What never happned: meeting Anne Hathaway

I made a YouTube video. Check it out (or click here if it doesn't act right).

Crossroads Theatre Project on the web (for real)!

Crossroads Theatre Project now has a website. Check it out here.

Yes, it's ugly. Yes, it's made with a free service (more or less), but it's mine. At the very least, when the site gets updated, you'll have an idea of what's going to be on it.

Next up: making a blog.

"Tulpa, or Anne&Me" at the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity!!!

Great news! Tulpa, or Anne&Me was selected for a staged reading at the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity this June. Date is pending, but we'll be performing at the Gene Frankel Theatre. If you haven't seen it yet, please check it out. If you have seen it, check it out anyway because quite a bit has changed since the reading last June and in November.

If we can raise $1,000, it would really help us get enough rehearsal time to pull of a polished staged reading. At this phase of production, generous contributions like yours are crucial to finding the best people and spaces to work with. Every little bit - $20, $50, even $100 - helps a lot. You will also be listed on our playbill once we get a date and time for the performance. All you have to do is click the donate button below.



If you can't be there for the reading, you can get your own copy of the script for only $5. Visit Off Book Market to get it today. Quite a few people have some great things to say about it.

Don't forget to pass the collection plate via Twitter and/or a blog post!

mark your calendar for FRIDAY, NOV 12!

Do pass this along. It won't work if nobody shows up. :P

WHO: (aka me)
WHAT: Staged reading for Tulpa, or Anne&Me combined with birthday party for Anne Hathaway (aka The Great Pumpkin). There will be cake. There will be balloons. There may be party hats.
WHEN: Friday, November 12 at 8pm
WHERE: WOW Cafe Theatre, 59 E. 4th Street, New York, NY
WHY: Fundraising for Crossroads Theatre Project and WOW Cafe Theatre.
HOW: RSVP by clicking on the Fractured Atlas button below to send a donation to Crossroads Theatre Project. Suggested donation $10 per person.



ABOUT TULPA, OR ANNE&ME
When Anne Hathaway crawls out of your television, what do you do?

Tulpa, or Anne&Me tells the story of a Black lesbian with an overactive imagination who forges an unlikely bond with Anne Hathaway. Guided by two guardian angels of Blackness (or are they voices in her head?), she struggles to connect with Anne across the thorny barrier between Black and White women. Through a series of visitations merging memory, reality and fantasy, Tulpa, or Anne&Me wrestles with the racial tensions that haunt even our most intimate relationships.

Raw, intimate, and unapologetic, Tulpa, or Anne&Me blends pop culture, Tibetan mysticism and womanism to begin the conversation about race that Black women and White women have never been allowed to have. Until now.

Read what some people are saying about Tulpa, or Anne&Me at:

• http://jasminllenadegracia.blogspot.com/2010/09/spotlight-tulpa-or-anne.html
• http://afro-dyte.livejournal.com/35818.html

ABOUT CROSSROADS THEATRE PROJECT
Crossroads Theatre Project is a collaboration of new Black playwrights whose works explore how race intersects with other identities and challenge mainstream ideas about Black theatre.

The crossroads are rooted in African folklore, Vodou, and Delta blues as a place where strange and unexpected things happen. Anything can happen on the crossroads. You can speak with the dead, meet the spirits of your ancestors, or even sell your soul to the Devil.

Crossroads Theatre Project is the anti-Chitlin Circuit created to break barriers and undermine stereotypes by presenting thoughtful new stories by and about African Americans today. In the simplest terms, this means: no maids; no crackheads; no Tyler Perry.

The vision of Crossroads Theatre Project is nearly identical to 13P. The idea is to use our shared passion for theater and our status as Othered to empower us when it comes to gathering resources and reaching out to potential audiences and creative partners. We're committed to giving people theatre by and about us that challenges what people assume we stand for and/or are interested in. The goal of Crossroads Theatre Project is to incubate the works of new Black playwrights from first draft through full production.

Read more about Crossroads Theatre Project here.

Somebody wrote about Tulpa!!!

