Monday, July 4, 2011

Youth Conference on Justice & Freedom

youth!  (14-18ish)

Join We Players for an action-packed afternoon on Alcatraz, SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2011.  We'll explore the island via a treasure hunt, view the current gallery exhibit displaying youth perspectives on the Alcatraz themes, enjoy food and drink, group conversation, and create a collective art project, which will remain on the island for public viewing in the cell house gallery through mid-August.

Check our website for more details on this conference and the Faces We Wear exhibition currently on display in the cell house, sharing stories and artwork from teens at the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center.

Friday, June 10, 2011

The Knotted Line


Work WE believe in.

An important project by Evan Bissell, collaborating artist from We Players most recent Alcatraz gallery exhibition. Please check out The Knotted Line!

WWW.THEKNOTTEDLINE.US

What is The Knotted Line?

The Knotted Line is an interactive, online art project that looks at the historical relationships between incarceration, education and labor in the United States from 1495-2025. It combines over 75 miniature paintings of historical moments housed inside an online tactile laboratory.



Tuesday, June 7, 2011

VOTE FOR WEEEE!!!!

BEST OF THE BAY!

maybe, perhaps, and possibly, you are inspired to vote for
WE PLAYERS
for the very bestest, superduperest theatre company in the Bay.
At least we have the literally IN THE BAY aspect covered.
What with the island-stages and all!

Go here!

http://www.sfbayguardian.com/best2011


Thursday, May 26, 2011

Ernest Morgan Gets Paroled

Do you remember meeting this man, Ernest Morgan on the right ? At that time we were talking to Lonnie Morris, remarking on his amazing story, and our tour guide, Lt. Robinson, commented that Mr. Morgan was going to have a story real soon too. Well, the story is he got paroled. Here's the back story on that from this article where I got the foto (how did they get a camera in?). http://sfappeal.com/news/2011/02/san-quentin-inmates-serving-life-sentences-hope-for-parole-under-gov-brown.php

Here's the after story on Mr. Morgan. http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/crime/2011/05/family-greets-convicted-murderer-freed-san-quentin-after-24-years



Lonnie Morris' story is an amazing chronicle of transformation, reform, redemption, all the words we use to describe what we hope can happen to a man behind bars, it just doesn't have the same ending as Ernest Morgan's, yet. Read Mr Morris' story at the link below. http://www.sfweekly.com/2010-01-27/news/no-way-out/

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Off the Hook

I killed a man. His mother’s tears and my mother’s tears

had no place to rest. They fell upon my heart, woke up

something inside of me. And I put down my sword.

- - - - -

The Aztecs say the hummingbird is a warrior. He beats back

darkness with iridescent wings. He sucks the evil out of

men, leaves them with a thirst for beauty.


SUPPORT "OFF THE HOOK" !

projects/71517319/off-the-hook-on-the-road-0


Monday, April 11, 2011

IN VISIBLE CATEGORIES: INVISIBLE PEOPLE

Thank you wonderful people for such a fantastic day on Saturday, April 9th at We Players' second gallery opening event on Alcatraz.

Huge applause for artists Evan Bissell and Monica Lundy, your work is fantastic. Regular park visitors are filling the Band Practice Room to absorb your art. Very powerful to drop in these images, these ideas just before they exit through the gift shop...

Thank you Patrick Gillespie for your great work curating this exhibit and moderating Saturday's panel discussion.

Thank you Sujatha Baliga for your insights and for bringing your heart and deep knowledge to the conversation.

Jim Breeden, thank you for your ongoing commitment to skillful, comprehensive interpretation on Alcatraz.

Thank YOU all for joining WE and sharing in this charged conversation.

More soon...

* we

Thursday, March 31, 2011

IN VISIBLE CATEGORIES: INVISIBLE PEOPLE

Alcatraz Gallery Opening Event #2
IN VISIBLE CATEGORIES: INVISIBLE PEOPLE
Saturday, April 9th, 2011
1pm - 5pm

We Players is proud to announce Monica Lundy and Evan Bissell as participating artists in our second 2011 exhibition on Alcatraz Island, IN VISIBLE CATEGORIES: INVISIBLE PEOPLE.

