Preparations for Departure (2009)
Produced by Matchbox Theater Company
Directed by Jackie Vitale
Created by Matchbox Theater Company
Written by Jessie Bear with Matchbox Theater Company
Starring:
Colin Aarons
Jessie Bear
Emma Ferguson
Dan Perelstein
Sasha Shahidi
Jackie Vitale
Set Design by Emma Ferguson
Choreography by Sasha Shahidi
Matchbox Theater presents: euphoria, bike wheels, music for dancing, silence, an adventure, bodies, Philadelphia: Your Hometown, intimacy (or at least proximity), something beautiful, a second silence (this one lasting a long, long time), a story that you’ve already heard, wonder, and one small truth.
September 4-8, 2009: Power Plant Productions (Philly Fringe Festival)
Directed by Jackie Vitale
Created by Matchbox Theater Company
Written by Jessie Bear with Matchbox Theater Company
Starring:
Colin Aarons
Jessie Bear
Emma Ferguson
Dan Perelstein
Sasha Shahidi
Jackie Vitale
Set Design by Emma Ferguson
Choreography by Sasha Shahidi
Matchbox Theater presents: euphoria, bike wheels, music for dancing, silence, an adventure, bodies, Philadelphia: Your Hometown, intimacy (or at least proximity), something beautiful, a second silence (this one lasting a long, long time), a story that you’ve already heard, wonder, and one small truth.
September 4-8, 2009: Power Plant Productions (Philly Fringe Festival)
I blame Preparations for Departure for being the play that started it all. I absolutely did theater in college, and high school, but this was my first show out of Swarthmore, and gosh darn if it wasn't the greatest thing of all time. It sold me on theater - not just as a hobby - but as my life. From here on out.
We were weeks out of school, with nothing but ambition and energy, and created, from nothing a sprawling, immersive, magical play about a New York City immigrant family from the 1800s.
This was also the first play that taught me how much I want to be a playwright. Before Preparations, I had done playwriting and acting with equal vigor, and while I love acting, it's playwriting that I can't live without. Fortunately for me, I got to do both, but by far the most satisfying experience of Preparations for Departure was taking about 200 pages worth of improvs and ideas and culling them, over the course of two very exhausting, invigorating days, into one play. Well, I'll call it a "map". Because Preparations was immersive, and because many scenes happened simultaneously, the experience taught me more about the architecture of a script than I ever thought possible.
This play was something very special. The group of people who made remains deeply important to me, and the play we came up with I'll remember for ever ever ever.
It lives deep in my heart, and I like to take it out and hold it in my hand, squeeze it and feel its warmth - especially on days that are tough.
Read one of my favorite excerpts, below.
We were weeks out of school, with nothing but ambition and energy, and created, from nothing a sprawling, immersive, magical play about a New York City immigrant family from the 1800s.
This was also the first play that taught me how much I want to be a playwright. Before Preparations, I had done playwriting and acting with equal vigor, and while I love acting, it's playwriting that I can't live without. Fortunately for me, I got to do both, but by far the most satisfying experience of Preparations for Departure was taking about 200 pages worth of improvs and ideas and culling them, over the course of two very exhausting, invigorating days, into one play. Well, I'll call it a "map". Because Preparations was immersive, and because many scenes happened simultaneously, the experience taught me more about the architecture of a script than I ever thought possible.
This play was something very special. The group of people who made remains deeply important to me, and the play we came up with I'll remember for ever ever ever.
It lives deep in my heart, and I like to take it out and hold it in my hand, squeeze it and feel its warmth - especially on days that are tough.
Read one of my favorite excerpts, below.
jessie_bear_preparations_for_depature_excerpt.pdf |