Blue Rose

A country song I co-wrote with my best friend, Amanda blue Leigh, Blue Rose, is a fitting ending to The Land. Amanda's gorgeous vocals are backed by some amazing musicians, including Alan Pasqua, Steve Holly, Tony Cedrus, Dan Hovey and ...that's enough -I sound like I'm name dropping! Produced by my old homie and dear friend, Keith Lentin, it's our tribute to the women of the world who are bringing the feminine principal back into balance! You can listen to it here!http://amandablueleigh.com/onelove.html

Special Thanks

As we go into our final week of rehearsals. I'd like to thank all of you who made this production of The Land possible. After cancelling Kickstarter (which never really kicked off - is this subject really that taboo?) I was gifted with enough money from a dear friend, to get this baby back into rehearsals and on the TCA stage. I still needed to raise additional funds however and am doing so with program ad sales and sponsorships. Out of the $964 pledged on Kickstarter, I received a little under $500 - I want to thank those people who gave what they could, so very much! Your names will be in our program and you are all angels to us! I'll be out on the street again today, selling as many ads as I can - I'm a one woman operation. After a misunderstanding regarding what Producers actually do, I decided to produce this show myself, having plenty experience in the area w/music events. We are still gifting Vista Paz 10%. After a day of sales work, I'll be heading to another long rehearsal. Once the curtain comes up and the lights create magic on stage, it all appears effortless and easy, but the truth of the matter is tons of hard work goes into making a play. The actors especially work so hard and are so drained emotionally by the end of rehearsal - I marvel at their capacity to give that much of themselves! My daughter Genevieve and Christopher Heron both deserve accolades for the extra hours they are putting into this play! Christopher is choreographing and co-directing the war scenes and his work is sensitive and brilliant! My daughter brings visceral and emotional insight to all the characters, the women most especially! Not only is she a very talented actress, she is a fantastic facilitator of the process. I'm grateful to them both and to the rest of my amazing "no drama" cast - Ana Chavez, Ruth Fahrbach, Dylan Trachtman, Gus Chinland, David Perez, Benjamin Tietelbaum, Anpo Cash, Kiki Siebenaler, Lisa Lastra, Nicole Scotto, Khalil and his niece, the precious Majdolene Kweis - I could not have done it without you! Arron Shiver also gets a special thank you for the work he has done with Ana and Ruth in his Monday acting class. To my friend Fossie Graham who is flying in from back east for a second time to assist me - honey you are a jewel ! Billy Shapiro, your generous offer of assistance and advice was taken to heart and is so appreciated! It's a much better play because of you! Iris Keltz, your friendship, knowledge and support is invaluable-and finally, a big thank you hug to Micha Kurtz, my inspiration and touchstone! Micha, this is for you and all who stand together courageously against the walls of fascism!

Why Should We Care?

With disasters mounting around the globe - the Gulf oil spill, 98,000 troops headed to Afghanistan, a rumoured imminent US/Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facility and on and on, why should we care about the ongoing conflict between the Jews and Palestinian Arabs in the Holy Land? It is my firm belief that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is fed and nurtured by an ongoing political agenda that has its roots in the Great Game of the 19th Century and is essentially a tactic of diversion from a far more sinister, Global colonial agenda that threatens the freedom of all humanity. Please support our efforts by donating via paypal right here on our blog - no amount is too little! And if you live in or around Taos, don't miss our return to the TCA on July 10th at 8pm. 10% of our proceeds go to Grassroots Jerusalem - see Micha in the video above and visit their site via our links.

The Land Sponsorship Details

Those who saw The Land workshop production at the TCA last December, will not be seeing the same play this time around. I have spent these past six months, revising and rewriting this piece. It is now a complete work; a fully developed Three Act play that will hold up, I believe, as a dramatic piece, regardless of the topic it covers. We are currently selling sponsorships for our program and are also accepting them via paypal, online. Ad rates are $50.00 (business card size) $100 (includes 2 tickets) $250 (4 tickets) $500 (8 tickets) All sponsors will be acknowledged in our program and any donations above $100.00 include 2 tickets to our upcoming performance on July 10th at the TCA. Please be generous! This is a large cast (12) who need to be compensated for their hard work, and we'd like to give as much as possible to Grassroots Jerusalem, who are doing crucial work on the ground in Jerusalem, as well as Visa Paz Taos, both of whom will receive 10% each of our profits. We'll also be doing a dinner ticket promotion with the Love Apple for the night of the event. Stay tuned for details here!

