a failure, then I would at least know that I’d been wrong…and that had to be enough for me.

I decided that it would be enough. Knowing I had been wrong in my vision would have been far better than having only the failure to my credit with nothing learned. I would also have had to live with having relinquished my integrity and forsaken what I knew in my heart was right.

…and, by the way, the production was a smashing, paradigm-shifting success. Just sayin’…

Trust yourself, and stand by yourself. Don’t cave to the armchair experts; irrespective of how convinced they are that they are right.

Remember, you are vested with the result, with realizing the vision, with knowing how best to manifest the idea. You cave and it bombs, you’ll be blamed. At least be able to own your bombs…do that, and you’ll have far fewer, if any, of ‘em.

Imho.

Meanwhile, feel free to download my eBook, “imho,” for iPad from the iBook Store – No charge to the Adventurous.

Protect your Creatives

Protect Your Creative Relationships

Protect your Product and Production

You’re the Producer: so Produce. Your job is to protect the Creative(s) from the Barrages of Reality as Concept and Vision evolve and develop into Experience.

Your job is to protect the budget from the wild and expensive ideas of your Creatives when approaches less grand might even be more effectively evocative.

In the absence of a Creative Director or Director, your job is to wear both hats and to exhibit and engender respect for and from both camps; ultimately creating a team out of the technical production side and the creative development and interpretation side.

You don’t know everything; don’t pretend that you do. Producers who pose as knowing it all just give Producers a bad name and certainly don’t find themselves embraced by their creative or technical teams. Get advice from those whom you trust. Develop relationships with creatives whom you respect or admire and with whom you can share ideas and insecurities. Do the same with technicians and engineers, designers and choreographers. Build your cabinet.

A good producer knows where to get the best answer and when s/he’s getting the best result or product. The better the team, the better the producer.

Take credit for recruiting the right people. Give credit freely and unhesitatingly to those who really do the work. The more you give credit and acknowledge source and inspiration, the better you look and the stronger your relationships will be with the teams you build. Become known for the teams you build and what they create.

Do not manage by committee. Just don’t.

Your job, as fulcrum for the production, as Protector of Creative and Budget, as Shepherd of the Show is to protect all processes. This is how you will protect your budget and your relationships as you work to achieve and present the best, possible Experience.

You’re unsure about a component of the show? Share your dilemma with your mentors, a friend, other creatives. Then, you take and absorb that feedback in the context of the overall vision for the show and decide what is valuable, relevant, pertinent. DO NOT UNLEASH THESE PEOPLE ON YOUR TEAM.

One Point of Contact.

Your job is to filter the input and share what is appropriate with your creative, production or technical professionals. You are the One Point of Contact with the world outside the Production. Your duty is to protect that relationship at all costs.

You’ll discover two, distinct benefits to this process…

1. Your team will trust and appreciate you; resulting in a more candid “in-house” give-and-take and sharing of ideas as concepts and approaches evolve. You can share an idea you’ve gleaned from another source and get candid, honest feedback from your creatives without risking offense to your external source. You can then, with integrity, make informed decisions in the context of your project and vision and continue to massage your project in line with that understanding and appreciation.
2. You protect the clarity of the vision. Remember, irrespective of the esteem in which you may hold your mentors and advisors; their advice is based on limited exposure to your concept and approach. Listen fully, consider thoroughly, but only adopt and share what truly makes sense. You must be the filtering arbiter, period. You.

Above all, do not allow “committees” of people to offer input to your project to anyone but yourself. And, by “committee,” I mean anyone but you. There are few ways more sure to derail a relationship or project than allowing direct input from more than one person. The net effect is nearly always deleterious to your project, diluting potential potency, and will definitely undermine your working relationships within the team.

Trust, once broken, can never be fully restored.

imho.

Download the eBook, “imho,” for iPad from the iBook Store – No charge to the Adventurous

I’ve been out of communication for a bit; buried in a project, information on which was embargoed until after the Show…which was last night.

I’ve been in Dubai for the past two months, participating in the mounting of this Emirate’s Show and Celebration for National Day. This experience has offered me enlightenment as well as reassurance and confirmation, across the board. I have had the opportunity to test my methodologies against a significantly alien culture and found that, fundamentally, all our brains are wired similarly and – while culture and experience may result in divisive or disparate perspectives – emotions can be evoked and connections made in any language, especially nonverbally.

I have had the opportunity to Guest Lecture for two successive nights at EMDI UAE – The Institute of Media & Communication in Dubai; sharing my experience and interacting with a group of students, many of whom are brilliant, motivated and preparing to test themselves in this business.  (I tried, but failed, to dissuade them!) Many of these fine young men and women ended up participating in producing the Show we just mounted.

Among the talent and tech support for the production, I came to know – albeit briefly – some wonderful men and women and was granted opportunity to be touched and moved through our interaction.

Unique individuals from across the globe gathered to work on this project; to many of whom I’ll be reaching out to join future teams with me, should that opportunity arise. Most significant among all these, though, were the gracious people of the Arabian Deserts…Oman, Lebanon, Dubai, Abu Dhabi… Through just a few, I experienced such moments of grace and was so gently and deeply touched that I doubt I shall forget.

These are experiences that will become embraced and protected memories.

Don’t get me wrong; it wasn’t all Pretty, not by a longshot! But, that’s for later; when the dust has settled and I’ve assessed the experiences with some bit of objectivity.

Meanwhile, and what prompted me to get moving on revivifying this site, I share with you this recent missive from Arthur Penn. In this, he nails the elastic, modern definition of what is deemed approbation-worthy and which, in actuality, dilutes the quality of theatre, certainly, and the creation of Experience, globally.

