gallery |
Barbara Lee |
Dear Fellow Artist/Valley Studioites, How It All Started
|
It is treat to be able to share with you memories of such a formative time and place in my life. My first introduction to any aspect of the Studio was when I was a grad student of Theatre at UW Madison in 1971 (I think…). I was walking on State Street past People's (Paul’s?) Bookstore and saw a poster for a Mime show to be performed in a nearby church. I had never seen mime before, and I was particularly interested, since I was working on a dissertation about an acting school in France (L'Ecole du Vieux Colombier) that incorporated mime as basic to actor training. |
| ..I was completely enchanted by the performance. Amazing! One person could become multiple characters, rocks, trees, flowers, the wind--everything!! Of course I was eager to talk with the performer to find out out more about the art form. And of course the performer was E. Reid Gilbert. Amazingly, Reid had studied with Etienne Decroux, the "Father" of modern mime--and had been one of the students of the Vieux Colombier School!! |
| AND Reid was about to start workshops in Mime. Well I thought the best way for me to understand what I was writing about was to experience it, so I quickly enrolled in the classes. And that summer Reid was offering more extensive training at Valley Studio--so I jumped at the opportunity to immerse myself in the art. And when I saw the Studio itself, so stunning, and in such a lush, beautiful-if-hot-and-mosquitoey environment, I did not want to leave |
| Around the same time, I was planning to go to France to work on my dissertation and run a theatre workshop in London--so I could experience more of the types of activities that were taught in the V.C. School. (There were very few actual theatre courses taught at UW at the time.) It was a hugely creative time for me, and the opportunities to meet and work with such creative people in London, France and Vally Studio gave me a grounding that has been with me ever since. |
| I have wonderful memories of jogging at night in Wyoming Valley on country roads bathed in moonlight, swimming in the Wisconsin River, sweltering from exercise and sun in the barn studio, watching everyone else dripping in the wall-to-wall mirrors; in the Winter, hunkering around the wood stove, slogging through massive snow drifts, marveling at the icicles that made the Studio into an Ice Palace. And performing an old English play at Folklore Village during Christmas/New Years, surrounded by enthusiastic dancers, folk singers, musicians, crafts artists, the great hall scented in pine from trees decorated in holiday traditions, dancing round dances, square dances, snake dances until the wee hours. And watching spectacular storms from the Uplands Studio, fiery lightning flashes thundering through the valley, shaking the frail barn. |
| I found a few notes from the period of some of the shows we were working on at Valley Studio. In August of 1971 we did a show called "Bits and Pieces" with a small troupe in a small theatre in Spring Green: Laura Shepperd, Craig McIntosh, Lynn West, Reid and myself. It opened with "Feet" (only seen under a curtain, expressing different characterizations); short sketches, a Japanese Noh piece (River Crossing?), a Vaudeville piece, a poem (Round River Canticle by Edna Meudt) and commedia. Other short pieces we worked on during that period whose names I wrote down are: The Cat and the Pigeon, Cotton Candy, Midnight Snack, The Flag, The Soldier, Suicide, Underwater, Rain Dance, Mad Scientist, Evolution, Butterfly, Flowers, Jack in the Box. I remember also doing a very fun piece, full of slides and falls, called "Skating". We also did "Spider and Fly". |
| I also have Reid's Outline of Mime Sessions: Exercises and Principles--in case anyone would like a copy. And lots of notes on various exercises. I remember working with Mamako, from Japan, and seeing her perform an intense piece wearing a gas mask. And the amazing mimes from around the world that came to the Studio and/or to the International Mime Festival, held later in Milwaukee, (1974?) |
The Studio had difficulty maintaining a year-round schedule, so in the Winter we toured the State in 1971/2??, going to various colleges, schools, universities, churches. I remember noisy auditoriums full of children who practically held their breath when we silently came onstage. That always felt like a miracle…(!) That you didn’t have to talk to get people’s attention. |
| I moved back to Milwaukee in 1973, and taught a Mime and Improv class there, where I met Mike Moynihan and Terri Kerr. In 1974 Mike and I founded "Friends Mime Theatre", and we continued to take part in workshops at Valley Studio. It was expanding during that period, with a beautiful new dormitory on the hill that also housed aa large kitchen. A small studio that was formerly a one-room school-house was also brought onto the property. I remember the smell and feel of the ancient wooden floor, the breeze through the old windows. |
| I also remember working with Carlo Mazzone Clementi on Commedia, his energy and dynamic instructions--and myself performing as "Dottore" in our finale summer performance. I had just finished my dissertation and deliriously burned some of my endless notes as part of the play. Whee! |
| I have continued to work in the theatre ever since--creating original theatreworks with their roots in movement and visual theatre, incorporating music, puppetry, circus, dance…Our company changed its name to Milwaukee Public Theatre in 1991. We are an Outreach company that also has a major educational and healing arts focus—providing workshops and arts residencies in all art forms for people of all ages. |
| I was severely injured in an accident in December of 1987 and am partially paralyzed. A big part of my healing was the creation of an original one-woman show, “The Survival Revival Revue”. It’s a comedy (sometimes dark…) incorporating mime, music and puppetry. Long story short, Mike left the company in ’94, so I took over as Artistic/Producing Director—a job I am continuing to do. |
| Our plans for 2011 include touring two new shows, FLOW, THE TRAVELING WATER CIRCUS, (about water—for children, youth and families) and FROM THE START CONSIDER THE FINISH—for adults, about end of life care and hospices. We’ll also continue to tour several other shows that are in our repertoire and to offer workshops/residencies and a major public art project, the All-City People’s Parade—inspired by the MayDay celebration by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. |
| We would love to hear from any other artists from the Studio! You can check out our website at www.milwaukeepublictheatre.org. And/or call us at 414-347-1685. |
Thanks to Reid for pulling us together again! Warmly, |