Director's Notes for
bobrauschenbergamerica

     Art, by its nature, is open to interpretation. What I see in an art piece, may not be what you see, but in no way is either of us right or wrong. There are many types of art from the realistic to the expressionistic, the impressionistic to the absurdist. Some art is eary to grasp, other forms can make the brain tired. That's okay. Too often we want to apply meaning to everything. In doing so, we loose sight of the moment. Not everything has to have an answer. Some things just "be" and "are". One does not need to understand art to appreciate the aesthetic value it gives us. Theatre is a collaborative art. I've said this before, used it in the classes I've taught, and utilized it as the foundation of my own personal philosophies on the craft.

     I have to admit, I have never had the luxury of working on a more collaborative project than bobrauschenbergamerica. Charles L. Mee (the original playwright) allows companies to take his work, make changes, adaptations, and additions in order to adopt the project as their own. We have taken advantage of this. Not only are these students showcasing their acting abilities, but they also demonstrate their talent as playwrights, dances, and musicians. In addition Pomon High School students have designed costumes, lighting, sound, artwork for the poster and have run publicity and marketing for the show. This is an amazing group of students who have dominated this form of art. I thank them for sharing their talents.

     I would also like to thank Chesea Armny who painte dour bathtub, Jane Wright for helping, Melissa Champion for guiding studetns in our poster design, Kara Weikel for helping studetns with the publicity and marketing and Laurie Klapperich for getting our Chickent costume. Mostely, I would like to thank Gavin Mayer, who not only gave me this opportunity, but was the person who originally encourgated me to travel along this amazing path and brought me back home to PHS.

-Tom