Read on; we’ll talk…

‎”I do not want to know another thing about what a nice guy or gal someone on the stage is: This is entirely irrelevant to me. Some sort of desperation has crept into our theatre–all of our arts, really, but we’re discussing theatre–where we feel a defensive wall is erected around the meretriciousness of our work by highlighting how hard someone has worked; how many hours they’ve put in at the soup kitchen; how many hours they spent researching the aphasic mind in order to replicate the actions of one; how many ribbons sweep across their breast in support of causes; how much they love their lives and how lucky they feel to be on Broadway!

There is very little art, but there is a great deal of boosterism. Fill the seats; buy a T-shirt; post something on the Internet; send out an e-mail blast.

I’m in my eighties, and I think I should have left this earth never knowing what an e-mail blast was.

I saw a play recently that was festooned with understudies: Not the actual understudies, but the hired, primary actors, all of whom performed (if that is the word) precisely like a competent, frightened understudy who got a call at dinner and who raced down to take over a role. No depth; no sense of preparation. These were actors who had learned their lines and who had showed up. And that is all.

I spoke to the director afterwards. By all accounts a nice and talented and smart guy. I asked him why a particular part in this play–a Group Theatre classic–had been given to this certain actor. He’s a great guy, was the response. Prince of a fellow. Well, perhaps, but send him home to be a prince to his wife and children; he is a shattering mediocrity. But nice and easy counts far too much these days. Another director told me–proudly–that he had just completed his third play in which there wasn’t one difficult player; not one distraction; not one argument. Can I add that these were among the most boring plays of our time? They were like finely buffed episodes of Philco Playhouse: tidy, neat, pre-digested, and forgotten almost immediately, save for the rage I felt at another missed opportunity.

All great work comes to us through various forms of friction. I like this friction; I thrive on it. I keep hearing that Kim Stanley was difficult. Yes, she was: in the best sense of the word. She questioned everything; nailed everything down; got answers; motivated everyone to work at her demonically high standard. Everyone improved, as did the project on which she was working, whether it was a scene in class, a TV project, a film, or a play. Is that difficult? Bring more of them on.

Is Dustin Hoffman difficult? You bet. He wants it right; he wants everything right, and that means you and that means me. I find it exhilarating, but in our current culture, they would prefer someone who arrived on time, shared pictures of the family, hugged everyone and reminded them of how blessed he is to be in a play, and who does whatever the director asks of him.

Is Warren Beatty difficult? Only if you’re mediocre or lazy. If you work hard and well, he’s got your back, your front, and your future well in hand. He gets things right–for everybody.

No friction. No interest. No play. No film. It’s very depressing.

I don’t want to know about your process. I want to see the results of it. I’ll gladly help an actor replicate and preserve and share whatever results from all the work that has been done on a part, but I don’t want to hear about it. I’ve worked with actors who read a play a couple of times and fully understood their characters and gave hundreds of brilliant performances. I don’t know how they reached that high level of acting, and I don’t care. My job is to provide a safe environment, to hold you to the high standards that have been set by the playwright, the other actors, and by me. I hold it all together, but I don’t need to know that your second-act scene is so true because you drew upon the death of your beloved aunt or the time your father burned your favorite doll.

Now the process is public, and actors want acclimation for the work they’ve put into the work that doesn’t work. Is this insane? Read the newspapers, and there is an actor talking about his intentions with a part. I’ve pulled strands of O’Neill into this character, and I’m looking at certain paintings and photographs to gain a certain texture. And then you go to the theatre and see the performance of a frightened understudy. But a great gal or guy. Sweet. Loves the theatre.

Every year or so, I tell myself I’m going to stop going to see plays. It’s just too depressing. But I remember how much I love what theatre can be and what theatre was, and I go back, an old addict, an old whore who wants to get the spark going again.

I don’t think we can get the spark going again because the people working in the theatre today never saw the spark, so they can’t get it going or keep it going if it walked right up to them and asked for a seat.

It’s a job, a career step, a rehabilitation for a failed TV star or aging film star. I got a call from one of these actresses, seeking coaching. I need my cred back, she said.

This is not what the theatre is supposed to be, but it is what the theatre now is.

I don’t want to just shit on the theatre: It’s bad everywhere, because it’s all business, real-estate space with actors. It’s no longer something vital. I used to think that the theatre was like a good newspaper: It provided a service; people wanted and needed it; revenue was provided by advertisers who bought space if the paper delivered, but profit was not the motive–the motive was the dissemination of truth and news and humor. Who goes to the theatre at all now? I think those in the theatre go because it’s an occupational requirement: They want to keep an eye on what the other guys are going, and they want to rubberneck backstage with those who might use them in the future. But who are the audiences? They want relief not enlightenment. They want ease. This is fatal.

I talk to Sidney Lumet. I talk to Mike Nichols. I ask them if I’m the crazy old man who hates everything. You might be, they say, but you’re not wrong. They have the same feelings, but they work them out or work around them in different ways.

The primary challenges of the theatre should not always be getting people to give a shit about it. The primary challenge should be to produce plays that reach out to people and change their lives. Theatre is not an event, like a hayride or a junior prom–it’s an artistic, emotional experience in which people who have privately worked out their stories share them with a group of people who are, without their knowledge, their friends, their peers, their equals, their partners on a remarkable ride.” ~~ director ARTHUR PENN

 

The most valuable information is shared information. Most especially in the context of Production Teams, it is the responsibility of the Producer or Production Executive to create an environment, a hierarchy and communications matrix that supports open communication between and amongst all components of the Team. From initial concept development and all along the road of revision and evolution, it is imperative that all departments participate in the ongoing conversation and process that is to lead to the best final result.

