ARCANA: Cycle of the Fool

Members of the ensemble - cast, crew, designers & directors - share some of their experiences and reactions to working on ARCANA: Cycle of the Fool.

Michael Makowski (Stage Actor): The week before I was cast in Arcana I was going to quit theatre altogether and become a salesman for Halliburton and Dick.
     (Not really. But the quitting theatre part is true.)
     The fact is this: I've been an actor for ten years now and this was the best show I've ever been in. I am honored to have been a part of such an amazing team of artist who care so much, and work so hard and endless for their art and the people involved within and without.
     There was a true kindness, tenacity and inquiry into the nature of creation, and the human dilemma of existence and the end of that existence. (For me at least.) That's what the process was. As an actor, to work in that environment was a dream come true and I can only hope that it comes again because I want to go deeper. If it doesn't come there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be spending the rest of my pathetic life looking for it and trying to create it again: That environment, that milieu, where true art is allowed to blossom.
     To sum up the experience I'll tell you one of those green room stories. Opening night a fellow actor said to me,
     "You know... If this show never saw the light of day, I'd be fine with that."
     "Yeah." I said, "I know what you mean."
And it wasn't because we didn't want to share it, it was because we knew we had come to a pinnacle. That as much as we wanted to share it because it was a beautiful gift, it wasn't necessary for us. It was the only show that I've ever been in that was virtually void of personal narcissism and ego. The process and piece took precedence.
     I was immediately reminded of that story about Grotowski by André Gregory about one of Grotowski's students who had rehearsed for many years on a piece and then showed it just once before colleagues. "Your work is excellent, you finished the process. there seems no reason to do it again." Like a Zen sand painting. It was then that I realized that our work was not about a product. It was about the work. About experience. It's an existential paradigm. And it was rich and beautiful. To hell with commerce!
     Well all right! I'm not denying it's importance but it does make it difficult to create art. Real art.
     Theatre! God I love Theatre. The Syneasthetic Theatre Co. Yeah. That was good theatre. Not just the process but the "product." God bless: If you can believe in that.

Clinton Powell (Stage Actor): I was continually amazed at how each combination of the cards could generate a unique quality for each performance. Working on a show with such weight of content was both an extreme challenge and an utter delight.

Chris Nichols (Co-Director): So much of the process was about just being present with the themes we wanted to explore and an ongoing exercise in accepting the direction a given piece might take or the order of a performance on a given night. It was about breathing into the moment and seeing the world from that perspective; remembering the other orders, but also completely giving into the one that was happening right now.

Jessica Diane Baker (Producer): Producing Arcana was one of the most challenging and enjoyable experiences of my entire life. It was exciting for me to offer support for the business behind the show, which hopefully allowed the directors a greater freedom to focus on the artistic goals of the production. From scouting locations for the film to scouting theaters for the production, I was afforded the opportunity to truly understand all the producing entails. Can't WAIT to work on the next one...

Arwen Lowbridge (Asst. Stage Manager): With our world enduring such tumultuous times, I felt empowered by my experience of Arcana - knowing that I contributed to something that promoted peace, understanding and hope in a world set upon by violence, hypocrisy and hatred.

Meyung Kim (Stage Actor): It was a great experience working with Synaesthetic on Arcana and having the opportunity to create a piece with a theatrical consciousness to the conflicts existing in the world today. As always the person and artist undergoes an evolution when working with others on a personally impactful topic and Synaesthetic's creative process allows for that transformation to occur. Expressing the impact I feel as a human being living in a conflicted and questioning environment through the vehicle of Arcana, gave me a newer "fleshed out" meaning of what it means to be an artist right now.

Ted Hannan (Film Actor): It's always a challenge to come and do a moment having only made a quick pass at the whole. However, the rehearsal for my scene gave me more than enough to hang onto as I launched myself into the shoot, which was a cool , if grueling, experience. It was wonderful to be down with the Synaesthetic family. I enjoyed the auditions, which also gave me additional perspective about the project. Arcana was a sumptuous, provocative experience. The reading of the cards opened up for me an urgent need to pay attention to what lies before us, to somehow address the deepening shadow cast by the bomb (which I registered, to my delight, half way thru the piece). While serious, I love the humor, and the playful grotesque.

