Nope, that’ not a typo. It’s an acronym for ENGLISH COUNCIL of CALIFORNIA TWO-YEAR COLLEGES. What do I have to do with this? Well, not much really, but Playwright Jeannie Barroga has plenty! To quote the write up on their site:
An active Member of the Dramatists Guild, Jeannie Barroga is a nationally-produced playwright, teacher, director, and local video producer. Recently, for development on Buffalo’ed, Ms. Barroga was awarded the Wallace Alexander Gerbode/William and Flora Hewlett Foundation grant. Barroga will follow-up her luncheon speech with a special workshop entitled “Conversations with Jeannie Barroga,” featuring Bay Area Actors reading from her new play, Buffalo’ed. …
And about ECCTYC:
The purpose of ECCTYC is to advance English teaching and learning in the two-year college by providing opportunities for the exchange of discipline information, promoting professional interaction and growth among its members, and articulating concerns of the discipline to professional and policy-making groups.
Jeannie was the speaker for the day. That’s where I come in. Earlier this year I had a callback (which I did not blog about) at San Jose Stage Company for Jeannie’s play, BUFFALO’ED and it was through that that Jeannie called me weeks later and asked if I would be interested in performing one of the monologues that I presented at the callback. My answer was a resounding YES.
Jeannie signing Norman and I up for cards and raffle...
Norman Gee was also there, he’s Jeannie’s old friend and BUFFALO’ED’s dramaturg. He read a different monologue that introduces the play.
Norman took me aside and had me rehearse a handful of times, directing me with various options as to how to present the monologue. I like his style. Before we were to go up and present, the conference broke for a lunch and we were invited. The phrase, “Will act for food” was starting to ring clearer.
It started with salad...
...that lead to chicken...
...and finished off with cheesecake.
The food was not as impressive as the fact that I won the very first raffle call. Adding to my count-on-one-hand times I’ve ever won anything! There was a was a table at the other side of the court and as I beelined to it, I spotted –WINE! Hey man, between the books and DVD’s that were on the table, the wine stood out., literally.
Small victories!
Within the next hour we had the room set up and Jeannie gave her speech, which lead to the talk back in a different room.
Jeannie at the podium...
By the end of it, I was on the edge of my seat listening to the discussion about the Filipino-American War, and all the events (and people) surrounding it. I’ve always been enthralled by the stories coming out of World War II, so, naturally my ears were perked.
Jeannie's books and plays...
All in all a wonderful experience, and certainly one I was happy to be a part of. I’ll keep you updated on BUFFALO’ED as things develop. But for now, I’ve got a bottle of wine to polish.