A NEW POSCAST (KCLS Part 3)

PARK BENCH

THE KCLS LIBRARY PROJECT

(PART 3 - Covington)

Episode 23:

PARK BENCH HEADS INDOORS!!!

to hear episode, click the silver player-box to the right

In the Fall & Winter of 2008-2009, theater simple teamed with the King County Library System (KCLS) and 4CULTURE to launch

"THE LIBRARY PROJECT: BOOK BENCH"

a 10-part podcast series covering every region of the King County Library System. We talked with Library users about books, reading, the importance of libraries....and anything else that was on their mind. Many thanks to KCLS and it's users for making these podcasts possible.

stream it, download it, or check it out further at:
http://www.gcast.com/user/theater_simple/podcast/main
the most recent episode will play automatically, while past episodes are at the bottom of the page.
We'd love your comments, so let us know what you think.

PARK BENCH premiered at the 2007 Adelaide Fringe Festival and Episodes 1 & 2 are taken from those Australian interviews.

PARK BENCH made it's North American Premiere as part of the 2007 Site-Specific Performance Network (funded by 4 Culture)in King County, Washington. Park Bench visited 7 communities (North Bend, Auburn, Bellevue, Kent, Duvall, Redmond, and Seattle's Columbia City neighborhood) in a two month span, and rolled out 9 community podcasts. In the Spring and Summer of 2008, Park Bench took part in civic planning charettes in Bisbee and El Mirage, Arizona, resulting in highly acclaimed episodes (#14-20). Powered by Gcast, Park Bench has been made possible by the generous support of 4 Culture and the local sponsors who brought us in to each community.

Thanks for listening. Enjoy!

A NEW POSCAST!!!!!!!

PARK BENCH

THE KCLS LIBRARY PROJECT

(PART 2 - MERCER ISLAND)

Episode 22:

PARK BENCH HEADS INDOORS!!!

to hear episode, click the silver player-box to the right

In the Fall & Winter of 2008-2009, theater simple teamed with the King County Library System (KCLS) and 4CULTURE to launch

"THE LIBRARY PROJECT: BOOK BENCH"

a 10-part podcast series covering every region of the King County Library System. We talked with Library users about books, reading, the importance of libraries....and anything else that was on their mind. Many thanks to KCLS and it's users for making these podcasts possible.

stream it, download it, or check it out further at:
http://www.gcast.com/user/theater_simple/podcast/main
the most recent episode will play automatically, while past episodes are at the bottom of the page.
We'd love your comments, so let us know what you think.

PARK BENCH premiered at the 2007 Adelaide Fringe Festival and Episodes 1 & 2 are taken from those Australian interviews.

PARK BENCH made it's North American Premiere as part of the 2007 Site-Specific Performance Network (funded by 4 Culture)in King County, Washington. Park Bench visited 7 communities (North Bend, Auburn, Bellevue, Kent, Duvall, Redmond, and Seattle's Columbia City neighborhood) in a two month span, and rolled out 9 community podcasts. In the Spring and Summer of 2008, Park Bench took part in civic planning charettes in Bisbee and El Mirage, Arizona, resulting in highly acclaimed episodes (#14-20). Powered by Gcast, Park Bench has been made possible by the generous support of 4 Culture and the local sponsors who brought us in to each community.

Thanks for listening. Enjoy!

THE KCLS LIBRARY PROJECT

Announcing

THE KCLS LIBRARY PROJECT

(PART 1 - Valley View)

Episode 21:

PARK BENCH HEADS INDOORS!!!

to hear episode, click the silver player-box to the right

In the Fall & Winter of 2008-2009, theater simple teamed with the King County Library System (KCLS) and 4CULTURE to launch

"THE LIBRARY PROJECT: BOOK BENCH"

a 10-part podcast series covering every region of the King County Library System. We talked with Library users about books, reading, the importance of libraries....and anything else that was on their mind. Many thanks to KCLS and it's users for making these podcasts possible.

stream it, download it, or check it out further at:
http://www.gcast.com/user/theater_simple/podcast/main
the most recent episode will play automatically, while past episodes are at the bottom of the page.
We'd love your comments, so let us know what you think.

PARK BENCH premiered at the 2007 Adelaide Fringe Festival and Episodes 1 & 2 are taken from those Australian interviews.

PARK BENCH made it's North American Premiere as part of the 2007 Site-Specific Performance Network (funded by 4 Culture)in King County, Washington. Park Bench visited 7 communities (North Bend, Auburn, Bellevue, Kent, Duvall, Redmond, and Seattle's Columbia City neighborhood) in a two month span, and rolled out 9 community podcasts. In the Spring and Summer of 2008, Park Bench took part in civic planning charettes in Bisbee and El Mirage, Arizona, resulting in highly acclaimed episodes (#14-20). Powered by Gcast, Park Bench has been made possible by the generous support of 4 Culture and the local sponsors who brought us in to each community.

Thanks for listening. Enjoy!

PARK BENCH: El Mirage

IN September, a team of 4 simpletons (Monique, Bob, Andrew and I) went to El Mirage, Arizona to create a PARK BENCH event, asking questions of the community about growth, local history ~ recent and past, wish lists for their community for the future, and ways to arrive at those desired destinations. An interesting part of all of our interviews was the idea of community - what makes work, or fall apart... what are the common threads that tie a neighborhood or a group together, and how can that be used for the betterment of the city... One common thread that now exists: If a simpleton interviewed you about El Mirage, you got a rubby ducky. So there are a whole new flock of rubber ducks 'floating' about in Arizona.

