Patience

We're digging in to Patience Worth. Spooky.

Back to real life

It's been more than a week since we closed Little Book and everyone headed back to their respective homes. Hard to believe.

We had such a fantastic time in Seattle: for those of us coming from the midwest, the 70 degree temps were a pretty welcome relief. And we grew to really love our neighbors at Fuel Coffee and Kingfish Cafe (just look at the picture of that strawberry shortcake on their homepage. oh we ate that. yes we did). We got to meet some of our idols (Jane Jones of Book It!) and catch up with some of our old friends. We were the recipients of great generosity from the Seattle Rep and the Village Theatre. And we got to see Little Book up and on its feet in the Washington Ensemble Theater's quirky and perfect little space. We're pretty proud of it.


I mean, look at that. How often do you get to have floor to ceiling windows as your backdrop?

And now we're on to the next: Jen's heading into the Missouri Historical Society archives next week to dig around and get this piece on Patience Worth moving along.

Stay tuned!

2 Reviews and a Recommendation

Two more reviews, from the Sun Break and a really magical one from Jose Amador at the Seattlest. Also, Little Book is the only recommended production this week from the Seattle Times. Get your tickets now!

Interview

Thanks to our wonderful opening night audience: delightful, all of them. You can read Jen's interview with Rosemary Jones at the Seattle Examiner here. Four more performances!

Delicious!

"Too good to miss," "incredibly clever," "delicious," and "an enormous talent." Check out Nancy Worssam's lovely review of Little Book. And get your tickets!

Happy Birthday!

Today is EB White's birthday: July 11, 1899. Happy birthday, Andy!

As a little birthday gift to the for/word company, some pre-show press for Little Book went out on the Capitol Hill/KOMO News blog. Click here to read Miryam Gordon's lovely article. And book your tickets!

Preview

We just completed two intense weeks of rehearsal and rewriting, which culminated in a showcase of Little Book at the New Works Lab in Columbus, Ohio. Here's a few shots of our fantastic actors: Christopher Roche (EB White), Christina Ritter (Katharine White), and Peach Pittenger (Anne Carroll Moore).

Next stop: Seattle! Get your tickets now.

What Anne Carroll Moore Wanted

Emily from the Guinea Pigs writing group has a lovely story about Stuart Little's publication:"Anne Carroll Moore is probably rolling in her grave to think that someone took a copy of Stuart Little out of a dump, brought it inside a library, and got it into the hands of a third-grade teacher."

(She also read Jill Lepore's New Yorker article on Stuart Little...the same article that inspired Little Book. Check them both out.)

In rehearsal

We're back in rehearsal, this time at the New Works Lab in Columbus, Ohio. Today was our first day with Little Book. We're at that point where we're just starting to figure out what this piece is, just making our first moves towards figuring out how it walks and talks.


There's Chris, who's playing E.B. White, with the script--a script that is undergoing rewrites from day to day.

And there's Brad, our designer, and John, who's directing this piece.

(Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures to show you of all the great food we ate today. But it's not a for/word company production without plenty of Northstar Cafe and Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream.)

New Book on EB White

We're pretty excited about Michael Sims' new book on EB White, The Story of Charlotte's Web. It zeroes in on how White drew from the animals he loved in creating his children's books.

Read a review here.

Little Book begins

We're gearing up for Little Book rehearsals. On June 19, the whole company will converge on Columbus, Ohio for two solid weeks of rehearsals. We're so grateful to Nick and Beth Dekker, Jacqui and Ryan Hoke, and Kristine Kearney for providing us with homestays for Christina and Peach and John. In the meantime, Brad's busy getting the set designed, Christina's organizing costumes, and Jen's sending press releases all over the place.

We'll be blogging throughout the process, so check back regularly. More very soon. And we'll see you in Seattle for the premiere: July 14-17. Tickets are now available at Brown Paper Tickets.

Would Anne Carroll Moore approve?

A new list is out of The Fifty Books Every Child Should Read.

Would Anne Carroll Moore approve?

Probably. Because Stuart Little isn't on it.

