Our Foreverendia bookmarks are in high demand! Not only are they decorative and utilitarian while perfectly encapsulating the youthful energy of this wonderful play, but they also provide a discount on tickets to our next production. Scoring one of these bookmarks and using it to pre-order your tickets is the best way to guarantee you won't be the one who can't snag a seat for one of our performances.
 
But where to get them? Boston is a big city and they could be anywhere. Well you're in luck! 11:11 is bringing the bookmarks to you! Over the next few weeks we'll be doing one of our favorite things (besides putting on intimate, original, eye-opening new plays!)—seeing shows by some of our favorite local companies. Stop by and check them out and pick up one of our lovely bookmarks! Support local theater and save yourself a few bucks on your next visit with us.
 
Keep your eyes glued to this space for updates on our continued adventures!
 
First up: Whistler In The Dark's production of "One Flea Spare". You should have no trouble finding the venue, as the Factory is also the home of 11:11! We'll be there following the Saturday, February 6th 8 o'clock performance. Tickets are only $20.  Check out their website, and tell them we sent you!
www.whistlerinthedark.com. If you can't make this weekend's performance, we'll leave some bookmarks with them in case you can check them out later in the run.
 
We look forward to seeing you there!

Posted by Sarah E. Farbo.

Last year I directed my first full-length play.  It was intense, to say the least.  Having a love of theatre since a very young age (yes, you can find slides of me forcing my brother to play dress-up with me and tapes of stories that I made up), I always connected with that magical world.  And, getting a chance to become involved with 11:11 has only allowed my passion to bloom more fully.  I love acting, but I have to say that directing kindles a deeper flame within me.

As a director, I was in charge of it all.  While insanely thrilling, it was also enervating!  I had to plan every rehearsal? I had to understand the meaning and purpose of the play, not to mention a broad grasp of the characters so that I could guide the actors well? I had to direct the lighting designer? I had to make sure we had a set, props, costumes? Oh, and I still had get up in time to make it to my day job everyday at 9 a.m.? Know what I learned? Confidence is everything!

Well, that, and being mentored by the awesome Brian Tuttle, crying a few times, shouting a few times (never at anyone involved in the play, of course)—all these things helped to keep the process moving.  My learning curve was sharp and steep and if I had to do it all over again I would in a heartbeat.

One of the most interesting things that I learned during the process was that finding the right language in which to communicate to the actors is everything.  This is a life lesson that I feel I relearn every year of my life… finding a way to express my vision, my ideas, parts of my very self. It's a constant dance.  What appeared so simple in my mind turned into a bumbling monster when I tried to explain it.  Then I tried to fish around in my (limited, it became apparent) vocabulary to find another, better word to get across what I was trying to say.  What I didn’t realize prior to directing, and what seems strikingly obvious now, is that what works for one actor isn’t necessarily going to work for another actor.  Many nights after rehearsals were spent trying to figure out what made each actor truly tick—what I did that night that made her face light up with that "Aha, I get it" moment, or that "I understand the path I’m on and I’m going to go for it" moment.

I found myself jotting down "Actor A learns best when I have her get physical first," or "Actor B needs to journal for awhile before entering the world."  It was a lesson in both leadership and relationships.  And if you know me at all, you know I adore intimacy. What I crave in life is to really get to know other people—I want to know what they think about before they fall asleep, what thoughts cross their minds as they ride the #66 bus, and how they define living.  Through directing, I am able to get in there with my actors—and for a short amount of time we become a community that is almost suspended in time.  We figure out all of those wonderful intimacies that occur in the world of a play.

On a final note, restraint is highly valuable while directing.  I do a lot of photography and one thing I have learned is the art of restraint. In this era of digital cameras, it is easy to snap a billion and one photographs just like that.  It’s much harder to hold back and to pre-visualize the shot you would like in your mind and work from there. That takes time, patience, and dedication.  Such is true in directing.  There were many a night when I had to visualize the whole world of the play as focused photographs that needed to happen to move the story forward.  It took a certain re-training of my neuron pathways to get into this mode.  It was wonderfully fun and hard to both envision the whole world of the play and to focus in on what would work for each actor to bring the story and the world together.  So, do I have it all figured out for the next play I’m directing in March? Hell no! But I’ve got a giant notebook full of notes, a passion for learning, and a love for the stories that lie deep inside every person.

If you're going to act onstage for 11:11 Theatre, you first have to answer four questions that are trickier than they sound:

1. What's your character's Laban?
2. What's your Laban?
3. What's your character's MEP?
4. What's your MEP?

Lots of directors ask actors or dancers for their characters' Labans--that is, whether their characters are Fast or Slow, Light or Heavy, and Direct or Indirect--but not every director makes their directees evaluate their personal Laban.  As an actor with 11:11, I can tell you it makes a huge (positive) difference to do this.  Getting to know a character only works so long as you know yourself.  While that may be common knowledge, it doesn't matter until you can somehow put it into practice.  These four questions do that beautifully.  At the same time that they are asked for their Laban, all 11:11 actors are also asked to provide their MEP--whether they think they are primarily Mental, Emotional, or Physical--and their character's MEP, together.  Nobody wants to admit that they are any of these things last--we think of ourselves as well-rounded--but being forced to prioritize your personal qualities like that ends up telling you a lot about yourself.  Perhaps too much, sometimes.

Only by forcing actors to answer what are often difficult questions about themselves are they able to gain enough altitude to draw a map of their characters with themselves as a starting point.  If you're acting with 11:11, doing this is a necessary part of our process, and the results show.

11:11 Theatre Company now offers Season Passes for $40, which get you admittance to four performances, one per show.  We've also got a Flex Pass for $20 that gets you admittance to any two performances, one per show.  It's your choice!

Once you've purchased a pass, you have to log in to OvationTix in order to redeem your tickets for a show.  There's a login link on our Tickets page you can use.

Auditions for 11:11 Theatre Company's world premiere adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations will be held at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, on August 25th from 7pm-10pm.  The adaptation consists entirely of Dickens' original words.

Great Expectations will run on the following dates:
September 25 and 26 @ 8pm
September 27 @ 3pm
October 1, 2, and 3 @ 8pm

To schedule an audition slot, please email info@1111theatre.com.  Come with a monologue ready to read from memory.

Parts open for casting include 6 male and 4 female roles:

Pip: young boy in search of his expectations
Joe: noble-hearted and simple friend and father-figure to pip
Jaggers: a lawyer who handles Pip's expectations
Magwitch: an escaped convict who secretly bestows Pip's expectations
Herbert: Pip's friend and roommate in London
Pumblechook: a blowhard friend of Mrs. Joe

Estella: the beautiful and heartless center of Pip's affection
Havisham: an eccentric, wealthy woman who was left at the altar
Biddy: Pip's kind-hearted, early teacher and later friend
Mrs. Joe: Pip's haughty aunt that looks after him

11:11 has made its home this season in what I have just dubbed "The Leaky Cauldron of Boston": The Factory Theatre in Boston's South End.  If you've never been, it's one of those places you'd never know was there unless you looked for it.  Seriously, check it out in Google Maps StreetView.

You stroll across an empty parking lot to what looks like the back door of an old factory.  Because it is.  Down the steps, through the door, and you're in a cozy little space, ready to see some great new shows.

http://www.thefactorytheatre.org/

Keep tabs on The Factory's upcoming shows and you'll see us there.  Definitely a venue worth checking out.