Peripatetic Illustrations

August 1, 2018August 23, 2018directorebeccer Leave a comment

Hi friends!

Today we’re bringing you some treats from our resident illustrator, Mr. Meekins’ very good friend, Sam Bertken. Sam has been making illustrations for our shows since the very first one, O Best Beloved, before the Peripatetic Players even knew how to peripatet.

For O Best Beloved (2013), Sam drew each of the animals who starred in the stories:

Old Man Kangaroo being chased by Wild Dog Dingo

The Elephant’s Child

The Camel

The Rhino

Aesop Amuck (2015) also featured some animal stars:

The Lion

Beat Poet Crow

The Tortoise

Town Mouse & Country Mouse

The Hare

The Ill-Fated Mouse Council

Frog Party

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

And this year, he’s drawn the pirate Players mid-adventure aboard their ship! Click the image to download a coloring page of your very own!

…here’s how we colored it in for our poster!

There are just FOUR MORE PERFORMANCES of Shiver We Timbers… click here to see the full schedule!

You did it — THANKS!

July 16, 2018directorebeccer Leave a comment

Thanks to our fantastic donors and supporters, we met our challenge grant goal!

Goal Met

Through our spring & summer fundraising campaigns, we met our matching challenge of $4000 from the East Bay Fund for Artists! In face, we exceeded the goal by about $400, which will cover the associated costs of credit card and fiscal sponsorship fees. Hurrah! and THANK YOU!

You’re the wind in our sails.

Not only do these dollars help the Peripatetic Players to sail around the Bay this summer, the matching funds from the East Bay Fund for Artists at the East Bay Community Foundation will help Idiot String (the Peripatetics’ parent company) create a new play in Port Costa in 2019.

It’s all because of folks like YOU!

Thank you to all our generous supporters of the matching campaign who donated online or by filling out yellow slips or swiping a card at our shows… to those who pledged a Player for the Third Annual Particularly Obstinate Obstacle Course… and everyone who helped us meet our match!

And thank you also to everyone who gives at our performances. Your kind words and smiles put the wind in our sails, and the dollars that you drop in our hats keeps our shows accessible to all!

THANK YOU!

Here’s what it takes to put on an SPPP summer tour…

$4500 pays artists (actors, designers, director and technicians)
$1500 creates sets, props & costumes
$2500 helps us get the word out
$3500 pays for park permits, truck rental, and insurance
$1365 covers banking fees, office supplies, and other expenses

That’s $13,365 for the whole summer tour — or about $1215 per show. Yay, math!

Is it too late to donate? It’s never too late! We’re still counting on donations throughout the summer to meet our overall budget for the tour. If you’re moved, you can donate right here, right now! Or, come to a show and drop some dollars in our hat. In either case, we hope to see you soon!

We’ve Set Sail!

July 11, 2018July 11, 2018directorebeccer Leave a comment

Shiver We Timbers! is now open, and the Good Ship Peripatetic has already had two adventures on the high seas! Great audiences and glorious weather turned out for our opening weekend, at Dimond Park in Oakland on Saturday, and Noe Valley Town Square on Sunday.

the Good Ship Peripatetic in Noe Valley’s Town Square

Thanks to Oakland’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Youth Development, and to S.F. Recreation & Parks for hosting us at these gorgeous sites, and to the Noe Valley Association for helping to get the word out.

We’re looking ahead now to our next ports of call: Glen Canyon Park, San Francisco, at 3pm on Saturday July 14; and Niles Town Plaza in Fremont at noon on Sunday July 15. Click here for the full schedule, with links to maps!

gathering a miniature pirate crew at Dimond Park

Glen Park fans, have a look at the cool events that the Glen Park History Project has in the works — including a suffragette walking tour of Glen Park the morning of our show.

Over in Niles, train enthusiasts AND silent film buffs will find lots to discover. Sunday’s show happens to coincide with Charlie Chaplin Days, so you may see a bunch of Chaplins dressed in homage to one of our favorite knockabout clowns!

A Charlie Chaplin mural in Niles

Our Niles performance is generously co-sponsored by the Niles Main Street Association and the Alameda County Library Foundation, as part of the 2018 Niles Summer Concert Series. Remember… start time in Niles is noon.

Just one of the train cars – of the real and model variety – on view in Niles

Here’s a link to the full schedule!

