Into the Wild/Woods

"In ‘Walden’, Thoreau says “I went into the woods not to escape life, but to discover that I had a life worth living”." --Emile Hirsch in an interview about "Into the Wild". I'm quoting Emile, quoting Thoreau here since I haven't actually read "Walden"... yet..plan to now though. But this quote in some ways mirrors some of what I've been feeling about my "Into the Woods" experience. The connection comes from the fact that I watched "Into the Wild" this week with some friends. It is one of the best films I've seen in a very long time. The cinematography is gorgeous, and there was a lot in the film that touched on nerves, at least for me...and I've been thinking about it a lot since I saw it.

How the quote relates to what I've been feeling, has to do with getting back some spark of soul that was kind of deadened in me in "the layoff year." The show has helped me feel alive again. Not just the sense of accomplishment of doing a big role, this big role, but in ways regarding life in general. It's difficult to put into words....it was and continues to be an eye opening experience.

That said, I'm taking on another new challenge, by designing the set for the next show. The Tech Director is actually directing the show, but he is going to work with me as I design the set for the show as well. It's a 2 person show, and a lovely show too.. so I'm looking forward to that challenge as well. I spent a lot of the day looking at one of his scene design books to see what ideas might strike from that. I'll probably read the script again tomorrow, before I start sketching anything out to let all of it incubate for a while. We had a good meeting yesterday though, and a lot of the things he'd started to suggest I'd already thought about, so I kind of feel like we are on the same page there. Yay for new experiences and challenges.