Mata Hari Workshop

Between November 8th and 17th, We held our workshop for Mata Hari - The Great Imitator, at 3 Legged Dog Art and Technology Center, New York.  It was wonderful to have a space to ourselves and dive into the piece with the instrumentalists and singers and our talented actor Tina Mitchell, who is playing the role of Mata Hari. Matt has composed some great music for the piece, although we have only three scenes written.  Below are some photos from our work-shop.  One our triumphs is that Tina and I held a 'Viewpoints' workshop with the singers and instrumentalists and we had them rolling around the floor, picking each other up, and creating beautiful tableaus.  this is a dream for me as a stage director getting these talented artists to break out of the mold and explore other aspects of time and space.

Mata Hari Now has an IndieGoGo Campaign

Now it's time to start really raising the funds for Mata Hari. Please click the link and support this amazing project about this extraordinary woman.

Awarded the Dame Joan Sutherland Fund

Hi have been awarded the Dame Joan Sutherland Fund, through the American Australian Association.  I am very excited to receive this award, which will help fund my residency at 3 Legged Dog Arts and Technology Center, where I will be learning the Isadora Graphic Programming Environment, and developing my new hybrid opera piece based on Mata Hari.

Thank you, La Stupenda, and The American Australian Association.

http://www.americanaustralian.org/djsf/

La Voix Humaine

So, It's official.  I will be directing Francis Poulenc's La Voix Humaine for Pocket Opera New York next spring on 'Secretaries Day'!  Stay tuned for production details, meanwhile checkout Pocket Opera's up coming season by clicking on this link: http://www.pocketoperany.org/

Mata Hari Memoirs

Yesterday, I ordered three books, which were memoirs of the men who were a part of putting together the evidence to execute Mata Hari. They were Captaine Georges Ladoux, the head of the French counter-espionage agency the Deuxième Bureau. Then there's Captaine Pierre Bouchardon, the prosecutor who worked for the 3e Conseil de guerre. These two men documented their thoughts as they were interrogating Mata Hari. It will be a great insight as to how they were thinking and why they were so zealous in bringing Mata Hari down. The third book by Phillipe Collas, who is the Great-Grandson of Bouchardon. From reading his Great-Grandfathers memoirs, Collas put together his own viewpoint as to why they executed her. He definitely leans toward exonerating Mata Hari, and there was a movie based on his book made for French television titled Mata-Hari sa vraie histoir. Le Parisien seemed to criticise Collas' point of view when the t.v. film was released by saying "Anyone expecting to find the sulphurous legend of the Mata Hari should avoid this...The film rehabilitates her." So, Even after all these years the mystery of whether she is guilty or innocent still is very much a part of France's collective consciousness, and people seem to be very divided on the truth.

I am not intending to go out there to tell the authentic truth, it is impossible to do so. I just want to tell a good story, using the very words of the people who were a part of history. Below are the links to the books if anyone is interested. They are all in French so a lot of translating will be needed. Matt Marks, the composer and I have decided that we will do the opera in English, it is the first language of our audience, and will save us dealing with super-titles!

Mata-Hari sa vraie histoire, Phillipe Collas
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/2259198724

Souvenirs, Pierre Bouchardon
http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B003UAE2S8/ref=oss_product

Les chasseurs d'espions, Comment j'ai fait arrter Mata-Hari
Commandant Ladoux
http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B003WTQY1U/ref=oss_product

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Fiscal Sponsorship

The Mata Hari Project now has fiscal sponsorship! I have joined 'The Field', an arts organisation that helps artists like me take the necessary steps through their programming to produce our work. The fiscal sponsorship will enable us to accept tax deductible donations from individuals and organisations here in the United States. They also have programs on book keeping, grant writing, and artist retreats. I am really happy to be a member, and utilise their programs to build skills as a self-producing director. If anyone wishes to check them out, here is the link: http://www.thefield.org/

Now that I have done my plug for 'The Field', I find myself sitting at a desk at my friend's apartment looking after her cat while she is away overseas. I sit right in front of the air conditioner as New York suffers from a long heat wave. The cat curled up on the bed beside me. I see the flashes of lightning as a storm blows in, which I hope will blanket the city with cool air. I hear nothing from the streets, just the sound of the air passing through the air conditioner, it's quite peaceful. Tonight, the words for Mata Hari start to be put together. I will be working on the prelude. So, the journey begins.

Mata Hari Project

This is the beginning of a journey in creating a new opera. I have always been fascinated with roles of strong women. Mata Hari who has been a mystery to all of us appeared before me while looking up the Goddess Ishtar, Femme Fatale and Dance. My curiosity urged me to dig deeper into Mata Hari's life who's real name is Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, a Dutch national, who had spent some of her life living in Indonesia. Mata Hari's life is operatic in scale where her story spans Asia and Europe, survived a tumultuous marriage, one of her children dies under suspicious circumstances, then she becomes an exotic dancer, spies for France and is then executed for being an double agent. I immediately thought this story needs to be created into an opera.

I have been offered a residency at 3 Legged Dog Art and Technology Center in Manhattan at the end of 2011. This will give me an opportunity to develop this piece with Brooklyn composer Matthew Marks. My colleague Tina Mitchell will play the role of Mata Hari and will hold movement workshops with the singers and musicians. Yes, the musicians will be moving!! My idea is that the musicians will be a part of the mise en scene and not stuck in a pit or off to the side. I have no idea if anyone has attempted this in an opera before, traditionally some operas have a 'Banda' (A group of musicians on stage) sometimes they are hidden off-stage or they are seen on-stage, I want to see if this idea can be taken further.