From the Director’s Chair

Guest blog by Shawn Shafner

The Art Monastery has provided a perfect cloister and cradle to nurture this new work, Bootstraps. Our time is spacious and gentle, while biweekly sharings prod us along. It’s been a most nourishing incubator for this work.

For me, as a director, I’ve really enjoyed the support of time, space, materials and a non-judgmental, empowering setting. I say, “I want to figure out if we can make a net of ropes that we could walk across.” And the next day, we’re tying cords around wood poles, suspending our actors a foot above the floor. It’s a joy to come to work!

More so, it’s an incredible blessing to have this opportunity, devoting time and energy to a topic of utmost importance, and to create a meaningful, artistic addition to the conversation.