Check out what Jasmin, Llena de Gracia has to say about Tulpa, or Anne&Me:

It is really good. And this is from a literature major who's not all that into plays, mostly because of the flowery language, which RVCBard deliberately avoids. My favorite scene--the last one in the first act--is particularly powerful, and part of it is so eerily similar to the recent Dr. Laura debacle that it gave me goosebumps to read it. As far as the overall content, what kept me interested was that it wasn't constructed as a contrived sit-in-a-circle-kumbayah moment. The conversations are fragmented and disjointed, just as they would be in real life, and they leave the reader vaguely dissatisfied, not at the writer for structuring them that way, but at the fact that these conversations are reflections of real life. I'm excited that it's the first in a 3-part series, because I wanted more at the end...but I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted more of.

BOO-YOW!!!!

While I'm busy smoking this writer-crack, check out the open discussion happening at Ars Marginal and join in. I've got some questions for you, and if you have them for me, that's cool too.

Black theatre lives (feat. Black Fest)

Do you know about Black Fest? No? You should.

Black Fest is sort of what Crossroads Theatre Project is all about. While the focus and scope are different, the idea is the same: expanding and elevating what people imagine as "minority" theatre.

And Black Fest is not alone. There are: Liberation Theatre Company, The Hansberry Project, and 651 Arts. Not to mention Freedom Train Productions and Blackboard Plays.

So what are you waiting for? Check us out and tell your friends!

Save the date: November 12

I'm going to do something on Friday, November 12.

I can't tell you where it will be or exactly what will happen, but it will hopefully involve cake, ice cream, fun and games, and a staged reading of Tulpa, or Anne&Me. So I'm giving you a heads up 2 months in advance so you can make sure your ass is there.

crossroads, making progress, and thoughts on fundraising

So, Crossroads Theatre Project is gaining momentum thanks to some very generous supporters (from the blogosphere and LiveJournal). In a little less than 10 days, people have contributed over $300 in support.

This looks like a little bit, but if you extrapolate over a few weeks, that's a hell of a lot for a no-name play by a no-name playwright. There's still a long way to go, but if things keep going at this rate, we'll meet the financial goals for a full production of Tulpa, or Anne&Me within 10 weeks.

And the benefits of that are very tangible for our would-be audience. In a nutshell, more shows at reasonable prices*.

(*I define reasonable as what I'd pay to go see a movie - ticket, popcorn, and soda. I got the ticket part down. It's the popcorn and soda I need to work on.)

Thank you theatrosphere!

Special props to Guy, James Comtois (whose play, "The Little One" is my birthday gift to myself) and Gus Schulenburg (who still needs to be thwacked in the nuts). To support Crossroads Theatre Project, click on the logo below:



For everyone else reading along who may have forgotten or just wants me to shut up about it, every little bit helps. Even if it's just $10. That's like, 2 drinks at a NYC nightclub. C'mon - am I worth 2 beers? Think of it as a virtual date*. Such as:

• $10: Couple of drinks
• $25: See a show together
• $50: Nice dinner
• $100: Dinner and a movie with popcorn and shit
• $250: Weekend getaway

 *What's cool about a virtual date is that it's not a date-date, so if you already have a significant other, it's not cheating. Not exactly. Well, you're cheating with your mind on the internet. But it's not the same thing!

Top 10 things that won't get said in "Tulpa, or Anne&Me"

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Sometimes (probably even most times), what you don't say is more important than what you do say. In the spirit of remaining silent and being thought a fool instead of opening your mouth and removing all doubt, I present my own personal Top 10 - a list of Things That Won't Get Said in Tulpa, or Anne&Me (so we can have a real conversation already):

10. "Anti-racist"
9. "White privilege"
8. "The Autobiography of Malcolm X"
7. "Part Cherokee"
6. "Colorblind"
5. "I have Black friends"
4. "Reverse racism"
3. "Why are Black people so angry?"
2. "I'm not racist, but . . . "
1. (White Woman's Tears)

Inspiration: Racism Bingo.

In which officious staged reading memo is officious

Tulpa, or Anne&Me is a full-length, quasi-autobiographical full-length play that confronts the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality through pop culture, womanism, and Tibetan mysticism.

