• A few weeks ago, a theatre company banded together for what might be the last time. Potato Topos won “Best of Fringe.” We had a cast party.

    It all started earlier in the year when I thought it would be really cool to get a team together to make something for the SF Fringe. We had some zoom meetings in May and June, then started in earnest meeting twice a week in July and August. Each rehearsal session was four hours. My friend Dave said that he would be interested in making a documentary of this process, so there’s some hope that this time period will be known better in video format.

    We spent some time doing authentic movement, improv scenes, and running little experiments. We had a work in progress show at the New Now and received feedback via comment cards and a Q&A after the show.

    I’ve been a little lost for words lately thinking about how I’m still in the valley of projects and the post-show blues is real. I have had an ongoing collaboration with a squad that is now disbanded and our camaraderie was certainly the highlight of our summer. I appreciated how the four of us felt kind of like Spice Girls, each one a distinct flavor, but our squadness was strong and undeniable. The experience of the team entering and exiting the theatre felt powerful like a group of assassins, we all knew what we were going to do and everything felt dedicated and focused. There were moments in the rehearsals prior where we were still experimenting and finding new moments to throw into the show.

    What worked: having snacks beforehand, being open to each other’s ideas, extra rehearsals towards the end of the process, ordained time for writing and feedback, check-ins at the start of our time together, making sure we had a script for our tech person and being specific about it, using playback apps for video projections and audio cues that didn’t rely on the internet (ha!, this had our tech person worried at the rehearsal)

    What didn’t work: hot days made more stressful rehearsals, the ticketing site would say “sold out” when it wasn’t, I didn’t get awarded for any of grants I applied for, one of the teammates had other commitments early on in the process (which wasn’t all that bad, but I imagine a parallel universe with a different show with 5 people)

    I really loved shopping for potato colored garments and discovered that I look great in shades of brown and it’s altered my sense of style ever since.

    I also really appreciated the opportunity to do a fun project with really funny people. I am looking for more opportunities to reawaken that spirit again.

    Below is text from the paper program

    About the Show
    The creators of Potato Topos are also the cast. In the tradition of devised theater, these four collaborators, Fenner, Dominique, Andrew, and Kat met twice a week for two months to exchange and develop ideas. This equilateral production style produces a unique give and take of group agreement and individual directions. Potato Topos combines dance, clowning, music, and storytelling, giving the audience a mosaic of expression styles.

    Collaborators
    Fenner Merlick
    Fenner is an actor, director, and producer living in West Oakland. They studied Theater and Performance at UC Berkeley, and have since trained in clown, Suzuki, ancient Japanese theater, butoh and ensemble/devising processes. Most recently they completed a year at Dell Arte International School of Physical theater.
    Dominique Nigro
    Dominique Nigro is a lifelong performance artist and dancer of varied vocabulary based in Oakland, Ca. Infinitely inspired by both the natural and fantastical, their art aims to explore the merging paradigms of these worlds through delving into highly emotional feeling states, improvisation, and technical movement.
    Domi also shares a love of plant and animal life through her photography.
    Follow along: IG @earthenergy

    Andrew Rose
    Andrew Rose writes, dances, and paints. Since 2015 he has been attempting to atone for the murder of HitchBOT, the hitchhiking robot, by the city of Philadelphia – a city the shadow of which fell upon Andrew’s childhood home of Eddystone, PA.
    Please, accept the portion of “Potato Topos” generated by Andrew as a gesture of sorrow and contrition for the brutal dismemberment of that gentle robot traveler.

    Katarina Countiss
    Katarina Countiss is a visual artist with interests in improvisation, performance-making, and embroidery. She loves using the overhead projector to create unique light looks for theatrical experiences. Based in Oakland, California, Kat enjoys long walks, thrifting, manifesting passion projects and working with talented and funny collaborators. She has had so many laughs during the production of this show.
    Stay tuned for more plant-based shows at instagram, @katcountiss

    Special Thank Yous

    Our gratitude goes out to Ellen Webb Studio and Dana Merwin of the NewNow for rehearsal space. Thank you to our documentation videographer, David Jones. Thank you to all who donated time and money to the project.

