COLLECTIVE ALL COMPANY MEETING - PART 2 10/11/2010

*The following is derived from notes. Monday's all company meeting was an open forum. We have done our best to present what was discussed and what people said. We are not attempting to quote anyone but in the interest of transparency, attributing key comments to those that brought it to the attention of the group. If you feel you have been misrepresented below, please let us know.

** FYI - Please contact Jennifermcarmody@gmail.com and Ksenia88@gmail.com for more information regarding short films as they are looking to cast talent. From Amy Schumer.

All Company Meeting (Part 2) – 10.11.10
Agenda:
1. Mondays
2. Action Plan

1. Mondays
This open company meeting picked up from where last week’s left off with a discussion on Mondays – where are we are, what we want to be and how people perceive Mondays currently.
B. Leider opened the discussion with a question to the group:

“Who thinks Monday is, right now, an open space?”

· Mondays don’t necessarily feel “free”; there is an air of performance – a feeling of there is only one shot to do what you have to do and one chance to work with the adjustment. (D. Murdoch)
· It seems there is a missing vocabulary – we need to have the moderators and actors speaking the same language. (V. Dicce)
· Going up with a goal or one goal is sometimes unclear and difficult…(K. Amigone)
· The use of the word “observe” didn’t necessarily make things better or clearer…(J. Sheffield)
· People have different ways of entry to the same goal of truth and all those entry points should be respected in Mondays (B. Parrish)
· The “play” seems to have gone out of Mondays (Q. Beard)
· Some actors feel “stifled” by the current format (C. Zvoloff)
· The Monday session is nothing new but borne out of the ideas of American theatre – a moment of “blackout” for the actor living out something and for the observers to be witness to what happened. (K. Kane)
· Wants to trust the ensemble for feedback and have work that is at a certain level of preparedness (C. Zvoloff)
· The language or definition of performance isn’t clear – this seems to be tripping up people in terms of Monday. We avoid "performing" on Mondays to take away the obligation to a result and focus on process, but we must prepare work at a near-performance level so that we have something valid to explore and observe.(L. Kicielinski)

What is the difference between performance and preparedness?

· We can just present tomatoes, onion and spices and have little to observe – we need to have the spaghetti sauce before we can say how it is. (Q. Beard)
· We all care how we “look” to be liked – this process removes that in order to just live in the given moment – the obligation to the result of doing something a certain way. (N. Mehta)
· We are worth arguing, challenging, discussing with one another. (Q. Beard)

The discussion the centered on “feedback” and how it is delivered and it’s constraints. It was brought up that feedback should be mindful and that the moderator’s job is to protect the actor and have it be helpful; the parameters are set up for that reason.

· Want to be able to rely on the group and trust for feedback that is based in truth but can incorporate goals outside of behavior as its currently defined. Why can it not include physical traits such as voice, breath, etc.? (C. Zvoloff)
· The litmus test for Mondays is how does the goal of the actor benefit the observer? The observer can only comment on what’s happening, behavior. Anything less cuts the observer out of the process. It’s a work session not a rehearsal. A physical goal or something like “getting through it” is not beneficial to eh actor or the observer. (R.Z.Grant)
· All this discussion are philosophical differences; if we’re all working with people who we want to share a stage with, I trust that they will present feedback in a useful manner. We need to nurture to build an ensemble. Acting is practiced art. Actors should be encouraged to act, directors to direct, etc. (D. O’Shea)

What is an acceptable standard of work for Mondays?
1. Scripts out of hand? Off-book?
THEN THE ROOF CAME DOWN…

Next Steps:
· Continue the discussion next Monday, the 18TH on the topic of “Mondays” and continue on to the action plan, time permitting.
· Discuss any additional thoughts/comments regarding mission and organization as it comes up in the interim.
· Any questions or comments should be emailed or directed to a board member as need be before next Monday.

COLLECTIVE ALL COMPANY MEETING - 10/4/2010

*The following is derived from notes. Monday's all company meeting was an open forum. We have done our best to present what was discussed and what people said. We are not attempting to quote anyone but in the interest of transparency, attributing key comments to those that brought it to the attention of the group. If you feel you have been misrepresented below, please let us know.

