Notes I’ve been meaning to get down.

A week or so back, we finished recording ‘Special Camp,’ a sci fi thriller starring Neill Smith and Jessica Liggins. A couple of thoughts come to mind when I look back on the experience. First, ‘Special Camp’ represents a small milestone on the road to figuring out who we, as a theater are and how we will operate in the future. We recorded this show in my tiny attic office, cramped into every corner with just enough room for three people, a computer, two music stands and a bottle of water or three. But with the exception of a few technical problems caused by the total lack of sound-proofing, this was a good experience.

It was the final step in a transformation process, my office as storage space for all my junk to my office as a working facility. It represented a fully recorded and soon-to-be realized play that didn’t require heavy lifting on my part (all the equipment was already in place), a significant point given the state of my 41-year-old body. And finally, it was just special, somehow, to see this 14-year-old girl and 65-year-old man working together.

So often, these days, it’s just assumed that different generations have nothing in common. Kids are bored by their elders, elders are mystified by kids. But here were two artists, fifty years apart, telling a story about characters very similar to themselves (I have some skill in casting, after all) and learning about each other in the process.

I think it’s pretty important that art can do that.