  • Last Saturday was the culmination of the SF Fringe Festival 2022 presented by the Exit Theatre. A team of artists including myself presented an hour long show for the festival with four show times. I will post a blog post later about the project itself, but here are the reviews for posterity.

    Jo Tomalin September 18, 2022 3:53 am

    This is a creative original and unique meaningful experimental show. It’s Recommended!
    Read my full review: http://fringereview.co.uk/review/san-francisco-fringe/2022/potato-topos/ (I’ll include this review in full down below for posterity)

    Jo Tomalin September 16, 2022 9:02 am

    Listen to my interview with Fenner Merlick and Katarina Countiss, cast members of Potato Topos talking about how they devised their show: http://fringereview.co.uk/audio-interviews/general/2022/devising-a-show-about-potatoes-jo-tomalin-talks-with-fenner-merlick-and-katarina-countiss-about-their-show-potato-topos-at-the-san-francisco-fringe-and-how-the-cast-collaborated-when-devising-the-sho/

    (I’ll include this audio file in full down below for posterity)

    Taylor Elnicki September 13, 2022 7:43 pm

    Seriously silly entertainment. Seeds of whimsy that burrow, deepen, and offer surprisingly insightful fruits. Let yourself be carried away by the potato river. I plan to see it a second time and you should catch it before it’s gone.

    Hunter September 13, 2022 2:56 pm

    This is a work imagined and performed by four very different players working together. It has things to say about sharing the stage and judgement, hope and harvest, motion, and of course, potatoes.I laughed, smiled, and left thinking differently about theater than before.

    Steven Keena September 12, 2022 4:59 am

    I was enthralled throughout the performance. I like that it lets you use your own imagination about whats going on. Lots of physical activity to accompany the music and slides.

    Erin Souza September 12, 2022 4:37 am

    Some phenomena in art, as in nature, defy description, definition, analysis or categorization. They exist to be experienced. Potato Topos in such a phenomenon. If you associate Fringe Fests with the wierd, the wacky, the wild, and the wonderful, then Potato Topos is Fringe at its fringiest. Two performances remain. Come experience them.

    Genie September 11, 2022 5:38 pm

    This show is deliciously weird and funny and fascinating, which is what fringe is all about!!! Highly recommend!!

    Jo Tomalin’s Full Review Below

    San Francisco Fringe 2022
    Potato Topos
    Andomifevin

    Genre: Absurd Theatre, Surrealism

    Venue: EXIT Theatre, San Francisco

    Festival: San Francisco Fringe

    Low Down
    An hour long show divided into three locations with themes of nostalgia, fantasy, and expansion. Includes performance, light, sound, textiles, and language, from surrealism to formalism, and absurdism somewhere in between.

    Review
    A gossamer landscape undulates to ethereal music against a backdrop of projections.

    The landscape comes alive and four strangers emerge…and we meet them one by one. Are they from the same family or city? This may not be important because what is happening is that an atmosphere is created and we are along for the journey.

    Then there is a grill that is moved across the stage and potatoes – the grill is the type you plug in to to cook and actual potatoes arrive. Potatoes are strewn about the stage. Dressed in a variety of abstract garments in a color palate of browns, beige and venerable russet, the cast of four have a mission and they go about it – even if we are not sure what it is!

    One announces a song and plays it while playing a small guitar, or is it a large ukulele? Curiously the other three watch and a sort of competition develops, which is fascinating. This game is interspersed with a zany ritual set to a chimed tick tock sound, and we are engrossed. I notice audience members tapping with the tick tock beats each time, it’s mesmerising!

    This show is what fringe is about. These characters take themselves seriously and all of a sudden, so do we! Abstract video projections and music are very imaginative and create a gentle weird world inhabited by strange but endearing beings. Spoken word, movement and dance convey the story together with the visual storytelling and their activities are well received.

    It’s interesting to think about a humble potato and its life, hopes and dreams – its destiny, but this is where we’re at moment by moment and I would only want to share this contemplation under the knowing eyes and guidance of these four specialists!

    Unusual and out of the box creative devising brings us a wonderful wry dance of the potato sacks and other deliciously playful and sometimes earthy pieces with rich visuals.

    Contact improv transforms into elegant, lyrical, dreamlike atmosphere and then transform into bold movement with multidimensional and multi sensory scenes. After a while we understand that the working day of these characters is over and it is about to begin again.