Goodbye, farewell, sayonara

Our last performance of North at the Downtown Arts Center is today at 2 PM. Then we load out and head back to our regular lives. It's been such a delight to spend this week in Lexington. The city has welcomed us so warmly: from last night's standing ovation to dinner and drinks with Mayor Jim Gray, could there be a more perfect evening? The whole company has fallen in love with Lex; we're very much looking forward to coming back. Soon.

In the meantime: it's on to Little Book. Jen has some rewrites to finish, and then we head into rehearsals for a July performance in Seattle. See you there?

Pre show press

Go Christina! Read today's article in the Lexington Herald Leader.

In the space

We're loaded in. The DAC is a total delight: equipment, staffing, all of it.

Southern charm for sure. You can't see it in this image, but the restaurant right next to the theatre--the Alfalfa--is oh so delicious.

Good looking actors, no?

Back to work! Tech, tech, tech. And then we open tomorrow! Tickets at the DAC.

Are you going to look back all your life?

We're loading in to the Downtown Arts Center. Photos coming soon. In the meantime, a snippet of text from the first scene of North.

ANNE
It is strange how utterly mad one's thoughts are.
And yet one goes right on leading a normal life,
hiding from people the depression or elation
you happen to be in.

ST EX
Hiding what you really are.

ANNE
No.
Playing as well you can the role you must play.

ST EX
And what role must you play?

ANNE
I should like to be a full-time Mother and a full-time Artist.
And a full time Wife-Companion.
And also a Charming Woman on the side.
And to be aware and record it all.
Oh. Something must go.
Several things probably.
The Charming Woman first.

ST EX
Your William James calls this a sickness.
Zerrissenheit.
Torn-to-pieces-hood.

ANNE
Yes! Torn to pieces.
But when I fly it's different.
Everything is different.
There is life, all my life,
below me.
Given back and placed in the palms of my hands
like a promise.

My children.
My home.
Charles.
All that I can never synthesize in daily living is somehow synthesized
here.

No tearing of the sinews.
Husband and child.
Stay and go.
Earth and heaven.
Mortality and eternity.

ST EX
On the night of my first flight, I was called to the field manager's room.
He said: "You leave tomorrow."
I stood motionless, waiting for him to dismiss me.
After a moment of silence he added:
"Navigating by compass in a sea of clouds over Spain is all very well,
it is very dashing, but..."
And I was struck by the graphic image.
"But you want to remember that below that sea of clouds lies eternity."
And suddenly this viscous whiteness became
in my mind
the frontier between the real and the unreal
between the known and the unknowable.

ANNE steps out of the scene.
This next is partially to the audience, partially to him.

ANNE
It was very exciting.
Perhaps it was only because it was almost the first time anyone had talked to me
purely on my craft.
Not because I was a woman to be polite to,
to charm with superficials,
not because I was my father's daughter
or Charles's wife.
No.
Simply because of my book.
My mind.
My craft.
And someone who is a master of that craft,
who writes beautifully,
thinks that I know enough about my craft to want to compare notes about it.
To want to fence with my mind
steel against steel.

Pause.

Are you going to look back all your life
to an hour's conversation
with a stranger?

ST EX
Who could not even speak your language.
And you only haltingly his?

Little Book at the Little Theatre!

North is about to hit the road for Lexington. We're ready to go; we'll post updates as we make our way south. Meanwhile, we're making plans for getting to know the city a little bit--when we're not in tech, that is. Bluegrass, bourbon, horses: sounds like a pretty good way to spend our down time!

But we're already hard at work on Little Book. And we're delighted to announce that we will be performing at Seattle's Little Theatre (on 19th Ave between Mercer and Roy Streets). It's the home of Washington Ensemble Theatre, a company that we really admire. We're happy to get to rub shoulders with them. July 14-17, 2011: Little Book at the Little Theatre!

for/word on facebook

Mosey on over to our facebook page to keep up to date on our comings and goings.

Coming soon: the script for North.

Coming even sooner than that: venue details for Little Book in Seattle in July 2011!

we're back. with a link. and a bit of text.

Want to know more about Anne Morrow Lindbergh? Try this link.

From North:

ANNE

Are you going to look back all your life

to an hour's conversation

with a stranger....

ST EX

...who could not even speak your language?

And you only haltingly his?