And there’s still time to donate to our matching funds campaign — all donations made through July 15 will be matched by the East Bay Fund for Artists at the East Bay Community Foundation, up to a total of $4000. Read more here, or take the plunge and…

As always, check out our Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter feeds for real-time pirate adventure updates! Arrrrrrgh!

Shiver We Timbers – this weekend!

July 3, 2018directorebeccer Leave a comment

Ahoy, thar! Hope yer keepin’ a weather eye out for pirates… because Shiver We Timbers opens this weekend!

A clickable schedule is here.

As always, Peripatetic Players shows are FREE to all! If you can donate some of your hard-earned doubloons, that helps keep us afloat. And right now, your doubloons are worth double! Make a donation by July 15, and your dollars will be matched by the East Bay Fund for Artists to help create a new show in Port Costa next spring.

Thar’s a Show-a-Brewin’!

June 26, 2018July 3, 2018marlenefrances Leave a comment

Ahoy there, readers!

We’ve been busy these past few weeks brewing up a fantastic show for you all, and we can’t wait to share it with you!

Here are some exclusive behind-the-scenes pictures of Shiver We Timbers!

Choices, choices, choices!

Who are these sea creatures?!

Gwen’s Alter Ego!

A sea monster attacks a merperson!

We look forward to seein’ ye on the high seas soon!

71.78% = Thank You, Supporters!

May 31, 2018May 31, 2018directorebeccer 1 Comment

A rousing Thank You to all who have supported Shiver We Timbers!, our 2018 summer tour — including donors to our Particularly Obstinate Obstacle Course, all those who have donated online, our site hosts and sponsors, and everyone who stopped by our pirate photo booth at the Port Costa Town Wide Yard Sale on May 26.

Thanks to you, we’re already 71.78% of the way to our funding goal of $4000! Huzzah, math!

Pirate Portraits from our photo booth at the Port Costa Town Wide Yard Sale … Ahoy!

Your support makes it possible for us to bring free theatre to parks and public spaces around the Bay Area! Think of it this way… rather than buying a ticket, your donation is a lot like handing tickets out to people in your community. Feels pretty nice, right?

And that’s not all…

Your contribution is worth double, thanks to a grant from the East Bay Fund for Artists that matches all donations through July 15, up to our goal of $4,000. This grant will help Idiot String create a new play for Port Costa in 2019.

Whatever the adventure, the Peripatetic Players and Idiot String aim to connect people through joyful shared experience and participatory fun. When we create our shows, we’re also creating the world we want to live in: one full of imaginative play, shared stories, and do-it-yourself delight.

Haven’t donated yet? Want to chip in some more? Here’s a button!

On Your Marks, Get Set, OBSTACLE!

May 1, 2018May 2, 2018directorebeccer Leave a comment

It’s that time again Players and pals!

We need your help!

Announcing the Third Annual Particularly Obstinate Obstacle Course — P.O.O.C.#3!

May 19, 2018 @ 2pm
Mosswood Park, Oakland

Our first foray into the P.O.O.C.!

The P.O.O.C. is our annual crowdFUNding event that helps raise the cash needed to send the Peripatetic Players around the Bay on their Summer Tour. It’s also a lot of fun, so come on out to Mosswood Park on May 19 to cheer on the Players and witness Feats of Foolishness and Daring!

Pledge a Player now!

Photo by Serena Morelli

Not only will your cash bring delightful, free theatre to communities around the Bay, every dollar donated through July 15 will be matched 1:1 by a grant from the East Bay Fund for Artists of the East Bay Community Foundation.

The Players operate on a shoestring budget, and the support of our donors is what allows us to keep doing what we do! We literally couldn’t do it without you…

$5	On average, if every person who sees our shows contributed $5, we’d cover our budget. Consider $5 your ticket price — what a deal!
$10	Of course not everyone who sees our shows can contribute — $10 covers your “ticket” plus a spot for someone else!
$25	Is our sunscreen budget for the summer.
$50	Helps us purchase materials to make audience participation supplies, like hats and vests!
$100	On our double-header days, this would go towards feeding the SPPPs — we need energy to to perform.
$250	Rents a pickup truck to haul FluxWagon, our folding mobile stage, for one weekend.
$500	Covers our General Liability Insurance for the Summer Tour. Insurance is really exciting! Just ask Meekins.

No matter what we spend it on, every dollar goes toward connecting people through the joyful shared experience and participatory fun of our interactive theatrical adventures… So what are you waiting for?

Pledge a Peripatetic Player today!

