What is the nature of creativity?

Where do the great ideas come from?

I don’t know, actually; I can only share with you my own process…

My own creative process is something that I didn’t actually even attempt to analyze for some time. That is probably largely due to the fact that I didn’t even realize that I had one. Nor did I work in an environment that embraced creativity. I was in Politics and Corporate Communications for many years until I was advised and encouraged by an insightful VP and mentor to “stay with me as long as you like, but I think you should go out and do this thing you are so good at doing!”

In San Francisco, I’d been being loaned by the phone company to City Hall for a succession of big, ceremonial productions at the behest of the late Steve Silver (creator of “Beach Blanket Babylon” – one of the longest-running theatrical productions in the world) as his assistant producer on these spectacles. Steve had discerned something in me that I’d never really thought about; a complexity of thought, a geometric sense of time and space, and the crucial absence of the Limitation of Possibility gene.

After several, successive periods of me being away from the office to work with Steve on a Fleet Week or a Royal Visit or the Super Bowl Ceremony, she (my above-mentioned mentor) took me to lunch and gifted me with the freedom to stay as long as I want, alongside the encouragement to follow my own path, “…success isn’t always found in the Boardroom…” was a truth to which I’d never been enlightened.

Previously, when essentially blindsided by my own inspiration, I would embrace and augment an idea once I’d noticed it; become excited by it and take it as far as I could, just to see what it might become. I’d never actually paid attention to when nor how the seeds of that inspiration may have been planted, how research and study was surreptitiously done by my subconscious, and how my brain worked to massage an idea before revealing it to my frontal lobes.

As this new career grew, my opportunity lay in helping others find and define their vision using my own creativity as a tool to make it real; keeping it aligned with a mission or goal, yet taking the germ of a vision to a place even the client may not have foreseen.

A fine line to walk; assessing how much of oneself to infuse or offer in creating experience. Ultimately, my enthusiasm and passion usually lead me to offer it all, tempering as I go, reining-in the ideas that are just too big or too out there rather than restraining myself, up-front, and offering only or simply what is expected.

There are plenty of Creators, though, who make fantastic livings by delivering what’s expected. There’s a decision for ya…and a conversation for another time.

I was fortunate to come up against a catalyzing experience – an epiphany of sorts – back in the ’90’s, that gave me the opportunity to truly appreciate and realize how my own creativity worked. I had been brought on as Creative Director for a landmark, national Industrial Theatre production company (that no longer exists, btw) based in NYC. Their pitch to me was that they’d experienced my work, seen what I can create, and wanted that as part of their arsenal.

One problem: the only people who were allowed client contact at first download were the SalesPeople.

So. The Account Reps’d go out on a call; meet the client, get their experience of the client’s vision and come back to the office. There, they’s sit in a conference room with me, gather around the table, tell me what [they thought] the client wanted and then sit back and wait for my wonderful, creative ideas on how to execute; as though creative concepts were akin to toothpaste one might simply squeeze out of a tube.

I lasted a month.

Lovely people; but that’s not how I work.

Since then, I have meticulously examined my process and learned to protect and nurture that process in order to deliver Experience well beyond expectation.

I’m not giving advice; I am, though, sharing what works for me, in no particular order…

Trust Oneself. Know that the answers, the concepts, the ideas will come. And relax. As I’ve posited in a previous post: keeping one’s eye on the goal, the experience wanted, the response envisioned…that is the most effective, reliable way to ensure success.

Not blindly, mind you. Listening remains a key component of creativity and creative collaboration.

Interview the Client. For me, there is nothing of greater value than the virtually subtextual information that can be gleaned through the first meeting with a client (if, indeed, the work is being done for a client). It is during that first encounter, when the right questions are asked, that the nuance is most clear, the personal motivations and inspirations behind whatever the Official Rationale may be shine through what might be a more formal conversation. This is where creative empathy and compassion become the rod and staff of the Creative; this is where subtext and inadvertent communication can be perceived by the sensitive Creative and woven into the process.

What the Creative perceives, the Creative creates.

Meet before musing. Meet the client before brainstorming with collaborators or partners. Enter that first meeting cold, sans preconception, with no virtual “box” or budget in mind and Learn. Listen.

Take what was learned in that first meeting and go experience the world with that as filter. For a day or ten, see things through this new, borrowed lens. Take things in, notice things differently. Just as the guy who’s recently bought a new car will suddenly notice every other car of the same model on the road where he hadn’t noticed, before; the sensitive Creative will receive impressions and data, visuals and experience in a slightly new and pivotally relevant way, after the First Meeting.

Offer the Brain for Collaboration. My practice, other than on the very rare occasion (hey, money talks!), is to never present concepts for sale. Rather, I present and offer myself and my body of work as my recommendation and market the opportunity to collaborate and create something compelling and resonant and of the client.

I do not sell concepts created in a vacuum of what might work. Rather; I guarantee that, working with me in partnership, the result will be something powerful and borne of the interaction: not something taken off a shelf, dusted off and sold.

But, that’s just me.

Know the venue, theatre or arena. There have been some spectacles I’ve created that have been initially inspired by the place in which they will manifest, be produced.

I once had the experience of conducting a live interview before an audience with Yves Pepin, the world-class creator of spectacle, founder of ECA2 in Paris and who, among a host of other once-in-a-lifetime spectacles, created the Eiffel Tower Millennium show.

At one point, I asked him where he found his inspiration. He said, in his eloquent, French-accented English, that he would go and sit in the space until the space spoke to him. Whether that was a desert where the venue or stadium may not yet have been built or a structure, already-standing; he would listen to the land or the architecture, awaiting inspiration.

To that, I stress the importance of being able to see and experience a given space before I write for it…if, in fact, the Experience is site-specific. For me, the enhancement to my creative process cannot be over-valued.

Share and Listen.  When a piece, component or passage inspires me, I share it with trusted peers, friends, colleagues and watch their reactions closely; listen to their responses, hear their suggestions – even if I wasn’t asking for suggestions… Y’just never know…

So, I strive to always listen with an open mind; exploring the possibility that a given idea might augment or enhance the Experience…including the consideration of completely new directions, just to see what it might look or feel like, if only in my mind’s eye.

Listening can’t be over-valued.

