IMPRODOME 2/1/06

2/2/06, 1:45 AM, early Thursday morning, on the train. The train is sitting here -- they are single tracking tonight. There are only two tracks from Newark through the tunnel into NYC; one track for each direction. Sometimes they do track work or there is a problem with one of the two tracks, so they single track: Use one track for both directions. This is a metaphor for Improdome, tonight. Sthick is an important entertainment medium. Improdome tonight included a lot of sthick: characters, accents, etc. These things are devices that can be used to tell a story. These things can be fun to watch, and can thus become the story. If we make this the whole package, then we short change ourselves, and the audiance. After all, the story is what theater is all about. If we get caught up with sthick, we forget the story. So, back to writing 101, or Improv I (same thing, really) : Developing characters and their back story is fundamental; this is the foundation; we build from there. If there is no base to build from, then there is nothing: we are just single tracking.