Simply Me.

New name. New direction.

simply kim

See you there.

The New Lonesome West

I'm gonna hijack this blog. That's right. Steal. Kidnap. Commandeer. Shanghai. Filch. Pilfer. Whatever you want to call it.

Of course, it's my blog already, so maybe that's overstating it a bit but, really, it was originally created for a very specific purpose--a purpose that no longer exists. And I just cannot get comfortable with the idea of it just sitting here in cyberspace, doing nothing. Gathering cosmic dust. Nor do I want to delete it.

So I'm going to continue it. For no specific purpose. Yet. And who knows what will happen...

... it could devolve into some sort of self-indulgent, wine or scotch driven drivel...or maybe it will become a happy, peaceful, and contemplative place for me (and others) to hang out.

Dunno.

Just know that I want to keep going. And I'm tired of feeling like I'm supposed to know where I'm headed before I start heading there.

I'd rather just make like J. T. K. and BOLDLY GO for a change.

I wonder if I should change the name....

Memories.

R. I. P. The Lonesome West....

Hello Lovely Cup of Tea....

I am drinking tea for the first time in weeks, months even. Tea. The drink of sages, poets, and philosophers. The drink that soothes; the drink that seems to connote comtemplation, peacefulness, and calm.

As opposed to coffee of course, the drink that I have been virtually SUBSISTING on these past few weeks. Coffee: the drink of the frazzled, stressed, over-extended,  and sleepless masses. The pick-me-up that lets you hang your tired self on a hook to prevent it from crashing to the floor in slumber.

Yeah. I'm drinking tea, because there is nothing left to do with this show now except sit in the booth, hit "go", and watch the actors fly higher and higher each night.

My only wish now is for an audience.

Time to Rock and Roll Kids

Opening Night is HERE!
 
THE LONESOME WEST starts tonight and tickets are TWO-for-ONE (Tuesday night only). Read the previews and come on down and join us! Remember: Only SIX performances.

Calgary Sun Preview - The Irish Invade the Pumphouse

Calgary Herald Neighbours - Liffeys Enlist Special Effects Wizard
 
The Liffey Players Present:
Martin McDonagh’s Dark Comedy
THE LONESOME WEST

Directed by Kim Faires
Produced by Rob Hay

March 2nd - March 6th, 2010 
Tuesday through Saturday

Book online at : http://tickets.pumphousetheatre.ca/
Or call 403-263-0079.
Tickets are also available at the door.

Only SIX performances!

Shows are at 8:00 PM plus one Saturday matinee at 2:00 PM. All performances are on the Victor Mitchell stage at The Pumphouse Theatres, 2140 Pumphouse Avenue SW.

(Audience Advisory: Mature Content, Loud Noises, and Theatrical Smoke on stage)

Coleman and Valene Connor, two spiteful and constantly warring brothers, form an uneasy agreement following their father’s recent death. When the local clergyman, Father Welsh, makes the ultimate sacrifice in the hopes of reconciling them, the brothers are forced to reconsider their relationship. Dark deeds are subsequently revealed as a young priest’s soul hangs in the balance.

The Lonesome West is the final installment in Martin McDonagh’s award-winning Leenane Trilogy. A dark comedy set in the tiny village of Leenane, Co. Galway, Ireland, the play is characterized by the searing and often brutal humour for which Martin McDonagh is known.

Losing My Mind

It's true.


I. Am. Losing. My. Mind.


Can't write now. Losing mind.

Little Old Ladies and Tenacious Grips

You know, I think I might be crazy. I mean really, I can get so obsessive about things it's scary.

Take yesterday for example: I was working on the program for this show (because designing the program is one of the many, many, things I still have to do for this show) and, after obsessing over every little comma, space, and font-style possible, I finally went to print a test copy and do you think I could get it to print the double sides properly?? Noooooo...it INSISTED on printing the back-side upside down, and I'll be damned if I could figure out how to correct it.

Now, I'm not any kind of design wunderkind I'll tell you that. In fact, I designed this thing using MS Publisher because my InDesign program was too overwhelming to figure out. (So why, you ask, do I even have InDesign on my computer if I don't know how to use it? Ah. But that's a whole other post. Or blog. Or novel. Or 10-hour movie.)

