facebook vs. twitter = apples and aardvarks

facebook and twitter - for me - are like two friends in a social group that have almost nothing in common but keep showing up at all the same parties. People often refer to F and T as though they are one and the same - social media - but for me they could not be more different.

Facebook is for friends - mainly for keeping track of my friends' shows. I never accept a friend invite from someone I don't know and I rarely change my status. Facebook is kinda done for me actually - I am not interested in status updates, I dislike quizzes made up by 10 year olds, and poking is soooo ova. The only reason I even keep my profile is for the event invites.

I am surprised at how much I like Twitter. The bitesize bits of information are absolutely delicious. I like that I can get a taste of information and if it is particularly delectable there is usually a link I can follow to pursue the matter further. Nice! High five!

Someone I appreciate on Facebook is a friend who sends out clear invites in a timely fashion. 

Someone I appreciate on Twitter delivers succinct bits of information that I can follow up on with a link if I am sufficiently intrigued - I think Bartley Kives is particularly good at this. I used to follow Roger Ebert, but he fills his tweets with eBay items and lusting after young actors that frankly gives me the willies.

For strategic purposes I think that Facebook is great for delivering information about events to your friends and interested parties - harder to get the word out to people who are not already your friends. Twitter is great for making lots of new "friends". The trick is to keep them interested with tasty tidbits of information - every day. The key word is tasty - people will keep following your tweets if you keep them to a minimum, tweet every day, and give value - tweet interesting information that people can follow up on with links if they so desire.

so saith Michelle

the writer and the publisher

I think a lot about getting published.
Not all the time.
Not as much as pizza or sex or homework.
But I think about it.
Dream about it.
Imagine receiving awards at black tie ceremonies...

This year for my IPP I am likely writing a play.
I will not try to get it published.
What I will do is try to get a theatre company to pick it up for their season.
If a professional company performs my show, then I have a much much much better chance of publishing my work.

If I can't convince a company to pick up my show, then I really love the idea of turning my piece into a radio drama and recording it as a podcast - at least it'll have some legs.

What I love most about the CC program is the ideas I am gathering about self-marketing. I hope that by the end of my two years, I will have enough tools in marketing utility belt to get out into the world and make something really happen.


Cheers

Winnipeg Jewish Review edited version of my review The Father

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REVIEW OF WJT’s THE FATHER : WELL PACED POWERFUL DRAMA RUNS UNTIL FEB. 6

By Michelle Palansky, February 1,2011

The Father, Winnipeg Jewish Theatre’s offering for StrindbergFest 2011, is a dramatic and intense piece of theatre put opn by a local cast who give some fine performances.
StrindbergFest 2011 is Manitoba Theatre Centre’s 11th annual Master Playwright Festival. Every year, the festival celebrates a world-class playwright with performances and readings of his/her work. This year, MTC showcases August Strindberg. He was a Swedish writer who lived from 1849 -1912, and he is known for his emotionally intense plays and his misogynistic attitudes.

Adapted by Toronto playwright Julie Teppermen, the show resets August Strindberg’s 1887 play in a modern context, with Jewish instead of Christian themes. The play stays very close to the original concept. Teppermen updates the original language, which is far too stiff for modern audiences. The Internet, laptops, mobile phones - they are all there to modernize the feel of the piece. However, the essential struggles of the play remain the same. What is a father? Can a father ever be certain his child is truly his own? Who should control the fate of a child, the mother or the father?
Miriam Smith is masterful in the role of Leah/Laura Freedman, the mother who turns to Judaism after the death of her twin son Josh. She is simmering  with frustration. Her performance is strong, subtle, and very calculated as she extricates herself from an unhappy marriage, and drives her husband insane. As a Joseph Wolinsky graduate, I can  vouch for her pronunciation of the Shabbat prayers. As someone who is often disappointed by Jewish actors who mispronounce the most basic Hebrew words, I was thrilled to hear Smith’s excellent accent.

The role of the husband, Adam Freedman, is played by Arne MacPherson. He plays the role of the free thinking, controlling, tortured husband admirably well. The husband’s descent into madness could have been showy in a ham-fisted actor’s hands, but MacPherson finds the reality of the role and the humanity in the father.
Graham Ashmore plays Laura’s brother, Benjamin and Jennifer Lyon plays Julia, Laura’s therapist friend. They deliver solid performances; their timing is excellent and they have great rapport with the other actors. When the Catholic-Italian Julia comes to stay with the Freedmans, Adam has her turn on the lights because it is already Shabbat.

“I know, while you’re here you can be my Shabbos goy - you could make a killing in New York turning things on and off.”

The roles of Benjamin and Laura are like Shabbos goys - they are there to mechanically move things along in the plot - they turn things on and they turn things off.

The pacing of the show was impressive. The actors kept the show moving along quickly and with a great deal of assurance. Credit goes to Mariam Bernstein, the director, for good timing and effective stage pictures.

The family portrait, set centre stage above the couch, sometimes cycled through different moments of the Freedman family, but during the bulk of the play remained frozen on a singular family picture. It is the Freedman family of the happy past - Josh is alive and grinning next to his twin Becca, Adam and Laura are together, and Laura is still Laura, not Leah the grieving mother who turns to traditionalism to salve her wounds. The family picture does not change, but as the audience learns more about this wounded family, the viewing of the picture changes. The portrait becomes sadder, darker, creepier; a constant reminder of what the family was and will never be again - a strong, silent, fifth character in the play.

