People (who couldn't be there) have been asking what happened at the co/lab. First of all, you should have all been there. Lots of really great stuff happened. A flurry of creativity happened.

The basics: Three groups of theatre artists made ensemble pieces based on rules. They were given their rules Friday night at about 10pm, and were ready for their tech rehearsals starting Saturday at 4pm. Amazing. The pieces were performed Saturday night at 7pm and 10pm.

The pieces were:

Enemy of Your Face: Big Explosions... Small Ship
created by Laura Gouin, Kyle D Reinford, Nick Loewen, and Jesse Landis-Eigsti

The Threat Level is Orange: Terrorists vs. Hos?: Banana Explosions and Lipstick Devices!!!!
created by Elizabeth Merschat, Colin Dyck, Jonathan Nafziger, and Anna Baer

Blammo!!!, or The Loneliest Cave Man, or The Chronicles of Pangea, or Burning Desire II: In the Heat of the Moment
created by Michaal Natoli, Mike Honderich, Sam Jacobs and Tyler Yoder

In general, I was so impressed with the variety, the dedication, the sense of humor, the fun use of soundtracks and characters, the sense of playfulness and surprise...

Here are some of my favorite images and moments:

Enemy...
Sweet falling in love scene between Nick and Laura (amidst violence against Kyle)
"I like walks on the beach too!", "I fart in bed too!"
Jesse winking at Kyle b/c of his "disguise"
Laura's cat fur whip
The brotherhood of the ninja.. er... something something... of Kentucky.
("It's basically just the two of us.")
The covert British accent code that can't be understood
Nick pulling lots of random small weapons out of his pockets and tossing them over his shoulder
Fighting one at a time (Laura waits)
The hilarious chase/fight scene, when everyone gets confused about who they are chasing and where they are going (the timing of coming and going)
Jesse killing Laura and Nick just as Kyle is telling us why they should be freed (slash! of their throats - poor lovers)

Threat Level...
Fabulous characterizations by hose-heads Beth and Anna, and drag queens Jon and Colin
Secretly talking into the lipstick and powder case (in pig latin)
Offstage banana fight with voices
"My hose have holes in them already, and I just bought them yesterday!" (they were fishnets)
Freeze frame, (un)romantic compliment, scream, freeze frame:
"Your hair is very blond", "Your nose is not very smooshy", "You have two eyebrows"...
Great use of twelve folding chairs
Fruit love
The appearance of three oranges, and suddenly: one has a bomb attached!
All are dying from the explosion in the dark, lights come up, "No! We're still dying!", lights down, repeat

Blammo!!!...
Michael Natoli introducing scenes in Spanish
Tyler the robot, being shunned by the cavemen
Getting taken hostage and taken to a lair! (me, as audience member)
The Caveman "Code" of Conduct, and everyone's agreement to follow it
The fight scenes: slapping hands, thumb wrestling, chess
Faces in the dark, lit by the flashlight
Deciding to call it "fire" (and Sam's insistence on having no imagination in naming it)
Tyler charging towards the cavemen, to music, fighting them off with the "fire" (flashlight)
Turning off the "fire" then Mike bringing in Tyler's burning heart (and the really bad "heartwarming" pun)

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