breakinglight11 | Entries tagged with steampunk

I started watching the TNT miniseries The Alienist, a psychological crime drama set just before the turn of the 20th Century. I am enjoying it; it seems to be well written— the dialogue actually manages to capture the diction of that period! —and the production values are beautiful. Though so far I'm thinking it's pretty good, I would say it doesn't exactly feel fresh in the particular lurid sort of focus it has. I am familiar with a LOT of Victorian literature, both that which was written in the time and only set in the time, and it is VERY common, particularly for the modern rearward-looking stuff, to be about the same concepts— sexual hypocracy, the implication that societal repression leads to deviant behavior. I confess it's not my very favorite perspective to take; you'll notice my own Victorian story is about prudes, goody-goodies, and asexuals. But you can't really like this sort of literature without having a tolerance, so I don't really mind.

It's a murder mystery, involving a serial killer, which is definitely up my alley. I like Daniel Bruhl as the lead, the alienist Dr. Kreizler, who has an interesting psychology, though perhaps a slightly too modern level of compassion towards people of alternative lifestyles. I find Luke Evans to be very charismatic in the role— the Victorian bearing and attire suits him —but I don't really understand what's going on with his character. He seems put off by the dark depths of human nature that Kreizler's work makes him stare into, and yet he also pursues investigation of the murders with a zeal that seems at odds with that, so he doesn't totally make sense to me. Dakota Fanning's acting has not particularly impressed me, and her character seems to be a fairly standard forward-thinking girl who is driven by a desire for agency in the world. If I have a real critique, it's that I don't know what they're trying to say with it, unless it's the same thing every other "Victorian underbelly" story has to say.

Generally I subscribe to the belief that ideas are cheap— execution is what really matters. I don't think originality is an inherent virtue, just something that can create interest and innovation to prevent staleness; an old idea, well done, can still be powerful even if it's a different version of something else. However, the key to that is it has to be done right— something interesting, fresh, meaningful, and relevant has to said with it. I'm not sure this has achieved it yet, but I'm only partway through. And frankly I'm enjoying it watching it anyway, so perhaps there's an argument for it right there.

I have recently taken on a volunteer position at the Charles River Museum of Industry. This is something new for me, as I haven’t really done anything like this in this sort of venue before. I guess it counts as yet another different thing in my life and schedule, and I’ll be interested to see how it goes. I’m not sure what exactly I’ll be doing, but once a week I’m planning to show up and be of help in whatever way they can make use of me.

I decided to volunteer it for a bunch of reasons. The biggest one is that two people I really respect have gotten positions there in the last few months, and I’d like to support them and help them out. Bob Perry and Francesca Piper Koss were two of the main organizers for the Watch City Steampunk Festival this past May, resurrecting it after what seemed like interpersonal issues and mismanagement threatened to kill it forever. They did an amazing job, putting the whole big event together in just three months. If I’m not mistaken, their work organizing the festival led to their getting these curator positions, which I think is awesome. They were super-great to work under and were really a great support in my process of producing Mrs. Hawking as part of it.

I’m also kind of treating it as a kind of networking opportunity, so to speak. I’m putting myself out to be of service to an institution I respect and would like to have a connection with. I want to strengthen my relationships with the cool people I’m helping out. That’s what networking is basically, right? Networking is something I’ve been historically very bad at— social anxiety makes me unable to figure out why anyone who wasn’t already my friend would want to help me out when it’s so clear that I just want something from them —so this is an attempt I can make at it that’s manageable. Who knows what will come of it, but at least it’s a way to give it a try. And I can help out the museum and the curators in the meantime.

"Touches of steampunk"

The art design of a production is an important means to establish a show's feel and personality. Mrs. Hawking is a steampunk superhero play, so we want that slick, high-action, slightly stylized feel from all our artistic choices. Those range from big things, like what the set looks like and how the actors move and speak, to small things, what individual props we choose to use.

Read the rest of the entry on Mrshawking.com!

Mrs. Hawking by Phoebe Roberts will be performed on Saturday, May 9th at 2PM and 6PM at the Center for Digital Arts at 274 Moody Street, Waltham as part of the 2015 Watch City Steampunk Festival.

