It'll be a bit of a ramble...

I'm just going to go ahead and write my reflections. It'll be a bit of a ramble, but if I don't just do it now, it'll never get done. - ALi

My Reflections on our Chicago times:

• I really love our process. We all take a moment of our completely separate lives, and collide them in a sort of crazy, manic span of 1 or 2 weeks, and then put the result in front of people to see what they think. For me, as a performer, it acts as sort of a conservatory-type training session. I don't have a week in between each meeting to sort of let everything settle. I have to learn it (or re-learn it), do it, and grow it all at once. A big advantage I think comes from this is that it forces it into my body before I can intellectualize it. 

• The workshops were great fun. I always learn so much more by having to teach. The students were all willing to say "yes", and we were able to cover a lot of ground. 

• The show came together much more smoothly than I could have anticipated. Intended to be a work-in-progress, it ended up being full show length, and covered a huge portion of the plot. It flowed quite smoothly, and we found moments to play. We had an engaged and supportive audience, and that makes me want to give as much as I can. 

• I was really glad we took a leap of faith and tried our street-style performance, with us sitting alongside the audience. It helped me feel supported by my teammates while I was on stage, and feel even more of a part of it as an observer. I was surprised to receive some feedback that the audience enjoyed it as well. They seemed to feel as though it gave them more permission to laugh and cheer and participate. Also, they can tell that we are truly improvising when we all crack up at something new! 

• All in all, I believe Chicago was a huge success.The people were great, and we were accommodated brilliantly. We had a lot of support being there, and that helped so much. (We are already looking into when we can get back!) Nothing can top when we all get together in a fury of last-minute panic, and the irresistible want to play!