If Anne Hathaway crawls out of your TV, what would you do? What would you talk about? What fears, hopes, desires, and resentments would emerge? How would you reach across a thorny and painful history to connect with each other as human beings?

Raw, intimate, and unapologetic, Tulpa, or Anne&Me begins the conversation about race that Black women and White women have never been allowed to have. Until now.

WHAT: Staged reading of "Tulpa, or Anne&Me," written by Shawn C. Harris and directed by Keri Seymour.
WHEN: Wednesday, June 23 at 8pm.
WHERE: WOW Cafe Theatre. 59-61 E. 4th Street, 4th floor.
HOW MUCH: Free! Although a $5 donation would be highly appreciated. Refreshments available for purchase.
HOW LONG: about 2 hours. There will be a brief intermission, but this is not Lord of the Rings or Angels in America.

Save the date! June 23 staged reading of Tulpa, or Anne&Me

Venue TBA. If we get some support, we could rent out a place for a few hours (4 tops) for a staged reading that weekend too.

BTW, since getting fiscal sponsorship with Fractured Atlas, you can help out by donating online now. Check it out!



Go me.

Fiscal sponsorship is a go!

You can now donate online!

Waiting on the green light

So I applied for fiscal sponsorship at Fractured Atlas. With the help of shesgottaread and Guy Yedwab, I didn't have to shell out $100 for full membership at Fractured Atlas. Thanks, y'all!

I'm thinking about an option for online donations (not through Fractured Atlas, so not tax-deductible). Still vacillating between Kickstarter and IndieGoGo

Online donation options

Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, or something else?

Pros for Kickstarter

• People know what it is
• No money taken from people unless goal reached

Cons for Kickstarter

• Must go through Amazon
• All-or-nothing fundraising

Pros for IndieGoGo

• 4 methods of payment (including PayPal)
• Keep all money raised

Cons for IndieGoGo

• 9% fee (5% waived if you reach your goal)
• Indiewhowhat?

In either case, I've got some video shit to do if I want to make my pitch appealing beyond "Gimme more money!"

If you know somebody who can help me out with making a presentable (of not flashy) video, hit me up.

Oh! I forgot! Another way you can help "Tulpa, or Anne&Me"

Gus gets the credit for this one.

Let us fundraise at your show by selling concessions. Besides the fact that Jacob's House was awesome, especially with the crazy mystical shit going on (which I love, by the way - I'm into mythology and religion and shit, so I'm particular about how those things are presented). I can't manage popcorn and a soda fountain, but I can pull something pretty good off on pretty short notice. I just need to make a Costco trip with someone who has a membership and/or a car.

In which I grovel for cash [forward to as many people as would be interested] . . .

As I've repeated ad nauseam here, I'm working on the first production for Crossroads Theatre Project. Of course, as the one with a complete script ready to roll, I'm first up in the hot seat. We're going for a summer production, so opening night would most likely be in late July or early to mid-August.

Working full-time and just getting to the point where I can consistently cover my living expenses without getting queasy or breaking into a cold sweat means that I don't have money lying around to throw at this project.

I'm not going for a Broadway extravaganza here (hell no to that shit). I'm doing a small, intimate piece with minimal set and tech requirements. I'm going for a very bare bones thing to really highlight the actors and the story.

But I need help.

Here is the breakdown of the projected cost of producing Tulpa, or Anne&Me by myself:

$100 - Fractured Atlas full membership. This will allow Crossroads Theatre Project to be eligible for fiscal sponsorship, so people can make tax-deductible donations. The deadline for May is May 31 (or, to be more realistic, May 28). They review applications in early June, and approvals will be announced no later than June 15. Thanks to shesgottaread, I'm already a good chunk of the way there. If you have and extra $50 or even $25, it'll help a lot.

$1150 - rehearsal space. My research shows rehearsal rates average at about $15 per hour (give or take a little). Tulpa, or Anne&Me is a 2-act play about 2 hours long. It will need about 70-75 hours of rehearsal (includes scenes, acts, and whole play) to adequately prepare the actors for performance. The total is $1125, but I'm adding a little more to include sales tax (if applicable) and/or a little extra money in case a rehearsal runs late.

