...And we're back!

WOW!!!!! It’s been awhile. We’ve had a little break, but we’re back and excited about all that we have in store for the year ahead (take a sneak peek by watching a 90-second season trailer here).

This past weekend, two birthdays simultaneously coincided – Collective Unconscious Performance turned two-years-old, and I turned… well, let’s just say I’ll let you figure that one out on your own. ;-) We celebrated both birthdays by holding a script development workshop for our upcoming production of SKINS (some fancy cupcakes might have also been consumed along the way as well...mmm...cupcakes).

New York-based playwright (and dear, dear friend) Emily Dendinger flew into Minneapolis, and for three whirlwind days we met with some of my favorite local actor-theatre makers, who gamely dived into a mad flurry of script discussions, brainstorming sessions, and devising exercises. 

Bless these generous actors for not blinking an eye when we asked them to create 8-counts of original choreography based on images like “a Tinder swipe” or “disappearing into a cloud of smoke” or “an animal mating ritual”… in only a matter of minutes

Left photo (L-R): Actors Sarah Dewhirst, Emily Zimmer, Leif Jurgensen, Katie Kaufmann, and Nick Wolf share a laugh.
Right photo (L-R): Actors Katie Kaufmann, Logan Verdoorn, Nick Wolf, and Jessie Scarborough-Ghent, devising original choreography.

Newly-inspired from the workshop, I am back in the studio this week, building some original puppets for this new play (keep your eyes peeled for photos, coming soon), and Emily is back in New York working on a new draft of the script. 

Director/designer David Hanzal and playwright Emily Dendinger discuss an early draft of the script. Revisions, revisions, revisions!

We’ll see you in August for SKINS at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. More details coming soon!

xo,
David.