    This is a creative original and unique meaningful experimental show.

    Published September 18, 2022 by Jo Tomalin

  • Hosting in my spring lewk
    Light Pollution
    Squeakie
    The Green Wheel

    Last night, I hosted another backyard event, Sounds and Sips. The three acts, Light Pollution, Squeakie, and The Green Wheel played music that was so sweet. I appreciated the set up being smoother and easier given that there weren’t as many acts as previous backyard shows. I also felt a little more confident with my lighting game. Fun fact: we put the powerstrip away from the audience walking path! I also enjoyed having a new cash box (not pictured). It felt good to be that kind of showrunner that collects money personally from each audience member after warning them I would in the closing remarks.

    Photo credits (above) to Andrew Gabriel Rose who also captured video (not included in this post).

  • 5:15 PM Punelope Crude
    5:30 PM Sadie Greyduck
    5:45 PM Squeakie
    6:00 PM Light Pollution
    6:15 PM Ethan Zachary Lee
    6:30 PM The Green Wheel
    6:45 PM Kevin Corcoran with Dominique Nigro and Andrew Rose

    Poster by Kat Countiss

    Here I am, talking about Saturday’s show. Some days have passed to allow for perspective and the post-show drop to fade.

    This is the third and last backyard show of the year. I enjoyed the comments of how the timing was good for the full moon. I enjoyed receiving compliments about my outfit. I hand-sewed scraps of fabric to a robe I bought at a metaphysical store in Oakland. I tried out a new design for my makeup and head attire. It came together in a way where I felt realized.

    I made this poster this week using a scratchboard acetate. It felt good to work on. I think I would use this medium again. There’s something very appealing about the individuality and the aliveness of the text that I think is eye-catching and conveys the specialness of the event, the rustic nature maybe.

    It was a cold night and at the first intermission we built a fire. These photos are from the video shot by Mark McBeth. I really appreciated his videography. I’ve reached out to him in the past to come and document events I’ve been a part of, but this time, he reached out to me. I think he might have understood that I wasn’t going to reach out to him this time because of money issues, but he wanted to capture the event as ethnography.

    It does make me think about the value of documentation. Especially in the age of the pandemic where not everyone feels comfortable coming out to shows, the idea of posterity is vital. I admit that it is also one of my weaknesses as a showrunner to guard the legacy of the show. I might use the excuse that performance art by its nature is ephemeral, but I have values about reflection, memory, and media which contradicts that notion.

    I am grateful to everyone who attended and performed. It was a bit of an exercise in understanding how musicians set up. I was under the impression that we could do quick transitions with the right preparation, but there was a few order switch ups and later arrivals, and so it is interesting to explore my ideas about what does it mean to be the host of the show, how to facilitate a smooth experience for the audience while also being transparent about what they are seeing. In the backyard, there is no backstage or curtain closing. The audience sees and hears everything that I am working with and what’s happening.

    What I would do next time: I had a bit of ponderance about the lighting. I think that (especially after looking at the footage) I need to have some compassion for myself about what I did versus what I want to do next time. The first backyard variety show, I worked with some limitations. A part of me would want to have some kind of crew with a plan like at theaters, there are ushers, lighting technicians, sound technicians, but also I like the scrappiness of it. Sometimes, I think about how minimal crews give a sense that we all have the power to create events. All to say that I would have arranged my overhead projector differently to 1) make it out of the way– more than one person tripped over this black cord in the walkway (no injuries, but that’s not the point) 2) the vantage point was not ideal for even lighting or knowing what it looked like 3) After looking at the footage, I think the light look should have definitely changed to indicate the start of the show. For a sense of framing and attention grabbing.

    Where the lighting was exactly what I wanted: The Final Act. These three people, Dominique, Kevin, and Andrew, and I, collaborated in an improvisational piece that is unnamed, with elements pretty similar to psychobotany. I love using the overhead projector for improvisational lighting. I think it makes it very dreamy and theatrical. It was the first time using the projector that way since the Before Times. The last time was at Fort Night.