$1000 - performance space. Performance rental rates can vary wildly. Since my needs are modest, I'm going for the smaller studio or black box spaces. You know - the ones where people are cramped in a few rows of folding-chairs? OK, maybe it won't be that bad, but we're not talking opera house balcony seats here. Based on my research, I'm probably going to have to pay around $30-50 an hour. To be on the safe side, I'm looking at 10 hours of performance each week (Fri-Sun only, includes time for arriving, setting up, seating, strike, etc) for a 2-week run, making a total of 20 hours or so.

$250 - marketing/advertising/publicity. One of the perks of my job is the ability to take advantage of a copy machine. So flyers and shit are no problem. If I want to do glossy postcards or buy ad space or what have you, that's a different matter, but there are intro rates and such all over the city. So this shouldn't be expensive. If there's something left over, maybe I could pay for something more, like glossy postcards and shit. Or set some aside for . . .

$600 - actors. Actors get a shit deal when it comes to getting paid for their work. So many times paying the actors is not even a blip on the radar. I don't want to be like that. Even if I only pay them from the box office and with whatever's left over from the budget, that's something. Ideally, I'd like to pay actors at least the same I'd pay the venue ($2150 total, in this case). But at the very least, I'd like to pay them for performance nights, even just $25. So that's $150 per actor, and a total of 4 actors makes that $600 I want to budget for them, at minimum. Besides that, I want to turn over the box office and most of any surplus from the budget over to them.

General estimate: about $3100.

The most pressing need is rehearsal space. It's possible to do a troupe-style thing where the group performs in different parts of NYC (where we don't have to pay for it). But without somewhere to practice, booking ourselves would be . . . stupid.

Contributing to the project:

If you want to make a monetary contribution, send me an email at rvcbard[at]gmail[dot]com. I'll give you the info you need to help us out. For now I can only take checks or money orders, but I'm working on an online donation option (suggestions other than PayPal welcome). as well. If I get approved for fiscal sponsorship at Fractured Atlas, not only will you be able to contribute online, but your donation will be tax-deductible.

What your contribution gets you (cumulative):

• $25 - Props on our project website and playbill (complete with link to your website, LJ, or blog).
• $50 - Comp tickets for the show OR autographed copy of the script, plus program and promotional materials
• $100 - Video of performance
• $250 - Personalized YouTube video thank you letter
• $500 - Russell Simmons treatment (watch Def Comedy or Def Poetry to see what I mean)
  
• $1,000+ - Let's figure something out. Maybe a party or something just for you.
  

But there are ways you can help without money too. For example:

• Design and/or build our website
• Design a brochure, postcard, and/or flyer
• Donate rehearsal and/or performance space (NYC metro area)
• Helping us get some free rehearsal space (NYC metro area)
• Marketing/advertising/publicity help
• Finding good actors who are reliable and cool with a DIY production that may rehearse in different spaces week-to-week. This is even more important than space since its impossible to have theatre without actors.
• Buying or donating props

What your non-monetary contribution gets you (cumulative)

• Thanks for helping - Pimp your products and/or services through our show
• That's really cool - Comp tickets to the show OR autographed copy of the script, plus program and promo materials
• This is gonna help soooo much - Press release for something you're doing
• Awesome! - YouTube commercial for your own business or project
• Holy Shit! - Let's figure something out.
  

This is not all that's possible, either. Especially if we make more than what we need. We're gonna hook it (and you) up. It's going to be special, and we're going to make you feel amazing.

Sneak Peek of "Tulpa, or Anne&Me" June 4 (aka, Say "diversity" like you mean it!)

I recently became a member of WOW Cafe. Why? Why not! Look at this fucking website and see why!

In any case, on June 4 is the Pride Show for Rivers Of Honey (ROH). WTF is Rivers Of Honey?

. . . a monthly cabaret featuring women and trans artists of color that happens the first Friday of every month at WOW Café Theatre –the oldest all women and trans run anarchist theatre in the country.  ROH was started in 1999 by a group of women artists/activists, namely Susanna Cook and Hanifah Walidah, who wanted to create a space that showcased and supported the art of women of color.  We have been going strong ever since!  Over the years, ROH has been promoted managed, supported and passed down to many amazing women who have donated their time, talent, and abilities to empower colored/Brown/Black women through the performing and visual arts, and create a safe space for women to show their work and realize their creative visions.

