Check out our YouTube channel to watch the entire show of The Three (Un)Wise Men, our well-received bible parody with a big heart!

There's more as well, including our ongoing Building a Show series about 11:11's process for bringing a story to the stage.  Enjoy!

Opening nights are always a strange experience. After hours in the rehearsal room poring over a play, any play becomes an event for those involved in the production. On opening night, for the first time you let people see it. It is exhilarating. It is terrifying. What will they think? Will they love it? Will they hate it? Will they even get it?

Foreverendia took the fervor of opening night to an extreme beyond what we had ever imagined. Artistic Director Brian Tuttle said it best on opening night. In 10 years of existence, 11:11 had never been so excited to share a production with the world. Foreverendia was a truly special experience for everyone involved.  From the first reading of the very first draft back in September through the run-up to opening night, it was nothing but a true joy.   We had worked together as a well-oiled machine with a unified vision. This play was special and we would do whatever it took to make it great.

The energy was palpable on opening night. We gathered for a pre-show conversation, and we looked back over the months of work leading up to that moment. This play was no longer just ours. No longer just a very special, private experience. We were about to share it with an audience.

Something magical happened that night. We shared. The audience came along with us for the ride. We could feel them every step of the way as the story unfolded. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Our audiences said it made them remember what it was like to be a child again.

As if we needed any further proof that what we had was worth sharing, we were greeted Tuesday morning by a glowing review from the Boston Theatre Review proclaiming our production of Foreverendia as “one of the most tender and thoughtful pieces” of the year and lauding every aspect of the production, from the writing straight on through the original score and ensemble acting work.

We were thought-provoking and induced nostalgia. Who could ask for anything more?

If you haven’t already, don’t hesitate. Buy your tickets now to one of our final three performances. You won’t regret the time and money spent with us in Foreverendia. It has been an honor for all of us to be a part of this production. Rarely do we get a chance to share such a special experience with so many people. For those of you who have already visited our land, thank you. For those of you we’ve yet to meet, I look forward to that opportunity!

This original play is about a couple who grapple with their memories regarding a foreign exchange student who dies on their watch.

Audition Time: March 9th and March 10th, 7:00pm-10:00pm
Audition Location: Factory Theatre Rehearsal Studio
Audition Requirements: Monologue, Headshot, Resume. Auditions will include reading from sides. Please be prepared to stay up to an hour. Please e-mail 1111theatre@gmail.com for an audition appointment.

Rehearsals start in late March. Rehearsals are Sundays-Thursdays in the BU area.

Production  Dates: April 30th- May 8th, 2010

Casting Breakdown:

LAURA, late twenties to late thirties, a blogger.
JONAH, late twenties to late thirties, a writer/teacher. Married to Laura.
ALICE, late twenties to late thirties, a teacher and co-worker of Laura’s.
PETE, late twenties to late thirties, a cop. Married to Alice.
JIHAN, eighteen, a foreign-exchange student visiting from Germany.
MS. PARSONS, age irrelevant, a social worker.
JIHAN’S MOTHER, forties-fifties. Jihan’s mother.

Every Foreverendia rehearsal, the actors go on an imaginary adventure in-character, outside, without the director present.  The title of each adventure is pulled from the Foreverendia script, in a section where Lawrence remembers the fantasies he shared with Bailey, Nim, and the imaginary Mr. Babbles as a child.  The intent is to provide the actors with real, shared memories of their characters interacting together as children.  This is an account of the first such exercise: The Adventure of the Very, Very, Very Distant Castle.  Enjoy!

After the capture of the Industrious and Clever Queen of Foreverendia, Lady Nim, our intrepid adventurers, led by the Gallant Sir Lawrence and aided by the Trusty Sir Babbles and the Beautiful Lady Bailey (she of the Face that Could Launch 1001 Ships - take THAT, Helen of Troy!) set out to rescue their Revered Queen.
 
Armed only with Sir Lawrence's clever sword/telescope device, Lady Bailey's healing elixir, and Sir Babbles's possibly-useless Mug of Destiny, they first had to avoid being seen by the Sentries directly outside Foreverendia (cleverly disguised as College Students! Lady Nim's captors would be a formidable opponent, no doubt). Sir Lawrence bravely led the rescue team along the road to Very, Very, Very Distant, astutely steering the party away from the cliffs and glacial rivers. Sir Babbles, ever the gentleman, offered his hand to the Fair Lady Bailey to jump over one of the cliffs after Sir Lawrence, onto the next stretch of road. No sooner had they crossed their first obstacle than they were shocked to find the Hill of the Sudden Suns, startling all three of our Very Intrepid Explorers. When they had sufficiently determined that these Sudden Suns could cause them no harm, they set back out in search of Lady Nim. Sir Babbles recorded this in the map of Foreverendia!
 
Not allowing their hopes to be dashed by the presence of a Mighty Glacial River before them, blocking their progress toward the Very, Very, Very Distant Castle, our trio of heroes used the wrappings of Sir Lawrence's sword/telescope device to create a raft. Lady Bailey made this brilliant observation, and all gave thanks to Crafty Sir Lawrence for his foresight to bring such a useful device on their journey.
 
Just beyond the Glacial River Sir Lawrence observed the Terrifying Fire Hydra, spewing forth flames and blocking their path. Brave Sir Babbles used the Mug of Destiny as a shield to catch the flames while Strong Sir Lawrence cut off the head of the Fire Hydra, and our Explorers continued on their mission until they reached the most insurmountable obstacle yet: A fork in the road!
 
Due to the Castle being Very, Very, Very Distant, our Heroes quickly realized they had never seen the Castle and could not locate it by sight. Trusting Fair Lady Bailey's instinct, the Party veered right and searched for #14, known Far and Wide to be Lady Nim's favorite number. Sadly, #14 did not exist, but such a conclusion led them to the proper region, where they were able to observe the stealthy movements of the Sentries in the Windows of the Very, Very, Very Distant Castle.
 
Our Heroes tugged with all their might and were able to free Lady Nim from the Castle. She appeared to have been Poisoned, as she was unresponsive upon her rescue, even after Sir Lawrence encouraged Lady Baily to use some of the healing Elixir on the Fair Queen.
 
After the trials and battles en route to the Very, Very, Very Distant Castle, none of our Adventurers were excited with the prospect of the equally arduous return to Foreverendia. They were lucky to discover a Friendly Dove to fly them back to Foreverendia, past the Fork in the Road, the Now-Not-So-Terrifying Fire Hydra, the Mighty Glacial River and the Hill of the Sudden Suns. Upon their safe return to Foreverendia, they rewarded the Friendly Dove with the remains of the Raft and Sir Lawrence's clever sword/telescope device.
 
Reunited with their Beloved Queen Nim, our three Heroes returned to the safety and comfort of Foreverendia.

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.