The Watch City Steampunk Festival has now posted its complete schedule of events!

The Festival takes place from the evening of Friday, May 8th to the evening of Saturday, May 9th. The opening night kickoff on Friday will consist of two parties! The first one at Global Thrift on Moody Street in Waltham, from 7PM to 9PM, where you can purchase items to make yourself a proper steampunk costume. The second one is at the Center for Digital Arts, also on Moody Street, from 8PM to 10PM while light refreshments are served while you wander through a steampunk art exhibit. You may even have a chance to glimpse the set for Mrs. Hawking up close and in person, as it will already be in our CDA performance space.

Saturday, May 9th is the full day of free steampunk events! The complete schedule of events is now available from viewing, jam-packed with interesting art, performance, music, and exhibition. There is also a list of vendors who will be selling their various steampunk-related crafts, wares, and art pieces on Waltham Common. And of course, Mrs. Hawking is proud to be featured among them! As you can see, there will be two chances to see us, one at 2PM and one at 6PM in the Center for Digital Arts. As our new trailer for the show demonstrates, you won't want to miss it.

So as if our grand adventure weren't enough to draw you to the Festival, the myriad of other excellent events for adults and families, steampunks and casual fans, will make for an excellent time. Come for the badass Victorian lady Batman, stay for the rest of the steampunk music, art, and performance!

Mrs. Hawking by Phoebe Roberts will be performed on Saturday, May 9th at 2PM and 6PM at the Center for Digital Arts at 274 Moody Street, Waltham as part of the 2015 Watch City Steampunk Festival.

It’s been in the works for quite a few weeks now, but I have received official confirmation! Mrs. Hawking will be seeing its next performance at the 2015 Watch City Steampunk Festival!

Most of our original cast will be returning, though sadly a few of our wonderful actors will not be joining us for this encore performance. We will be holding auditions for these roles, which include some major and some minor, on March 22nd and 23rd from 7PM to 9PM at the Watertown Public Library in the Raya Stern Trustees Room. If you are interested in auditioning, please send an email to mrshawkingweb@gmail.com to reserve your slot. Walk-ins are welcome, but we’d love to know you’re coming.

Read the rest of the entry on Mrshawking.com!

Mrs. Hawking by Phoebe Roberts will be performed on Saturday, May 9th at 2PM and 6PM at the Center for Digital Arts at 274 Moody Street, Waltham as part of the 2015 Watch City Steampunk Festival.

So I’ve had a bit of exciting news. It turns out that the Watch City Steampunk Festival will be happening again in Waltham this coming May on Saturday the 8th. I’ve spoken to the lead organizers, and they are interested in providing a venue for Mrs. Hawking as part of the Festival! Yay!

It's not a hundred percent set in stone yet, but I got on the Festival planning committee to help make sure it happens, and the response has been very positive, so I'm diving in. This was something I'd hoped to do last year, but that festival never got off the ground and I was disappointed. This year, the event is under new management, and I am offering my own labor as a support, so it's going to actually happen.

This is good because, as I said last year, there will never been better synergy between audience and the subject matter of this show. It will be even a better, more specific fit than Arisia in that way. Hopefully I can get a better timeslot, and more than one show.

And it will be even easier to mount this time. I've just gone about asking my cast if they'd be interested in reprising their roles. I probably won't be able to get everybody back, but the more I get, the more we'll be able to get away with refreshers rather than a full rehearsal process. The set won't need to be built, as it all was saved from the last production. I still own most of the props and costumes, and the rest will be cheaper to replace than it was to buy everything the first time around. And, on top of it all, I will have three months to put it together! Yay!

So this is a really positive development! More detail to come once things get really going.

Well, it seems that the Watch City Festival, formerly known as the International Steampunk City, just got cancelled entirely for this year. I mentioned that I was very excited by the possibility of getting Mrs. Hawking space to be performed there, which would be great for both acquiring a venue and getting publicity from the rest of the event. Now that's no longer possible.

I'm really down about it. It seemed like such a perfect opportunity. I really hoped this might be the way to get it finally out there to be performed. Now I'm back to square one with no ideas.

Damn. I'm incredibly disappointed.