Concurrently, the onus is on the representatives of each department, guild or discipline to respect hierarchy and process, participate in good faith, appreciate the value, talent, experience and skill of all others at the table and seek ways in which each can contribute to the moving forward of the process to the best, final result.

Balkanization of Production Teams = Bad.

At first blush, this must sound obvious. Yet, every so often one can encounter what I call a “hub-and-spoke” producer: one who holds all the cards, all the components, all the information close to the chest and shares bits of information piecemeal — where and when s/he thinks it’s needed. This means that only that one individual has the full, Big Picture. This can slow and even derail the creative and production process(es), effectively keeping those who might well prove to have creative solutions to obstacles in areas other than their own primary purview from contributing to others.

While the Producer / Director is the crucial Fulcrum for the Production and Maker of Final Decisions, s/he should strive not to hoard.

The simple fact, one that is lost even on the [purportedly] all-knowing Producer, is that not even s/he has the full picture when s/he is the only one with all the cards. By not including all others in the process, vast amounts of possibility may never come to light and the final product may suffer in ways never appreciated…as those possibilities were never articulated, examined or assessed.

I’m sure your mother taught you to Share. I’m almost positive she never told you to stop.

Simple solution.

Regular, Inclusive Production Meetings. (I know, right? This should be obvious.) At the outset of any project, one of the first things to lock is the schedule of production meetings. This, even prior to the hiring or appointing of the full team. As individuals or teams are brought onto the team, that schedule is communicated and schedules adjusted to support these regular confabs. This is critical to the success of a show or event.

My general practice for these meetings is once a week, though, increased magnitude and abbreviated schedules might support twice that, on occasion. These are calendared and a required commitment of every member of the team for the run of the project. If someone can’t make it to a given meeting, s/he is required to send someone conversant in the responsibilities and needs of that department, who can make decisions at that meeting.

These meetings, targeted at one-hour, are not optional. At these meetings, the entire production or event is gone over, moment-by-moment, piece-by-piece. Nothing is held back, and any bumps in the road are addressed, any missing pieces discovered and handled. Through this process as often as not, missing pieces are discovered, duplications of effort that affect budget are discovered: solutions are offered.

Sometimes, these meetings may only last 15 minutes. Most often, they spawn ad hoc satellite meetings to iron out conflicts or forge cooperative teams to address specifics. This is healthy stuff.

Through this, every person on the Production Team becomes aware of where they and their work fit in the production, what is taking place when they are doing their own jobs, what is the Big Picture – what are we creating. This gives a strong and deep sense of ownership and fosters responsibility.

Don’t keep people in the dark, intentionally or through ignorance. Include every discipline, even if only responsible for a small part of overall design or substance. You just never know.

Share the Budget. Allow others to see the budget at these meetings. Not to question where money is spent, but to see through their eyes that they are being supported and to call attention to anything perceived as missing as it is examined. Giving each department or individual the opportunity to review the line items relevant to their responsibilities ultimately protects from coming up short at showtime and having to make last-minute (and more expensive) changes or revisions.

It may also protect the relationship with the Client, if budgets must change. Far better to know that, way out front, than in the final days before curtain.

It is only the unprofessional who complain about money being spent in other areas – that’s the Producer/Director’s call. While there’s nothing wrong with a little offline lobbying, a clear case made in open forum for money to be well-spent will satisfy all in the room and alleviate conflict down the road.

Hear the voices of Others (beyond any already in your head). Let everyone speak when compelled to do so in these meetings…or anytime. Have the patience to let people finish their sentences. Though one might believe to have a good idea where someone is going in a line of thought or reasoning, one doesn’t actually know, until it has been said. Wait for it. Let it be said. Y’never know what you might hear…and learn…what perspective might change.

Listen.

Respect the Process (Contribute to the Process) and the Process will Support You. This goes for everyone on the team, from top to bottom and side to side. Hierarchy is not bureaucracy, it is structure; a framework that should be designed so that every component of the team can depend on the others. Without Hierarchy and Fulcrum, there is no organization. Things fall through the cracks, unnecessary money is spent, departments find themselves unsupported: people, and clients, get cranky.

Trust department heads to do their jobs and alert you to problems in plenty of time. If you are a department head, be clear about the support you need and that which you offer. The regular meetings are the perfect forum to ask for support where it’s needed; to offer the same.

Then, if Hierarchy becomes Bureaucracy, burn it down and begin again.

Ultimately, the creative, production and budgetary decisions most effectively fall to one individual; to the Producer or Director or somewhere in that fluid Field of Titles that drive the process…but in the most efficient and effective structures to just one individual.

This fact of hierarchy must remain sacrosanct; being held as such by every member of the Team. I have found, in my own experience, that the more fully my teams have participated in the creation of a project, the more willing those on said team are willing to live with and actively, authentically support the ultimate decisions made by The One In Charge, when all is said and done.

IMHO.

Greetings from Dubai.

I’m here on a project for a few months, which may affect topic and perspective; always a good thing to shake-up oneself by parachuting into other cultures and projects.

I came across this first video, a few days ago, illustrating a simple, promotional concept of the French Railway, announcing new service from Lyons to Brussels. It is brilliant in its simplicity; using technology that is virtually ubiquitous in the Western World and Asia to surprise and engage passers-by and promote both the railway and it’s service to the City of Brussels.

This immediately brought to mind another installation that has been floating around the globe for a few years; the Telectroscope.

Take a look at the two installations, and let’s talk…

Telectroscope

Take a Look at Brussels

Granted; that the Telectroscope is designed as a public, interactive, art installation with a fictitious backstory while “Take a Look at Brussels” is a Marketing Strategy. Yet, examining the two, side-by-side, I see an excellent example of the effectiveness of underproduction and circumventing preconception versus setting up expectation and perhaps not quite delivering to it…especially in a technologically sophisticated population.

