Postcards

So my most direct reflection of the Buran Theatre Summit came from the postcards I wrote afterwards. See, I gave both my grandmas an empty photo album for Christmas with the promise that I would send them postcards from all the places I was to work/visit/tour in 2010. And my trip to Albuquerque was the first big trip of 2010. I'm sure I'll have more to say but I thought I would start a dialogue by sharing what I wrote on the postcards to my grandmas. Note: There were five postcards each, so this was not written extremely small on one postcard. Here goes:

Dear Grandma/Meme,

Here’s where this crazy postcard project gets started- Albuquerque, NM. I went down for the Buran Theatre Summit. Yes- this is the Buran of the Marx Brothers show this summer and the naked play from college. I picked up Erik at the train station at 4am and made the long trek to NM- a 10 hour drive. It was nice to get to some warmer weather and it was smooth sailing all the way down Route 66 and finally through the Rockies to arrive in ABQ.

Upon arrival in NM, we immediately fell back into our groove. With friends like these, it seems all you need is Lasagna, 12 bottles of wine, and a drum circle to reconnect (that’s what we did when we got there.) The next day was soaking in the slow paced Southwest with a nice relaxing drive through the desert looking at the beautiful mesas and an unfortunately unsuccessful stop at the Route 66 casino- Meme you’d have been proud. That night we had our first company dinner at the Frontier Restaurant for my first taste of green chile- something we had much of over the week.

The next days were filled with inspiring workshops, everything from Drama in Jazz, a Jam Session, Emotions in Movement, a Monodrama about Lewis and Clark, a Greek trilogy, and clowning. It was a nice reminder of why I love this people and why I love working with them. We are all artists and get the chance to create together. We also talked a lot about family mythologies in anticipation of the show this summer. I wrote one scene about Papa and another about Grandma Grace.

Over the week we had the opportunity to work with the Tricklock Company as they mounted their Revolutions International Theatre Festival. They were so welcoming and hospitable, having us to dinner at their place one night, a fancy kick-off party in downtown ABQ another, and even inviting us to perform in their Reptilian Lounge (more on that later). We also saw a play about the painter Jackson Pollock. The best however was getting to see an established company and how they work and meeting new friends from all over the globe.

The culmination of the summit happened at that Reptilian Lounge performance where we showcased a new short piece- The Buran Interviews. I even got to tell three jokes I came up with. Here goes: What did the Hungarian ghost do to the fly? ---Budapest! What did the lawyer do to the crooked FBI agent with a cold? ---Sudafed! What did the lawyer do to the crooked FBI agent with a cold at nighttime? ---Sudafed PM! Pretty good, huh? The entire piece was really fun and I think well received. It was the great ending to a wonderful week filled with amazing work and some of my best friends. Although I’m of course glad to be back safe and to spend some time with you.

Love,

Brady