Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner. And it seems to be at play with the PROP 8 ON TRIAL project. One June 16, the day after the Rocket Grant reception, the final arguments of the Prop 8 trial were presented in federal court in San Francisco. (I live-blogged the proceedings on my blog, Ticket to the Zeitgeist. ) I then put the project on hold to focus on my performance, American Alphabet, I was working on for the 2010 Kansas City Fringe Festival. Just a few days after the close of the Festival, as I turned my attention back to the Prop 8 project, the final ruling was handed down in the Prop 8 case, garnering a lot of national media attention and re-igniting the gay marriage battle in the larger culture war.
So, it seems that the calendar of this landmark trial is in alignment with the Prop 8 On Trial project. And it seems to be giving me the fuel necessary to tear back into my first attempt at a “script” that would, in its current state, take six plus hours to perform. More importantly, Judge Walker’s 136-page ruling in the case, has become the new outline for the project, because prior to last week, this was to be a performance where the ending was unknown. Now, since audiences will watch the play, knowing full well the outcome, I am reconfiguring the text to take that into account, using the ruling as my compass as I edit and shape the script. Judge Walker is proving to be a great, if unwitting collaborator in a number of ways. He also posted all the video evidence of the trial on the trial’s web page, saving me hours of time and research.
I am also meeting this week to look at preliminary designs for the project logo and collateral marketing materials. The first performance is scheduled for September 18, 2010 at the Lawrence Arts Center as part of their new play series. Am hoping there is more synchronocity to come in the next six weeks.
The photo is of the first 6-hour version of the script. I’ve named it “The Beast.”