Well, our first official From the Hip Festival went very well and was very well received by our audience. The winner of the festival, chosen by audience member ballot, is Paper Tiger, written by Greg Moss, directed by Darby Alexander and featuring Rebecca Spiro, Bobby Brower and Ryan P.A. Walsh. There was a tie for second place, and those plays were Smurfett's Wedding Special by Shareef Hadid Jenkins, directed by Dana Angelo and featuring Danika Wood, Kevin Russo, Samantha Maisano and Jeri Silverman; and The Grass is Always Greener....When it's Outside Your Lungs by Dana Angelo, directed by Shareef Hadid Jenkins and featuring Matt Bayer, Jamie Rosler, Katherine Gordon and Ashley Heiner.
From 10 am when the casts began rehearsing outside at Cedar Hill, people watched and stopped and asked what we were doing. A few people who asked what we were up to even showed up some hours later to enjoy the show. As we performed we were surrounded by people enjoying the park, which is the ambience we were going for. But two 10-year olds playing soccer felt that familiar lure of the limelight, and fancied themselves in the plays as well. They shouted, showed off some soccer moves behind and sometimes directly in front of the action onstage. It was a little distracting to be sure, but that's live theater in a park!
All the plays (all listed in previous posts) were wonderful, and all the players worked so hard, again demonstrating how thrilling spontaneous theater can be. We at Left Hip can't wait for the next one; this time it will be indoors!
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