    There’s something very interesting about that night as the last time the community that I had felt a part of convened for the last time. I have not been invited to do shows and I have not asked to do shows. It’s been a wild time where it feels safer not to do shows. I am grateful to have a backyard and housemates that feel comfortable with these kinds of gatherings, and they are not without risk, but it is a hard feeling to imagine how this is the best case scenario (in my opinion), given how the Bay Area culture/privilege of vaccine and protocol adherence. It’s been an odd feeling as a performance artist to see live art become scarce or even more scarce.

    Someone at the show asked me if I was going to have a regular backyard show and if it was something that they could perform at. I like the idea of a seasonal show. Four shows a year, but we will see. I personally have a precipice of change I’m looking over. I am going to get a job soon and I don’t know how it will affect my bandwidth or my spirit.

    I think there’s a feeling of how if possible we must make occasions for joy because the pace of life can be so… in need of such things. So, in that way, I feel like I’ve met my goal for this event. There was beauty.

    Below is the documentation captured by Mark McBeth

  • above– screenshots from the livestreamed videos

    I hosted my first little market with performances. We had four vendors, Miles Pekala, Wesley Haack, Dominique Nigro, and myself. We had five performing acts Simone Bloch, Squeakie, Light Pollution, The Green Wheel, Dominique and Kevin (duo), and myself.

    A note about hosting this show/market. It was a doozy because I was experiencing cold/possibly CO-VID symptoms and I had tested a couple days prior to event day and the results hadn’t come in. I thought they would but they hadn’t. I told everyone in an email and on the Facebook event page that it would be a masked event and not cancelled but there was a potential risk. Then a half an hour later, I had the results but I’m sure that made some attendees pause and evaluate their safety and decide not to come based on that.

    We had a great time and it was a relatively small and intimate event. I had a great time hosting. I would like to host more events. I live streamed the performances on Facebook and it felt nice to share with the online world that we were out and experiencing “live art.” A feeling that is rarer these days with concerns of the plague of the day roaming about.

    Some great things that I did: order two large pizzas and have some sparkling waters about, collected money for the performers by having a small jug passed around and putting my venmo information on it (after an audience member asked where they can put their money), and holding a raffle (oddly the prize was a half-gallon of 2 percent milk, but audiences love a raffle, don’t they?), introducing each artist and then addressing the audience after each act (which is something I don’t typically do, but I think this event is helped by a little framework). I also liked the feeling of divvying up the tips at the end of the night and sending out those payments to the performers. I love it when organizers remember to give me my money, lol. I liked decorating the yard with streamers and signage. Two people said they liked the streamers on the stairwell leading up to the path to the yard as an indication “this is the place.” I like that sense of arriving to a place with increasing confidence based on visual cues.

    Some not so great things, I wish I took more photographs. I have a nice camera and I could have had some of my friends (who know how to use it) take some photos for the history books or posterity or what have you. I would like to do a photo booth for next event. In these strange times, I think photography is a nice way to squeeze out some more of the memory when everything is over. I also would like to experiment with more Instagram stories. I think there’s a great trend to make little videos of performers and vendors, too and tag them in the stories and watch them get reposted. I would also remind my future self to clear the stage for each act, just lift that microphone stand and power cord and PA and put it on the grass. It was a bit intense watching the dancer try to not hit these things I left on the stage (sad face).

    I loved the feeling of selling some embroidery and modified clothing. I think I would have made more money if I was showing people my stuff but I think I was too focused on other tasks. It would be interesting to have a friend who is the host of the show when that time comes and I can just hang out by my little booth area to entice people to purchase.

    I’m excited for the next big backyard event. I think it will be at night and have a lightshow involved.

    Big thanks to everyone who supported the event by participating, to my friend Jason for lending me his PA, and for my housemates for co-hosting this event at our residence.

  • This year’s threadlife includes patches, mobiles, and wall hangings. I was blessed with a commission from a new father to make a mobile and it made me think about other ways to use the loads of embroidery floss I have. This year, feels like a leap into three dimensions and I’m for it.

  • In February, 2017, I started a new art practice: zine making. Since then I’ve been making one a month and I started a patreon as an easy way to manage subscribers. Sometimes, I have the wherewithal to blog about an individual issue, but that’s been pretty rare. For the most part, I don’t archive them. It’s interesting to think about creating work with a limited edition and also a kind of ephemerality. It does make me think about reorganizing my room to incorporate a special shelf so I keep at least one copy of each zine I make on there.

