Between my talk with Emily and the above post, Sketchbook opened. I asked Emily if she’d share her reactions to seeing another original work come to life at this festival, and she kindly obliged.

Here’s Emily’s report from Sketchbook:

“Going to a Collaboraction show is always like going to a huge party and this year it’s even more so because the Building Stage Space is BYOB. You could bring a picnic basket full of margaritas if you wanted to and no one would say boo, in fact they’d probably say ‘cheers!’. Opening night was sold out and the space this year is sort of set up like the thunderdome but with a much better lighting and sound. I always love the way they go in and out of pieces with musical guests performing in between, and it allows audience members to move around the space, check out the photography (which this year is amazing…each piece imagined by a different professional photographer) and mix and mingle with the cool kids that show up. The Dreaded Zeppelin was a blast to watch up on its feet. It’s funny how such a horrible subject matter can seem so light and jovial. The text of the piece describes these nightly bombing raids, murder, death, terror from above… but then here come the puppets and suddenly it’s a comedy. Sketchbook always provides a nice arena to play with ideas that wouldn’t normally mesh, and I had fun watching the faces of the audience when they lower those wires from the sky and wheel in the big ladder. With a festival like Sketchbook, the idea of not knowing what could possibly be coming next is half the fun. It’s a bit of an artistic adventure.”