Guest Blog from Co-Artistic Director Jesse Geiger

Hi guys and gals! Pleased to meet you. I’ll be guesting on the Shiny Objects blog from time to time. Exciting developments are in the works….

First: We have a new website! www.collectshinyobjects.org. Check it out to learn a bit more about where we’ve been and where we’re going. Like all things Shiny, it’s a fabulous work-in-progress. Expect further evolutions, make-overs and re-inventions in the months ahead.

Second: We’re in the throws of planning for this spring’s workshop of THE WALMART PROJECT, the new piece we’re creating with playwright Greg Moss. We’ve begun assembling design collaborators and look forward to announcing more information soon!

Third: If you haven’t already, check out The Momentum, the exciting new piece on self help by our friends at Collaborationtown.  Winner of the Fringe, it’s having a mid-winter revival for the next several Wednesdays. We were extremely fortunate to have a bunch of the CTownies join us for our December workshop of THE HERCULINE/CASTER PROJECT, including our fearless playwright Jordan Seavey. They’ll also be producing THE PLAY ABOUT MY DAD, a new piece by Herc/Caster alum, Townie, and all-round charmer, Boo Killabrew in the spring. We can’t wait to check it out.

And finally: If you haven’t already, buy your tickets for The Wii Plays at Ars Nova, featuring the musical talents of Shiny Object Collector Nathan Leigh and his fantastic band, Super Mirage. Video game theatre at it’s finest.

More soon!    -- Jesse

Happy 2011 from Shiny Objects

Happy New Year from A Collection of Shiny Objects!

It has been an incredibly busy first year for the company. Our first production, THE EXILE OF PETIE DELARGE, had a successful run in Los Angeles at Son of Semele Theater, and an exciting transfer to the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) to kick-off their 2010 New Original Works Festival (NOW Fest).

A Collection of Shiny Objects and I are back in New York and back in development with new work. I have asked one of my closest friends and favorite collaborators, director Jesse Geiger, to become my partner and Co-Artistic Director. Jesse has directed shows for The Hangar Theatre and Fordham University, among others, and developed work with The Public Theatre’s Emerging Writers Group and The American Repertory Theatre Institute. Recent projects include: THE MISANTHROPE, THE BACCHAE, THORNWILDE (World Premiere) and Chuck Mee’s FULL CIRCLE. He is the recipient of a 2009 Drama League Fellowship, a 2010 New Directors New Works Seed Grant and was a finalist for the 2010 SDC Sir John Gielgud Fellowship. His production of FAN-BOY was a finalist in the 2010 Samuel French Festival.

Jesse and I have multiple projects that we are excited about in development. This December we had an intensive workshop of a project whose working title is the ‘Herculine/Caster Project’ with the support of the Drama League and The Women’s Project. ‘Herculine/Caster’ is an exploration of gender and identity that Jesse is developing with playwright Jordan Seavey, which takes its source material from the memoirs of a 19th century intersex person and the recent investigation by an international athletic body into the gender of South African track and field star, Caster Sermenya.

We are looking for a summer residency for another project, currently entitled ‘The WalMart Project’, which we are developing with playwright Gregory Moss.  We hope to incorporate object theater to explore consumerism, the individual and the new American dream by following the experiences of a young man camping out in a big box store that slowly comes to life.

Additionally, we have applied for fiscal sponsorship from Fractured Atlas. So hopefully soon we will be able to offer you a tax deduction when we ask you for a donation to support our work. In the meantime, we want you to know that we could not have had such a productive and successful first year without your support. We thank you, and hope you will continue to follow our progress!

Best Wishes for a Happy and Prosperous 2011!

Love, Liz E (and now Jesse too!)