Finally; Allow the Mix to Simmer. Don’t rush yourself. After all the input, all the sharing, all the collaboration; the real creative work is actually done as I’m looking the other way. I sort of place the whole thing on a mental back burner or shelf where I might just catch a whiff of it, now and then, as I turn my attention to other things. Perhaps another project, perhaps just a movie or just living life.

More times than not, at some wonderful point, the form and framework, the shape of the new concept or Experience will drop, virtually fully-formed, into my mind. This is always a thrilling, exciting moment for me (I’ve still got it!). With that, I then know to whom I will reach out to collaborate creatively, who can realize the technical or artistic visions, what the music needs to be, what sort of Production Team I need to build…

The project is nowhere near complete; but the blueprint is there; the idea is born, ready to be raised and realized.

imho.

A further note; more or less in the context of last week’s conversation on Angst Alleviation…this time, with respect to talent and show.

When writing scripts and shows and, subsequently, staffing those shows for stage direction, I make it a practice to have someone at every exterior and interior entrance, every exit, every green room, dressing area or hallway corner, everywhere I plan to send, store or stage talent.

If at all possible, I keep that person on headset, if only for the one time in the show that s/he needs to communicate with me or I must reach out to that position to communicate a change, learn where a missing member of the cast might be, light or put out a fire, revise the show in the fly, or other direction.

Each of those individuals, long before the rehearsals begin, has participated in the production talk-through’s of the script and knows not only their own job, but also the jobs of those that precede, surround and follow theirs, along with the ramifications of mistakes, missteps or “Acts of God.”

In other words, they know the show.

They also serve an often overlooked and quite valuable purpose: that being the answering of the nearly-unasked, sometimes whispered / sometimes shouted question…of being on-the-spot to circumvent second-guessing and “independent decision-making” on the part of those who don’t have that part. In other words, this is Staffing to Keep Things Smooth and Calm and to Handle Things Effectively and Seamlessly when Things Go Wrong.

So, take a production that’s been talked through and planned amongst the tech and crew; now, add the talent (or speaker, or any person who moves from one part of the stage to another, on or off), and here are two, possible scenari…

First, Scenario 1:

Director:

“Alice, Darling; walk over to that doorway, would you, and wait ‘til we call you for your entrance?”

Alice walks over to the doorway. Touches it, opens it, looks around to see if there are any other doorways, calls out to the Director, 

Alice (Anxiously. Gripping the doorknob):

“THIS doorway…?”

Director:

“Yep; that one…”

Alice:

(Pointing to the door she is holding with her other hand), “This one, then.”

Director:

“Yes. Thank you, Alice.”

And, then, Scenario 2:

Director:

“Alice, Darling; walk over to that doorway, would you, and wait ‘til we call you for your entrance?”

Alice walks over to the doorway, where she is met by Thomas, standing by the door.

Alice: (Anxiously, to Thomas)

“This Doorway?”

Thomas:

“Yep. Right here.”

Alice:

“Thanks!”

I think this makes my point. Alice is immediately at ease; and can ask any extra or extraneous questions of Thomas-the-stage-crew-guy without having to interrupt the Director or anyone else. The oblique benefit to this is that she has “someone who knows” right there, with her, while she awaits her cue or direction.

This makes for an exceptionally more relaxed, responsive and productive team; for both crew and cast. (Allow me to posit, here, that I am not “dissin’” the Talent. Their job is the character and performance and knowing their stage direction; offstage, out of their purview, it is only natural that they may be insecure about their perceptions of what has been asked and nervous about simply being where they are supposed to be. Staffing in this way assures confidence and concomitant confidence.

I love alliteration.

I am fortunate in that many of my projects are of a level that holds some mystique or glamour, qualities that entice intern-level staffing that is often happy to work for food, the experience and a place to sleep. While I wouldn’t take undue or unfair advantage of kids like that; it is also a great opportunity for them to offer themselves to intern and for me to scout future paid crew members. I think everyone wins, in these situations, and it starts a lot of young people on the road to their own network- and experience-building pathways.

The cost of supporting these positions is minimal, especially when held against the resulting calmness on set and during the show. Especially now, with wireless ClearCom increasingly affordable; supporting this staffing tool is incalculably valuable.

Subtextually, staffing to this degree shows the talent that they are being considered valuable. This pays off, immensely.

———————————————–

Writing this reminds me of when I produced the 40th Anniversary of the signing of the Charter of the United Nations at San Francisco’s Herbst Theater, where the original charter was signed.

There were six of the original signers, still living, and we brought them to the ceremony as Respected VIP Guests; to be presented, onstage at a Major Moment.

I don’t actually remember why we put them where we put them to await their cue; it must have had something to do with the speed at which they could walk and the distance from the stage to the actual Green Room. In any event, I had them sequestered and seated, backstage, behind a drape, in the dark, waiting for my stage managers to come and escort them onto the stage.

As the ceremony began, my Right Hand Guy, John T., came to me and said, “Kile, come here; you’ve got to take a look at this…” Turning off my headset, I walked back with John, behind the onstage set, and saw The Six, each sitting in the dark, head bowed, hands in laps, awaiting one of the team to come and get them.

“Look how they trust you,” he said, “think who these people are and look how they trust you!”

I have never forgotten that image and what it meant to them and to me; and the commitment to keeping my companies at ease remains paramount in my priorities in everything I do.

Thanks, John.

In closing, a short, bonus “outtake” from Scenario 2, above:

Alice walks over to the doorway, where she is met by Thomas, standing by the door.

Alice: (Anxiously, to Thomas)

“This Doorway?”

Thomas:

“Yep. Right here.”

Alice:

“Thanks… Um, what’s your name…? I haven’t seen you before…” “Are you new…?”

Thomas:

“I’m Thomas. This is my first production with Kile.”

Alice:

“Oh, wow; New in Town; perhaps you would like for me to give you a tour of my favorite City, sometime?” What are you doing after rehearsal, Thomas…?”

Cut to Director…

When one witnesses a Producer, on the Day of Show, moving fast, running around, walkie-talkie against the ear and in heated discussions with crew or cast, putting out fires, sweating, being extremely busy; one is likely witnessing a Producer who is under-qualified for the job s/he has taken and who is in way over his/her head.