Both these experiences feature technology that is present in pretty much every desktop and laptop computer and many mobile devices available to us. Skype, iChat, FaceTime; these all have inured our peers to awe at being presented with face-to-face conversation at great distances.

Comparing the two experiences and their effectiveness, though, I have to come down on the side of the “…Brussels” piece. A nondescript, free-standing box which, when one’s head literally enters the space, becomes a virtually immersive, personal experience seems to greatly exceed the excitement engendered by the other install.

Expectations at Insertion are low; with simple curiosity bringing the viewer closer. Then, when inside, the unexpected is presented with alacrity and matter-of-fact humor.

This, versus a highly-themed and expensive installation that projects complexity yet offers what is, essentially, sound-free Skype. The fabricated, Telectroscope backstory of a tunnel drilled under the ocean so that people from distant cities can see one another is out of date before we start, and under-delivers, in that there is no sound.

One can thrill to come across an unexpected opportunity to wave to someone from Times Square to Trafalgar; but as a promoted destination, there seems no real payoff. A better and more personal experience can be had with iPhone and iPad between the same, two locations. Not to disparage the concept behind Telectroscope; but to point out the effectiveness of less buildup for more reward…at a far lower price.

Is there a payoff to the heavily-themed, Jules Verne-esque setting for the Telectroscope installation that offsets the increased cost? Or, does the simple surprise and matter-of-fact presence of technology in the “…Brussels” installation actually resonate more compellingly?

Something to consider when planning an experience or campaign. Big is great; as long as the payoff is comparable.

IMHO.

We need to talk.

Industry-wide, I see a significant step in the development process being missed; costing millions of dollars, eating up months and sometimes years, causing no small amount of waste and resulting in tragic shortfall of vision, again and again.

I recently returned from this year’s SATE Conference of the TEA at Disneyland Paris. This conference (“SATE” stands for Storytelling, Architecture, Technology, Experience) is an annual gathering of Creatives and Producers from the myriad, disparate sectors of the Themed Entertainment Industry (TEA stands for Themed Entertainment Association). Unique in its intimate size (around 200), SATE offers rare, informal access to some of the biggest or most groundbreaking thinkers and doers in theme parks, destination entertainment, museums, attractions and theatre in the world…creators of compelling experience.

http://sate2012.blogspot.com

At the conference, a virtually iconic and widely-respected leader of one of the more successful companies in the business was sharing anecdotes of some of his projects in the context of working in other cultures.

The point being made was that of the importance of Listening when entering foreign cultures and attempting to create, develop, work and build in partnership with said culture. As examples, two instances were cited wherein crucial, pertinent information came to light extremely late in the process. The point was that, had the principals not been listening with acuity at a fortunate, given moment, information crucial to successful execution of the project might have been missed.

What I believe was missed was the fact that the primary key to listening is asking questions…questions that, in these two, cited instances, had not been asked.

No question: Listening is of key importance. Virtually countless are the times a producer , director or any company or principal has parachuted into a foreign context and attempted to manifest some change or new thing without truly being in tune with the culture and specifics of the country or context into which s/he is plunging. That being said; even that requisite Listening must be guided by a preceding, underlying, fundamental discipline…Asking.

This is stronger than what is what is termed, in sales and retail, the Open Probe. This is asking direct, focused questions that help those across the table explore their own assumptions about you, about themselves and about their cultures and vision.

A previous post on this site was about Exploration of Assumption (April 4); referring to the assumption(s) inherent in vendor, audience and client. Virtually always, in the way of realization of a vision’s full potential lie the fields of not only one’s own assumptions but also what one’s client or audience might be assuming is or is not understood.

Assumption isn’t always obvious. In fact, most often it is insidiously subtle. We assume things about our surroundings simply due to the fact that we see things a certain way and accept that this is the way these things are… And often, in the context of cultural idiosyncrasy, we don’t even see for ourselves what we are assuming.

If we don’t see it, we can’t alert others to it.

https://imho.kileozier.com/?p=38

One must, assiduously and regularly, examine what may be being assumed in interactions between the two, primary parties. Any two parties. It is so easy to fail to do so, and such failure will eat up time and resource in virtually every instance.

The first example was of a theme park being built in Asia. Six months in, the site was locked and construction had begun, but the core theme, the overarching Story that was to frame all experiences in the Park, had not been found or defined. Evidently, the team had been exploring and pitching themes, but nothing had stuck.

One day, when walking the property, apparently someone mentioned that the name of an adjacent mountain was “Phantom Mountain.” (Name changed to protect…)

“What?!”

It turned out that a handy, mystical legend or myth that was eventually and successfully developed into a compelling theme for the park had been sitting there, next to the property, for the entire time. No one had thought to ask about adjacent topography.

Presented as a delayed victory, I see this as a failed exploratory process. Months might have been saved had Assumption been Explored in the early meetings. Remember, it is not solely one’s own assumptions that call for examination and circumventing; the client is also working through a personal filter of a set of unseen or unarticulated assumptions that s/he may not see, at all.

You gotta ask!

The client or host is immersed in an environment and culture that is as familiar as one’s skin; leaving him vulnerable to the inability to casually distinguish between what is unique to an outsider, what is or may be important to fuel or expedite a process. Thus, it takes an extra discipline, a focus more acute on the part of the Producer or Creative Director to dig for and elicit information that may not even seem important enough to be dismissed by those inherently in possession of that information.

Is this making sense? To uncover facts or traditions that influence experiences in other cultures, the onus is on us to ask questions that uncover the Assumed on the part of the hosts / clients. These invisible tidbits can affect anything from nuance to overarching story and be so familiar to those in possession of the information as to not even register on the radar.