Joy Leonard (Co-Director): For a couple of control freaks like Chris and myself, including the chance element and allowing for constant transformation was just enormous, both terrifying and liberating. I held my breath every time Margaret drew the cards that would determine the order that night. People who saw Arcana kept asking us, "So really, was there an ideal order?" And the answer is still no. There were too many unexpectedly beautiful conjunctions to ever be encompassed in one single performance.

Paula A. Marchiel (Production Coordinator): The challenges of the ever-changing show were energizing. It was fun to keep track of the different orders of the live performance and talk about how each one changed depending on its relationship to the film sequences. I came away from the experience feeling proud to have worked on both the film and stage pieces and proud of everyone I had worked with.

John DesRoches (Film Director): The 6 days of filming Fool were like a dream, maybe because we barley slept. It was the most grueling, tense and exciting vacation I ever had. I would do it again tomorrow.

Suchan Vodoor (Editor & Film Actor): It was great to see the film and stage elements finally come together. Often, during editing, we would have to balance what was good for the story of the film with how it fit into the whole show. In the end it was nice to see the effect the two had on each other, especially when reservations I had about a cut disappeared when that same scene was shown in the context of the show.
     If you're filming in March, wearing little else but a chain-mail vest, try your best not to shoot when it's raining. Barring that, at least try not to shoot when it's sleeting...

Margaret O'Sullivan (Stage Actor): I really enjoyed watching the show every night and thought it was beautiful, thought provoking and very moving. I was excited about the leap we took as a company for trying something so different.

H. Brooke Perkins (Film Actor): It was great to be back working with everyone. Weird being on the other side of things, but awesome all the same. It was a unique experience made only that much richer by the 'six degrees of separation' vignette played out in the form of Jessica's boyfriend's father is my girlfriend's sister's best buddy. [In addition to playing one in the film, Brooke really is currently an officer of the NYPD. In a previous life she designed lights for Synaesthetic.]

Tina West (Stage Actor): Even though at times during the process, I felt ensconced in the turbulence and complications of my own life and life in general, I was able to use those ups and downs to further my work in Arcana. Indeed, our lives' complications, our fears and losses and dreams were upon what we built the show.

Bonnie Rose Marcus (Film Actor):
from “Playing Laia”

Playing Laia

In the film I wake up in bed
remember who I am
brush the hair from my face
gaze, mirror, photograph
down at my feet

CAMERA ROLLING

She is already part of me
I know what it feels like
I've met her before

FLYING IN

Costume guy runs me
towards stone tunnels
lines around my eyes, glitter on the cheek bones
hair sprayed whitish, feather head peice
Laia becomes shaman in someone else's dream

COPY THAT

I am between myself and Laia
there is no linear frame
death before memory
dream to the waking light
circular, mysterious, illuminating

Think of a question
hold that question in your mind

IT'S A TAKE

Late afternoon
Fort Green Park, Brooklyn
clouds streaking cross sky
bare branched trees beckon
but her body rebels stumbling
towards a small wall, eyes to the bench

CUT

Jonathan...
I lean my head against his shoulder
stay like that for many takes
taking me away and close
all of the men I've ever...

SPINNING

The camera people are watching
"Hollywood that one in" (something about the light)
sound man stands above us
his microphone like some alien limb
Jonathan... I've never forgotten you

COPY THAT

Between worlds
feeling of loss
never lost
day to end, sky colors, night comes
moon, perhaps stars
in my living dying, in my dying living again

"What do you want," says Jonathan
"To have a purpose, " I say
"Everyone has a purpose, do you know yours?"
"I used to know, I always knew, but now..."
(all my doubt in that one line)
"You're alive, just keep your eyes open and you'll see what needs to be done."

For a moment she sees and I shiver in recognition
SPINNING
I'm walking down 100's of steps
away from the tower
think of a question
slip into dream, my dream, not the film's dream
I carefully carry a man from room to room
all the chairs are missing, no place to sit
trying to remember

ACTION

I wash the white out of my hair
waking I remember Laia
all the moments I've ever....
timeless, evolving
FLYING inside of me