Ups and Downs

Here is one more article about the situation at Studio Arena. I am not holding my breath.

In more pleasant news, I am enjoying my time at the Shakespeare here in DC. It's interesting whenever I get to a new place, to think through the pros and cons of life there. Of course, no city or situation is perfect, or perfectly horrible, so it's interesting to figure out which aspects of it's particular life are pluses, and which are minuses, especially compared to my home, or where I last came from.

I came here without my truck, having been told that there is no parking. So far, I don't miss the truck at all (and Rusty can really use all the bunny litter in the back that I've been using for extra weight in the snow). I'm in temporary housing until Wednesday, so right now, I have a 15-20 minute metro ride to work. The metro ride has afforded me almost an extra hour of knitting time every day. I am about to start the toe of the sock I cast on a week ago on the plane! I may not have packed enough knitting--only 3 more projects after this one. So metro knitting, definitely a plus. Not having a digital camera here (I've been using Chris's or my scanner) is a downer. How will I post pictures of the finished socks?!?!

Also on the plus side, there is a knitting store down the street from my costume shop. Minus--after a week of unemployment, I still have 2 weeks before getting my first paycheck, so I have not even touched the door of said yarn shop and only slightly fogged up their window.

The down side of using the metro is that fare cards are not perfect. My fare card, still with $10 credit, decided to crap out, which meant mailing it away for an alleged replacement and buying yet another one with dwindling unemployment money.

Also on the negative side, on the flight out here, after getting through security with a ticket bearing the wrong name (there's a reason they give you that marriage certificate!) I managed to dump a hot cup of tea all down the left side of myself, and the right side of the guy next to me. He looked displeased. Luckily, his smaller tea spots were on sort of tea colored pants, and had dried invisibly by the time we landed. After being driven to my current housing, I walked to the metro and rode it to the shop (to be sure I could find my way) and while walking a bird shat all down the right side of my poor, tea covered cardigan.*

Finally, the item that is both positive and negative--I am currently in temporary housing. I will have to move on Wednesday. Bad--living out of suitcases and trying not to buy too much food. There will probably be no Internet where I am moving too, which makes communication and audio book downloading difficult. Good--the new place is reputed to have a washer and dryer and the new place is 3 blocks from work, so no more paying for the metro on weekdays. Of course, that could also be bad, as I'll lose the metro knitting time.

So let's review:

Good
extra knitting time on the metro
knitting store down the street
washer and dryer in apartment
moving closer to work
free museums
gainfully employed

Bad
paying extra for busted metro card
no camera to photograph knitting
spilled tea
bird shit
soon no internet

And really, in another month to month and a half, I'll have to add cherry blossoms to the good side. Too bad I don't have a camera so I can post the pictures. Maybe after that first paycheck...

*Did I mention it was a hand washed, hand dyed, hand combed, hand spun, hand knit cardigan? Thank goodness my little travel bottle of shampoo washed out all of it's Monday adventures.

In Our Nation's Capitol

I've tried to contact friends and family, but for anyone who does not yet know, I have shuffled off from Buffalo and am spending the next two months in Washington DC.

I'm here because I'm out of work. How did this happen? There have been lots of rumors flying, but the straight story is this, on Tuesday February 12, the board of directors of Studio Arena Theatre voted to cancel the remainder of the season. After their meeting, the entire staff were informed and given letters stating that we had been "indefinitely terminated."* My last day was that Friday, February 15th. Others were terminated on the 18th, so that they could finish running the current show and strike it. Shamefully, the board of directors did not announce the cancellation to the ticket holders or the general public until February 25th, 13 days (nearly 2 weeks) later. The poor box office staff were told that if anyone asked for tickets to one of the last 2 shows, they should make an excuse, like a computer error, for why they couldn't sell those tickets at the moment. The articles that the Buffalo News have printed about all of this have been spotty at best. The News staff does not include anyone with a theatre education or a clear knowledge of professional theatre, and of course the Board has kept them in the dark as much as possible. There is a very good article in playbill that I would encourage you to read. It gives the current situation and a fairly accurate description of any future possibilities.

I am, of course, incredibly upset, not just at losing my job, but also because my home town has lost its only professional theatre. Most of Buffalo didn't know that was a possibility until it was too late. No one even had a chance to help. Most of Buffalo also has not idea what a regional theatre is, or why the other semi-professional, non-LORT theatres in town are, in fact, not professional theatres, no matter how good their shows are.

With no other professional theatre in town, there is no other draping job in Buffalo, so after a week of unemployment I started a temporary job at The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC. Boy is it nice to be at a theatre that hasn't been failing for the past decade! I work in a spacious, well supplied shop with about 30 other people. We are building costumes for Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, which will be performed in rep on one of their two stages. Both productions will use the same stage, and any characters that occur in both plays will be played by the same actor. There area also a number of minor characters, like senators and soldiers, who will be seen in both, so that the two plays almost function as act I and II of the same play.

Also here at the Shakespeare Theatre (which does more than just Shakespeare) is Mary Zimmerman's Argonautica, which I saw last night. I feel incredibly lucky to have the chance to see this production in one of the few theatres in the country at which it's playing. This is the benefit of being at a healthy theatre in a healthy city. Not only was it a great play, but my friend Lisa was the scenic charge artist who painted this set when the show began it's run at Berkley Rep where she works. She has some great pictures in this blog post. And some more about making the set here.

Please do click on the links and look at the really cool pictures of this version of the famous Argonaut story. Here's a quick photo to pique your interest.


I miss Chris, Christopher, and Rusty terribly, but I am having a good time here, and trying to really appreciate everything this theatre has to offer. I plan to get out and do some letterboxing tomorrow, and on Sunday attend my first Reconciling in Christ* Lutheran Church and accompany a couple of coworkers to some of the many museums this town has to offer. Oh, and did I mention that not only do I already have 2 good friends in the costume shop but have worked with 2 others at other theatres, and my friend Tessa will also be coming up from Buffalo to join us!

*I find nothing "indefinite" about termination.

**an affiliation among Lutheran churches designating full welcome to gay members, guests and clergy