Author Archive
David Trimble is an old buddy, an actor whose work I admire and an all around great guy. He phoned a few days ago. I hadn’t heard from him in some time. I assumed he was calling so we could get together at his place and do some laundry. He has a washing machine with a steam cycle. I have a bit of a laundry fetish — I even iron, using spray starch and the whole 9 yards. So we have a loose plan for me to bring some shirts over some evening and drink a few beers together while we wash the shirts on the steam cycle.
But it turns out he wasn’t calling about laundry at all. It turns out — totally unknown to me — that David has spent the last four years of his life putting together a film, “There by Grace,” which he has written and acts in (along with Léda Davies, Dave Trimble, Kira Bradley, Dustin MacDougall and Tamera Warden). There is a special showing of it this evening (Wednesday, August 3) at The Uptown Theatre around 7 o’clock. After party at the Auburn.
Last night Dave and I texted a bit about the fear one feels when sharing a new work with the world. It is a scary proposition, one that I’ve never gotten used to. I told him it will be hell, but that the world will keep on turning. I’m not sure how much I calmed his nerves. Oh well, at this point, there’s no way through it but to go through it.
It’s a big moment, not one any of us should take lightly. This is the work of a talented artist, representing four years of his life. We should all try to make the effort to see the work, support the artist, and of course, drink beer at the Auburn after.
I guess the laundry will have to make till all the smoke clears . . .
http://www.therebygracethemovie.com/
I don’t why I have always had such difficulties with printers. Maybe writers and the printers we depend upon always have an uneasy relationship. When my old printer died (it was an HP and owed me nothing) I was actually quite excited to get a new one. Well, the one I got on sale at London Drugs proved to be a nightmare. I said on Facebook I would have been happy to chuck the thing off my balcony. But I took it all back to London Drugs and came away with a Lexmark that now seems to be working just fine, so I guess I survived another round of printer wars.
The young lady who looked after me at London Drugs is someone I’ve noticed for a few years now, mostly because of the fact that she smokes a pipe, which you don’t see too often these days, especially a young woman. Turns out she’s an ACAD grad in design, working at LD to pay the bills while she establishes herself as a designer. So I not only got my printer fixed, but I feel like I made a new friend.
Now, back to the play that I was supposed to be writing. This search for a new printer was a good diversion, but time to get back to work . . .
I have been out of town for the last couple of summers and had no idea how much the little Calgary Fringe has grown. They’ve closed off 9th Ave SE from 12th Street SE to 15th Street (I think) so parking can be a bit hairy. Once you’re into the Fringe compound as it were, it can feel a bit at times like the same old same old, with the same suspects in attendance as at the Lilac Festival and the Salsa Festival. You know, the bubble makers and the Elephant Ears, it all gets a little old in a hurry. Fortunately at the Fringe, there is theatre to see. On Saturday afternoon I went to Venue 1008 to see my friend Stuart Bentley and his fellow actor Mike Johnson perform David Mamet’s The Duck Variations. It’s always good to see an early Mamet play, and the boys did a good job of it for a packed audience. There’s lots of worthwhile productions to see here. Some are on the circuit, on their way to Edmonton next week, some are local one-offs.
A nice little moment after the play today in the mini-beer garden at 1008. A lady asked Stuart if he had also directed the play. Stuart said he hadn’t, and that in fact it had been directed by Richard Michelle-Pentelbury, who had actually won an award for his troubles. She considered this and then asked him, “Did you write the play?” He did not take credit for writing it. He told her David Mamet had written the play, but that didn’t resonate for her at all.
It reminded me of the time when I was playwright in residence at Alberta Theatre Projects. We had just seen Tony Kushner’s Angels in America when an elderly patron, on being told what I did at the theatre, asked me, “Do you write all the plays?” I only took credit for the plays of Stephen Massicotte, Michael O’Brien and myself.
The beauty of the Fringe is the plays are short and the opportunities to drink beer are many. It runs until next Saturday.
You can find out more at http://www.calgaryfringe.ca
Me looking like a writer.
David Trimble is an old buddy, an actor whose work I admire and an all around great guy. He phoned a few days ago. I hadn’t heard from him in some time. I assumed he was calling so we could get together at his place and do some laundry. He has a washing machine with a steam cycle. I have a bit of a laundry fetish — I even iron, using spray starch and the whole 9 yards. So we have a loose plan for me to bring some shirts over some evening and drink a few beers together while we wash the shirts on the steam cycle.