Ask.

Then, Listen.

The second anecdote shared was of an installation in an Arab Country, wherein with only a few days until opening the fact that a special entrance to the property be built, especially for the Royals and VVIP’s was imperative. The usual Guest Services special entrance would not in any way be sufficient for the culturally crucial special treatment of this Upper of Upper Classes.

I can’t imagine how this could have been missed in the very first meetings on design; not to mention the raft of subsequent porings over plans and schedules. Someone failed to ask a critical question and an entire installation was designed and built without a crucial component. This, in very recent history.

This was not a failure to Listen; it was a failure to Ask…then Listen.

Exploration of Assumption.

‘Tis critical to every process, and not a one-time thing. One must keep in mind that one is very likely assuming at most times, and regularly apply the discipline of self-examination to avert expensive, obstructive negative result. Concurrently, we must know that those across the table from us, too, are equally assuming deep and imperceptible wells of pertinent information that we, as Concept Developer or Producer or Principal, need to know.

The opportunity to Listen is around us at all times. Especially when parachuting into and  moving through a new culture (any culture, actually; including one’s own); keeping one’s ears open at all times, hearing what is behind what is said, can result in the catching and absorption of nuance and detail that will very likely affect the creative process, and affect it positively when caught early.

Listen; yes. Ask, and Listen.

IMHO

The goal was to tell a substantive, compelling story in an engaging way, keep people interested and entertained, receptive and off their mobile devices through the program, while hoping there would be minimal early departures from this event.

The occasion was last night’s 30th Anniversary Recognition event for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco. The guarantee was “no speeches” and, other than an enthusiastically-received set of remarks by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi at the very start of the evening, that assurance was respected. All messaging was done theatrically, in four, six-to-eight minute vignettes that were spread over the first two hours of the three-hour event.

The concept was to articulate the chronological, socio-political and emotional arcs of the AIDS Epidemic of the past 30 years through these Vignettes. Action took place on the proscenium stage, on two platform-stages juxtaposed among the cocktail-sized tables in the room and from the encircling balcony, overhead.

The room was set up as a club; heavy on small tables of varying shapes and heights, light on seating, heavy on a wide variety of easily-eaten food on small plates; all to keep people moving and comfortable and not stuck with nine other people at a static dinner table for the entire night.

My strategy was to communicate through the first vignette that these would be short, intense, impactful; such that mobile devices and mouths would be pretty-much closed-down during the performances and the talking and texting would be done in the 20 – 25 minutes between Acts.

It worked.

The first act, “Discovery,” was so powerfully delivered that not one screen was lifted from a pocket. Watching from the rear, as I was calling the show, I could see no devices raised. We had ‘em; and this dynamic was repeated in each of the ensuing three Acts, “Triage,” “Defiance” and “Empowerment.”

This continued, all the way to the end.

Attrition was more minimal than I’d even hoped. We may have lost only 5% of the audience between the 7:00pm Opening to the Closing notes of Act IV at about 9:05. After the first Vignette; as the lights faded before successive ones, the audience would simply fall silent and turn to the stage. Taught and trusting.

Excelsior!

Here, then, are the scripts for the Experience. Performed by actors on loan from ACT on the stage, platforms and balcony and framed with Video Codas, attention-grabbing musical performance and a soloist; the story was compellingly told and received with everything from tears to thunderous applause.

Here, then, is the script.

ACT I – Discovery

Just as the guests are settling into the party, first drinks in hand and buffet stations inspected and selected; suddenly, disco music from the 70’s (Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”) bursts from the speakers, the lighting goes to Fabulous, spotlights ballyhoo and colors flash everywhere as the encircling balcony and free-standing platforms are filled with flaggers. We are at The Saint or Trocadero, and the year is 1981 or 1982…

For a full minute, the audience is immersed in fantastic, frenetic, kinetic nostalgia; smiling at the blurred memories of dancing ‘til dawn in self-actualized celebration of liberation and freedom…

The music suddenly comes to a stop. The upper reaches of the ballroom go dark as the lights move across the audience to focus on the stage. There, standing in a column of light is the Boy, quiet. We hear the ringing of a telephone through the receiver of a landline phone of the late ’70’s…

Mom:

Hello…?

Boy:

Hello, Mom? It’s me.

Mom:

So I see. Where are you? Are you coming home?

Boy:

I’m not coming home, Mom; I live in San Francisco. For now, anyway…

Would you put Dad on the extension, please? I have something I want to tell you both.

Mom:

I think we already know anything you could tell us, by now…

Boy:

Actually, Mom, I don’t think you know this. Please get dad on the line…

Mom (hollers to Dad):

Pappa, Honey, get on the extension. Our son has something he wants to tell us.

Dad:

Hey, Kid; how’s it going, out there in…California?

Boy:

Hey, Dad. Mom.

So, Listen. How are you guys doing, out there? Has it snowed, yet? The weather, here, is always so mild…well, except in the summer, when it gets cold and foggy…<weak laugh>… I miss you guys; mom, I miss your cooking. I’ve lost some weight, <takes a breath> recently, and sure could go for some of your mashed potatoes and gravy…

<uncomfortable silence>

Mom:

Son, we haven’t heard from you in months, and this is what you call to talk about? Weather and food?

Boy:

No. No, that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I just think about you a lot, recently, and I wanted… Well, I need to tell you some things; some stuff I’ve been keeping to myself for a long time, some stuff that’s a little newer…

Dad:

Did you lose your job, Son? Are you okay? Do you need money?

Mom:

He’s a big boy, Pappa, he can take care of himself. After all, he moved clear to California to be on his own, didn’t he…?

