Monday, June 01, 2015

LULLABY/Goodbye to Drexel

On Wednesday, May 27th, 2015,  three of my students and I shared The Most Beautiful Lullaby You've Ever Heard at Drexel University as an open rehearsal/studio presentation.

This intimate presentation (staged in the dressing room of the URBN Annex Black Box Theatre) was a satisfying way to conclude my six-plus years of teaching and creating at Drexel.  Grateful for the experience to work with these talented, bright students for one final project, we approached this short process (we met for 5 times for a total of 12 hours) as an exercise, exploring the play and its challenges as best we could with the time and space we had to work in.

The Man (Alex Cummiskey), The Narrator (Laura Allan) and The Woman (Lexi Pozonsky).  URBN Annex Green Room, Drexel University; Philadelphia PA.  Photo by John VanZelst.

The process was highly enjoyable, as performers Laura Allan ("The Narrator"), Alex Cummiskey ("The Man"), and Lexi Pozonsky ("The Woman") all proved to be brave, creative, and enthusiastic in their exploration of the play's darker content, in it's non-linear structure, and in it's demanding physicality.  Their bold choices, openness to explore, and thoughtful questions led to further discoveries in a play that I have been working on for over 10 years and through at least half a dozen presentations.  The experience was so enjoyable that I regret only that there wasn't more time available to explore the play further together.

I was also happy to have shared this work with a small, intimate audience of Drexel students, staff, and friends.  It was wonderful to witness the ongoing support these students have for one another, and to share this work with a handful of my own students who I have become very close to.

The Narrator (Laura Allan) and The Woman (Lexi Pozonsky).  Photo by John VanZelst.
Big thank yous to Alex, Laura, and Lexi for their excellent work and the gifts of their time and talent and to all the wonderful spirits who have breathed into this play over the past ten years.  Thank you as well to all the good folks at Drexel, and to all the students whose intelligence, creativity, and sincerity continually inspire me to be the best version of myself.

Much love,

ROMERO