I cast Brockhurst last night with Bernie. It was not quite as smooth as I thought it would be, and Bernie's participation caused things to fall out very differently than I expected. While more people will likely be happier with with their roles due to his insistence, I must confess fewer people will be in the roles I would like to see them in. Of course my happiness with casting as the GM is immaterial; it's much more important that the players are happy, and I think his contribution enabled that.

Will cast Break a Leg next week. That at least will be easy, and I think people are more flexible for silly games than they are for serious ones.

The Watch City Festival has not posted its performer applications on March 30th as planned. This makes me nervous. I wonder if the next step is hunting people down. I've sent a number of queries to various people who seem associated, but nothing's panned out yet, which is extremely disappointing. I'm really invested in exploring this performance opportunity, so I may need to overcome my natural dislike of bothering people I don't know to badger someone into giving me answer. I really want to make this happen, so if I can find out people who might be appropriate for this, I'm going to have to do it.

Troy and I are going to push to get our new musical drafted by April 17th, so we can have it read and hear how it sounds. That means pushing up the schedule a bit, which means more work, but there's only four more scenes to go. I can do two a week instead of one. And then I'd like to have enough time to clean it up a little once it's drafted. But I'm excited to hearing it. It's one step closer to it becoming real.

As you may know, every year for the past three or so, Waltham has held a weekend-long festival devoted to the Steampunk subculture. In past years it was called the International Steampunk City, this year it's going to be the Watch City Festival.

When Lenny first alerted me to the fact that it would be coming up again, it struck me what a good match a steampunk festival was for Mrs. Hawking, which is after the steampunk aesthetic. I looked up the festival and it appeared that it would be happening in May, as it has in all previous years. With the amount of time I had between then and May, I thought it would be a great idea to put together a small selection of scenes from Mrs. Hawking and then apply to put them on at the Watch City Festival, under the auspices of the Watch City Players. It all works together so nicely, and it would be a way to get the property out there.

But just as I was getting everything together (we were even about to start rehearsals) they put out that the date for this year is not in May. It's in September. Initially I was disappointed, as I've been wanting something a little more immediate to help bring attention to my project. But then it occurred to me how this might change things.

September is many more months out. A lot more can be done in that time than in the bare six weeks it looked like I was initially going to have. And now I'm wondering if I shouldn't be trying to put on the whole play.

Maybe it's crazy that I'm even thinking it. It is a technically demanding piece; it would require the construction of a real set, one that for one scene would require the ability for an actor to climb up onto it. It would be expensive, and the only person who would be responsible for the cost would be myself.

But I can't shake the notion that this is too good an opportunity to let pass. I've been struggling for a way to get Mrs. Hawking to the attention of people who would be particularly interested in it. A steampunk play at a steampunk festival seems perfect for showing it to people who like that sort of thing. I will never have better synergy that way. And I don't think the Festival charges performers for use of their space, and the cost of performance space is one of the biggest barriers to mounting my own production. If they had space they would just let me use, that would be one major expense out of the way. And the fact that the festival has its own publicity would do a lot of the advertising for me. It would help me draw an audience I wouldn't have otherwise.

I don't know if they'd be accommodating. Maybe the Festival wouldn't let me put on a full-length play. Maybe they wouldn't have the space or resources to give to the setup and the audience and the couple hours of performance time. And surely it would be expensive to build the sort of set it would need. But I feel like I have to try and see, just check with them to see if it's even possible.

Maybe I could do a Kickstarter. If the space was indeed free, and I already have most of the props, costumes, and furniture pieces, all that would really require substantial money would be the set. I don't think that would require more than a few grand, five or so. That might even allow me to employ a friend with the expertise to build it. I know undergrad theater at Brandeis with budgets of no more than five grand were able to build the sort of thing I'm thinking of, so I know it's theoretically possible.

I sent an email to the person listed as festival director on the website inquiring as to the feasibility, but did not get a response, which was frustrating. But performer proposal submissions are opening on March 30th. So perhaps what I should do is submit two proposals-- one for the full play, one for the handful of scenes that I'd originally planned to do when I thought the festival was in May --and do whichever one they'll allow me to.