Dad:

Mamma…

Boy:

Dad, it’s all right. I still have a job.

So, here’s the thing. I know how upset you were when I didn’t propose to Susie; and that you’ve never been happy about me moving away. I just had to get to a bigger place.

I never felt right in our town, I never fit, and I knew if I came someplace like San Francisco, I might fit in better; meet more people….like…me…

Mom/Dad:

<quietly> like you…?

Boy:

So, the first thing I need to tell you is that I’m Gay. I’ve known it forever, it feels like. I kept hoping that maybe I’d grow… that I’d… But it never…

Dad:

We know, Son. We knew, didn’t we, Momma…?

Mom:

<silence>

Boy:

I thought you might; but I was afraid to bring it up. I didn’t want to disappoint you. I know you had plans…

Dad:

You didn’t dis…

Boy:

<interrupting> There’s more, Dad. Mom.

Mom:

<almost coldly, stoic> What is it?

Boy:

Well, I mentioned I’ve lost some weight. Actually, I’ve lost a lot of weight, sorta fast. I’m sick.

Mom:

<very stoically, with bitterness> What is it? A flu? Pneumonia? I knew all that fog…

Boy:

It’s not the flu, Mom. I don’t know what it is. There’s a lot of confusion about what’s going on, and a lot of guys are getting sick…very sick…very fast. No one is sure where it’s coming from; but other guys like me are getting it, all over the place…guys like me…It’s scary…I’m scared, a little…

Dad:

<bravely> What are your symptoms, Son? Are you coughing? What…?

Mom:

Do you have a fever?

Boy:

That’s what’s so scary. At first, I was just so tired…just climbing stairs was wearing me out for no reason. Then, about two weeks ago, these spots started showing up on my legs; then, last week, there were a couple on my chest….

<silence>

Then, this morning as I was shaving, I found one on my cheek. <he chokes a little> …on my face, Mom!

My face…

Dad:

<quietly> What does your doctor say? Are you taking anything? What’s your treatment?

Mom:

What do these spots look like. What’s on your face?

Boy:

That’s just it; nobody knows what to do about it. There seems to be no medicine for this. These spots…they look like big brown amoebas made of the same stuff as a mole or a dark freckle… They’re ugly…

Mom:

Are you in pain, Honey? How did you get this?

Boy:

No one seems to really know where it comes from; but it’s hitting all my friends, lots of guys I know or used to see around just seem to be disappearing. First they get tired like I did, then they lose a lot of weight, then you just don’t see them, anymore…

<silence>

They just….disappear… My friends… Disappearing…

Mom:

Well. Perhaps if you hadn’t…

Dad:

<cuts her off> We’re coming out there, Son.

Mom:

We are…?

Dad:

Yes, we are. We’ll make arrangements to get out there, next week. You sure you don’t need any money?

Mom:

Can you get the time off, Pappa?

Dad:

I can get the time off. We’ll come out there. Anything you want us to bring…?

Boy:

I don’t need anything, Dad; I’d just like to see you… Mom, would you make some Mashed Potatoes while you’re here…?

<fade out>

Act I Coda

“His parents may have made it to San Francisco in time to say “goodbye” to their son; or perhaps not. In those dark and confusing, early years it was often a matter of only a few, short weeks between Discovery, Diagnosis and Death. By the time one realized weight was dropping too fast, that the bruise was more than a bruise, the disease was often in advanced stages. It was as though a brutal, Autumn wind swept through this City, taking  with it hundreds of young men and women, like so many brittle leaves, week after month after year.

Many parents, brothers and sisters, friends, relatives rushed to San Francisco only to arrive too late. Our Community seeking and finding no help from elsewhere, was going to have to address this Thing by ourselves. And that, we did…

Over those first, few years; San Francisco’s response…for Triage and Caregiving, for succor and sustenance, set the bar and became what the rest of the country and now the world see as the Model for communities to deal with the myriad needs that appeared.

Concurrently, we had to face and aggressively enlighten a nation; striving to protect ourselves from and eliminate an instantly-inherent, blaming prejudice coming even from government agencies and leadership.

What was happening was unprecedented, unfathomable, inexplicable; a swift-moving, deadly mystery that was pulling our lives out from under us. A Vale of Tears through which most all of us passed; perhaps not at the same time, nor the same place, and all too often, alone..”

Act II – Triage

<phone rings> <another phone rings, overlapping> <then, another…>

<louder ring as House Lights begin to fade>

<then, two phones…then more, and more, until there is a cacophony of phones ringing, louder and louder until conversation can’t compete. Concurrently and in counterpoint, House lights fade to black.>

<phones stop, suddenly. Concurrent with this, Volunteer, in position on stage, is lit.>

Volunteer:

Hello. California AIDS Hotline. How can I help you?

Caller:Roger

Is this an anonymous hotline?

Volunteer:

Yes. We are completely anonymous. we don’t record calls, we don’t ask names…

In Rapid Succession:

Roger

I think I’m sick. I think I have this thing…what is it even called? GRID?

Rick

I’ve lost so much weight in the last two weeks…

Pam

I don’t know how to say this…

Patrick

I think I need to get tested…

Josh

There’s this mark on my arm

Rick

There’s a mark on my leg

Pam

There’s a mark on my stomach

Roger

There’s a mark on my face

Rick

I don’t want my doctor to know

Patrick

I don’t want my parents to know

Alex

I can’t tell my roommates

Josh

How can I tell my Lover?

Pam

What about my kids?

Roger

If anyone in my Church finds out…

Josh

Is there someone I can talk to…?

Rick

I hear there’s a test to see if one has it. Is there a test? Do I have to give my name?

Pam

I don’t want to give my name to anyone.