Join us on April 9th for the gallery unveiling and a panel discussion on the transformation of identity, restorative justice, and the methodology of state produced portraiture.
We Players' gallery curator Patrick Gillespie will moderate the discussion with participating artists, guest speakers, and YOU!

Reservations for April 9th are required. Invited donation is $30.
All donations will support We Players’ performance residency on Alcatraz.
WE thank you for your contribution!



On display in the Alcatraz Cell House Gallery, April 9 - June 4:

- Select portraits by Monica Lundy from her Women of San Quentin series

- Select portraits by Evan Bissell from his collaborative What Cannot be Take Away: Families and Prisons Project

Please join us in continuing this conversation, inspired by the history and present life of Alcatraz.


VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY:
We Players is seeking a couple additional volunteers to help things run smoothly on Saturday, April 9th. If you're available in the morning for final set up, and/or to help as an audience guide in the afternoon, please reply to info@weplayers.org and let us know.


OUR PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:

Monica Lundy’s paintings reveal the evolution of mug shots within the California prison system. She is a frequent visitor to the Sacramento archives and researches how the correctional system files and categorizes a civilian into the prison population. Her displayed artwork, excerpts from her Women of San Quentin series, shows the evolving efficiency of mug shots - a penalty that reduces personal history to a number, date, and a crime. Monica is interested in the immense social history that catalogues those who have passed through institutional systems and out of memory. She presents this interest through a method of painting that is a kind of entropy; she allows the image to build itself through the natural movement of mediums, alluding to decay and the degrading walls of old institutions. She frames a unique moment of transformation through her paintings of fresh prisoners, first introduced into the system, and subsequently passed out of memory.

Evan Bissell engages in collaborative art making, utilizing creativity to access unseen realities and generating creative expressions of personal and community truths. His contributions to this exhibition, a portion of the larger project What Cannot Be Taken Away, were created in partnership with multiple programs of Community Works West. Evan worked collaboratively with a group of prisoners and an unrelated group of youth who have parents in prison, facilitating dialogue between the two groups on the impact of incarceration on families, and developing large-scale self-portraits of each of the eight participants. Over a five month period, through writing, art making, audio conversation and meditation, each participant began to clarify the impact of the prison system on their identity and sketch out ideas for their final portraits, ultimately painted by Evan. The symbols and compositions, designed by the participants and Evan, represent reflections on transformation. The collaborative act of creating these portraits revealed a deep understanding of how prison affected the individual’s concept of self and what it means to change, for each individual involved with the project.

We Players Gallery Curator, Patrick Gillespie, will engage these artists and other special guests in a panel discussion on transformation of identity, restorative justice, and the methodology of state produced inmate portraiture. This gallery opening includes informal conversation and guided walks from the ferry to the cell house gallery with We Players producers Ava Roy and Lauren Dietrich Chavez.


The National Park Service and We Players are in the third year and final phase of their monumental collaboration on Alcatraz Island. This groundbreaking partnership has utilized site-specific performing arts programming to provoke critical thought and stimulate conversation on the themes of incarceration, isolation, justice and redemption. In addition to engaging the visiting public through site-specific rehearsals and performances, We Players and the National Park Service are creating lasting and transferable tools that use performance elements to augment Ranger interpretation.

After presenting a modern adaptation of the Greek Oresteia in 2009 and a traveling performance of Hamlet in 2010, this final year includes several performance events and gallery installations intended to draw connections between the Alcatraz themes and current realities of incarceration, isolation, justice and redemption in the Bay Area and beyond.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Grotowski's Workcenter comes to SF!

Dear Friends,

This is very exciting! The Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards is coming to the Bay! Below is some info about the group and listing of their Bay Area Events.

