Prologue to Fall

I moved to Minneapolis one year ago. In one year’s time, I have worked incredibly hard to embed myself in the world of theatre, historiography, dramatic theory, philosophy, and, most importantly, Life. My friend Linq has frequently reminded me to stay as close as possible to the present, for it is from there that wise decisions will be made. I think he is right, and as I prepare to begin another school year I find within me a desire to constantly pull myself together and become centered. Of course, by now I have learned that doing that also initiates the opposite. As we pull together, we scatter. As we focus, we open out to the horizon. The pull between opposing forces is that which creates space, and it is in that space of contradiction that we live.

This fall is shaping up to be a doozy. I’ll list my projects and course work here, for the record, for the archive, and also so you’ll know why I’m slow to return letters and/or phone calls. I am taking a theatre historiography seminar on naturalism and what I believe will be 18th century theatre. I am taking a dramaturgy course that focuses exclusively on Chekhov. I am engaging in an independent study with my advisor, the topic of which is Time and Space and Revolution. The first weekend after classes begin, I have my first sub-field exams. These consist of two 12- to 15-page papers I have to write over a three-day period. The subject matter comes from last year’s historiography seminars that dealt with Ancient Greek theatre through the theatre of the Renaissance. I am advising an undergraduate student who is directing The Cripple of Inishmaan, which goes up in mid-October. I am working with Jeff and Howie to create the sound-environment for Heiner Müller’s The Hamletmachine. This will hopefully entail a live performance of the score each night. I am presenting work on the Viewpoints at the Graduate Student Symposium that our department is hosting. Go to http://articulations.umn.edu for more information. I also designed the posters for this event. I am also presenting at a conference for Teaching Innovation in November. I’ll be presenting ideas and practices that deal with truly embodied learning alongside the woman for whom I was a TA in last spring’s Introduction to Dance. I expect to read more this semester than either of last year’s semesters, which means I may be looking at well over 11,000 pages. I’ll be working on Latin and Italian with the goal of getting the National Italian American scholarship to go abroad next summer. I recently received a grant to bring a performance artists from New York City out here to Minneapolis, and he will be coming in either October or November. I don’t know exactly what the Spring holds in store for me, but I do know that I will be the dramaturg for a production of Arabian Nights. On top of all this, I am going to TA Introduction to theatre alongside several of my colleagues. I’ll have my own class of 20-30 students. You can only imagine what I have in store for them.