Last night we aired the second part of Ways and Wanderings: The Beginning, the Wanderhome RPG actual play that started planning back in June. I had mixed feeling as I watched it; proud to see the thing we had accomplished on screen and shared with people, but also sad as the project came to a close. Those feelings aren’t new, I’ve had them in different measure on every theatre production I’ve stage managed.
The next stage, where I take a good, hard, objective look at everything and see what could have worked better, is familiar as well.
But before I get there, I want to take the time to be grateful for this project and what it brought back into my life. So a bit of backstory.
As I mention above I used to be a professional stage manager, something I have also mentioned in the occasional tweet. I loved theatre and I loved the work. Moreover I was good at it, like just obscenely stinking good at it, which gave me the confidence to keep being good. What I don’t talk about a lot is why I was a stage manager and not am a stage manager. I’m not going to go into details, but the last production I worked on was a snarling ball of jealousy, spite, gaslighting, and anger, which I probably could have weathered if it hadn’t come at a time of great betrayal and turmoil in my personal life. Simply put I was professionally cut off at the knees while at the same time any personal supports I could expect crumbled. That production was the last I ever worked on professionally.
So as I say thank you to the folks who worked with me below, I’m not just thanking them for this production. I’m also thanking them for restoring something I thought was dead and gone from my life. Through actual play production I’ve re-discovered a set of skills and a love of bringing together disparate pieces to form a greater whole. As I need words they fail me, and I can never express how this whole process has restored me. All I can do is say thank you.
So let me do that thing! Immeasurable thanks to Anne, Abadonne, Jes, Krissy, and Wowzerz for saying yes and coming on this journey. I loved every moment, I hope it isn’t the last we all take together. You’ve all given me a gift I will work to deserve.
Thanks to the visual artists who gave so much, Allie and Lukas! Both of you made us look professional and pretty, you’ll be my first calls if (when) we do this again.
A huge thank you to Danielle, without their technical expertise recording these sessions we literally wouldn’t be here. And for stepping up when it was time to air, making sure we looked good on the day. An absolute joy to work with.
And thank you to our show sponsors, their support was instrumental in bringing this production together:
Please go show them some love on socials if you can.
Thank you to the two third-party creators who helped bring to life two of our characters. Please go check out Matthew Gravelyn and Philippa Mort and shower them with support!
Lastly, thank you to anyone who came out and watched our shows, or shared our Tweets, or plan to watch the VODs by and by. We hope you loved what we put out in the world; moreover, I hope you’ll join us for what we are planning for 2023. Plenty of Wanderhome journeys left to take and we would love you along for all of them.
I’ll post later about things I would have done differently or changed. For now I want to sit in gratitude and pride for a while. Both have been in short supply for a time and I find them pleasant.
Dorklord Canada 