Dear Friend and Reader:
Unlike our editor-publisher Eric Francis, whose artistic expression is evidenced throughout the pages of Planet Waves, the Book of Blue and elsewhere across the web, I haven’t yet shared the other part of my creative life here at Planet Waves. Today, I break that silence.
I’ve been an actor and writer for years here in the San Francisco Bay Area, working mostly in women’s theater projects. Most of my writing work is as a dramaturge – someone who takes words and stories and makes them work for the stage. If you were wondering where my writing style comes from, its from aВ traditionВ where every word written needs to be spoken out loud.
I’m going south, literally. I’m drivingВ Interstate 5В В for a 400-mileВ road tripВ down to the coastВ of Santa Monica, also known as Los Angeles, to present a play that I’ve been helping develop this last year.В Its called “The Unsung Diva” on the life of Sissieretta Joyner Jones, America’s first В black opera singer. Its going up at Highways Performance Space as part of the Los Angeles Women’s Theater Festival.
As an actor, it may seem strange that I haven’t gone down south to live and try to practice my craft. But I’m more of an art nurturer, or Art Mom, as my nephew calls me. I tend to go for more innovation in theater work, and I like to make and develop new work. San Francisco seems to support that.
Now for those unfamiliar or who think California is Los Angeles and that’s it, there are two cities that have direct claim to the economic and cultural life of the state:В San Francisco andВ LA. В LA has a very very powerful energy charge, very different from the north. Like San Francisco, the Los Angeles metropolitan area also sits by the Pacific Ocean, butВ its ten timesВ its size. TheВ bulkВ of the city is inland, a basin divided by a mountain range. That basin is a huge collector of energy.
Setting aside the film and television industry – also known as “the community” in localese and already a formidable global economic force,В Los Angeles is one of the world’s centers of business, international trade, science, technology, and education.В With 12.9 million souls speaking over 200 different languages, its population is double the sizeВ ofВ the В San Francisco BayВ region’s population.В For me,В any stay in LA is plugging into a huge energy grid. If you’re not grounded, you can fry your circuitry. Many have. Just look at the tabloids.
Springtime almost anywhere in the world is a poem. I’m looking forward to this road trip not just for the creative process I’m about to undergo at its destination, but also the change ofВ internal landscape. Sometimes, even a cozy Berkeley cottageВ can be a bit of a cage, particularly if you’ve made coming and going into your own home a robotic waltz of habits and routine. I need to feel what home is being away from it a short while, and take a look at what the rains have produced.
Besides, I’ve got Neptune, Chiron, Pallas, and Juno sextile my natal VenusВ in Sagittarius exactВ by a degree or two. В I’m making a break to do the art I love and a road trip through California’s meadows and green hills isВ as perfect a brain flossВ a doctor could prescribe. Especially when spring in California is calling like a siren.
In anticipation and right on time, I have a small case of stage fright. Even though I’m not on stage, this show feels alot like my baby. I helped develop it and so I feel like a midwife at a birth each time it goes up. I feel responsible for its life. Such is the existence of one who’s perpetually pregnant with possibility.
More about that later.
Yours & truly,
Fe Bongolan
San Francisco
Amy:
Fabulous. As an actor and a writer, there is a double thrill with dramaturgy, because you’re reading the script like a score and interpreting it like music. If there’s a phrase or turn that seems out of tune or unclear, you can make the adjustments. And its totally fun.
The other part of the process I find fascinating is hearing the voices of the actors when the piece is read. That’s another level of understanding the piece, particularly when you have sharp actors on board who help you mine the meaning as well.
I am now of the mind to pick up the Terry Pratchett book. I’m always hungry for observations and energy readings on places and people. Being born an outsider to this culture, or an Other, that theme of observing your life from outside your fishbowl has always fascinated me.
Fe, we are kindred spirits! I recently forayed for the first time into dramaturgy, and one of my favorite students (I work in academic support in a BFA program) called me “Art Mom”! I was so excited to learn from my director friend that “dramaturgy is a real gig!” because it’s so much fun. I think of it as storytelling R&D… It’s such a great opportunity to dig into the story and the characters and fill the whole company in, playing with new knowledge and understanding. Such riches. Mmm.
All the best with the show, “break a leg” and have FUN.
And ditto on Maya’s book recommendation 🙂 Pratchett really gets the way that different places have energy. An online friend of mine, Shira Lipkin, explores local energy and the way it resonates and manifests in some fiction she’s created about Las Vegas. Google “Places You Haunt” and I think parts of it will turn up.
Fe, if you’ve never read Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett, please do so. I think you’d love it.
a word:
Thanks. I’m working in Santa Monica tonight through Saturday, but I will be staying at my niece’s place in Westwood starting tomorrow night.
Thought it would be cooler than it is now, but its kinda warm. There’s more to write about LA, and only so much time.
Blessings and Love eminating to you from Burbank, Fe.
Linda
Good evening, all:
Arrived safely and plunged right into LA traffic the last 2 miles. Anytime after three you might as well pull over and play cards for the next five hours.
Finally got off the 405 and onto the I-10 and it was much much lighter. Pulled in on time to make cue-to-cue (light-sound effects setting) and a quick run for an hour. Finally settling into my motel on Pico Boulevard with free wi-fi. In heaven, you ask? Well, YA.
Off soon to take some pictures and find some great Indian food. There’s plenty here. It is after all, LA.
I’ve been across much of California, and even lived in the Bay Area between 1980 and 1982 when I was finishing off my hitch in the Coast Guard. I loved the Bay then, and still prefer it to LA-LA land. I have driven virtually the entire coastline from Mexico to Oregon over the years, and the north wins, hands down. But then the energy up north appeals to me more, and I like a little variation in the weather too. Cal has so much variation that most people could find a little pied-a-terre somewhere in the state.
Best wishes for the play, Fe (oooh, bad pun). Knock ’em dead.
How exciting for you Fe, can’t wait to hear more. Can remember “stage fright” (the feel of it) in high school drama productions. Learned later that you can have stage fright even in a business office. It’s always showtime somewhere!
Stay in touch with us and we’ll keep you grounded.
p.s. always thought I’d really like San Francisco (but not LA so much!) Now I’m sure.
Regarding stage fright, I was given status one year in my dance company signified by a sache. The words “Miss Stage Fright” written in cheap fabric paint came as a huge surprise to my distracted mother. It’s like excitement on steroids…stage fright, that is. I was just saying earlier today that the theatre is calling me. I may have to go watch Bela Fleck tomorrow night in Pittsfield, Massachusetts at the Colonial Theatre for a vicarious run of it. P.S. You go girl!
fe –
“brake a leg” to you and all involved in the production! i’m an actress in maine & constantly get asked why i don’t live in NYC; i think my feelings toward the metropolis are similar to your regarding LA. in any case, i have found in recent years that i really love working on new pieces, and there’s actually a fair amount of new theater being created in this city of 70,000. if i can keep working and keep exploring new territory in the rehearsal studio and on stage and on camera in a small city with one foot on the ground and one in the sea, i’m happy. i hope to get a chance to check out some of your work sometime!
🙂
Good thoughts are coming your way Fe.
Blessings & Love,