The Rain is Back

I spent Monday working on Deco dress and I revised my favourite dress image to use for a poster (above).

And I’m very happy that Western Gold is interested in talking with me about a production. That could earn me some of my investment back and allow me to write off all my expenses. Their interest is, of course, subject to script approval.  

I love that this show is so unique—part exhibition, part scripted play. I’ve always been an experimenter and I’m thrilled to find myself doing this show (maybe). I started out wanting to do something—anything—just to kill the incredible amount of time I spenmd at home.

I decided to make paper costumes because I’d loved making the paper costumes for Trudeau (another play) and that’s how the peacock dress came about—and that led me to a decision to make six dresses inspired by birds. I did the cardinal dress next.

But then I thought: “What am I doing?” What am I going to do with six bird dresses and soon I was onto making dresses as artifacts of stories I would write—that’s how the idea of the Defiant Dress show began. It’s been thoroughly natural progression.

So I’m meeting this Friday with Western Gold’s artistic director. I’m excited about the prospect of having WG produce my play—especially given the amount of time I have to perfect the script and detail the dresses. Anna (the artistic director) has said we’ll be talking about producing my play in 2018 — I think that means in autumn. I am confident that I can produce a decent script by then.

I’m particularly chuffed that WG is so interested. What a treat to feel such a blessed response to my very first venture into writing pure fiction. I wanted to end that sentence with a dozen exclamation points because I feel like I’ve lost handcuffs or discovered colour in fiction writing. It’s an entirely new world and I am full of childlike glee over the discovery—and coming late in life, it’s given me a second wind.

I have no doubt that recovering my costs through production will give me impetus to undertake another project. 

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During a visit in India I had a rough experience with angina. When the B&B owner became aware that several days had gone without me having breakfast, she came to check on me and as soon as she saw me she called her husband to have him drive me to see a cardiologist in a nearby town. And while we waited for her husband to dress she gave me a foot massage and she talked me down.

So that’s what I did last night when Dr. Soothe came over. I soothed him. He arrived directly following an appointment with his oncologist who had recommended he start chemotherapy. He arrived feeling pretty low but left seemingly his old self.

He has never looked so handsome and I have never felt so deeply for him.