Thank you to Points West, the High Seas, and the Ends Of The Earth!

: Our 2017 P.O.O.C.!

: Our 2017 P.O.O.C.!

How Samuel Peaches writes a song…

March 9, 2018April 18, 2018marlenefrances Leave a comment

Last week I sat down with Mr. Samuel Peaches himself to ask him about his creative process. My primary question?

“How do you write a song?”

spppssw17 - serena morelli (16).jpg

He gave me his answer in the form of a short essay, which was… interesting to transcribe to say the last. I bring it to you here:

How To Write A Song
by
Samuel Nathaniel Xavier Peaches III esq.

Writing a song is my Favorite Thing To Do.

I often write such terrible and precious songs that I am unable to continue for my eyes weep rivers or my body reels so. I’ve had songs whisper to me from the driest darkest corners of the earth. Songs that have crushed my back as the sun falling from the sky. Songs that have splintered my core and like the Fearsome Phoenix streaking from the ashes I am Reborn! I have tasted starlight on my tongue, and felt the molten core of Earth almighty on my footsoles.

You must turn yourself inside out and backside in to write a song. Upside Down and Rightside over Left. Only when you are bereft of every single faculty your mind and heart can offer, do your begin to realize your song just might be finished.

But there are many more steps to take and paths to follow before peaking through the leaves: just ahead of you is that little moonlit harbour, sparkling reflections of silvers dance across the water, contrasted by the slowly bobbing amber glow of windows in the village, smoke ambling lazily up into our diamond fretted roof. Grazing clouds feast on the warm tropical air. Fireflies drift past hunting for love and a drink. In the purple distance your ship floats anchored. Dark sails hoisted, gaping portholes slowly lilting back and forth.

You leave the black humming jungle and start down the grassy path, gravity filling your bones with buzzing we haven’t tasted since our youngest years. Your feet pick up speed on the hot earth as your crew lies snoring; dreaming and resting for the voyage that leaves at daybreak; the journey across the sea to lands unknown and wilds untamed.

Samuel Singing

I think that means that Samuel must travel on a boat to a jungle at sunset to write a song…

How do you write songs?

spppssw17 - serena morelli (35)

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

February 26, 2018July 28, 2019marlenefrances 1 Comment

Hello All!

It has been far too long since our last blog post, so I am here to give you all a special delight today!

The SPPP’ers have been meeting every other week or so since the beginning of the year to …. play. We have playdates. Sometimes cool things emerge, sometimes business-type things emerge, and then sometimes…. feats of greatness emerge.

Like what happened on Sunday, February 25th 2018.

Sunday saw Samuel Peaches, Thumper, Princess Gwen, Guy Hank, and Madame D. starting to make their adaption of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring entitled: A Lord of A Ring.

And it was delightful.

I can honestly say that I don’t think the five of us have laughed so much in so long — we laughed so much we all started crying at one point!

We can’t wait to keep creating things for you — if you have something you’d like to see, send us a message, and we will see what we can whip up for you!

Love,

Marlene (Princess Gwen)

Farewell… for now!

September 7, 2017September 7, 2017directorebeccer Leave a comment

What a great 2017 tour! The Peripatetic Players took Shakespeare or Space Wars to Alameda, Oakland, San Francisco, Berkeley, Port Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and hither and yon and back again for 12 performances this July and August.

Shakespeare or Space Wars at Franklin Park, Alameda, on July 23, 2017.

We performed for more than 1300 people, some of whom may have been actual Jedi knights, and about 20 dogs! For a while, a spaceman and a lion who had been separated from their families joined our merry band.

Cantina / Capulet Ball creatures

Buzz and Lion pose with some light reading

We were a Staff Pick in the East Bay Express, were featured on ABC-7 News’s Hoodline segment, and chronicled in the Santa Clara Weekly.

A pick of the week from East Bay Express

And now the Peripatetic Players have packed up our trunks for the summer and hunkered down for their autumnal naps, all cozy inside FluxWagon, our folding mobile stage…

Here’s FluxWagon arriving at Precita Park in San Francisco!

(who is writing this in their sleep, one wonders?)

This monster never sleeps, but can give you a monster’s-eye view of the monster lair under the stage.

…but we’ll have to wake up and move out soon, because FluxWagon will be hitting the road this October and November with a new play, Elixir of Life, produced by our very good friends at the theatre company Idiot String. You may even recognize some of the actors as the Peripatetic Players’ friends and fans!