It's a daunting prospect, but it's one I have to investigate. I can't pass up any good opportunities to get this off the ground.

After second-round Intercon signups, I am now signed up for A Turn on the Radiance Rose and The Bloody Harvest of Pomona. That will be enough for me, what with also running Break a Leg and Resonance. The latter filled up first round, while the former now has three out of ten. And then there's the new game I'm part of as a writer though won't be running, which got nine signups tonight.

We had a meeting tonight for the writing of this, the newest Alleged Entertainment game, Her Eternal Majesty's Privy Council for the Continual Funding of the Mad Arts and Sciences. In the spirit of Time Travel Review Board, this game is a parody of the steampunk genre where the horde will approach a council to plead their case for getting funding for their crazy, vaguely Victorian-related project. I was having a hard time figuring how to approach writing cast and horde characters for this game until I realized that everything can just be mocking some of the more absurd aspects of Victorian history and culture. I am pretty well versed in that particular subject, and as much as I love it, there's also a lot that's absurd about it. And it was a lot of fun coming up with funny spins on Victorian references. There may or may not be a sentient syphilis virus in the game due to a terrible suggestion from me.

Maybe I can ever sneak a Mrs. Hawking reference in there. You know I want to...

Now that I have more or less built my website for Mrs. Hawking, I need to figure out how to generate some traffic for it. The idea behind it, as I've mentioned, is to build up something of a fanbase for the script such that it becomes sufficiently popular that people with more resources than myself might find their attention drawn to it, and perhaps desire to bring it to production. That is, however, highly dependent on getting enough people to go to it, and keep coming back to it. And I'm not really sure how to do that.

I know that the biggest thing I should do is make sure there is a steady stream of new and interesting content. To that end, I am planning on keeping up at least twice-weekly posting schedule where I will put up something new on Mondays and Fridays. At the moment it's chiefly been in the form of blog posts-- about the writing process, about the world, analyses of the characters, musing on what's to come, that sort of thing. I've generated a small backlog already, and have scheduled them such that they cover every appointed day up into the month of December.

But I also need to get people who might be interested aware that it exists and has a consistent updating schedule. I already know to repost to social media-- my Facebook, my G+, my Twitter, my Tumblr. I will probably put links here on LJ as well. But I need to find some way to get the attention of the sort of people who might be interested who I'm not already connected to, and I'm not quite sure how to do that. I have a feeling that Steampunk people would have an affinity for it. I wonder if there's some way to access Steampunk communities to advertise its presence. That might be something worth looking into. And I have no idea if it's helpful, but I've searched for "Mrs. Hawking" a number on times on search engines to help ensure that this website comes up. But I'm going to have to do a lot more research, I think, in order to figure out how to tackle this.

To this end, there is a new post today on Mrshawking.com-- it's a craft-of-writing sort of piece called Combining the Parlor Drama with the Caper, musing about the way that two genres common to Victorian stories are interestingly blended together to tell this story, with all the writing and plotting challenges that entails.

I have officially had my first really fun assignment for my costuming job. I got to trick out two costume top hats for service as pieces for steampunk doctors. Well, not exactly steampunk, more post-apocalyptic-meets-traditional-Caucasian, but borrowing from the concept of thematically appropriate embellishment from the steampunk aesthetic. I bought some tiny glass potion vials to evoke medicine, and got to break a pair of spectacles apart withe a pair of pliers for component parts. ANY project that lets me break out the pilers is a win in my book, and it allowed me to put one lens on to evoke a monocle or a lens a doctor might use in examination, and my repurposing of the ear pieces suggests a needle. Add a little hot glue, and presto!

And I did this for my JOB. That I'm getting PAID FOR. HELLS YEAH.

Jared and I just got back from a day spent at the International Steampunk City Fair held in downtown Waltham. I have to say, I love that this thing exists. Steampunk is a slightly obscure subculture, and a very geeky one at that. And yet the town authorities are cool enough to see the connection it can make to Waltham's history of watchmaking and development with the Industrial Revolution. And all the artists and artisans in this style get a venue with a ton of support to display their wares and their work. And geeks like me, who eat this stuff up, get to experience it for ten bucks and a short walk from my house. I think that's incredibly cool. I feel like, slowly but surely, various aspects of geek culture are going more and more mainstream, and over time we'll get more and more people who are open to fantastic stuff like this.