A Producer who knows the job and is good at it has resolved or circumvented all foreseeable problems, has all teams built and briefed, tech is spec’d, riders are filled, script is familiar to all support players by Day of Show. On that day, the competent producer awakens refreshed, confident, with everything in order…fully abreast of the status of all components of the production, having thought through the myriad possible negative eventualities and, if necessary, prepared to switch to Plan B….or C…or…

“Producers” who are swamped and busy on Show Days are, IMHO, the sort that give actual, good Producers a bad name. A competent Producer’s time on Show Day is spent in handholding the client and being available to make last-minute decisions for the unforeseen eventualities. Show Day should be calm.

All these “shoulds”…

Yes, actually: Show Day ought be about tiny tweaking of the production, final adjustments, dealing with water main breaks and recalcitrant smoke alarms…not building the show.

No angst.

There are three, primary things among the hundreds on the original To Do list that have and continue to serve me and my productions extremely well in the run-up to a show. And, here they are:

One Document

From the moment plans begin for a production of any magnitude, a single document is created to which only one person has editorial access and on which each and every single component and action of the production is included. If it’s going to happen, it’s on that document; if it is not on that document, it does not happen. I call this my “TimeLine;” it includes all components of a runsheet, production schedule and script.

It works, fantastically.

From the beginning, with the very first decisions, every meeting is listed (along with where and when, who’s attending and who’s responsible for seeing that the meeting actually happens), every site visit, every delivery, every parking slot and load-in time… As the production grows, the document grows, and begins to reflect every call-time, every warning, every cue and every speech or bit of script.

In my productions, whether I am creative producer or director, I generally build and maintain this document, myself. Something changes; it only becomes official when it shows up in the TimeLine. Someone wants to change their script; that needs to be reflected on the TimeLine (or the change will likely not show up on the TelePrompTer).

In this way; I know what components are not showing up on deadline and who isn’t delivering, I have a clear sense of timing – of how long the show runtime looks, how tight the schedule is, where there is play and where we are going to need to shave or cut something.

I recently was a part of a production where the client showed up on the day of the show with new scripts (in new typefaces) with no indication of what had been changed and what had remained constant. No one knew the status of the script until the dress rehearsal, and even then the show was in flux ‘til the last minute. We pulled it off, but a central, respected and adhered-to document such as I use would have alleviated this dynamic.

Every addition or change goes through one person, the fulcrum, and is distributed as a pdf.

Production Meetings

In parallel with the development and maintenance of the TimeLine Document is the Full Team Production Meeting. To me, this is obvious; a Gimme. But I have been surprised at the number of times I witness Producers who short-circuit their own productions by dismissing the importance of this complete forum, in advance. Instead, they seem to hold information as valuable in its secrecy and dole out details on a “need-to-know” basis.

I’m the opposite; I believe that information is most valuable when shared.

Thoroughly communicating with all teams on a production is no substitute for getting everyone (and, by that, I mean EVERYONE) involved in the production in the same place at the same time to talk through the script, minute-by-minute. In my experience, these documents very often define moments and action down to the half- or quarter-minute; not only giving the team a compelling sense of timing and order of show, but also making clear the flow of activity for each, individual component or person from offstage arrival to onstage performance, and back again.

This exercise, conducted a few weeks prior to the show (and again, a day or two before) gives everyone from Craft Service to Stage Manager the very clear picture of what is to happen when as well as where everything and everyone else is at any given moment. VERY handy when something goes awry and a quick substitution is needed. Everyone knows who and what is where and can make informed, professional decisions or suggestions and substitutions on the fly; not depending on finding a higher-up to assess the situation.

A thoroughly-informed crew of professionals is invaluable; and will make the Producer look damn good in some of the most difficult situations.

They can also save the Production money.

As different teams (electrical, technical, staging, lighting, props, whatever) share their load-in requirements and logistical pieces of the puzzle; I have witnessed, time and again, the spontaneous suggestion from the contractors to save the production money by sharing truck space, adjusting or trimming load-in and load-out times, all sort of cooperative logistics borne of being in the same room. Usually, after the full talk-through of the script, the group splits into break-outs for at-the-moment problem solving.

This also makes for an exceptionally cohesive production team. Darn handy at Load-in and through the show to Load-Out.

Production crews very often get quite a chuckle at my TimeLines…and they also keep and save them; as these documents reflect the vision for the show and communicate, at an almost visceral level, the tightness with which the show must run…and, it generally does run just that tight.

Listen

Finally; listen.

To everyone.

You never know.

Never assume one knows what another is about to say. Listen before formulating a response. Listen.

This serves the Producer and the Production in two (of probably hundreds of) ways.

First: solutions to problems can show up from the most unlikely places. Back when we were having a full production meeting for Closing Ceremonies for the Gay Games in NYC (Cyndi Lauper, Patti Labelle, Phyllis Hyman, Armistead Maupin, Sir Ian McKellan, 300 Jerry Mitchell choreographed dancers and 11,000 athletes – just a little show), we encountered a problem that we were having trouble navigating our way through during one of these production meetings.

Suddenly, from the back of the room where he’d been sipping coffee and eating a donut, one of our drivers growled out, “…Well, back in the day, when we were touring Carol Channing in ‘Hello Dolly,’ what we did was…” and he offered a great solution to our dilemma.

You never know; listen.

Ten extra minutes of listening can save hours, days, thousands of dollars.

The other thing about Listening, the magical thing, is the transformation of the group dynamic when it is practiced.

Here’s a Truth: when people feel authentically Heard, they become far less likely to resist and far more likely to accept and embrace whatever the results or outcome of a conversation or process.

IF they feel authentically heard.

This means, on the other hand, that we must listen, authentically. Until the statement or idea is out, communicated, fully articulated. There can be no answer-building until the thought is fully expressed.

A Producer (or any leader) who does this will

1. likely learn something new or see a new perspective, more times than not, and
2. experience far less, if any, resistance to the final decision when it is made, even when it is not in alignment with the original arguments posed against it.

A Professional Crew will respect the fact of your Listening and is likely to be more supportive of the project and deferential to the Producer, ongoingly.

Plan, plan, plan and listen, listen, listen; then, make your best decision and move forward. Just don’t forget your TimeLine!

Years ago, during a production meeting with one of my bigger clients – an iconic, Western University – in response to a production suggestion by one of the higher-ranking members of “the committee,” my Production Manager took a breath of consideration as everyone at the table looked over to him…

“You know;” he said, “there are a lot of bad ideas…better than that!”

The group cracked up, and the point was made.

That point is that the Customer is not always “right;” especially in show, theatrical and experience production.