    The process. The last week of every month I collect/create 32 pages of zine. Copy it and bind it and mail it out. I decorate envelopes. It feels really great to have something ongoing and anchored by a little bit of income. I was thinking this morning about how money and art sometimes work together. It can be emotionally confusing when giving art to people– in some ways we are programmed and conditioned to create an equitable transaction.

    How do I come up with the content? My goal is to have a bit of variety in the format, so it swings from non-fiction to fiction, image driven to text driven, mixes, original content, someone else’s content. It’s interesting thinking about how most people have minor fixations that passes them undocumented, where I leave a trail of little books about things that I thought were the coolest at the time. I still think they’re kind of cool, but art and writing is interesting because the more I do it, the more it changes and I find something else that draws my attention.

    When the pandemic hit, I handmade the batches, aka didn’t use a copier. Lots of stamping, repeated writing, etc. I also made them 4 3/8” x 5 3/4”. I really like the new size. It seems a little friendlier. I also started binding them with embroidery floss instead of staples which I really like the look of and the feeling of threading paper is pretty unique. Now, in the last few months (after my vaccination), I’ve started going to the copier again. It has felt good to use a copier.

  • Pluot Season

    (above: stills from the Documentation video Mark McBeth produced at the show)

    ‘Last Sunday was the one-night-only performance of Pluot Season. The devised theatre piece performed in the backyard of where I currently reside and the first in-person show I’ve produced since before the global pandemic of Covid-19. Some safety notes, all audience and performers were vaccinated and during the performance, the audience wore covid-masks.

    It was really gratifying having a vision for a show where I was the “head costumer,” and then this being born out of it. During the pandemic, I spent many an afternoon embroidering what I called “collar bibs” and other handsewn accessories, at some point, I told a friend, if I were to go back to school, I’d want to get into costume design (in some world where I didn’t have any practical concerns and could follow my heart unabashedly). The curiosity of most endeavors of a grand scale, would I even like it? So I thought, maybe just do one show where I am doing the costumes and see if it still has the flavor of a dream after that.

    So, I reached out to my good friend and collaborator Fenner about co-producing this show and becoming the director. They agreed and we manifested a list of performers to pitch to and created our team. We met for four sundays (this includes the show sunday) and shaped something that would become a 35-minute piece of performance art.

    It was interesting becoming a host of the rehearsals. The venue was at my house and I had the responsibility of returning the props and costumes to the basement after the two workshops and show and making sure there were plates and forks for our dinners/snack breaks. Fenner is a director known for their rehearsal craft services. They provide the performers with a healthy and substantial snack or dinner and bake it into the timeline of our time together.

    There was a fundraising component to this show. It was fun coming up with donor perks and even more fun getting money for the show. I’m reminded that I still want to do a post-mortem budget where I articulate for my own edification how much it costs to do a DIY show (aka no venue). A thing I would certainly do differently is analyze what needs to happen for the donor perks to be realized in ideal quality. I promised our lovely donors a commemorative zine and a commemorative postcard, but I didn’t have a photoshoot with the performers and that seems to be a bit of an oversight. I ended up using a photo from the promo photoshoot I had with Fenner for the postcard and to my minor horror, for the commemorative zine, I used screenshots from the video Mark Mcbeth produced from the show (see above photos). This is my responsibility to insist (as a producer) that we need to have fifteen minutes taken out of rehearsal time to do this thing. Better yet still, just map out the meetings and their goals in the pre-production phase. Ah, next time. High-resolution photos are very important if one is trying to make a portfolio of costumes to present to future collaborators. Sigh. Just continuing to learn over here.

    It was a weird time watching the devised theater process (as you know most devised theater is weird). It was a curious thing because in some ways it’s anarchic, though Fenner was the director, there’s a lot of openness for people to suggest and pull into the show what they want to do, and it seems kind of cruel to get together such amazing people for such a short time and see what they do. These people bonded, but I think the upcoming deadline made for an intense process of working together. In some ways, too, I think that in creative processes we are curious to see what other people bring naturally that it feels imposing to have too much structure, perhaps. I think that’s the interesting thing about this particular process: it’s a combination of factors that create a unique atmosphere that is a universe onto itself and if we tried to do it again in the same way, there might be a completely different result.