We spoke to folks at the Bulk Trash Clean Up event, At Pueblo El Mirage Resort, At the new Walmart on Thunderbird, and at Dysart High School. We came away with over 100 interviews with more than 140 people, encompassing countless opinions, suggestions, kudos and criticisms.
There are FOUR PODCASTS - we really had to let the people of the city speak for themselves...
(they're pretty great - Andrew did a great job of editing them together! Whew!)

The podcasts create an interesting sketch of El Mirage - incomplete, of course, but still a complex interweaving of people old and new, established and fresh, young, old, thoughtful and thoughtless. Kind of like what you might expect of a diverse, rapidly growing community. We can't say we 'know' the community, but we at least now know them a little better than before, and harbor great hopes for their future.

And let us know YOUR thoughts and opinions - the good, the bad, the _____(enter adjective here) ~
Here's a good start -
How does one (or many) translate the ideas of 'what makes a good community' into something tangible that actually creates that? What might be successes, lessons, and 'what if's?? How does the public/private enterprise and responsibility come into play? What do YOU think?

Thanks again to The City of El Mirage (cityofelmirage.org), Maria and Raquel and the Planning Center (azplanningcenter.com) for letting us come in and speak with folks. We can't thank you enough for bringing this city into our lives.

It has been a while....

...since we updated this page! But rest assured, that we have been very busy!

Currently, we are approaching our last performance of the outdoor version of our latest play "Gerda's Journey". We've performed this adventurous production in Kent, Ballard, at Bumbershoot and as a part of a showcase held at ACT. And if you're not able to come and see the show this Saturday in Duvall, look for the indoor version in November!

See...I told you we've been busy!

In about a week, we'll also be traveling down to Arizona to do another version of our Park Bench project, and one here in Seattle this fall that is focused on reading and libraries.

We hope you've had a great summer, and that part of that summer has involved going to support some art (of any kind). But of course, we always look forward to seeing you in the theater...even if 'the theater' just happens to be your local park. ;)

Keep you eyes out....art IS everywhere.

Cheers!
Monique

A SOLO antipodean adventurer

Hey gang -

Greetings to many of you from the Other Side of the World. To the rest of you, G'day.
Llysa here with a long-overdue update from my time here (two weeks already!! How the %$(@@#! did that happen!?)

I am on-site in Adelaide with a few targets in my sights: doing a bit of producer-ship for The Snow Queen in either of its incarnations; attend the Australian Arts Market and get a bead on what artists in other places are thinking; see lots of stuff at the fringe, and SEE what artists have been thinking - both kinetically and ephemerally (trying to see more visual arts, particularly) AND do a little teaching at Urban Myth, seeing where and when Re[ACT]ion might happen. THEN, I will be going to New Zealand, teaching at the Fortune theatre in Dunedin("the Riviera of the Antarctic!") and meeting with folks I met at APAM. whoooo!

Much is percolating in my head - my mental velcro is VERY full already, and I still have 10 more days to go. I've seen two arts exhibits only, (one is a VERY large scale digital piece on historic buildings called Northern Lights - fabulous re-framing of familar places) but have managed to see 25 shows, and teach several classes.
The few things that are striking me: how grimly some folks are seeing the future or the past, yet in other places I've experienced incredible moments of grace, vulnerability and compassion.

Very interesting.

Music has had a personally powerful effect on me. I keep finding myself weeping at the sounds of voices raised together in song. (Not all songs. I didn't cry at the cricket anthem, or the drinking song.) But still - this is a path that we have been talking about re-incorporating, and obviously, we are in synchronicity with other creative types in the world. And lo! Two plays with music on the horizon!

I can hardly wait.

But - this is all for the nonce - I will leap back into the blogging fray more completely soon - just wanted to let folks know that I am alive, albeit alone (this is the first time since 1996 that theater simple has NOT performed at the Adelaide fringe, and Andrew and I have never been apart so long since 1989). If you see one of us, please give us a pat. Or a glass of wine.

Off to a show!

FINAL KING COUNTY PODCAST

PARK BENCH
PHASE 2 CONCLUDES WITH A OUR FINAL PODCAST FROM THE 2007 KING COUNTY PERFORMANCE NETWORK.
(Episode 13), DUVALL, WA.

Park Bench is theater simple's mobile interview outpost where we invite people to have a seat and have a chat.

Hi there!
As part of the 2007 Site-Specific King County Performance Network (funded by 4Culture), theater simple's PARK BENCH visited 7 communities in August and September. Today's episode, the last of our King County Performance Network podcasts, comes to you from the beautiful town of Duvall, Washington. In mid September, Park Bench played a doubleheader in Duvall. We started out right in front of the brand new shopping center, and finished the evening in McCormick Park, on the banks of the Snoqualmie River and the final night of Duvall's outdoor cinema.
Have a listen by clicking play (on the silver player just to the right; press the "posts" button to search past episodes), and also visit the theater simple "gcast" website to
stream it, download it, or get more info on past episodes:
http://www.gcast.com/user/theater_simple/podcast/main
the most recent episode will play automatically, while past episodes are at the bottom of the page.
We'd love your comments, so let us know what you think.

Cheers,

Andrew