Film: Teen pregnancy documentary project

Pro Creativity Film Premier Teen parents showcase their stories As part of Out North's education program, a dozen local teen parents worked with film professionals to learn story craft and film production to make short autobiographical films. Come see their films, meet the filmmakers, celebrate their success, and learn about the Pro Creativity project. Refreshments provided. 7pm Saturday January 29, 2011 Admission is FREE, families welcome This event encourages and supports Out North's Education Program

Moore Up North Episode 220 - ACLU - Domestic Violence - Polar Bears

Moore Up North Episode 220 - ACLU - Domestic Violence - Polar Bears 



INTERVIEW

Jeff Mittman is the Executive Director of the ACLU in Alaska which just
celebrated 40 years in The Greatland.

PANEL

Tom Brennan is the author of the "The Snowflake Rebellion" and regular
columnist for the Anchorage Daily Planet.

Jill Burke was a former anchor and reporter at KTUU Channel 2, and is
currently a staff writer at AlaskaDispatch.com.

Scott Schofield is an author, award-winning performance artist and the new
Executive Artistic Director at Out North Contemporary Art House.

'via Blog this'

ACLU award

Notes from the Drawing Board
Scott Schofield, Executive Artistic Director

Out North Honored by AK ACLU as 1 of 40 Heroes of Constitutional Rights

Last Saturday, January 22nd, I felt incredible gratitude and an overwhelming sense of pride to attend the 40th Anniversary Liberty Awards of Alaska's chapter of the ACLU.

Walking past the frighteningly uncivil and factually incorrect truth truck from fanatical anti-choice pundits (whose use of the Freedom of Speech gave me a taste of the discomfort many say they have felt about Out North's work), I was welcomed into the Dena'ina Center by a sparkling list individuals who have made Alaska - and indeed, the United States - a free, civil and excellent place to live. A place where speech and privacy are protected in the Constitution. A place where thousands have struck out to do something new and different to make their life, and the lives of many, better and more truly free.

Standing on the stage to receive an award on behalf of Out North, to say I felt proud would be the understatement of the century. Shoulder to shoulder with people who have not gone quietly when people in power told them to hush, who have not silently accepted censorship or other abuses of the rights which are inalienable to every American - suffice it to say I felt schooled in the importance of what it is we do at Out North.

At Out North we don't sit silent in the face of injustice, we make art to shine and shout about it. At Out North we speak out when those with power abuse those without: through film, live performance, visual art, and making our space available to community groups for meetings and events. We will never pick an easy subject just because it might sell more tickets. And we will never be censored: not by funding pulls, not by protests, and especially not by the chilling effect that such acts have wrought on too many art spaces around the country.

I can only say that, by the way, because of you: our community that has stepped up in the face of our 9th funding cut in 25 years to say out loud that you want Out North here. And because of the ACLU, who has 40 years of shining success at making sure that I can say never with confidence.

Furthermore, I can only say all of this because of the work of our founders, Jay and Gene Dugan-Brause, and the many brave and passionate individuals who have served on Out North's Board of Directors throughout the years. I can only say this becase of you, our audience community. Read here a deep bow in respect for the bravery, the longsighted vision, and the commitment to the arts that every one of you have demonstrated.
For as much as all of this is truly meaningful, let's remember how much fun practicing and protecting the First Amendment can be! THIS is why [we] rock.

- Scott Turner Schofield

Visual Art: Photographer Dirk Spenneman

Third Friday Opening 1/21 5-7pm
Saturday 1/29: Community Gathering to Engage Homelessness in Anchorage
Dying on the Streets: A Photoessay of Homeless Deaths in Anchorage, 2010
by Dr. Dirk HR Spenneman

In total nineteen homeless men and women died on the streets of Anchorage in the twelve month period between 7 May 2009 and 18 April 2010. On the evening news, these deaths are reduced to momentary glimpses in a flickering modern visual universe. Even when we encounter the homeless personally, as we go about our daily lives, we mostly do so from the safe haven of our cars, the wound-up windows safely shutting out the real world. The images in the exhibition are the stark and unembellished reality: death is stalking the lonely on cold streets.

Visitors to the gallery are asked to please bring lightly-used warm clothing and/or non-perishable foods.
Out North seeks volunteers for a sandwich and chilli making party on Friday, 1/28 from 5-7pm. We will be preparing food for the event on Saturday 1/29 from 1-3pm. Please call Riley at 289.8099 ext 206 with your interest in helping.

"Under :30" 2011

image by Craig Updegrove

Four spaces

By Dawnell Smith | Posted: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 12:00 am

“Under :30” represents a time limit, an opportunity, a shot at front and center.

The program works like this: Folks submit proposals around March, and Out North selects four to develop from page to stage in just under a year. The creator does the heavy lifting to transform idea to manuscript, and Out North provides technical and production resources to transform the manuscript into performance.

Some of this town’s most refreshing monologues, travelogues, comedy routines and real life stories have emerged from this program, many by people who are not performers.

