iLove was an innovating experience- I've never hated something so much that i eventually loved. Great work to all involved.

I love iLove:!

Congratulations to iLove for selling out on a Monday evening! More than just sold out, people were sitting on the floor, people were turned away! And how very sad for them that they had to miss this beautiful piece of theatre.

Beautiful has been the only suitable word I can find to describe the show. It is also thought-provoking, inspiring, philosophical, creative, and well-performed, but those are only aspects of the larger creation. Since I have watched it from backstage, once again I see from a slightly different angle than the rest of the audience. This show is not just performed, but also deeply felt. The Satori Group are not just actors, or writers, but creators in a very holistic sense. Even when individual characters leave the stage, the artists themselves are still present in the words and actions, the lights and music that still remain. I'm sure that there must have been disagreements about subject matter or direction at some point throughout the process, but I have only ever witnessed Satori as a group earnestly united in their purpose with a genuine faith in each other that spreads to those around them.

My favorite part of the show is the breathing- it starts out with just two characters on stage, drawing deep breaths together, and then those breaths are joined by others, offstage. The room swells with the communal intake of breath, and then gently releases, and again. I can't resist joining in as I sit on my box tucked behind the curtain. The connection between these artists- with each other, with their audience, with the complex topic they present- I want to be a part of it for those brief seconds when it all becomes simple.

Other shoutouts to Lora Beth Barr's fabulous white dress (it twirls!), Adam Standley's impressive ability to maintain repetitive dance moves while the Fringe officials laugh at him during their curtain speeches, and the return of the white canvas that is now being used in its third season of NSC shows.

iLove: has only three more performances left- go see it.

Saturday on the fringes

How fun have the last couple days been?

Thursday night marked the opening of iLove: and my first night of fringing. I got to see some of my friends in Wet Dream at the Know as well that night. When Jeremy and I bartended together in a past life, he was always telling me about his aerial dancing, but it was great to finally see it in the flesh...or rather, in the cat fur.

I was very proud of my iLove:ers on Thursday. Despite a few technical glitches (and with only 3 hours of tech, how could their not be any?), it was a really beautiful show that night, and I hope that people latch on to this very fascinating piece of adult, thought-provoking AND entertaining piece.

Friday I was fringeless due to radBaby. We finished staging the show (basically). We have so much work to do, but at least we have a sketch, a groundplan if you will, so we can see what our base is. This show is so massive, so eclectic in terms of all of its ingredients, that it can be a little overwhelming at times for all of us to make sense of it on its feet. I'm so thankful that I have such great collaborators with me behind the table in Anthony, Steve, Adrienne, and now Casey, so we can all sort of divide and conquer on all of the various aspects.

By the end of the weekend, we'll have worked/hopefully ran thru the entire show for the first time. I usually call it a slop thru on the rehearsal schedule rather than a work or run thru, because that's always what it is at this point in the process. I'm excited for all of us to finally get a sense of the show as a whole during this process, so we can really pinpoint what needs our attention the most.

One final unrelated note -

I got to catch True and False this afternoon at the Fringe, and it was fantastic. A really beguiling concept, appealing performers and performances, and truly awesome video and multimedia work. It only runs through this tomorrow, so don't miss it!

iLove: Enquirer Review: "iLove: worth the risk"

iLove: CityBeat Review

iLove:'s review from The Conveyor

The Fringing has commenced!

Well, WOW.

The fourth Fringe Festival is now underway, and it definitely seems bigger and better than evah.

Last night was the first night of performances on the Fringe, and there seemed to be a really good turnout - which is totally awesome for a Wednesday and the start of the Festival. If I can remember anything except the evening's at the bar series, last year's didn't seem to kick into high gear until the first weekend, so that's a terrific sign.

I wasn't able to experience any fringe shows last night, cause of rehearsal for this little show called Radiant Baby that we're cooking up, but my crew of babies did hit up all of the venues last night with the launch of our ChalkDustMan.com campaign, which was a ton of fun. (Especially when one particularly radiant homeless man started chasing a group of us down the street).

After rehearsal, I had to book it to the final runthru of iLove:. Wow, I'm so proud of this amazing ensemble of artists. This project has been their life for the past year, and it's really come a long way. The work has crystallized into something pretty extraordinary. I can't wait to take it in again tonight, and what I'm sure will be a glorious opening. What stunning work, Satori.

I have to say though, the highlight of my night was the Fringe-i-oke or Yemaoke or whatever they called it at the bar series. I definitely enjoyed taking the last chorus of Santana's "Smooth" up the octave - why? because I could. ;)

Although Hannah Dowdy's spot on rendition of "My Heart Will Go On", featuring Jeff Syroney and Jen Spillane with their amazing impromptu interpretive dance/acting, did put me to shame, methinks.

I will not talk about Luke and him FORCING me to back him up on "You Oughta Know." I'm sooooo sorry, Alanis. I love you. I really do. We'll just act like it never happened.

‘But, of course the culture writes us first, and then we write our stories.”
-Charles Mee
the (re)making project

iLove: has been over ten months in the making and it is about to make its world premiere at the 2007 Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Featuring Adrienne Clark, Charlie Clark, Anthony Darnell, Adam Standley, and Lindsey Valitchka, iLove: has been heralded by Jackie Demaline as one of the three not to miss.

Made as part of Charles Mee’s (re)making project the Satori Group has been work-shopping since August of 2006. Originally, the Satori Group had worked on Fetes de la Nuit, one of Mee’s scripts, but decided to make the leap to a completely original work. Or as Mee would put it, an “un-original, original work.”

Little of the text from Fetes de la Nuit exists in our play as it is presented today. Instead, we have drawn upon the voices in the culture around us – Barack Obama, Bjork, Richard Linklater, Jacques Derrida, The Books, etc. – and yes, we have written our own stories.

To read the script visit http://satorigroup.googlepages.com

We hope to see you at our show!

The Satori Group