StillPointe Theatre Initiative

fee fie fo fum….

What does it mean to be “ready”? 

For me, I feel like I have to be so ready I’m about to burst out of myself before I even realize I’ve been ready for quite some time. I’m not sure that is a good quality. I’m also not sure if that is something I can change.

Being ready isn’t always accompanied by a good feeling. Is anyone ever really ready to do something frightening? New? Intense? Upsetting? Overwhelming? Probably not. But being ready isn’t about being comfortable. It’s about understanding that you aren’t going to be comfortable until you do whatever it is that you need to do in order to start something new, end something old, try something scary, fail at something big, succeed at something unimaginable.

I wonder about Stillpointe. On that September night 3 years ago—did we feel”ready” to start a theatre company? I don’t think we were. I don’t think we thought about it. We just moved forward because that is what we had to do, we all agreed—lets give this a whirl. Newly college graduates. Friends. Comrades. Sure—-why not? And from that—-we are here now.

Arsenic and Old Lace closed last weekend. I was extremely proud to sit in the audience and watch so many people I care about do justice to a great text. I enjoyed being on the outside looking it. It gave me a different appreciation for Stillpointe and what Stillpointe does. Congratulations to the cast, crew, designers, director and musicians. What a thrill for Baltimore to have a company in its midst who continues to challenge text with new ideas. What a pleasure.

And now Return of the 5th Sister is in rehearsal. A beautiful piece by Kimberly Lynne. For the first rehearsals we’ve had the joy of sitting around and discussing the play, disecting the text and asking questions. Questions like “What does ready mean”. No answers yet. Not sure if we will find the answers to all of them. But the journey so far is a joyful one.

Maybe being ready doesn’t matter. Maybe “being ready” is just a phrase, a catalyst for making you realize something bigger is happening. And ready or not, here it comes.

Only time will tell.

Happy Lazy Sunday—

Katie O (And the Stillpointe Family)