Alex Gagne-Hawes

Empowering independent theatre in Fairbanks, AK

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Twelfth Night by Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre @ JackTownsendPoint https://t.co/zRvmmIKxDZ

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

tate told me, “Dont get greedy” https://t.co/PZOPK4iSjl

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

The river delta of American prosperity spills out into the ocean of death.

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Full house at the Swedish Death Cleaning lecture, mostly white hair and aged hoarders. The audience gasps wow at the cleaned garage, then laughs uproariously when the next slide “Still had the shed to clean.”

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Transportation wants data but police refuse to record near-misses and everyday bike/pedestrian threatening. They are obstructionists, trying to avoid documenting the need to redo our car centric system.

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Adding capacity (more cars) with tiny pedestrian add-ons to justify. It is “roadway widening”

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Barefoot in the airport is not an option I’m interested in. I dress for planes like I was about to remove fiberglass from a vermin-infested, occasionally-flooded crawl space. Even barefoot in flip flops. Just not an option I’m pursuing.

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Fairbanks Intl Airport still smells thoroughly like pee in the Anchorage departure gates.

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

“Ancient tragedy— in war-torn future Space!” A fine trope that’s been done recently in Fairbanks. I lump it with unexamined patriarchy/American exceptionalism, simplifying ancient scripts and applying a pastiche of Star Trek style. This future is usually pessimistic, enslaved.

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

At its best, the spare dialogue and casual violence created engaging menace and danger, clearly these were traumatized survivors and violence was always near. By the end, the tragedy seemed Roman not Greek (or classical French), lurid pointless sex and violence.

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Phedre update occurred in space where most women had been killed by plague. The science and futurism as casually considered as the emotional arcs. Constant male-on-male sexual violence, occasionally the AI turned dom and topped one of the men with a robot Embracer.

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Last play #VTreCon an update of Phedre where Theseus was named Creon and everyone was male. Fortunately there was a female-voiced AI everyone could insult and ignore the wisdom of. Hypersexual misogyny and deus ex machina were somewhat Greek.

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Fascinating audience journey rn where a poor working class protagonist monologued. At first, some people were worried it was about current politics or speaking up for construction workers. Mostly ppl were relieved it was just about dog violence. Some dog owners were traumatized.

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Why does American audience remain indifferent to real human suffering while taking fictional plays about violence to dogs as direct, personal insults? #VTreCon

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Better internet in the Valdez Harbor than my home internet in Fairbanks. With uploads this fast I might actually be able to vlog instead of slowly publish.

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

It’s just Normal at #VTreCon for people to be screaming in the distance, booming echoey bellows, cacophony in every room. Usually with the melodious refinement of trained actors, discernible even through walls. Decorous even with huge emotion and conflict.

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Streaming all the plays helps with the choice anxiety. Discernment is still required! Choosing the wrong play is the worst after, stumbling out of a bored conference room while happy, stimulated ppl bounce out of the other room, chattering how good the play was. #VTreCon

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Something about #VTreCon seems to encourage ppl entering/exiting outside schedules. An older man enters the last 5 minutes of a conversation with legendary actor with his lunch plate, chewing and scraping utensils with blithe disregard. People push open doors “no matter what.”

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Tuesday morning, more marginalized sexuality being bullied. Ignorant parents and vignettes of clumsy romance in Boy Scout tents. Lots of therapy scenes. Post-show, audience members asked for more scenes with the boys. More knot-tying, a natural metaphor &authentic to Scouting

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

Fear of missing out is baked into #VtreCon, you can’t do it all, one option necessarily precludes another. Thankfully the organizers have joined the post-now digital future and you can now watch livestreams & see some of what you missed.

[Alex Gagne-Hawes @oldereed]

I couldn’t relate, the wit and religious trauma were too caricatured and structured. There was no inversion of power structure or reversals of status. The trauma seemed affected and insincere, without genuine belief or motivation explaining contradictory choices.