October was a pretty busy month for me artistically, and I’ve got some VERY exciting projects coming up in November! Let’s get right to it:
Quote of the Month
“I thought everybody believed in ghosts.”
- Fox Mulder
Current & Upcoming
I am very pleased with the timing of all this, because I have a big and brand new directing announcement to share! On Saturday, November 14 I will be directing a virtual performance of William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale for the Evergreen Theatre Collective. This will be an 80-minute performance taking place over Zoom, and all the details can be found on the ETC website. This is my favorite play in the canon and one which I have brainstormed about directing for a very long time, so I am thrilled to begin rehearsals for this project!
Looking back at October, I had a pretty busy month theatrically. We wrapped up our last two productions at The Shakespeare Theatre of NJ’s Back Yard Stage, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to help offer safe, live performances as their house manager throughout this summer and fall. I also had the chance to attend my first indoor performance since the pandemic began at The Growing Stage, which offered virtual as well as small audience, socially-distanced in-person performances for their October run of Snow White. I have written and designed TGS’s student activity guides for several years, so it was a treat to be back there and see the Snow White guide in action.
Virtual Spooks
Everything considered, I was pleasantly surprised that I ended up getting to “attend” many more Halloween performances than I normally do! With virtual events cutting down on travel time and festivities spread out over several weeks, I was able to fit in quite a few seasonal events (in addition to my work on Something Wicked This Way Comes at the Back Yard Stage). I enjoyed online programming from numerous theatres including the Shaw and Stratford Festivals, and had a great time participating in readings of Richard III and Dracula in my two play-reading groups. I wrapped up the Halloween celebrations on a high note with the incredibly cool, audio-only Macbeth: A Surround Sound Experiment, put together by many artists I’ve worked with in the past!
31 Days of Drawlloween
As I discussed in the previous post, I participated in Drawlloween for the first time this year! This challenge consists of a series of seasonal and spooky-themed prompts which artists of all mediums can take as inspiration throughout October and share their creations virtually. The list I used had 16 prompts, so I created new small watercolor pieces every other day throughout the month. It was certainly an effort to fit them in some days, but I am very proud of the work I was able to create in such a short time and the variety of techniques with which I experimented! I’ve included a few highlights here, and all the paintings will stay up on my visual art Instagram account, @Queequeg_PaulinaCrafts. Heading toward the holidays I am hoping to offer a few of these pieces as prints or greeting cards in the Etsy shop I contribute to, so definitely keep an eye on our offerings at Queequeg & Paulina Vintage if that’s something that interests you.