This is a nuanced balance, a delicate path one must walk. On the one hand; the client has contracted or engaged the Producer to deliver a property or concept, to realize a vision…often, the vision of the client; sometimes a vision in which the client has invested. Either way, the client is paying the producer to deliver what is wanted.

But, who is the arbiter of what is wanted?

The hard truth is that the client isn’t always (and by that, I mean rarely) the best judge of how to realize a given vision or concept. If that were the case, actually, the client would be the producer. The Producer is paid and responsible for seeing to it that the project happens, adhere’s to the budget and gives the audience what the client wants the audience to get, to appreciate.

Let’s step back for a minute and lay out some of the major, different kinds of Producers.

• There is the Executive Producer; the one with the Money and who often holds primary interest in filling the seats.
• There is the Producer Producer; the one who knows how to put all the pieces together and protect the Director and the Creatives from the Money People and Other Realities while they develop the vision.
• There is the Managing Producer; who’s all about the nuts and bolts and scheduling and budgets and not so much about the content or look of the show, itself.
• There’s the Creative Producer; often collaborating with the Director or even doing the Directing, handing off the nuts and bolts of logistical management to a Production Manager or Co-Producer.
• Then, there is often the Carnal Producer; the boyfriend or girlfriend of the Executive Producer or Star of the Show who wants a credit and something to do.

There are plenty more Producers of varying degrees of nuance and scope; but those (excluding the last one) are a basic set.

Now, that being said; seldom is anyone wearing just one of those hats. More often than not, responsibilities are juxtaposed, distributed and apportioned in different ways for different projects, depending on who brought in the property, who owns the theatre, who was there, first…

Ultimately, though – and back to the original point – between the Producer and the Director lies the Mysterious Realm of Creative Realization and Protection. It is between these two that the nurturing and evolution of the Audience Experience lies.

Audience (and client) expectation is limited by what they know is possible. It is our job, our responsibility, as Creators of Experience to exceed audience expectation through what we know is possible, what we know is right, what we know will work the best. Our job is to protect what the client wants the audience response to be, not accede to every suggestion, edit or demand of the client at the risk of the actual Experience.

And, this is where it can get dicey.

In most of my work, I generally act as Creative Producer or Creative Director and, depending on magnitude and complexity, do the Directing or collaborate with a specialized Director for unique media or contexts. When I am fortunate to partner with a Producer who gets the creative process and can support the creative side while protecting the logistical and budget, that is when I have been able to deliver some of the most compelling experiences of my career.

The nuance is this: while what the client wants is of paramount importance; what the Producer and Creatives know about what makes theatre or Experience resonant and compelling supercedes – or should supercede – any contributions of the client that are detrimental to the ultimate, overall experience. …and, those contributions call for being identified and set aside as they are offered.

This, as one might imagine, is where diplomacy enters the picture.

While, “…there are a lot of bad ideas, better than that…” may not be the most diplomatic of responses; there are other ways of conveying and convincing a client to relinquish these ideas. While each client-suggested idea or approach may well be fantastic as stand-alone concepts or components; very often the overall effect of acceding to client demands can result in an experience that is disjointed, too long, suffers from depletion of energy or simply fails to maintain a connection and realize the original vision.

As Producer (or Director) we’ve gotta stand up for the concept, trusting that we are there to protect that very thing.

I once worked with a Producer who could not say “no” to the client. I mean, virtually, at all. As a result, in successive increments of two-, three- and four-minutes, the show grew and grew in length until the additional time came to just under an hour.

An HOUR. Due to all the little adjustments and additions the client wanted. When the show was over and the reviews in, the universal complaint was length and concomitant energy drain. The client was angry at how the show was received and blamed the Producer.

I believe the Producer must hold the line with the client.

I learned this lesson years ago, when holding the position of Producer and Director for a huge, international stadium spectacle show; my first. After six or seven months of working in a virtual, unobstructed vacuum, making my own decisions and collaborating with the Creative Team: building a pretty wonderful show arc and Spectacle Experience, “the committee” began to insert themselves into the process; second-guessing decisions that had long been made.

Things got tense; there were challenges; much was riding on this spectacle for all of us. As the heat turned up, I spent several dark nights of the soul, examining my position(s) and assessing the spiritual costs and experiential risks and professional exposure of holding the line on what I knew would play best versus acquiescing to the pressure from the committee.

We were, all of us, new to the level of visibility inherent in this project. A failure would be monumentally destructive, personally and professionally.

I finally came to this: were I to accede to the pressure and make the changes I believed were ill-advised and the show were to bomb, I would have nothing but a failure to my name. However, were I to hold the line and stick to the vision, keep my integrity with respect to what I believed in my heart of hearts was the right thing…and the show were to bomb, then I would know, at least, that I had been wrong.

I decided that I’d prefer to at least risk coming to learn that I was wrong than to make changes in which I didn’t believe. I would be happy with the lesson, were I to fail. That decision has served me for nearly two decades and served to give me confidence in my own judgement during a rough time.

Which is not to say that I am not a good deal more diplomatic, now, than I may have been, then. What I know is that I must believe in what I am doing and I must keep clear sight on the vision, or I cannot do it. This does not mean the original vision cannot evolve; it virtually always does, with what was originally envisioned becoming something often quite different than originally conceived and just as often far better.

Trust yourself, collaborate and communicate, and stay true to what you know. That, at least, is my advice…imho.

Oh, and the show was a hit.

This photograph at the top of this page captures, as best might be accomplished with static media, another of the Moments of Which I am Most Proud in the personal history of Moments and Experiences I have been granted the opportunity of creating.

Question: What is one of our favorite parts of Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games? Seeing Team America enter the stadium in the Parade of Nations.

Another Question: What is one of our least favorite parts of the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games? That might be watching every single Team of the Parade of Nations enter the stadium.

It’s part of the program both highly anticipated while being almost as deeply dreaded: thousands of athletes parading into the stadium, one after the other, encircling the stadium  then taking their seats for the remainder of the Ceremonies.

Two hours? Two-and-a-half? More…?

For the 1994 Gay Games Opening Ceremonies in New York City (“Unity ’94”), we came up with the idea of, rather than having the procession encircle the field, having the Parade of Athletes March right down the center of Columbia University’s Wien Stadium, North to South. Then, as each arrived at the South goalposts, teams would alternate turning right or left, circling back to take their seats at the edge of the field.