Patrick

How long til I get my results…?

Rick

My boss saw the lesions on my arm, and now I don’t have a job…

Josh

I’ve been denied my Social Security…they just don’t seem to know what’s going on…

Roger

I went to the Red Cross Blood Drive at work…

Josh

They asked me how much sex I’ve had!

Rick

Then, they told me they couldn’t take my blood; they sent me away.

Patrick

I was … embarrassed.

Roger

Fired from my job…I can still work…is there a way to find work?

Josh

…I came home and all my stuff was on the street; my roommates have locked me out…

Pam

I need help to keep my electricity

Rick

Where can I live? Is there someplace I can call to get help?

Pam

I’m running out of money…

Roger

I have no health insurance…

Patrick

I can’t pay my rent…

Pam

I have a baby…what about nursing?

Roger

I just read that the Mayor has declared a State of Emergency and endorsed Needle Exchange…

Rick

I went to visit my friend in the hospital, and they made me put on a Hazmat Suit!

Patrick

My lover is in the hospital, they won’t let me see him; I’m not Family!

Josh

I’m afraid to leave my house!

Pam

I’m pregnant…

Josh

I can’t stand for people to see me.

Rick

Can you get it from kissing?

Roger

Can you get it from shaking hands?

Pam

Can you get it from a sneeze?

Rick

Hello, I’m a Physician, calling from Kentucky…I don’t know where to get the information I need…Where might I learn about your Needle Exchange Program?

Patrick

My lover is sick, I wake up every morning, afraid of what I might find. I need to talk to someone…

Roger

Is there someone?

Pam

I think my husband might be Gay…

Josh

I don’t have the energy to walk my dog, I feel sorry for her…

Roger

I’m too tired to cook; besides, there’s no food in the house, really…

Patrick

I hear there’s someone who delivers meals? Can I know who that is…?

Pam

What can you tell me about Hospice Care? I have a friend…

Rick

My friend died

Josh

My friend died

Patrick

My friend died

Roger

My Lover has died

Pam

My Brother has died

Patrick

So many funerals.

Rick

I want to scatter his ashes here in San Francisco…

Josh

Is there someplace I can do that?

Roger

He just loved it, here…

Pam

He’s our President; he won’t even say the word!

In Rapid Succession:

Roger

I live in the Castro

Rick

Sunset

Josh

Richmond

Patrick

The Mission

Pam

Potrero

Roger

The Marina

Rick

Pacific Heights

Josh

The Haight

Patrick

Daly City

Pam

Pacifica

Roger

Oakland

Rick

Sacramento

Josh

West Hollywood

Patrick

Yreka

Pam

Fresno

Roger

Redding

Rick

Ukiah

Josh

Palm Springs

Patrick

San Jose

Pam

Mill Valley

Roger

Davis

Rick

Napa

Josh

Tracy

Patrick

Modesto

Pam

Turlock

Roger

San Diego

All:

Am I going to Die?

Act II Coda

“…it was out of the ashes, turmoil, confusion and fear that the Gay and Lesbian Community of San Francisco actually became Community. As thousands of men became ill and died, thousands of women stepped in to care for them; where there had been schism grew a powerful bond.

Dealing with a formless and formidable foe; we gathered to shelter, feed and offer succor to those whose lives were disappearing before their own eyes and before ours.

None of us had time to grieve…Responding: racing and reaching to catch and care for the fallen, one after another. Breathlessly poised and responsive to one another, we took care of one another.

In taking care of ourselves, before this vicious and aggressive virus even had a name, we created a critical network of Service Organizations that grew and evolved, split and merged, addressing the needs as the needs grew and changed. Hospice to care for dying with no homes to embrace them, Project Open Hand to feed them, A Quilt to Remember even as we continued to die; alliances of men and women, friend and former foe, doctors and nurses, artists, therapists, brothers, sisters…

A network of sustenance and advocacy that has continued to evolve to meet the needs of our Community, led by what is now the San Francisco AIDS Foundation…”

<Spotlight up on House Right Platform>

Tim Hockenberry at Keyboard, sings “Just Breathe” (Pearl Jam / Vedder)

Act III – Defiance

Act Up Chants from the encircling balcony:

ACT UP! FIGHT BACK! FIGHT AIDS!

PEOPLE WITH AIDS ARE UNDER ATTACK! WHAT DO WE DO? ACT UP! FIGHT BACK!

GEORGE BUSH, YOU CAN’T HIDE. WE CHARGE YOU WITH GENOCIDE!

TAIKO (three drums in the balcony) joins the cacophony

One, full minute. Then …

Act III Video:

Blindsided by HIV, decimated by AIDS, obstructed and blocked by a bureaucracy that could neither comprehend nor respond to what was happening, ignored by our government and dismissed as expendable… We had finally had enough.

After gathering to take care of ourselves and our loved ones, after creating Community out of virulent chaos and from that, creating the San Francisco Model of Care; we looked about us with the realization that our dying by the thousands wasn’t dramatic enough to capture the attention of and elicit action from our own governments.

So, we took to the streets.

Taking a lesson from our own recent history; we gathered in force to get in the face of our inactive leaders and a general population choosing to look the other way. From Die-In’s at the Centers for Disease Control and in the streets of cities from New York to San Francisco, to closing rush-hour traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge; we got their attention and caused the release of medicines, the focus of resources, the movement of those bureaucracies such that the help our communities needed on myriad fronts began finally to materialize…

BOYKIN:

Sixteen years into this war with no end in sight. The Death Toll mounts.

Evolving from bewildered victims to angry and aggressive activists, refusing to simply die and disappear; we became a Voice, a Presence, a Force with which to be Reckoned. By the early ’90’s, over Eighteen Thousand had died in San Francisco, alone; yet even our President had yet to utter a word on AIDS. This nation needed awakening, and awaken it, we did.