Hope to see you there! * AVA



The Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards invites you to a series of performances, master classes, work demonstrations and film screenings during its month-long Bay Area residency in April 2011. These events have been organized by the generous and tireless efforts of Michael Hunter, Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Humanities, Stanford University; Frank Smigiel, Associate Curator of Public Programs at SFMOMA; Stephen Tourell, President of the Board of the Performance Art Institute; and Julia Ulehla, Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards.



EVENTS:

Friday April 8th 8pm, Performance Art Institute, 575 Sutter Street, San Francisco

West Coast premiere of I Am America, based on the writings of Allen Ginsberg and songs from the American South. Seating is limited, please contact reservations@theworkcenter.org to reserve. $20 suggested donation.


Sunday April 10th, 1-6pm, Performance Art Institute, 575 Sutter Street, San Francisco

Master Class for Actors and Directors, led by Associate Director of the Workcenter, Mario Biagini. For more information and to apply for the workshop, please write to workshops@theworkcenter.org.


Sunday April 10th, 7-9pm, Performance Art Institute, 575 Sutter Street, San Francisco

Work demonstration by the Workcenter’s Open Program. Work demonstrations may include elements of Workcenter’s current research and practice, or a performance of any one of the Open Program’s four current opuses.


Thursday April 14th, 7pm, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third Street

Screenings of Jerzy Grotowski’s The Constant Prince and Workcenter’s Action in Aya Irini, Q &

A with Frank Smigiel, Associate Curator of Public Programs at SF MoMA, Mario Biagini, Associate Director of the Workcenter, and Actors of the Open Program.


Thursday April 14th, 10pm, Viracocha, 998 Valencia @21st Street, San Francisco

A chamber performance of Electric Party Songs based on the poetry of Allen Ginsberg and songs from the American South. Seating is extremely limited. Tickets are $15 at the door.


Friday April 15th, 1pm-4pm, Piggott Theatre, Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto

Symposium/Panel Discussion on the Workcenter’s Open Program and Allen Ginsberg. At 3pm, symposium participants may move to Special Collections in Green Library, where Annette Keogh, curator of British and American literature, will give a guided tour of selected materials form the Allen Ginsberg archive.


Sunday April 17th, 1-6pm, Performance Art Institute, 575 Sutter Street, San Francisco

Master Class for Actors and Directors, led by Associate Director of the Workcenter, Mario Biagini. For more information and to apply for the workshop, please write to workshops@theworkcenter.org.


Monday April 18th, 7-9pm, Performance Art Institute, 575 Sutter Street, San Francisco

Work demonstration by the Workcenter’s Open Program. Work demonstrations may include elements of Workcenter’s current research and practice, or a performance of any one of the Open Program’s four current opuses.


Tuesday April 19th, 7-9pm, Performance Art Institute, 575 Sutter Street, San Francisco

Work demonstration by members of the Workcenter’s Open Program. Work demonstrations may include elements of the Workcenter’s current research and practice, or a performance of any one

of the Open Program’s four current opuses.


Thursday April 21st 6-10pm: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third Street

Performance of Electric Party Songs. Drawing from their investigation of Allen Ginsberg's poetry, 11 actors animate SFMOMA with a cycle of song, action and movement that challenges the conventions of theater-based performance. Ginsberg's words flow through blues, rock, pop, opera, and even punk idioms as the performers themselves flow through the audience. Electric Party Songs creates a social space for new encounters with Ginsberg, American music, and the space of the museum. The program also includes a screening of films by and about Ginsberg, and Meatpaper magazine welcomes spring with an edible flowers-themed "Food & Thought" event in the Rooftop Garden. The event is free with museum admission.


Saturday April 23rd 7pm: Henry Miller Memorial Library, Highway 1, Big Sur:

Performance of I Am America followed by a Q & A with Director Mario Biagini and the Actors of the Open Program, screening of Action in Aya Irini. Tickets are $15 presale/$20 at the door.