Spectators got to see their team enter and parade down the field, then half the audience got a second, closer look as the athletes passed closer, and we got 12,000 athletes into the stadium and seated in a record 75 minutes. I think we were onto something, here…

Twelve years later, in 2006, we had the chance to do even better with the Opening Ceremonies in Chicago’s Soldier Field.

Worldwide, historically and inherently, these Olympic-style, sports stadium ceremonies have the potential to be magnificent, moving, powerful spectacle of the highest, most resonant and exhilarating order. On the other hand, they also have the propensity to be cumbersome, protracted, over-speeched and boring.

While we were intent on moving things along, we kept at the forefront of our minds the fact that these ceremonies are for and about the Athletes, and that the Athletes are both the focus and the stars of the event, as well as being entitled to fully enjoy their presence and participation in such a Ceremony.

So, our perspective was that the Procession of the Athletes had to take place as near to the very first Moment of the Ceremonies as possible.

How to do that and do it both efficiently and effectively without shortchanging the athletes, and to create an indelible Moment in the process?

Like this:

There was no rehearsal time. Virtually all of the athletes arrive in town the day before if not the day of Opening Ceremonies. This means anything done must be well-conceived, well-planned, fully thought-through and staffed for successful execution. We had an extremely tight budget with a small army of committed, intelligent volunteers and a darn good idea.

So, here’s how it played out…

A stage was built across the entire North End Zone of the Field; 40 yards wide. Across the broad, 100-yard expanse of the field, in the South End Zone, the unlit cauldron awaited the athletes, the ceremonies, the ultimate lighting…

The teams, rather than entering the stadium in columns to parade around the track, instead entered in shoulder-to-shoulder rows of up to that 40 yards each. Bursting through a slit-mylar curtain, each team was “revealed” to the audience in total, all at once. (Though there were some teams so large that they took several rows to fully enter).

At the moment of entry, the eyes of every person in the stadium were on that team; I dare say significantly more so than at any time after the first team enters in the traditional staging of the Parade of Nations. Each team had That Moment when all eyes were on them. The spotlight was all theirs.

Then, successively, each team moved forward, onto the field and continued to parade across toward the other end, waving and cheering; owning the field. As the teams reached the far end — or, as that filled, as near to it as they could get — they effectively filled the space, “Tetris”-style.

All the athletes knew in advance was that they were to be handed a light on a lanyard as they arrived on the field, and would be participating in a “light stunt” at the close of the Processional and the Administering of the Oath to the Athletes. They did not know what that stunt would be, nor did the audience have any inkling that there would even be a stunt.

The athletes were told to “light up” the moment the house went dark.

So, as they arrived at their positions, they were met by one of six teams of volunteers, each distributing a different-colored light. Organized in their own columns, each column had a specific color and was guided by barely-visible, hand-held rope barriers that unfurled as the athletes who were to mask their presence with their bodies gathered. This way, the lights were kept separate so as to read as panels when they were activated, on cue.

The Athletes Procession was complete in 47 minutes. (Yes, 11,000 athletes entered in Procession in 47 minutes; an “Olympic” record by at least half.) This is the World Record of which I spoke…

The Procession began before the sun began to set with the stadium lights already on so that darkness would be a surprise when those lights were extinguished, and this plan worked. They entered, gathered, were given their led’s, and were led in the Athlete’s Oath by sports icon, Dave Kopay. As the last words of the Athlete’s Oath were given voice…

“In these Games I have no rivals, only comrades in Unity…”

The House went dark, the lights came on and the audience went nuts as a football field-sized, electronic Pride Flag appeared before them, filling the floor of the stadium. It was awesome in the truest sense of the word.

The explosion of exhilaration and energy was almost overwhelming. The surprise of the audience as they saw what was before them elicited to-their-feet cheering. Then, as that first roar began to peak, the eyes of the athletes on the field could see via the iMag screens what they had created and went even wilder with that realization. This, quite literally, stopped the show.

As though that weren’t enough, as the athletes realized what they’d made, they began to swirl their lanyards. I wish that I could say that this had been envisioned, but the lanyards were part of planning for so many who’d be in sports gear and possibly pocketless.

When they began swirling the lights, it was breathtaking; as though the stadium were awash in living, liquid light. My production manager and I ran from the booth to the field in order to stand in it, walk through it, to cheer and hug other athletes and to immerse ourselves in the most immersive of spectacles I’d experienced.

In retrospect, these are excellent examples of some of the things I’ve been talking about;

• Liberating Preconception and Comfortable Disorientation with the reconfiguring of the Procession
• Successive Revelation of the Athletes as they entered, with the filling of the Field, and finally with the reveal of the flag to the audience, then to the athletes.

So Powerful, the Experience. So Proud to have been successful. So Grateful for that memory.

“A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?”

-Robert Browning

The Perils of TMI

Tell ‘em everything, show ‘em everything, lay it all out and your audience will leave with less than you might otherwise have given them had the experience been better crafted to engage rather than, in a sense, spell-out.

Less truly is More … more often than not, and to articulate every moment, point and beat of a story does, I believe, a disservice to our audience.

In conversations with clients, it is not unusual to hear arguments in favor of spelling things out “…in case someone doesn’t get it…” Well, we can do that; but giving it all away like that, spelling it all out, makes it a Show, while offering a well-crafted, creative “Less” can elevate said Show into an Experience that is deeper and more resonant…and more personal.

Let the audience do some of the work. (We’ve talked about this! <g>)

It sometimes seems that many producers and directors strive to eradicate any doubt in the minds of an audience as to what is intended or meant, what may be every thought of the main characters, the Why that motivates each action or word… This Leading of the audience, step-by-step, through a story may seem thorough and complete, in theory – and, in a sense, it is both thorough and complete; but such completeness isn’t necessarily a foundation for powerful storytelling.

Sometimes, allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions based on their experience of what you presented can result in deeply-felt convictions as to motive and eventuality, differing widely from seat to seat in your theatre.

Harking back to earlier conversations around Subliminal Engagement and the Liberation of Preconception; filling-in all the blanks and wrapping it all in a pretty, no-loose-ends bow isn’t necessarily the most effective approach to an audience recalling and re-experiencing what was given them long after Curtain and often into the days and weeks that follow.

This relates to the theory and methodologies that apply to communication with an audience through the left and right lobes of the brain. This division of mental labor is, I think, often discussed or referenced yet not so often actually examined and applied in the context of creating event or ride experience, producing theatre, even making film and video for the occasional capital campaign.