So I sat there. And fixated. And fixated. And obsessed. And cursed and complained. Until finally, out of frustration, I just clicked on that little green handle in each section of the program and flipped them all upside down on my screen so that they would come out the right side up on the printer.

And I have to say that it's times like these when I am reminded of this story I heard once. I don't know if it's true or if it's just some urban myth, but I heard this story once about a little old lady that got attacked by a man one night while she was out walking. He grabbed her and tried to assault her but she struggled and kicked like mad and the first chance she got she reached out and grabbed him by the nuts and held on so tightly that he passed out with the pain. She was so shocked and fearful that she TENACIOUSLY gripped this guy's balls and would not let go. When the police showed up they found him passed out on the ground and her beside him, white knuckled, and still gripping his nads like her life depended on it.

So there you have it. If that computer had had balls, I'd a reached out and grabbed 'em like my life depended on it. Take that you freakin', stupid computer program.

Desperate Photos and the Overwhelmed Mighty Me.

You know? I've hardly attended to this blog. It was a great idea to start, I think, but the truth is that I jumped into this without knowing a whole lot about what I'm doing. Trial and error. Live and learn. Sink or swim. Hmmm....I'm sensing a theme in my life.

It's 11:20 and I am tired. Tired, tired, tired. And somewhat overwhelmed. And I'm writing this because I've decided to get real with this blog (in the short time we have left before The Lonesome West is up and running and then, well, over).

I wanted this to be a blog about the production process but somehow I got lost and it became this (really) half-assed attempt at drumming up some marketing. But really, how is this blog any different than the Facebook page (which by-the-by probably has done more for our marketing than this has--does anyone even READ this)?

Which brings me to the title of this post. I am overwhelmed and being pulled in far too many directions on this show. Yet I still believe. No. I KNOW that this show will come together just fine and that it will be great. I just wish that could be so without me losing my mind with stress....

Yesterday's rehearsal for example: approximately 30 minutes of precious working-time LOST in a desperate attempt to come up with some kind of promotional photo to send to The Calgary Herald to accompany a print interview I did and then ANOTHER 20 minutes or so trying to figure out why my laptop wouldn't shutdown properly.

The result? This:

Not bad I suppose. But really? I love these guys. They are the heart of this show. And they deserve to be promoted to the maximum. I love watching them work and working with them. And I want everyone else to see them too.

So I'm doing my best with the resources I have.

And now I sleep.

Poster Complete--Three Weeks 'Til Opening Night

Two spiteful and constantly warring brothers—Coleman and Valene Connor—form an uneasy agreement following their father’s recent death. When the local clergyman, Father Welsh, makes the ultimate sacrifice in the hopes of reconciling them, the brothers are forced to reconsider their relationship.

Dark deeds are revealed and a young priest’s soul hangs in the balance.

THE LONESOME WEST is the final instalment in Martin McDonagh’s award-winning Leenane Trilogy. A dark comedy set in the tiny village of Leenane, Ireland, the play is characterized by the searing and often brutal humour for which Martin McDonagh is known.

 “Mr. McDonagh’s great strength is that he combines a love of traditional story-telling with the savage ironic humour of the modern generation....in the extraordinary THE LONESOME WEST, two brothers, one of whom has killed their father, are closeted together in undying hostility like a penned-up Cain and Abel.”

                                                                                                         —The Guardian

  

“THE LONESOME WEST ... represents a leap forward in ambition and achievement for McDonagh... [it] offers ... in-depth examination of character and is, in the end, a moving and complicated examination of redemption that might even offer a glimmer—a wee distant glimmer—of hope.”

—Variety

Father Ted and Mrs. Doyle's take on McDonagh?

This is great. Mrs. Doyle is talking about a famous novelist (Miss Clark) but she could be talking about a McDonagh play. Could be talking about OUR play. Very fitting no?

Click Here to View This Father Ted Video

The Cast

The Mighty Few

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  

--Margaret Mead 
___________________________________

These are shots from another Martin McDonagh play I directed about five years ago--A Skull in Connemara.

I have great memories of this show and am especially proud of the way it turned out.

We had very few people to help us but everyone was willing to wear multiple hats to pull it off. In the end, we put on an outstanding show.

We are faced with a similar situation now with The Lonesome West. We have a small group of people who have come forward to help us but, once again, people will be asked to wear different hats.

And that's ok. I think we can do it. And I think we will do it well.

Just like we did the last time.