This year’s cast includes UAA professor and poet Olga Livshin ushering the audience through her Russian immigrant experience; artist and docent Linda Lucky sharing her journey as the caretaker of a friend experiencing Alzheimer’s; consultant and wilderness guide Ellen Maling exploring life and job transitions and decisions; and public health consultant and comedian Duff Pfanner wondering if being vertically challenged is an inferior trait.

Out North’s executive and artistic director Scott Schofield selected this year’s four pieces. “I didn't so much choose these works as react to how clearly they fit together,” he says. “Each explores ‘space’ in its own way: the split space of an immigrant's memory and present; negotiating the spaces of life and work; taking up space with physical size; and then the space of a long journey through memory and eventually death, which took place in the day room of an Alzheimer's facility.”

He considers the program as remarkable as any in the nation in terms of longevity (this is the 17th annual performance) and appeal. Year after year, Alaskans use autobiographical material to create poignant, mind-blowing, silly, absurd, titillating, eye-opening, you-name-it performances about everything from cycling and family roots to conspiracy theories and the secret lives of art instructors.

This year’s show will be performed four times instead of eight to save on production costs. Over the last few years, the first and last shows have sold out while the other six shows didn’t, says Schofield, a major funding cut earlier this year just doesn’t allow Out North to absorb the overhead costs.

“So we hope that Anchorage will pack out the four shows to make a stellar experience for the artists and help Out North get back on our feet financially,” says Schofield.

Cutting down the number of performances also precludes me from doing a review before the show ends, but I can give you a run-down on a few pieces, including Maling’s light-hearted look at tough decisions.

“It’s basically about me trying to figure out what I’m going to do with the next stage of my life,” she says, “and about reconciling different forces in life.”

Her one-woman show includes a song, monologue and interplay with the audience, and pits her drive for working in developing countries against the reality of managing her diabetes. The piece touches on the economic downturn, and the struggles and debates concerning medical insurance, but it mostly centers on the decision-making process.

How do we weigh our dreams and passions against physical and financial health? What obligations tie us to our communities? When should we risk what we know to find what we’ve yet to imagine?

And what do these considerations mean to a wanderer who used work as a river guide, who has maturity but no ties, who has felt the sting of loss and now feels the pull of freedom despite her dependence on medical systems?

Call it nonfiction-theater, if you will, or good old-fashioned storytelling with some slides for good measure, but this and the other three pieces all touch on extremely personal experiences.

“For audiences, it’s ‘reality TV, minus the TV,’” says Schofield. “That is to say, honest, thoughtful, inviting—scandalizing sometimes, too.”

No, these performers won’t do inane, stupid, outrageous things just for the laughs and hype, but they will reveal parts of themselves. Pfanner’s piece about being vertically challenged doesn’t wallow in short jokes as much as unearth a human story and relationship.

After seeing about ten “Under :30” performance over the years, Pfanner finally decided to submit a proposal because “I felt like I had discovered a personal truth about myself as it relates to growing up short and being short, “ he says, “and I felt like I had some life experiences to share about how being short had impacted my life in particular as related to my daughter.”

Though he has done stand-up comedy before, Pfanner has never prepared for or performed a more theatrical piece.

“There’s so much more than you realize,” he says. “When you see a stage production, you know the actors and actresses have spent a lot of time with their lines, but doing this has given me a better sense of the backstage effort—the artistic direction, the lighting, the nuances of voice and connotation, the different ways of looking at the same word.”

Schofield has proved invaluable to the process for Pfanner and others; though he has mastered things like nuance and enunciation, Schofield feels awe each time he sees an “Under :30” performance unfold.

“’Under :30’” is the place to see what too much theater has forgotten,” he says. “That humans make stories and that they are delightful and fascinating and moving in their rawest form.”

AN OUT NORTH FUNDING UPDATE

A national funder pulled $80,000 from Out North because of the theater’s programming, which included films with lesbian characters and a production of “Reefer Madness.” Out North set two goals after the funding cut. They topped the first one—$40,000 by New Year’s Day—with $46,000 by the end of 2010. They hope to raise another $36,000 by Valentine’s Day.

Schofield says, “What's amazing is that a huge proportion of the donations are in increments of less than $250, and the majority of those are coming in at less than $75. Those who can are giving big, and it seems everyone is giving what they can. We are humbled and empowered by this incredible support.”

Under :30 will be performed at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Jan. 13 through 15, and 3 p.m. Sunday, January 16, at Out North. Tickets cost $20 at the door, $16.75 on CenterTix.net, and $13 for seniors, students and military members with ID.

Review of Two Truths and a Lie

Find the full review here (PDF)  

Excerpts:

"Schofield stands out among trans performance artists in that he successfully enlightens as well as truly entertains."

"Two Truths and a Lie provides a genuine alternative to mainstream trans memoir narratives, not only for its unique format but also for the educational information provided, the breadth of experiences detailed and the particularly young age at which the author's transition narrative takes place."