As you likely know, the left brain leans toward the analytical while the right holds most of the feelings and emotions: the cerebral versus the visceral.

That being the general case (it’s more complicated than that; but for purposes of our discussion, today…), there are some general rules I tend to follow as much as possible when creating film or video or theatre in order to keep the left brain quiet (if not dormant) and the right brain engaged and active.

When making film, the banning of print or titles from the screen is worthy of exploration and adherence. A line must often be walked, especially when on-camera interviews are a part of the piece, with deciding how and when to identify a given speaker. If you can get away without identifying a person, then by all means do it!

Depending on one’s audience and familiarity with the speaker, identification may not even be necessary… Or, list speakers and faces at the end of the video, or at the beginning; however your storytelling can support it without obstruction.

Truly adept would be finding a way for a previous speaker to reference the next, or the light-handed use of a narrator from segment-to-segment. There isn’t always a way, though there very often is at least one…

Frankly, imho, there is rarely, rarely a situation where it serves the delivery of information to put data onscreen, anyway. More often than not, it is that very data that can “date” a video piece sooner than anything else. One can refer to data, fact and figure and send the audience to Google (if they haven’t already been there).

We did this for a non-profit capital campaign in Southern California a few years back; with Jane Seymour as the Ambassador, describing the experience, engaging the audience with her description of the programs, referencing the “…reams of facts and figures…” and sending ‘em to Google. Worked like a charm…

“Don’t worry,” she says to the camera, “I’m not going to show you all those facts and figures; that’s why we have Google! What I am going to do…”

Feel free to check it out on my YouTube Channel:

I have experienced another example of overproduction that, from my point of view, epitomizes the worst in what can happen when a writer or director or designer (or, yes, a producer) goes overboard in complicated articulation.

Some years back, a Famous Event Designer in a Huge Eastern City created as a component of one of his signature events some fantastic centerpieces composed entirely of red and yellow roses. He took apart one color of rose and, petal-by-petal, tucked those alternate colors into the contrasting bloom. It was very impressive; clearly a detailed, intricate, laborious and expensive augmentation of the evening.

My sense of this, though, is that that sort of thing ultimately distracts from unrestrained enjoyment of the experience through the senses of the right brain. Such overtly complex and complicated presentation can become a subject of conversation and, through that, ignite the left brain to further analyze the How’s of what is happening rather than simply becoming immersed in the Experience.

Once awakened, ‘tis difficult to put that rascally left brain back to sleep.

Truly. Keep presentation simple. Save the complexity for the timing; for reveals, for a Moment of Exhilaration, for a Finale or Shock or Surprise; but keep the experience simple to appreciate and enjoy.

Make sense?

Thanks for reading.

I’m replacing my Robert Browning quote with something more relevant to this particular post…

We can lead a horticulture but we can’t make her think…

(Perhaps we shouldn’t try…!)

Restraint.

Restrained by budget,

Restrained by time,

Restrained by resource,

Restrained by design.

Nope. Not one of my Tenets; simply a feature of the Process, most of the time.

I’ll wager that we all encounter the first three of these, regularly. Budgets that are smaller than the vision of Client or Creative, clients who want a brilliant and fully fleshed-out concept squeezed immediately from some toothpaste tube of creativity, not enough money or floor space or ceiling height…

These restraints – constraints might be a term with more clarity – are the obstacles that challenge us to stretch our Creative Muscle; finding ways to surmount and ensure quality of the experience we are creating for our audiences. Interestingly, more times than not it seems – at least to me – these challenges tend to result in enhancing the experience through the process.

I view this restraint as another form of discipline as we navigate the channels of creativity and production, and it keeps things interesting.

Sometimes, though – taking Subliminal Engagement to a virtual extreme – one can achieve a powerfully compelling result through spare production by design. Underproduction, while maintaining finesse and elegance, can actually captivate and engage an audience; less is significantly if not substantially more…

Effectively realized; a huge, open, dark space, far larger than the audience it is meant to contain can become an immersive theatre, an experiential time machine of sorts. Lit with “islands” of light as performance spaces with a combination of physical expanse and visual darkness such that the distant, enclosing walls cannot even be perceived; this minimalist staging can support a fuller suspension of disbelief.

The audience is Comfortably Disoriented and the experience is Successively Revealed as sounds come out of the darkness, lights fade in to spotlight a moment of action or narrative, then fade out; leaving the audience Subliminally Engaged as they weave the connective thread of their own making through the experience(s) offered them.

Obviously, sight lines and acoustics must support the experience and more than some cinder blocks and flashlights are necessary to render the ignition of imagination. That being said; much can be accomplished – much experience communicated – by evoking with sound revealing bits and pieces with light.

I am lucky to have been able to see two like experiences created at the same venue, years apart and with essentially the same program format, and to witness the difference in audience response to the two, disparate approaches.

In the name of full disclosure, I produced and directed the one of the pair that I found most effective and compelling; though, I believe I am being objective in my assessment and comparison of the two. If not; well, the name of this site is “imho”…ergo, this is my opinion!

When asked to select from my body of work (so far) which of my productions am I most proud; one of the three is the CandleLight Ceremony for the AIDS Memorial Quilt at the Lincoln Memorial in 1992. Twenty years later, this yet ranks as one of my finest accomplishments and, in retrospect, all of my tenets were applied to its creation; though, I had not given language or name to my methodologies at that time — it was all instinct.

Later, in 1996, ceremony for the Quilt was produced at the Lincoln Memorial by a different group. This latter production was what I would call a Standard Event Format; as the landings on the stairway were heavily populated with chairs for orchestra, performers and speakers; the stage was lined with rows of tents for talent and support, scaffolding and technical detritus was everywhere. (Is my disdain evident? Hey, this is imho…)

We had done it, differently.

Using what was there, we designed our lighting towers and screens such that views of the reflecting pool, the steps leading to the Memorial and the Memorial itself remained unobstructed. The Memorial was our stage, and my sense was that to augment would be to distract. So, no stage was built, all support, backstage and green room were completely out of view, and the memorial was lit only from towers hidden in the trees.

Well, that…and the glow from the candles held in the darkness by the 250,000 gathered marchers.