Logos/pdf files should be in to us by July 1st. Ditto funds!

Use our paypal button on the top of this page or
Make checks payable to
Lynne Robinson/The Land
P.O. Box 3451
Taos N.M. 97571

Please email files to Krystina Siebenaler
kikishakti@gmail.com

Rehearsals

The rehearsals are so inspiring! The cast I've assembled for this production is really strong, so directing The Land, this time around, I'm giving the actors quite a bit of freedom to collaborate with me to give these characters new life. We've been rehearsing the play scene by scene these past couple of weeks, but next week, we'll begin doing run throughs. The process is exhilarating, exhausting, frustrating and rewarding. Just like painting, at a certain point one just has to stop. When is the painting finished? We've turned the play upside down and inside out -it bears little resemblance to its first incarnation last December; it's fleshed out, developed, cast members rearranged and characters re-envisioned and reworked. Obviously the subject matter couldn't be more timely, but more importantly, I feel it now holds its own as a theatrical piece: A human drama played out against the backdrop of War. It might take place in Palestine/Israel, but the story is universal and applies to us all. Please donate via our paypal account and help us bring The Land to a theatre near you. All our sponsors will be acknowledged in our program and any donation above $100, receives two tickets to our upcoming performance at the TCA here in Taos on July 10th. We give 10% of all proceeds to Grassroots Jerusalem and will gift 10% of the TCA show to Vista Paz Taos. The Land gives 10% locally wherever we stage the play.

Dedication

It's been a crazy couple of weeks here since Dennis Hopper passed on May 29th. As a family member of my oldest, closest friends here in Taos, Dennis was someone my children and I saw on Christmas Eve in a very un-Hollywood context, on and off for many years. Last year, as I watered the garden outside Human Line Studio on Bent Street, where I worked at the time, Dennis was attending the Summer Of Love opening at the Parks Gallery next door. When he saw me, he came over and asked if he could hang out for a bit and smoke his cigar, away from the fray. He left for a minute, to find his son, Henry and the three of us spent about fifteen minutes chatting about nothing much until we were joined by his brother David, his late wife, Mary and the photographer, Lisa Law. The subject turned to the old Mabel Dodge House days and his predilection for guns. "A myth!There were no guns!" Deadpanned Dennis."Not what I've heard!" I retorted.His bright blue eyes twinkled, "I've got a gun story!" He chuckled.He became quite animated as he described the night he'd come down into the Plaza after a long poker game which involved a lot of alcohol and a few tabs of LSD. The old tree in the middle of the Plaza, at the time, had appeared monstrous under the combined influence of drugs and booze, and Dennis' response had been to simply shoot it. Shots fired, he returned his gun to his pocket to find himself handcuffed and marched off to jail. The ending to his story does not jive with that of the family member who bailed him out, but rather involved the wife of a famous country singer who drove him to Las Vegas. Perhaps that did in fact happen later, but the true facts are far less romantic and far more disturbing. The Taos cops beat the living crap outa him. As he was telling his tale, others began to make their way over to the wall where we sat, and I watched Dennis shut down. Looking at his watch he realised he was late for his second Hopper At The Harwood appearance and said goodbye. As he was leaving, I told him a mutual friend was playing in Albuquerque the next week. He brightened as he asked the date. That was the last time I saw Dennis. I hear he did go to see the gig in Albuquerque the following weekend and that he had a little time with our friend. I've spent these past two weeks with members of his family and close friends. He has been very much around. In the aftermath of his moving and very private funeral, a few of us have gathered here and there sharing memories, tears and lots of laughs, as we celebrate this extraordinary man, who touched the lives of so many. As I rehearse The Land in the evenings, I'm calling on his generous spirit to guide and inspire me - this upcoming performance is dedicated to his memory. A brave and brilliant artist, Dennis knew that in order to make great art, one cannot be afraid to step over the edge; He continually and courageously revisited places he had already healed, in order to make authentic, powerful work. As a family member and a friend, he was kind, generous and loyal. He made amends to those he had hurt and was a wonderful, loving father to his children. He is missed but his bright light shines on.