Coffee and Hope: Playwright's Blog

Kevin Harris is doing a wonderful job of directing Coffee and Hope. His fresh approach is shaking things up and leading me to further, albeit minor, rewrites in the script.

There is an old adage that "rehearsal is where we make up for the mistakes we made when casting the play." We're into the second week, and there are clearly NO mistakes to be corrected in that department. It's really comforting to have my old friends John Watkins and Tim Budd back on stage with me again. And David Combs' presence is a huge help. It has been several years since he worked at Riverside Theatre to do Edward Albee's The Goat with us and it's wonderful to have his inventiveness serving the production. Brian Bentz is the brand new kid on the block, but his passion and work ethic are making his roles as memorable as anyone's.

I only hope to keep up with them.

Being both the writer and actor at the same time has its challenges... Kevin has agreed to let me wear only one hat at a time: no script revision questions when I'm acting. Now if only I could follow that rule. It's just way too tempting when I hear a clunky phrase or word choice to not jump in with an onsite rewrite.

My fellow actors are certainly being very patient with me. We set a firm deadline for the script to be "locked in"... that was two days ago. It's good to work with professionals and friends who share my personal commitment to this project and who are willing to continue working on fine-tuning the words on the page.

Ron Clark

From Riverside Theatre to Broadway...

Did you see the article in today's Daily Iowan about Paul David Story? Click below to read about an acting journey that started with our Young People's Company and led to his current role as the understudy for Daniel Radcliffe in Equus. Just think... you never know which future Broadway-bound actors you could see on the Riverside stage!

West High graduate a Daniel Radcliffe understudy on Broadway - Daily Iowan, 10/8/08

The Beginnings of Coffee and Hope

April '06: As our plane touched down in the Raleigh-Durham airport, I pondered what had brought us here. The last eight months had been trying for both Jody and me - She found the lump on her breast in August '05 and by April '06 she had endured three surgeries and two rounds of chemotherapy. She was declared "cancer-free" by her doctors and we were heading to the ocean to celebrate...

On our first full day at the beach house, Jody is able to walk only about a mile. The last eight months have taken an enormous toll on her body and spirit. BUT, less than a week later, she is jogging with me for up to three minutes at a time and we walk/jog the entire distance to the point – over two miles each way. It is the most remarkable healing I have ever witnessed.

Back in Iowa I am still not sure of what to do with all I have learned and felt through this crisis. I suggest to a friend that I have an idea for a one-man show - working title: BOOB, ONE GUY’S TAKE ON BREAST CANCER. He chuckles and says it might be fun someday, but that I have only begun to climb the mountain to find the "new normal." I have no idea what he means.

April '07: I find myself back at the North Carolina beach house once again (BIG thanks to Julie and Carl for letting me repeatedly retreat there.) Now I know what my friend meant. I have met 50 brave men through Men Against Breast Cancer: all caregivers, all of them part of my "Band of Brothers." I have interviewed over 20 guys and gotten their take on what it means to be a primary caregiver for the woman you love and fear losing. With them I have climbed a mountain to help redefine what Jody’s and my life together means.

With me are reams of notes, and transcriptions of interviews ready for cutting and pasting on my laptop. I confront the daunting task of writing the first draft, including song lyrics, of the play we start rehearsing September 30. That’s September 30 2008. Coffee and Hope opens in less than a month.

The time has come to share all these guys' amazing stories – I hope the production proves worthy of their trust.

More to come soon.

Ron Clark

Theatre Reviews: Stones in His Pockets

Wow! We had a great opening weekend for Stones in His Pockets. We also had a few reviewers stop by and see the show.


Matthew Brewbaker had a blast reviewing Stones on behalf of the Iowa City Theatre Blog. Check out his review here!

Loren Keller from Corridorbuzz.com encourages audiences to see Stones for "the acting magic." Click here to read his review!

If you haven't made it to a performance yet... no worries! There are 12 more shows before the end of the run. Visit our website to order tickets today. Hope to see you at the show!

Stones in His Pockets: Director's Blog

You probably think Macintosh or Cortland when you think of "Apple Boxes" - but in the film industry they're something else entirely. Scott Olinger, scenic and lighting designer for Stones in His Pockets, first introduced them in an early production meeting as a possibility for creating flexible set pieces.

Traditionally these Apple Boxes - wooden boxes of varying sizes with hand holes on each end - are used to prop up furniture or light-stands, leveling a camera dolly track, or providing temporary seats, workbenches, and steps. If the Apple Box is used to make an actor appear taller, either because of their height, or because of the way a particular shot is composed, it's sometimes jokingly referred to as a "Man Maker." Think Tom Cruise.

Our six boxes in Stones create acting levels, specify location, and even make jokes (only Tim Budd could turn acting with boxes into a laugh). The actors manipulate the boxes into a bus, bar stools, a prayer kneeler, and much more. Oh -and they do make one of the play's fifteen characters TALLER.

Jody Hovland

Stones in His Pockets: A Day in the Life of a Costumer

Working as a costume designer is rarely an experience like very many other occupations. My responsibilities change drastically depending on the show I am working on or even day to day. One day I could spend shopping at every local resale store to find the ugliest plaid pants possible and the next day spent dyeing various scarves, sweaters, and shirts just the right shades of pink, green, or blue. One of the things that keeps this job exciting is that I'll never know what will be the biggest challenge for a new play (or what kind of strange look I'll get from the salesperson when I walk up to the counter with every single pair of blue tights that they have in stock and more fake flowers than I can carry).

With the most recent show in rehearsal now, Stones in His Pockets, the challenge was unlike any other show I've worked on before. With thirteen characters and only two actors (Tim Budd and Jim Van Valen), this show is unique because we see a whole town full of people being portrayed by two men, often switching characters multiple times within one page of the script. My job is to find an interesting way to help the actors portray all the different roles quickly and easily. Initially, I envisioned mind-blowing five second costume changes from a farmer's pair of grubby overalls, work boots and woolen sweater to a posh dress, wig and sunglasses fit only for a Hollywood diva. But this time the show required different plans than my overly elaborate daydreams.

With the praiseworthy speed and frequency in which these two men change their voices and body language, the costumes had to keep up. Translation = simplify, simplify, simplify... and lots of secret pockets. Through collaboration with Jim, Tim, and our director, the fabulous Jody Hovland, to find the perfect solution - we pinned down specific hats, scarves, sunglasses and more to signify each character. By means of costume pieces that can be tucked away in pockets, behind shirt collars and under jackets the audience is given just enough information to envision the same person as a catholic priest one moment and a stuck-up movie director the next.

As we inch closer to the September 5th opening, various ideas continue to shift and change, keeping me, as always, on my toes and loving it. Besides, with all the whirlwind of activity on stage it would be hard for me not to enjoy watching how Jim and Tim develop such interesting and often hilarious characters out of the costumes they have been given... an experience truly worth seeing.

Much love from the world of sewing machines and silly hats,
Lindsey Robinson