"The three performance pieces work well as a book, coming to life through vivid descriptions. The experience feels like a roller-coaster ride, and once picked up, the book is impossible to put down. Having seen one of the plays live, and now having read the entire collections, I wonder if maybe the written version is preferable for just one, important reason. As a reader, one can relish the work;s true poetic beauty and structure, savouring the author's artful use of metaphor and rhythm, while Schofield's live act simply whizzes by."

Artistic Director Scott Turner Schofield

"He has comic timing tattooed on his genes" - Scott Schofield Performs at Out North

Scott in January

I first saw Scott Schofield last January when he introduced the Under 30 performances.  At the time I was surprised by his easy presence in front of the audience.  There was something special about him, though I didn't quite catch what he was doing here, something about being a visiting performer.  We missed his performance of Debutant Balls because we went to Juneau.

Scott after Wu Man

In July he introduced Wu Man and friends.  This time Scott was introduced as Out North's new artistic director.  Again, I was impressed.   Enough to write this as a side note to a long discussion of Wu Man and the evening's music:

His introduction Wednesday was a pleasure to listen to.  His words were good, his delivery fluent, and he effortlessly rotated to acknowledge the audience members sitting behind him on the stage. 

I'm giving all this background to just say, there was something special about this guy which I picked up from the time I first saw him.  Friday night I learned that he is an established performer who has performed all over which was brought home when in one of his pieces he mentioned that he'd 'just played to a packed house in Brussels."

So, my gut was right.  Out North has pulled a minor coup by snagging Scott as the artistic director.  He's closing in on his 30th birthday (this also came out - I think in the Q&A after the performance) and looks like he's approaching 20.  But he's been performing a long time and knows lots of people beyond Anchorage, a number of whom he's going to entice up here and introduce us to.

Friday night (and he does this again Saturday - tonight) he was on stage at Out North as a performer, though he confessed afterward that he couldn't completely get his administrator role out of his head  asking himself, as a performer and an administrator, "Is this show going to go well?  Is this going to help or hurt our future box offices?"

He didn't have to worry.  This guy is a natural story teller. He says raconteur, which I can't write unless the spell checker has it. (Phew! It did.) And his material is compelling.  The program says,

Two Truths and a Lie. . . is a collection of three autobiographical solo performances which have toured nationally to critical acclaim:  Underground Transit (2001), "Debutante Balls" (2004) and "Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps (2007).  

After Show Q&A

He gave the briefest of introductions - I'm not even sure what he told us.  Enough for us to know that he was born and raised as a girl and the title "Becoming a Man" meant just that, literally.  So, he had 127 steps.  Our job as the audience was to give him numbers and he'd find that particular step and perform it.  Or, as it turned out once or twice, show us the video.

I don't know a lot of people who have changed genders and the couple I can think of switched from male to female.  And it wasn't something we talked about.  I listened to Tafi's presentation focused on male Samoan children who are early identified as Fa 'afafine at UAA's Diverse Voices presentation.  I've read Middlesex.  My favorite documentary at the Anchorage International Film Festival last year wasProdigal Sons told by a woman returning to her rural home town for her 10th high school reunion who left for college after being the quarterback of his HS football team.  I'm sympathetic to the idea, but the male-female dichotomy is still one of the most rigid we have.  Homosexuality still causes many people grave distress.  The idea of being a woman and then a man or vice versa challenges our brains' flexibility.  We think it has to be either/or.

In the book - Two Truths and a Lie - Scott writes about coming up with this performance.

"Okay," my partner-in-crime S. Bear Bergman sighed as ze [sic] always does when calming me down on a late night, long distance phone call.  "So you have about 127 stories to tell and an hour in which to make sex change EASY, step-by-step."  I made notecards from memories, ruminated, and typed.  Then I found one of my old Choose Your Own Adventure books from elementary school.  Later, on tour in New York, T Cooper and Felicia Luna Lemus left Joe Meno's book The Boy Detective Fails by the couch they made up as a bed for me.  There I found the decoder ring.  With such random origins, how could I write any linear play?  The elements of chance that structured my process had to be reflected in the product.

Scott performs Two Truths and a Lie again tonight (Saturday) at 8pm at Out North.  Tickets at the door.  It will be a different performance from the one we saw because the audience isn't likely to choose the same numbers.

Now, as much as liked this, I think it could have been even better.  The lottery aspect of the audience choosing which scene he's going to play means there are a lot of missing parts and the actor doesn't know which scene is up next. 

Even with that caveat, Anchorage folks, what I'm saying here is WE'VE GOT THIS WORLD CLASS PERFORMER TELLING THIS MESMERIZING STORY AND NO ONE KNOWS IT.  So go now and see Scott.  In ten years when he's moved on and he's famous, don't kick yourself because you didn't see him 'way back when' in an intimate little theater in Anchorage before the world discovered him.

As Judith Jack Halberstam, Professor of English and Gender Studies at USC, wrote in the front of Scott's book,

Scott, it should be said up front and often, is simply a mesmerizing performer.  You could listen to his voice all night.  He has comic timing tattooed on his genes, and he can make the trip from irony to sincerity in 3 seconds flat.