I had a lot of fun there. I loved walking around looking at the art pieces and the items for sale, and we attended some interesting panels too. Steam Fashion was great for definitional things, like a good, solid way to define the subculture and the aesthetic of steampunk as "the long (around one hundred thirty years) 19th Century," and the ideas behind the "ragamuffin," "aristocrat," "adventurer," "soldier," and "professorial" steam fashion styles. Thrifty Costuming had a lot of information I already knew-- at this point I'm a pretty experienced thrift store scourer --but also gave me a lot of great pointers for DIY props and pieces. They emphasized deconstruction very heavily, using pieces of things to build new things. I especially liked the idea of taking soft leather purses and cutting off the embellishments so as to turn them into belt pouches; a couple of the presenters had done that and I never would have guessed that they were repurposed modern items. I even picked up a battered old purse at the thrift store to try it out with and make a present for Jared.

We walked all over the town today, and though my feet are aching now, I'm very happy to have gotten that much exercise. I also loved the people-watching, seeing all the people going by in their costumes. It's really a great idea, and it supports the Charles River Museum of Industry too! So it's socially responsible as well as good geeky fun. :-D

Recently got my castings for two larps that are coming up in the near and nearish future. Still waiting on character sheets, but I at least know who I am. The first was for the test run of Venezia, which will be on January 28th, and the second for An Evening Aboard the HMS Eden, a steampunk literary pastiche at Intercon.

I confess I was a bit disappointed at first with my Venezia casting. In a game basically designed for high-class intrigue as pretty pretty princesses in Renaissance frockery, I will be playing Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican friar who was a lifelong enemy of Rodrigo Borgia, the detestable Pope Alexander VI. Cross cast as a monk among noble ladies, ah, well. But after the initial reaction I decided this could be a lot of fun. I certainly have the ability to work myself up into a froth of righteous Catholic rage, and I sure as heck don't get much of a chance to really plunge into that sort of mindset. My faith expresses itself usually in a very private, internal way, so it might be cathartic to blow it into the most intense proportions possible. I've got some vague ideas for a costume, too; I don't want to lurch around in a big sacklike robe, so I'm envisioning a long vest sort of thing, belted at the waist, with a hood that I can stare creepily at people from within its shadows. I think I could handle making such a thing, once I have the time.

For HMS Eden, apparently in a game where everyone requested to be Irene Adler, I actually got cast as her. As a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, I like the Irene Adler character a lot-- especially how Doyle actually portrayed her, rather than countless corruptions by other interpreters --so this should be a lot of fun. I have no idea what to wear as her. I would love to do myself up like the classic steampunk adventuress, if I can find the right pieces. Hmm, maybe I should model my look on what Charlotte wore as the Duchess in Othello; that was a pretty slick look, one of my favorites of all the cool costumes in that play. Again, once I finish my more immediate projects, costuming will be the next thing I focus on.

Reposting from the

interconlarp community:

...

KLOCKWERQ, a Steampunk Soiree, is this Sunday night (Aug 15, 8:30pm) at T.T. the Bears, 10 Brookline St., Cambridge MA.

KLOCKWERQ is a steam-powered, gear-driven, dance party and social event for the aetheric aristocracy. It's also the ONLY event of its kind in Massachusetts, and we'd love the support of the Steampunk community to get it off the ground. KLOCKWERQ has dancing, merchants, and more.

It's an 18+ event and admission is $10. We hope to see you there!

If you're on Facebook, please visit KLOCKWERQ EVENTS for more information!

...

Anyone interested in doing this? I'm not a hundred percent sure I am, I have been feeling kind of down recently and not all that up to going out, but I might be persuaded to do this if others were as well. I'm not even sure if I have anything appropriate to wear, but I'm curious to see what this event will be like, and I certainly like to support fun things like Steampunk events. Thoughts, anyone?

