Title, Premiere and Location

Waking Up in Lost Hills (A Central California Rip Van Winkle)

August 6-8, 2004

Lost Hills School

Written By

Written by Jose Cruz Gonzalez

Synopsis

In the summer of 2004 the company launched the Cornerstone Institute and presented an original play based on the stories and struggles of this small agricultural community. Playwright Jose Cruz Gonzalez and director Bill Rauch collaborated with eighteen adult students from across the country, professional artists and community members to present this magical tale about a town awakening.

Staff

Written by Jose Cruz Gonzalez

Directed by Bill Rauch

Original Music by Michael Archuleta

Scenic Design by Shigeru Yaji

Costume Design by Garry D. Lennon

Lighting Design by Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz

Puppet Design by Lynn Jeffries

Sound Design by Paul James Prendergast

Music Director - Michael Archuleta

Musical Staging - Peter Howard

Stage Manager - Alejandra Navarro

Cast

Comments by cast, crew, and other participants.

Subsequent Performances or Productions

Special Notes

Returning from Lost Hills By Paula Donnelly

Returning from Lost Hills, Cornerstone Theater Company's first Institute summer residency program has been a great success. Eighteen students joined Cornerstone's staff and residents of Lost Hills, CA, to produce Waking Up In Lost Hills A Central California Rip Van Winkle. 

The students were eighteen wonderful individuals of diverse ages and backgrounds. Students ranged in age from 21 59 and came from Brooklyn, Boston, Seattle, Minneapolis, Arizona, Virginia, and the Los Angeles area. Some are undergraduate or graduate students in theater programs. There was a social worker, a filmmaker, a few educators and professional theater artists. They are at different points in their career paths but all came to Cornerstone Institute with eager and open minds and hearts and a sense of adventure. 

All the students and seven of the Cornerstone staff/faculty lived in shared classrooms on the campus of Lost Hills Elementary and Junior High School. We used the boys & girls locker rooms for showers and shared meals in the teachers' lounge. We held classes and meetings and rehearsed in the school's cafeteria. 

The program was four weeks long, and we hit the ground running. Introductions were barely made when we ventured into public areas of the community of Lost Hills to encourage people to audition. We held auditions, cast the show and held the first rehearsal before our fourth full day in Lost Hills was over! 

Waking Up in Lost Hills included 28 community participants, 13 Institute students and one Cornerstone artist and two Cornerstone Guest Artists as cast and musicians. Two students worked hard as stage managers (a first for both of them) and ran the deck during performance. Others worked extensively with the technical teams and helped run the show from backstage. 

Although the students' production related assignments varied in size, work-load and formal structure, everyone collaborated with the director to solve staging and other artistic challenges. Everyone carried the responsibilities of mutual mentor-ship with community collaborators, which in many ways was the greatest joy of the process. 

A typical day at Institute One began with self-serve breakfast in the teachers' lounge followed by--sometimes simultaneous with--rushing into a 30 minute warm-up led by a classmate. This was followed by a three or four hour class that might include a slide show, resident or guest faculty, some hands on activity, and/or guided discussion. (During the second week of classes was taught primarily by Guest Artist Michael Rohd. He worked with students to create a personal ensemble piece that was shared in a single performance for an audience that included our new friends in the community.) Afternoons were often spent at various tasks, either in rehearsal or doing production work like building puppets, building or painting the set, hanging lights, or creating props. Dinner was prepared on the premises by a renowned local cook or by a volunteer guest cook. Evenings were primarily about rehearsal. Those not called or required in rehearsal often participated as a stand-in actor or by playing with the young ones waiting for parents or siblings, or by continuing to build puppets! Each day ended with an End of Day pull- 

together to discuss the events of the day, challenges, and scheduling for the next day. Additionally, there were weekly company and production Meetings. 

We're now in planning stages of "I-2" Cornerstone Institute's summer residency for 2005. We've been exploring and meeting with communities in California's central valley. With more information we'll soon be able to announce where Cornerstone Institute will happen in July/August of 2005. Once a community has been selected, further details will be solidified, including specific residency dates, performance dates, and tuition costs.

Check www.cornerstonetheater.org/institute frequently for more information--updates coming soon. 

Paula Donnelly
Institute Director
Cornerstone Theater Company September 20., 2004 

http://daphne.palomar.edu/mmufson/tasc/Newsletters/2004fall/cornerstone.pdf 

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