MY ASHEVILLE, N.C. CHALLENGE !

I am thrilled to announce I am trying out in Asheville, N.C., some of the community bridging ideas that I developed in my many years of grassroots teaching and organizing in Brooklyn. (Check out my BACK STORY comic ). I am also thrilled to be putting my own developing art on display in Asheville for feedback, and hopefully support and collaboration.

FIRST CHALLENGE: Find an Asheville location where I could showcase some of my work and ideas ! The first organization supporting my work is The Story Parlor, which is donating open

space it has on Sunday, November 6th, for me to put on a table reading of my feature script, BILLIE'S SONG, An Urban Fairy Tale.

SECOND CHALLENGE: This pop-up reading is happening in 20 days ! Can I recruit both readers and audience ? Space limited to 49 occupants -- so not a stadium ! (Check out the CASTING CALL, which includes a script synopsis and character descriptions, and the process for applying to read a role).

THIRD CHALLENGE: Can I tie my community bridging goals into my recruitment for both beginning actors/readers and audience ? The script has half Black and half white characters, I've targeted a 4 mile Outreach Area and I'm starting my cold calling today -- to public housing developments to arts organizations to libraries and through online groups and announcement boards.

Will the project interest people ? Will they share the announcement ? Will I even get through to humans ?

That's what this blog is going to be about. Me wanting to put on a show, and trying to get others to play ! It starts first with the pop-up reading on November 6th.

The larger goal / ambition is to put on theatrical readings* of BILLIE'S SONG in Spring 2023, in diverse areas of my targeted outreach area.

(*i.e. Actors read from scripts, but have blocking, wardrobe, props, and minimalist sets, obtained in a community scavenger hunt or created by community members)

I believe Asheville is the place I can grow my work and ideas !

Ha-ha ! But I no more know the outcome than you.

Here's to leaping ! - Trayce

PERSONAL UPDATE:

August 31th I left my rent stabilized Brooklyn, NY apartment of 24 yrs, for Asheville, N.C., in a uhaul jammed with my household, and sharing the front seat with YoYo and Sol, my cat family. (Ariel, a friend, driving and then flying back to NY) .

I had pieced together bookings in two Asheville airbnbs totaling two months to give me time to find a new home, putting my household into storage. Our first seventeen days in N.C. we stayed in one wonderful airbnb in the Shiloh neighborhood, then we moved on to another wonderful airbnb in the Biltmore Forest neighborhood. (Wonderful for hosts, environments, spaciousness, comfort, and cat friendliness; not wonderful locations for me a non-driver with an electric bike).

So how did I end up deciding to move on October 3rd to a Charlotte, N.C. airbnb, while still focusing my work and future in Asheville ?!

Interesting story ! Which I'll share in my next post about the overwhelming response I got after putting a heart-felt September 25th post up on www.nextdoor.com about segregation (not the same as racism) in Asheville.