Marches, Demonstrations at the Seats of our governments, Die-In’s at the Centers for Disease Control and in the streets of our home Cities… If our nation won’t respond to our perishing, we will force our leaders to pay attention, and to lead: we will make our country pay attention to us, and we will get our medicines released to us.

And we succeeded.

We continue to succeed.

Now, it has been 30 years since the war started, and over 25 million people have perished. Last year, more than 3 million people died of AIDS. That’s three million coffins, three million eulogies, three million families.

And this war is far from over. Every 10 seconds, someone on the planet dies of AIDS. More than 8,000 people will die today from this disease. Nearly 1000 of them will die before we leave this room, tonight.

Many of us here tonight know all too well the toll that AIDS has taken. We have been fighting this war, battle by battle, deep in the trenches, out on the front lines for decades. And many of us are tired. When we go to the AIDS Grove, when we simply remember what we have lost, when we visit the Quilt; we are understandably heartbroken, for we see more than names and patches sewn into a fabric; we see the faces of our friends, lovers, brothers, sisters, parents and children.

We have fought the good fight, but we are a weary army in desperate need of comfort and assurance. So as we gather tonight, we have come to a turning point in this conflict. The poet Essex Hemphill tells us that he conquered his sorrow after the loss of a good friend by taking up the cause of his friend. “When my brother fell, I picked up his weapons,” he said.

As did Hemphill: so we must pick up the weapons left behind by our sisters and brothers in the struggle. To those who have gone before us, we honor them not by erecting new statues on pedestals, but by finishing the work that they began.

Our gathering tonight is not only an acknowledgement, a memorial; but this is our call for a rededication. Tonight we commit ourselves not just to the legacy of the dead, but also to the hopes of the living. We pledge to be vigilant in this fight until victory is won.

As long as 40 million people on this planet are living with AIDS, we cannot give up. As long as 5 million people are infected with HIV every year, we cannot give up. As long as there is one person living with this virus, we cannot give up. Until there is a cure, there must be a fight.

Make no mistake about it, the cavalry will not come to save us. But this is not the time to wave the white flag of surrender. This is the time to fight back. You see, we are the cavalry. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. This is our moment in history. We are closer to victory than we may realize, and we have come too far to turn back now. So let us move forward.

We are morally bound to Answer This Call.

Battle fatigued and war weary, we march on.

Sometimes beaten but never defeated, we march on.

Down but not out, we march on.

In memory of yesterday, we march on.

With courage for today, we march on.

With hope for tomorrow, we march on.

Will you answer…?

Act IV – Empowerment

Performers are lined up, as at a bus stop, across the front of the Stage…

Rick

WTF! We did it.  Can you believe we did it?!?  And Congress actually named the Act after him.

Pam

Rest in peace, Ryan.

Patrick

Have you seen that cute Latino guy on “Real World,” Pedro Zamora. He has HIV.

Josh

That’s amazing that they’d put him on TV.

Cindy

IMHO; It’s amazing he’d go on TV.

Roger

I hear the FDA is working on some fast track process for AIDS drugs… maybe we can get meds before we die!

Rick

They’re calling it a “cocktail,” some sort of triple combination…

Josh

Don’t fool yourself.  It’s no party.  The drugs feel just as brutal as the disease.

Cindy

There are no obituaries in the BAR, today; NO OBITUARIES.

Patrick

Jesus. Pedro Zamora just died.

Pam

I just read that they’re giving AZT to pregnant women with HIV and it seems to be protecting the infants from infection.

Roger

I didn’t even know it was possible to ride your bike from here to LA.  Their making it a fundraiser! Hey, let’s do it!

Rick

Are you crazy?!?!

Josh

Tom Hanks playing gay, with AIDS!? Antonio Banderas is his lover? I don’t even know where to start with that…

Cindy

We’ve got to do something about the travel ban.  It’s absurd.  This is the United States!

Josh

I don’t know how many more die-in’s I have in me… Probably only a thousand or so!

Roger

It’s called “Rent,” and it just opened on Broadway.

Rick

A musical about AIDS!? This I have to see…

Josh

It won the TONY?!

Cindy

It’s called Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation – we can’t ignore what it’s doing to the rest of the world!

Pam

The Ryan White Care Act was just reauthorized!

Roger

PEPFAR. If stands for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. It’s about time this happened.

Josh

A single pill.  I can’t believe I’m still alive to see my entire regimen in a single pill.

Cindy

It’s amazing how receptive the new administration is to our input.

Rick

You’re not kidding.  He’s already targeting the needle exchange restrictions and the travel ban.

Josh

Wow.  First Magnet and Stonewall became part of the foundation, now STOP AIDS…and opening up in the Castro; very cool.

Roger

I really feel hopeful, sometimes… Like, we’re gonna get through this.

… what followed this was a 3” video on opportunities for engagement with and for the SFAIDS Foundation; then a sudden, fully encircling appearance by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus in the balcony, overhead, singing “Give ‘Em Hope,” introducing the CEO and Board to the audience. A quick thank-you-for-coming, and the chorus burst into the rousing Chorus of “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked,” as the audience cheered and clapped…

Then, it was liquor and dessert ‘til ten.

The important thing, here, is that we captured and kept the attention of a partying audience through adept, intense storytelling. Rather than compete with mobile devices, we kept the storytelling focused and pithy; thus effectively engaging the audience long enough to communicate, then relinquishing our hold on them for long enough to decompress and express, then doing it, again.

When the audience again fell to silence as the lights faded for Act IV, I knew we’d done it right.