The program consisted of an august list of speakers and performers:

• Melissa Errico
• The late James Callan
• Patti Austin
• Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton
• Cleve Jones – the founder of the Quilt
• Liza Minnelli – as speaker rather than performer (Liberation of Preconception!), she offered the Spiritual Moment…an effectively unexpected use of pre-eminent talent; reflecting a philosophy to be covered in a later post.
• Joel Grey – singing the finale.

The program went up at 8 and was to close at 8:45. I had no play in this schedule, as Representative Nancy Pelosi had arranged for a 5-minute window of no air traffic over the Potomac for my Final Effect (hang on, I’ll tell you…). So, that was that; no one gets to run past their scheduled times (techniques for that in an even later post!)

Backstory: going into this, I had developed a reputation for doing fireworks, indoors, at many of my ceremonies and productions in and around San Francisco. The casual joke among my friends and those who were familiar with my work was “…how are you going to write fireworks into this one, Kile…?” If anything, this came closest to a Memorial Service, and there was no appropriate place for celebratory fireworks…there was nothing to celebrate; hundreds of thousands of our friends had died and were still dying as the scourge of AIDS took them from us.

The final piece, though, was Mr. Grey singing, “Jonathan Wesley Oliver Junior;” a song sung by a man who has come to the Quilt to say “goodbye” to his boyhood buddy, whom “somebody told me you would be here…” If you are not familiar with it, this is a very poignant and sad song; one of loss and forgiveness, redemption and nostalgia for an innocent time.

The song speaks of when they were kids, just farm boys playing in the fields and sitting on bales of hay at night, talking and looking for shooting stars. The final line in the song is, “…tell me, Jonathan, up in Heaven, are there shooting stars…………….?”

The great George Zambelli had built for me one, single, giant, bright-white skyrocket that would explode silently…brilliance and absolute silence. As Joel Grey held his last note, the audience could see the tail of the rocket weaving upwards from behind the Memorial, then virtually fill the sky with shimmering brilliance.

And, all one could hear was the simultaneous, spontaneous, quietly personal gasp as 250,000 people had their breath caught in their throat.

Inviting the audience to participate in the creation of their own experience.

Well executed, the constructing of the experience in such a way as to subliminally engage those immersed in it can make for an intimate and quite personal experience for each member of the audience, irrespective of theatre or audience size.

What is Subliminal Engagement?

Another way to put it is “to make the audience do some of the work.” Create an experience that is in some ways incomplete…leaving it to each audience member to “complete” for oneself. The set, a song, a word or conclusion…

Rather than hand it all to them, rather than to fully articulate each thing in any dimension, hint; lead them to something but don’t take them all the way… Allow for the journey or journeys to be completed in the imaginations of the audience members.

With finesse, something almost magical can happen. One can offer each person in the audience the discovery or rediscovery of something intensely personal. What ramps up the resonance, the intensity of the experience is that most every member of the audience can experience this personal epiphany at virtually the exact, same moment; offering a theatre-wide, palpable, almost physical rush that renders the experience exponentially more powerful.

The most universally-appreciated example of this would likely be Julie Taymor’s costume designs for “The Lion King.” These costumes evoke jungle animals rather than attempt to fully articulate them. Ergo, what happens in the mind of each audience member is the recognition of a hyena, a zebra, a gazelle… Not just any hyena or zebra is perceived, however, and not the same one, throughout the theatre; rather, each person recognizes a specific, individual personal experience of “zebra” – the animal that s/he knows or first saw or experienced.

It is a “shared, personal experience;” the power of which cannot be overstated despite the virtual nature of it. This experience is is borne of Subliminal Engagement.

Referencing the Stanford film that was shared in an earlier post; this is the primary purpose or goal of creating a film that was shot with two, adjacent cameras and projected on two, adjacent screens that were separated by about 15’ of stage. The separation of the screens was key to the vitality of the experience. When watched in situ, the imaginations of the audience pull those screens together, creating the single image that is being perceived…they are working to create their own experience, side-by-side with one another.

Stanford “Think Again” films #1: Back to the Farm – YouTube

There is a sublime exultation that effervesces within each of us as we watch, engage and create the vary experiences that we are appreciating and enjoying…in a sense, we are discovering.

The extreme of this – which is a theatrically traditional technique – is, as one may imagine, darkness; punctuated with light for the action, sounds and effects broadcast into darkness, bare stages with boxes and ladders and spartan sets… While that can work, care must be exercised in the avoidance of going too far in one direction, risking boredom or distraction by the very spareness that is meant to do the evoking.

I believe what gives this its power and effectiveness is the lushness or completeness of what is articulated, rendering what is missing that much more dissonant – and by that dissonance, that absence, calling forth more colorful and complete imagery and experience from the imagination.

There are myriad ways of creating experience that elicit Subliminal Engagement: observe, examine, invent, adopt…create.

Again, thank you for reading; I hope this helps or inspires.

If you have a moment to comment or offer feedback, below, please do; I appreciate that stuff!

And, with that, this concludes the introductory overview of my Five Tenets for the Creation of Compelling Experience. With next week’s post, I’ll begin exploring some of the science behind the methodologies and their anecdotal applications. Always brief and, imho, always int’restin’.

KO

Don’t give it all away at once.

Similar to the nurturing of a relationship; one doesn’t want to pour it all out on the first date and risk overwhelm. Too much, up front, can completely overload the audience early and virtually numb them to further sensation, empathy or inspiration; leaving them inured to subtlety and nuance as the Story or Experience unfolds. They depart “blown away” perhaps, though quite likely not moved as deeply or impressed as compellingly as they might otherwise be, had a lighter hand been used.

Rather, I try to shape the arc of storytelling such that I can share a little, create some curiosity, share a little bit more, pay off a bit of curiosity, share some more and with each, successive revelation ramp up the level of intimacy…the depth of the Experience. With this tool, I make my audiences more and more comfortable; gradually letting down their guard and giving themselves over to the experience through which I plan to lead them.

Sort of like cooking a lobster, I suppose! That virtual water gradually warms, their defenses dissolve and their emotions become mine to “devour” by manipulation. <evil laugh>

Within the previously referenced Stanford film, this dynamic was accomplished obliquely; revealing the modern campus, bit by bit, as the cyclist rode through and past icon and addition…giving the audience brief moment after moment of vision, discovery / recognition, exhilaration…

A well-crafted Experience can unfold through a number of such experiences, each and all created to reveal a piece of story, the answer to a previously-posed question, the solution to a practical riddle or dilemma; building on what has come before as the journey from curtain-up to curtain call continues.