All Company Meeting – 10.4.10

Agenda:

1. V&S

2. Mission Statement

3. Organization

4. Mondays

5. Action Plan

1. Virgins&Sluts Festival and Postponement

The postponement of the festival happened because the nature of festival and getting it up in two weeks’ time proved to be too much and overwhelming given that the company was just coming out of SWWOM and MCN. The original 90-day cycle changes as did expectations, which led to the postponement.

Open forum for comments/thoughts from the membership.

● The Board needs to establish boundaries when it green lights proposals. They should name themselves or specific people as artistic directors if they feel they should provide that type of input. (K. Amigone)

● Agreement in terms of establishing boundaries but believes board has the right to intervene as they are responsible for financial decisions; board should establish standards of work. (M. Houston)

● The experimental nature of the festival should have been put out in the open but the works in the festival should have also been held up to the “Collective” brand and standard. (N. Marshall)

What is the “standard”? What is “the brand”?

“The Brand” is our logo – a statement of the type of work we do based on our training.

At this stage, we don’t have consensus or full agreement/understanding of what this stamp is – what we want our work to stand for. (B. Leider)

Perhaps, a solution to the question of the standard and people’s expectations can be alleviated if we separate our showings within the brand – “products”. Similar to how we addressed SWWOM as “mainstage” and MCN as “studio”, perhaps we need to label what is workshop or experimental in our group. We will have an audience for both but this will accomplish the question without compromising the brand. (B. Parrish)

A differentiation is important, but we don’t want to lessen one production above another; we have a commitment to process in spite of what the product is called and that should be consistent regardless. Other theatre companies do operate in a similar fashion but we, The Collective are trying to do something different. (L. Kicielinski)

2. Mission Statement

B. Leider read the current mission statement: “We are a collective of artists, in the tradition of the Group Theatre, committed to develop and produce original work for the stage and screen that is rooted in artistic truth. We will provide access to quality theatre and film for individuals and groups who are excluded from the current model because they cannot afford tickets or are not aware that such opportunities exist. The Collective is an emerging community for collaborative artists to experiment, provoke, feed and contribute their individual talents. Our body of work will define us, and it will be the product of our training, our individual successes and failures, and a thriving network of artists in all disciplines.”

We have to decide what we want to be and what we want from this company. A professional actor and work with and n a professional group. (B. Leider)

The current mission statement is good as it is. (A. Perri)

Be in a company to do good work. (D. Murdoch)

What is “good”? How do we define?

We should have a standard and care but we can’t be too precious about the logo and the brand, otherwise we will have a company of a lot of worker bees and few actors. (D. O’Shea)

Do we have an artistic leader/compass? (K. Amigone)

Want to be a part of The Collective to get on Broadway. The group serves to benefit the individual and the individual benefits the group. (M. Houston)

The Collective started as an idea between two people, then four, then six. An idea to change the landscape of American theatre – not acting but witnessing life happen on stage. A commitment to that training and philosophy in everything we as a company do and approach – from Mondays to a full production. (K. Kane)

Do we call the internal mission statement (separate from the promise to the audience), an agreement between the membership? We have to agree on what we want before we can define our promise to the outside world.

B. Leider will email to the membership the draft of the current reworking of the mission statement for comments and further discussion.

3. Organization

Questions brought up when discussing the future structure of the company.

Are we a voting body?

Are we a body governed by artistic director(s)?

If we continue with a board, do we have a board liaison for the membership? How is the board defined, voted in?

Lisa K. shares the draft org chart, which currently lists all the “jobs”, and tasks current board members have been doing.

If you could decide how this company was structure what would YOU want?

Wants to be in this company to do work that inspires him – an artistic home. (D. O’Shea)

We need to run like a business and have artistic directors. (N.Marshall)

An autocracy. (D. O’Shea)

Open board with open voting, (M. Laufer)

Run by a artistic directors (D. Murdoch)

Run by committee with committee heads reporting/directing to a given board member? (P. Bonck)

A tentative agreement was reached to halt production at the moment and focus on Mondays and the structure of Mondays.

An immediate to-do for the group is to “Make Mondays Happen”.

Next Steps:

● Continue the discussion next Monday, the 11^th on the topic of “Mondays” and continue on to the action plan, time permitting.

● Discuss any additional thoughts/comments regarding mission and organization as it comes up in the interim.

● Any questions or comments should be emailed or directed to a board member as need be before next Monday.