    Co-producing is a really great experience. Often in my work, I’ve done solo shows, and shows where I’m the only producer, so it was nice having meetings to go over the details of what to put into the cast emails and logistics about the show itself (there was a big to-do about how to get 25 chairs to my house). Fenner is a powerhouse, dedicated to a vision, and worked really hard to make the event one to remember. The day before the show, we had an errand hang and went to get stone fruit from Berkeley Bowl for the reception.

    This was easily my favorite show reception because I knew we could stay in the backyard as long as we wanted. Most venues have a load-out time. Small details: I was happy with the quality of the fruit and its presentation. I washed them and made sure each one was good eating and that felt nice after watching our ritualistic celebration. I was also happy with Fenner’s choice of small cups, made the wine more savorable. Our wine sponsor that Fenner secured provided eight bottles of wine (red and white). It was a lovely way to finish the night. The reception was a great place to hear feedback about the show. I heard some very complimentary things. The costumes were appreciated (mission accomplished) and I give credit to Fenner as more than half of the costume pieces/props were provided by them and to Demi/Alex Ayuna for our “Jeremy” (the blank cloth doll). I mean credit to everyone, too, for being professional and creative. It was a huge success.

    At the show, someone asked me “What’s your next show?” and it caught me off guard. I love the idea of having an answer to this question. I told him, I am interested in putting on a yard sale. I’m glad that there are more in-person shows to be watched this Summer.

    I’m reminding myself to add to this post when the edited version of the show documentation comes in and some reflections about that. A non-traditional stage is not going to have great lighting baked into it and it was a unique endeavor as a “sunset show.” I accept that the documentation video is what it is. Like a lot of beauty, its fullness is lost in a photo or video. Performance art is an experience to have with your own eyes and ears and to inhabit a space where you can choose to look and focus and the heightened experience of being there with other live humans.

    Another round of gratitude for everyone that made this possible. To the people who witnessed a very lovely time and to the people who gave themselves to a process.

    *edit– here’s a highlight reel edited by Demi/Alex Ayuna

    (program text) Pluot Season

    A backyard multi-sensory experience

    Sunday, June 6th, 2021 

    Director’s Note

    Pluot season is a time that comes once a year, as most seasons do. All is ripe with juiciness and we are so thankful that you are joining us. This fever dream awakening was merely slightly shaped by my directorial eye. It is as much for us creators as it is for you, and was lovingly created in three or so wild meetings of this sensitive and versatile group. When Kat approached me with the idea – a title and some visions – I flowered to the project for us all to ease back into the joy of togetherness. Let us bask in the glow of many voices laughing, embrace the unfolding seasons after so much wintering through all sorts of weather.

    -Fenner

    About the Performer Collaborators

    Baylor Odabashian is a music, screed, and play writer,, tutor, occasional performance artist, and constant striving maker of good enough stuff. @spinningbaylorproductions

    Demi / Alex Ayuna is a mixed media improviser, photographer, and dancer. 

    IG @dkay.dac

    Dominique Nigro is a movement artist of varied vocabulary, endlessly inspired by the natural world and highly emotional feeling states. She also enjoys taking photos. IG @earthenergy 

    kevin corcoran improvises, arranges sounds and collaborates across disciplines in his bay area home and abroad. IG @orcora

    Puja Tolton is a theatre artisan and illustrator based out of Oakland. IG @ladypujington

    Simone Bloch is a French-American versatile performer who’s currently exploring the challenges of recovering from surgery. She’s happy to be one of the pluots today. 

    About the Producers

    Katarina Countiss is a visual artist with interests in improvisation, costuming, and book-making.

    Fenner is primarily a Devised Theater maker, actor, and creative facilitator based in Oakland.

    Thank you to our videographer, Mark McBeth.

    A special thank you to all of our donors.

    Donors

    Natalie Georgieff

    Linda Ostrom

    Dmitriy Khatayevich

    Hunter Blanks

    Jon Jackson

    Jennifer Fenner

    And a joyous cheer for our sponsor

    High Note Winery