Please visit www.theworkcenter.org for more information about the upcoming

events or to be added to the Workcenter’s mailing list.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Thursday, March 10, 2011

scouting for heroes

Some of the early responses to our question about Heroes.
Thank you March Forth dinner guests for helping us begin to gather...

* "heroes: Mothers"

* "first thoughts: although it’s inspiring to look up to heroes, I think we focus too much on putting a few people up above the rest of us as almost “superhuman”, which actually may keep the majority of us not acting, because we separate ourselves from them. They (the heroes) are great and able to make change, to lead, but we’re just everyday people without such power/ability/courage. I like looking at communities who worked together for positive change, to stand up against injustice and think creatively, act collectively, to accomplish heroic tasks. Ex: Bolivians fighting against the privatization of water. I love “heroes” who lead from behind too. It’s important to recognize the ones in the shadows, but making sure everything is organized and the movement goes on."

* "A hero follows the Manifesto of DONE"

* "A hero overcomes: fear, uncertainty, doubt, obstacles, tradition"


* "A hero - in literature is: perfect. unrealistic.

in real life is: a good example. real people with flaws."


* "Greg Mortenson, building schools in Afganistan and Pakistan"

* "My hero is my 21 month old son. He arrived here a 6lb 8oz baby, vulnerable and not knowing the world. he has blossomed into a beautiful, proud, loving, person, He lives fearlessly, purely and in the moment. he is an inspiration every day. He makes me love more and more, I see more love in the world because of him."

* "The hero endures, so in this regard the title refers equally to those who compose our social fabric (I think of immigrants, mothers, the working class) as much as those we elevate or recognize as leaders. Vision of the inspired or higher kind is another aspect - this is the fuel for heroic effort. Finally, the hero serves, reaches others, expresses our common, if latent desires, dreams."


And at least one of you posed more questions! (we like your style :)

- What does he do after? post hero!

- Where does the hero come from?

- What culture, people, environment, produces the hero?

- Why is he a hero? Glory of self? Betterment of world?

- Do base motivations deny him of his status?


Sunday, March 6, 2011

a feast to remember...

thank you all who attended our March 4th dinner theater fundraiser!

what a great gathering of old friends and new...  It's always a joy for WE to host our supporters, share performance sequences, offer appreciation for our collaborators, and share our excitement for projects on the horizon.  This year was extra special for us; thank you for sharing the evening as We Players marches forth into our second decade.

tremendous gratitude for the skill and generosity of our head chef, Paul Plotkin (Herb'n Palate).
I don't know how you do it, Pauly, but your food is spectacular.  Thank you for donating your time for the second year in a row.

thanks to Jane Hammond Events for allowing us to borrow all those place settings, vases, bread baskets... the scene was elegant.

and thanks to Small Potatoes Catering & Events for letting us use their kitchen and borrow all sorts of kitchen essentials for the evening.

Ava and I are going to take a couple days rest, and we'll send an update to our mailing list soon, to share the performance planning details we revealed on Friday with our larger community.

Friday, January 28, 2011

The Great Feast of March Fourth

Join We Players as we MARCH FORTH
into a new decade of site-specific performance adventures!

We Players annual Dinner Theater Fundraiser
Friday, March 4th, 2011

Let us tantalize your taste buds with five courses of delicious local fare, while you enjoy performance sequences, live jazz, an open bar, a silent auction, and the unveiling of exciting performance plans for 2011 and beyond.

Garden opens at 6:45; doors open at 7; dinner at 7:30.

TO MAKE A RESERVATION, CLICK HERE!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Join WE on Alcatraz this Saturday 1/29/11

Upcoming Events

The National Park Service and
We Players present:

The National Park Service and We Players are beginning the third year and final phase of our monumental collaboration on Alcatraz Island. This groundbreaking partnership has utilized site-specific performing arts programming to provoke critical thought and stimulate conversation on the themes of incarceration, isolation, justice and redemption. In addition to engaging the visiting public through site-specific rehearsals and performances, We Players and the National Park Service are creating lasting and transferable tools that use performance elements to augment Alcatraz interpretive themes as presented by the Rangers.

