So another Slapdash has come and gone and I wanted to write up my thoughts.  I had every intention of writing this last night when I got home from the theater, but the long day finally caught up with me and it just didn’t happen.  Thus these reflections, being just under 24 hours old, may be a bit incomplete, a bit scattered, like a dream you try to describe a week after. 

As an overall experience, we definitely built on what we learned from the past two SDFF’s, and that goes not only for LGT, but for all the returning SDFF participants.  We seem to be building up an amazing crew of veteran Slapdashers, the folks who just keep coming back.  I know the feeling because I’m one of them.  Nothing quite like a big group leap of faith.  There’s just such an amazing buzz that builds when a mass of people get together and focus their energies on creating something brand new for no other reason than the joy of creating it.  When you’re in the theater and you’re working your scene over and over, and all around you are folks doing the same, and in the back of your mind you know that you go up that night with this script that you just got handed that morning, that just strips all the bullshit away. 

As for my own personal experience, well, comparing this year with the past years is a bit of an apples vs. oranges proposition since this is the first year that I took on only one role (actor) in the day’s madness, instead of being a crazy man and writing all night and then acting the next day.  But as always, I had a great time.  I loved my role, I loved getting to wear a tuxedo, and my fellow castmembers and director were badass.  Every year, there’s always a sense of cast unity, by which I mean the whole SDFF cast, not just the individual play casts.  This year though, that sense seemed to be enhanced by like 10 times.  I don’t know what it was, if it was the huge backstage at Arts on Real where everybody could hang out together during the show or if it was the AC or the fact that there were a lot of returning Slapdashers that weren’t stressed out because they knew it was all gonna come together, but everybody seemed really tight.  The encouragement and overall positive energy coming from everybody was just constant.  Not to mention the HUGE FRICKIN AUDIENCE!!!  That laughed at EVERY JOKE (even when me and Mariana started to drop our lines)!!!  After the show, I was amazed at just how many people were there, it was a sea of humanity…at least, a sea the size of Arts on Real. 

Anyhow, big thanks to everybody who participated and who came out to watch.  Can’t wait for next time.Â