Getting back from the most recent run of Alice has galvanized me for larp running. I shamelessly plugged Intercon while I was there, a con that a handful of them go to regularly but many did not know much about. I said if they enjoyed Alice, they should come play Oz, which I want to run there at J. And then it occurred to me that I never actually got around to bidding it yet. :-) So I just did. This game has yet to leave Brandeis, and given how positive this experience of taking Alice to Chicago was, I am interested in expanding my player base as much as possible. This is actually part of the beauty of Intercon-- the whole reason Alice got invited out to Chicago was because people from far away had a chance to play it at Intercon that they normally wouldn't have. And they went home and told their friends about it, and their enjoyment lead to this opportunity.

I also took a look at the other games that have already been approved. The ones I am currently most interested in include The Last Seder and Survivors of the Naronic. I've wanted to play The Last Seder ever since AE wrote it, but I seem to miss it due to another committment every goddamn times it runs. With my luck it'll go up during Oz. Ah, well, here's hoping. As for Survivors, it's a Brit game. I loved both Railways and Respectability and All's Well That Ends, so I'm inclined to expect good things from this one. I could really go for a good Steampunk game. Apparently its sequel, Ghosts of Urquhart, is also running, but I'd rather play the original first. There is also a Jungle Book-themed game-- the third installment of Will Wagner's Grimm Tales series --and I'm a huge Kipling fan, but honestly the little information there is about it doesn't wow me. I have a preference for doing filling three slots a con and leaving the rest of my time free, so if I could get into Last Seder, Survivors, and run Oz, that might just be perfect.

I just got an e-mail telling me that I got in off the waitlist for "All's Well that Ends," the Elizabethan larp about the death of Christopher Marlowe at Intercon! I'm delighted; I really wanted to be in this game, given the setting and the connection to Doctor Faustus. So that was a very happy surprise to find in my inbox.

I also recieved, and promptly filled out, the casting questionnaire for League of Extraordinary Hogwarts Students. My excitement for that game was renewed with the questions involving Victorian literature. Phoebe loves the Viclit, you see. I'm very excited to see what captainecchi and electric_d_monk can do with the intriguing combination of steampunk and magic, especially with the characters from Viclit in mix.

Heh. It just occurred to me that I will be in an Elizabethan game, and then a Victorian game. I like!

Happy birthday to

usernamenumbertoday! I have recently heard him play the Squeaky-Voiced Laundian that I now cannot get out of my head. :-)

I am considering something... I have not committed to it yet, but I am considering running a steampunk game over the summer. I would have to figure out the system and hammer down the plot, which I'm not sure I can do yet, but I thought I'd give it a try.

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/gentleman-lady-etiquette.php?page=1

This may amuse some of you who are into Steampunck Victoriana. :-)

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Watching The Alienist
Volunteering at the Charles River Museum
New post on Mrshawking.com -- "Touches of steampunk"
Mrs. Hawking now on the schedule for Watch City Steampunk Festival
New post on Mrshawking.com -- Official announcement of Mrs. Hawking at the Watch City Steampunk Fest
Mrs. Hawking at the Watch City Steampunk Festival!
Watch City Festival cancelled
Project update
A possible opportunity for Mrs. Hawking
If there's anything I love, it's Victorian referential humor
How to get traffic to Mrshawking.com
Costuming job rocks
International Steampunk City 2012
First larp castings of 2012
Steampunk night at T.T. the Bears?
Oz bid for Intercon
Good news!
(no subject)
For your well-behaved steampunk...

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"Do you know why heroes boast? Because it makes them brave."

Entries tagged with steampunk

Watching The Alienist

Volunteering at the Charles River Museum

New post on Mrshawking.com -- "Touches of steampunk"

Mrs. Hawking now on the schedule for Watch City Steampunk Festival

New post on Mrshawking.com -- Official announcement of Mrs. Hawking at the Watch City Steampunk Fest

Mrs. Hawking at the Watch City Steampunk Festival!

Watch City Festival cancelled

Project update

A possible opportunity for Mrs. Hawking

If there's anything I love, it's Victorian referential humor

How to get traffic to Mrshawking.com

Costuming job rocks

International Steampunk City 2012

First larp castings of 2012

Steampunk night at T.T. the Bears?

Oz bid for Intercon

Good news!

(no subject)

For your well-behaved steampunk...