The Father is more intense than hilarious but it does have its moments. Adam jokes about the things he has given up since his wife Laura has become religious.
“You wanna talk sacrifice? I even gave up turkey and Havarti sandwiches - at home.”

The allusion to the “kosher-at-home-Jew” got a pretty big laugh from the audience, but the belly laughs were reserved for the Shabbat meal. Adam brings home a bottle of Manischewitz wine.
“You’re in for a really awful treat.”

The Father  is a play that is strongly dramatic. It packs a lot of punch in 90 minutes of theatre. The audience, made up of younger StrindbergFest devotees and the older Berney Theatre crowd, was treated to a show that did not disappoint.
The Father runs from Jan. 27-Feb. 6, 2011.

the father

for those of you who don't subscribe to the Winnipeg Jewish Review http://www.winnipegjewishreview.com/ - here is a preview of my review of Winnipeg Jewish Theatre's The Father for StrindbergFest2011.

The Father, Winnipeg Jewish Theatre’s offering for StrindbergFest 2011, is an intense piece of theatre. 

StrindbergFest 2011 is Manitoba Theatre Centre’s 11th annual Master Playwright Festival. Every year, the festival celebrates a world-class playwright with performances and readings of his/her work. This year, MTC showcases August Strindberg. He was a Swedish writer who lived from 1849 -1912, and he is known for his emotionally intense plays and his misogynistic attitudes.

Adapted by Toronto playwright Julie Teppermen, the show resets August Strindberg’s 1887 play in a modern context, with Jewish instead of Christian themes. The play stays very close to the original concept. Teppermen updates the original language, which is far too stiff for modern audiences. The Internet, laptops, mobile phones - they are all there to modernize the feel of the piece. However, the essential struggles of the play remain the same. What is a father? Can a father ever be certain his child is truly his own? Who should control the fate of a child, the mother or the father?

I saw The Father on its second public performance. There were less than fifty people in attendance, which says less about the popularity of the show and more about the weather conditions that evening. Fifteen centimetres of snow really puts a damper on people’s enthusiasm for live theatre - understandably. The audience was a good mix of younger StrindbergFest devotees and the older Berney Theatre crowd. The hearty audience, who braved the snow, was treated to an all local cast who did not disappoint.

Miriam Smith is masterful in the role of Leah/Laura Freedman, the mother who turns to Judaism after the death of her twin son Josh. She is all over simmering frustration. Her performance is strong, subtle, and very calculated as she extricates herself from an unhappy marriage, and drives her husband insane. As  a Joseph Wolinsky graduate, I can  vouch for her pronunciation of the Shabbat prayers. As someone who is often disappointed by Jewish actors who mispronounce the most basic Hebrew words, I was thrilled to hear Smith’s excellent accent.

The role of the husband, Adam Freedman, is played by Arne MacPherson. He plays the role of the free thinking, controlling, tortured husband admirably well. The husband’s descent into madness could have been showy in a ham-fisted actor’s hands, but MacPherson finds the reality of the role and the humanity in the father.

Graham Ashmore plays Laura’s brother, Benjamin and Jennifer Lyon plays Julia, Laura’s therapist friend. They deliver solid performances; their timing is excellent and they have great rapport with the other actors. When the Catholic-Italian Julia comes to stay with the Freedmans, Adam has her turn on the lights because it is already Shabbat.

“I know, while you’re here you can be my Shabbos goy - you could make a killing in New York turning things on and off.”

The roles of Benjamin and Laura are like Shabbos goys - they are there to mechanically move things along in the plot - they turn things on and they turn things off. Nothing wrong with that, but they could be so much more.

The pacing of the show was impressive. The actors kept the show moving along quickly and with a great deal of assurance. I heard very few line stumbles, and the actors never seemed to lose their footing - impressive for a brand new show on its second performance. Credit Mariam Bernstein, the director, for good timing and effective stage pictures.

The family portrait, set centre stage above the couch, sometimes cycled through different moments of the Freedman family, but during the bulk of the play remained frozen on a singular family picture. It is the Freedman family of the happy past - Josh is alive and grinning next to his twin Becca, Adam and Laura are together, and Laura is still Laura, not Leah the grieving mother who turns to traditionalism to salve her wounds. The family picture does not change, but as the audience learns more about this wounded family, the viewing of the picture changes. The portrait becomes sadder, darker, creepier; a constant reminder of what the family was and will never be again - a strong, silent, fifth character in the play.

The Father is more intense than hilarious but it does have its moments. Adam jokes about the things he has given up since his wife Laura has become religious.

“You wanna talk sacrifice? I even gave up turkey and Havarti sandwiches - at home.”
The allusion to the “kosher-at-home-Jew” got a pretty big laugh from the audience, but the belly laughs were reserved for the Shabbat meal. Adam brings home a bottle of Manischewitz wine.
“You’re in for a really awful treat.”

The Father is a really awful treat. The characters are hateful, the mood is sinister, and the action is strongly dramatic. This show packs a lot of punch in 90 minutes of theatre. If you like your theatre strong, then this is the play for you.

The Father runs from Jan. 27-Feb. 6, 2011.