I'm planning on using a slot to give a sneak peek of Tulpa, or Anne&Me. Just a scene that firmly establishes it as a queer womanist piece. Unfortunately, there are no ninjas and no pyrotechnic bras.

The show is slotted from 5:30 until 11:30, so I'm not sure exactly when I'd be on (chances are some time after I get off work, say 7:30 or 8:00-ish). But I will update with more info soon.

Also coming up: a full press release for Tulpa, or Anne&Me.

About Crossroads and "Tulpa, or Anne&Me"

If you want to support my production by getting the word out about Tulpa, or Anne&Me, send people this way.

Crossroads

Black stories on stage

No maids. No crackheads. No Tyler Perry*.

Crossroads is a collaboration of 3 new Black playwrights whose works come from or deal with how race intersects with other identities such as gender, sexuality, and class. The idea of the crossroads is linked to Voodoo, African American folklore, and Delta blues songs about the crossroads being a place where the strange and unexpected happens – you could speak with the dead, meet spirits, or even sell your soul to the Devil on the crossroads. Crossroads honors the idea that our works, simply because they exist and come from us, challenge popular notions about what Black theatre is and what it means.

The first production will be Tulpa, or Anne&Me, a full-length, semi-autobiographical play that confronts the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality through pop culture, womanism, and Tibetan mysticism.

When a tulpa in the form of Anne Hathaway crawls out of your television, what do you do? What do you talk about? What hopes, fears, desires, and resentments emerge? How would you change one other?

Tulpa, or Anne&Me explores the hidden inner life of a Black woman in order to expose how marginalization traumatizes the human psyche, thus taking the first steps toward healing it.

(* Subject to change this part. I loathe the sort of status quo Tyler Perry upholds, but that has nothing to do with whether or not he has the right to do whatever.)

Decisions, decisions

I'm thinking about changing the title of Anne&Me to Tulpa (or perhaps using Tulpa as an alternative title or something like Tulpa, or Anne&Me).

(WTF is a tulpa? Glad you asked. Check out this [Western] personal account of a tulpa.

I've also updated my description of the piece to be more - shall we say, interesting? Thus far:

Tulpa, or Anne&Me is a full-length, semi-autobiographical play that confronts the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality through pop culture, womanism, and Tibetan mysticism.

When a tulpa in the form of Anne Hathaway crawls out of your television, what do you do? What do you talk about? What hopes, fears, desires, and resentments emerge? How would you change one other?

Tulpa, or Anne&Me explores the hidden inner life of a Black woman in order to expose how marginalization traumatizes the human psyche, thus taking the first steps toward healing it.

I'm looking for an early to mid July performance (I'm thinking Thurs-Sun July 8-18), so that means June has to be full of rehearsals. That means I only have to:

1. Find actors
2. Get a space*
3. Schedule rehearsals
4. Book performances
5. Fundraising*
6. Marketing, publicity, advertising

No sweat.

Regarding space, I'm a firm believer in Peter Brook's approach to theatrical space:

I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged. --Peter Brook, The Empty Space

Theatre is older than lights, sound systems, and proscenium stages. It's probably older than clothes and buildings. Not to mention, there's the fact that the play's set and prop needs are next to nil, so I can take a very minimalist approach.

For fundraising, I'm thinking about seeking fiscal sponsorship from an existing group. I pretty much just need the name and a place for people to send their money without the legal and ethical complications that can result from them giving cash or something directly to me. I'm looking for something like Fractured Atlas, but with fewer requisites since this is the very beginning of the project.

I'm also a huge believer in sweat equity, so if there's something where I can do boring yet necessary work in exchange for rehearsal and/or performance time, I'm open to that too.

What's the money for? To pay actors and (perhaps) rent space without having to come out of pocket. With a small stipend of $125 for each actor plus another $500 (for things that come up), we're talking a $1,000 budget for a very DIY show.

If you're interested in helping out, no matter how small an effort, respond here and/or send me an e-mail.