I used to call this, “Gasp and Grasp.” The moniker drawn from the combination of the physical intake of breath as people recognize or appreciate the tidbit being revealed, compelling a subsequent, virtual “reaching-out” for the next morsel of story. Effective use of this technique engages the audience and creates a dynamic whereby they are in a subtle, constant cycle of anticipation and reward…and primed for maximum appreciation should there be an emotional or celebratory final Moment.

In my seminars, I share a slide that that has, in two different fonts, the words:

“That was amazing!”

and

“That … was amazing!”

I ask, in these seminars, if anyone can tell me the difference between the two statements. The difference is that the first one is what most Big Experiences deliver, spoken as might a teenager exclaim “That was AWESOME, Dude!” after a rollercoaster ride; this first “That was amazing!” is what most good storytellers deliver to their audiences.

Yet, what I strive for is better represented by the second “That … was amazing!”

This one, spoken in a gentle, thoughtful and almost reverential whisper reflects the speaker having experienced something profound in a way that may be too subtle to even articulate, though it remains with the audience member long after the house has gone dark and the audience departed.

What I seek is to create experience that awaits my guests upon awakening, the following morning…for images and feelings to continue to wash and swirl within them as they kiss their partners Good Morning and share a bit about what they experienced, the evening before…

Don’t give it all away, at once.

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?”

-Robert Browning

Next Week: Subliminal Engagement

At the core of my Five Tenets is this one, which would be my favorite were I to pick just one. In order of importance, it’s probably the most important; though, as with anything woven or interrelated, these all do depend on the presence and exercise of the other four in order to be most fully effective.

Labeling the technique Comfortable Disorientation pretty much articulates, in those two words, the quality that I believe underlies the success achieved when the spectrum of these tenets are applied to best effect and the audience members or guests temporarily forget everything outside the Experience to find themselves fully immersed; given over to your control. Feeling safe in not knowing what’s next…

And, that’s the key; Feeling safe in not knowing what’s next.

To create, at one fell swoop, in one instant, both a sense of disorientation and the sense of being safe and taken care-of on the part of your audience: comfort without complacency. To virtually pull the rug from beneath them while assuring them of the presence of the safety net… Effectively executed, this technique results in an immediate, deeper level of trust on the part of the audience and an intangible yet greater willingness to suspend disbelief; to further quiet the left brain and allow us to wrangle their right lobes and take them further into fantasy, reverie, even camaraderie…

Once they know they don’t know; and know that they’re “safe” – the guests become more completely ours for the journey we host… The camaraderie comes from the fact that each individual is experiencing the instant dissolution of preconception (if you will) and the concomitant reassurance that something possibly better and certainly more  interesting may await, and all are sharing this unique, yin/yang at precisely the same moment, in the same time and place. This creates an immediate, deeper connection amongst the audience; as no longer is the experience simply a shared one, it is unique and happening only here, only now.

Theme parks strive for this all the time, often with what I call the Venice Effect; bringing guests through a queue that is often labyrinthine, usually feels a bit cramped — limited sightlines, low ceilings — to then be suddenly released into a space that seems vast by comparison.

This covers the Disorientation part – though not always is it Comfortable…

Creators of Experience virtually always have one of these in play in any created or produced experience or show. It is the presence of both, in the right balance and with the right timing, that has the inherent power to render an experience most deeply compelling and resonant.

This might be accomplished through a move so simple as that of bringing an audience into a theatre or venue via backstage, perhaps starting in an alley with no hint at the ultimate destination space, so there is no Preconception (we’ve Liberated them from that!). They’re backstage before they realize it’s an actual Backstage, then walking across the stage and into the auditorium in the same moment that they actually appreciate where they are… They then have the opportunity to see said auditorium or space, of which they may have a previous experience, from an entirely different perspective.

Disorientation. Comfort.

One of the most effective of my applications of this was for the theatrical tour for Stanford University to which I’ve previously referred. It was simple, powerful, low-tech and inexpensive…

After a day of Conference and a cocktail reception in the format as was and is expected at pretty much any such event, it was time for the doors to open for dinner. The gong sounded, the doors flew open and the guests began to pour into what they thought was the “ballroom”…

But…no…

A vast, high-ceilinged dark space lay before them. Some thirty yards distant, across the dark floor, was a free-standing, 20-foot, circular curtain curving away from them to left and right; over the top of which spilled a bright, warm light. Their destination was clear, this “island” of light, floating in the darkness; a safe place.

In the darkness between doorway and destination stood a double row of flashlight-bearing volunteers, shining these lights down onto the floor, effectively reassuring those entering the space that there were no cables or cords, trapdoors or obstacles to trip them up on the smooth and clear pathway to the sparkling destination, across the space.

Palette of Preconception thusly cleared and audience effectively disoriented, they were at the same time reassured that this had been thought through; there was no doubt where they were headed and how they were going to get there…intrigue and excitement built, as they still did not know what was behind the curtain.

Once across the space and having passed through the curtained barrier, the guests entered this space-within-a-space to find themselves surrounded with architectural iconography from every decade of the University’s history and most sections of campus, in various sizes and scales, in two and three dimensions as well as by projection. Immersed in the colors, textures and visual cues from their own experiences of their time(s) on campus, as they looked closer, each could see that these icons were juxtaposed with one another in unusual ways; quite dissimilar from their geographical relationships, on campus.

This mixture of differing scales, different formats and dimension, familiar colors and shapes combined to fuel curiosity and intrigue individuals, compelling them to look closer, to explore and become familiar with what had been previously familiar in their past, rediscovering those iconic buildings and installations of which they had had previous experience. Disoriented, and quite comfortably so…

It’s different, every time and for every client or story to be told; it takes application of the previous two Tenets to get to the point of discovering how to Comfortably Disorient. I offer that it’s well worth the work…

This is simply one approach to Comfortable Disorientation; this one for an “event” Experience. The technique, though, can certainly serve as quite effective in Experiential and Pop-up Marketing, Theatrical,

Surprise sans Startle, Awe without Shock, Comfortable Disorientation.

I expect that y’all may well already do some of these same things; this is just what I label it. I hope this is helpful or inspirational in some way.

Again, thanks for reading!

Kile Ozier (kileozier) on about.me

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?”

-Robert Browning

Next Week: Successive Revelation