On Saturday, January 29th, We Players and the National Park Service will present live music, a presentation titled “ Proliferation” that includes screenings, and talks by the artist, Paul Rucker, in a gallery space inside the Alcatraz Cell House. Please join us to continue this conversation, inspired by the history and present life of Alcatraz.

PROLIFERATION

In May of 2009, Paul was honored to be part of a Prison Issues residency at the Blue Mountain Center, a working community of writers, artists, activists and musicians in the heart of the Adirondacks. Amazing artists and activists from around the world provided over two weeks of inspiration, knowledge, and camaraderie.

While doing individual research, he happened upon some maps created by GIS and CAD consultant Rose Heyer that showed the growth of the US Prison system. With that information, he was inspired to create Proliferation, an animated mapping of the US Prison system set to original music.

If you would like to receive a free copy of the Proliferation DVD, email your name and address to paulrucker@gmail.com. You may also view Proliferation on YouTube and copies will be available on Alcatraz.

Rucker is an interdisciplinary artist (cellist-bassist-composer-visual artist-creator of interactive sound/video installations) who has released two critically acclaimed CDs of his compositions. He composes new music presented in a way that allows the viewer-listener the opportunity to interact with the work (participants can trigger sounds with the wave of a hand, touch of a finger, or press of a button). Ruckers’ s pieces have been on display at high-profile galleries and conventions, and he has received numerous grants and has been awarded residencies to several prestigious arts centers worldwide. As a musician and director, Rucker plays in various situations from solo cellist to leading his large ensemble of twenty-two musicians.

Visit www.paulrucker.com for more information.

Saturday, January 29, 2011 @ 1pm
Guided walk with We Players and Artists talk with Paul Rucker

Meet at 1pm at Pier 33, Alcatraz Landing
Ferry departs at 1:20pm
Return to Pier 33 at 4:40pm

Reservations required; no charge; ferry passage included with reservation. For more information, please visit

We Players’.


http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/website/pprog-upcoming-events.aspx

Sunday, January 16, 2011

slideshows of Hamlet on Alcatraz

Enjoy photos!

We Players' production of:

Hamlet on Alcatraz
(October and November, 2010)



love, WE



Wednesday, January 12, 2011

collaboration with artists through SF Sheriff's Department


Below is summary text explaining the puppets and banners that Anna Martine Whitehead created with artists on probation, parole, or supervision through the San Francisco Sheriff's department, in collaboration with We Players' production of Hamlet.  Their work is presently on display in We Players' gallery in the cell house on Alcatraz.
--
While We Players rehearsed Hamlet lines beat by beat over the demanding Alcatraz terrain, new and returning artists at the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department spent Summer 2010 building giant puppets and banners that address Hamlet’s themes - including isolation, redemption, and loss. Over the course of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet finds himself more and more alone within a court of panderers, backstabbers, adulterers, andmurderers. He struggles with the moral question of how to avenge his father’s death, increasingly aware of the cycle of violence and limitations of reason. He becomes morose, and in the process loses not only his father, but his mother, a sense of family,  his love, and ultimately his own life.

These same themes of loss, isolation, and redemption are felt keenly by the 260,000 people incarcerated in California jails and prisons, and the over 446,000 California residents on probation, parole, or supervision. Setting the trend for the nation, incarceration has become an epidemic in California.

The artists who designed the work presented in the gallery are all on probation, parole, or supervision and a few have served time at San Quentin State Prison, directly across the Bay. They have experienced the loss of friends, family, childhood, social standing or a sense of self to violence, drugs, AIDS, and incarceration.

For those who repeatedly showed up to make artwork, several times a week for over twelve weeks, the manipulation of raw material into identifiable images of salvation and remembrance (ghosts, fists raised in the air, and crosses, among other things) was a critical step in their ongoing process of redemption and self-forgiveness. Their lived experience of these themes, as well as their commitment to the art of personal expression, was an important part of We Players’ generative process.