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JANUARY 22, 2006
The final days of the festival have been filled with mixed emotions,
as we say goodbye to new friends while looking forward to a little
down time. Many hugs and e-mail addresses have been exchanged.
A few last events:
While not technically the closing night of the festival, the
good people at Marriott threw the Fest-ers one final bash Saturday
night. Though slightly more subdued than normal for this group,
due to a few misty eyes and sheer exhaustion, the party gave
us all a chance to say a few goodbyes and get in a few last
dramaturgical debates. Sabrina Hamilton, Jay Herzog, Paul Harrelson
and Tim McCarty offered remarks and gratitude to the intrepid
throng of artists, staff, and volunteers. Speaking about the
nature of the Quest Family, Tim offered a remembrance of Mike
Lamitola, whose influence he said was felt all over the festival. “You’re
a part of this family even after you die,” said Tim.
The party went on till the wee hours, as some found it hard
to part from their new found kinfolk.
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Tim and Paul address the crowd of artists,
staff, and volunteers at the Closing Reception at the Burkshire
Marriott. |
All smiles: Astad Deboo poses with Quest Board Members,
Charlotte Coffield and Ana Marshall |
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The last day of the festival brought the final QuestFest
2006 performance of Ramesh Meyyappan in This Side Up.
Last week Ramesh was performing works of Poe at Creative
Alliance, and this week he was being eaten by a dog at
Towson. The crowd marveled at his versatile and articulate
physical work that told the terrifically funny story of
the world’s unluckiest postal carrier. Playing a
variety of roles, including the aforementioned dog, Ramesh
moved with ease and lightning speed from one amazing character
to the next. One audience member commented after the performance, “I
could see everything in his world, even though it wasn’t
there.” |
| Ramesh Meyyappan gives a workshop in a public school |
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Sunday’s performances wrapped up with a post-show
discussion with the members of PUSH Physical Theatre
and Lost & Clown’d. PUSH enthralled
the lively audience with its selections of dance/mime/storytelling,
and amazed with their physical skill and touching scenes.
And everyone, especially the many kids in the audience,
was in stitches during Lost, where the three
clowns did just about everything you can think of to
hurt themselves, including die—but just for a little
while.
During the discussion, where the performers talked about
how they had all come together, despite having a variety
of different backgrounds, moderator Monique Holt queried
the Lost cast on how difficult it was to work together
given the disparities in their training. Said Mark Jaster, “I
don’t think it was that difficult. We all like
each other. We wanted to make something. And we all listened
to each other.” A fitting statement, perhaps, to
end QuestFest 2006, where we all like each other, we
made things, and we found many ways to listen.
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Eric Beatty and Mark Jaster in Lost and Clown'd
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| Look forward to a few final thoughts on QuestFest from
the participants, coming soon! |
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