COMPOUND DRAMA

There’s never any shortage of drama at the compound

Here’s where to catch up on the gossip.

THE SPACECRAFT LANDED AND TOOK OFF AGAIN

In February, architect DK Osseo-Assare, then on a sabbatical from Penn State, and thus hanging around with his architect pals at LowDo, agreed to let his Spacecraft be used as a stage for the Mi Casa Es Su Teatro theater festival. Here you see construction in progress, featuring Malena and architect Ashley Heeren.

Off to the left, I’m sorting through my ancient Harbor Freight socket set, wondering if any of the ratchets still work. Since DK sourced all the materials from an automotive junkyard in Ghana, the bolts and nuts were all different sizes. Plus rusty and stuck deep within triangular welds.

In the end,DK and architect Ryan Bollom did most of the assembly and kept telling us to get out of the way of the ladders. It took several days.

The Spacecraft was a breakout star at Mi Casa. I wish I had a photo of Kirk Lynn swinging from its wings as he prepared to perform one-man show about both Wright Brothers.

For the next six months, compound residents used the Spacecraft as a private stage, cocktail deck and dog training platform. Then Malena got permission to move it to Crashbox for the premier of her play HOW SHOULD A CONVERSATION BE. As long as she handled the construction and de-struction herself. Here she is in a bike helmet, preparing to do a lot of unscrewing:

Adam Soto, Tim Ziegler and I helped. The big breakthrough came when Tim brough his impact driver. Bigger still was Malena’s enlightened purchase of brand new bolts and nuts. And here it is at Crashbox.

See it August 1-10 at Crashbox. Tickets and details here.

  • ON LOCATION

    . . .blindsided by a volatile person and you should have seen it coming. . .

  • FLIGHT PLAN

    I just fell in love with their collaboration.

  • IS THERE AN ETYMOLOGIST IN THE HOUSE?

    You’re gonna laugh and I want you to laugh, but I kind of play a character that’s a wacky professor who teaches you something.

  • IF YOU LOVED “MONKEY IN A BLAZER”. . .

    . . .they warmed up with a medieval-style battle, using cedar shake shingles as (ultimately non-lethal) weapons.

  • MALENA REVEALS LOTS

    I’m auditioning my mop. It’s an old-school rope mop.

  • AN AUTO DRAMA INSIDE AN AUTOMOBILE

    An ’87 AMC Eagle station wagon. Mustard, with burgundy interior.

View All