Category Archives: performance

Routine, repetition, and ritual

Now, that’s a strange image. Picture it as a video, projected on a wall in a dark room, in a basement. Drums pound. Mauve and pink clouds cascade through the sky. And this guy dances, violently slashing his arms through … Continue reading

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How it happened

Playback Rhode Island, the theater group I’m in, has started a series of performances in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Last Saturday morning we had a show in the activity room of a lovely assisted living place in Providence. … Continue reading

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Teamwork

I was not an athlete in school. I was never on a team. Even today, I’m self-employed, and the prospect of sitting through a meeting around a conference table makes me want to run. Years ago, I took an improv … Continue reading

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Something a little special

My stepdad, Jim Poisson, stars in these two commercials for a local novelty store. It’s produced by my brother-in-law, Bob Hirsch. Jim claims to never have acted before, but he’s always been a ham, and I think he’s convincing in … Continue reading

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Playback

I’m in a playback theatre troupe. Audience members tell stories from their lives, and the troupe immediately enacts the story. We listen, and then we improvise, based on the plot and emotional threads we’ve been given. I first witnessed Playback … Continue reading

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Don’t look!

Once a month for five years, I had to come up with a story to tell a live audience. I was in a group of solo performers, the Performance Cult. Each of us had ten minutes to do something on … Continue reading

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