365 Days/365 Plays: Over the river, but in the River of Spirit

If you'd counted all the white balloons tied to the rail of the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge last Friday evening, you'd have hit 365 – a sure sign that you were in the right spot for the local launch of the 365 Days/365 Plays project. Not that you really needed much of a clue; the platform, the stage lights, the sound equipment, the hundred chairs, and the improvised dressing room all made it clear that show folk had commandeered this civic thoroughfare for a performance. Still, the balloons were a special touch that said the people in charge considered this a special event. And by people in charge, I mean the Zachary Scott Theatre Center staff, but chiefly Artistic Director Dave Steakley, who made sure months ago that Austin would be one of the cities across the nation performing all 365 plays that Pultizer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks wrote from Nov. 13, 2002, to Nov. 12, 2003, over the coming year. It was Steakley's idea to take the first week's plays out of the theatre and stage them on the Pfluger Bridge (believe it or not, the first time it's been used for a performance in all five years it's been open). It was Steakley's idea to put the character in one play in a boat floating on Town Lake. It was Steakley's idea to have 365 balloons line the path to the performance. And it was Steakley's idea to close the performance by having actor Martin Burke frantically try to distribute 365 Granny Smith apples, each with a tag reading, "An apple a day is 365 apples/A Suzan a day keeps the doctor away," to the crowd.

And a crowd it definitely was on the bridge. At least 200 people – could it have even been 365? – braved the chilly outdoor setting to hear the Vega String Quartet and watch the brief plays (averaging five or six minutes each) performed by a stellar cast of Zach regulars, including Burke, Meredith McCall, Janis Stinson, Jill Blackwood, Marc Pouhé, Scott Schroeder, Les McGehee, Rebecca Schoolar, Quincy Kuykendall, and Barbara Chisholm (this writer's wife). (This writer performed also.) In the crowd, and appearing to enjoy herself immensely was the author herself, Suzan-Lori Parks. Though Austin was the fifth stop on her weeklong tour of hub cities, Parks didn't lack for enthusiasm. She spent almost as much time taking questions as the plays took to be performed. In addition to talking about the project's origin and her approach to writing a play a day, Parks spoke to the decision to premiere the plays simultaneously all over the country instead of in a single professional theatre; it was about "radical inclusion," involving as many people as possible: professional actors, community theatre artists, high school students, senior citizens, church members … everyone. When asked to say in 20 words or less what the plays were about, Parks did a spot of in-her-head counting, then replied, "The plays, taken as a cycle, invite you to immerse yourself in the River of Spirit."

We have 51 more weeks to immerse ourselves, and Michelle Fowler, the point person for Zach in coordinating all Austin performances, says that there are many weeks on the calendar still waiting to be claimed for production. E-mail her at [email protected] to learn more. And don't miss the upcoming performances.

Wednesday, Nov. 22, 5:30pm, at Seventh & Nueces

First, plays will be performed where the Mobile Loaves & Fishes truck will be parked, then about 6:30pm, they will be performed in the dining hall of Austin Resource Center for the Homeless.

Week 3: Blanton Museum of Art

Friday, Dec. 1, 8pm, at the Blanton Museum of Art, upstairs contemporary gallery

Plays will be performed as part of the Blanton's "B Scene" event.