Show Business

This Will Actually Happen,
by Greg Josselyn

" Do you have any regrets about your life? Do you
have any regrets about your life?
Doyouhaveanyregretsaboutyourlife? One man in a
space, in one place, under one light, reciting a text,
repeatedly inciting his audience to 'pretend' THIS
WILL ACTUALLY HAPPEN, a performance inspired
by a Great Grandmother's archives, is easily belied
by its apparent simplicity. But the closer you look -
or, the harder you listen, and teh more vibrantly you
imagine - the more you begin to see in this ordinary
woman's life story, as her seemingly mundane diary
entries transform into reflections on memory and
inheritance, reminding listeners of their own struggles
to constitute histories and identities from invisible
fragments. THIS WILL ACTUALLY HAPPEN
explores the impossibility of performing the archive,
along with the human race's disembodied obsession
with the written word."


Tonight is the first time we are able to experience my nephew G's show about Nora, my grandmother, live. We have only listened to tapes and seen the Vimeo video filmed in London. He was not happy with the lighting in the London video, but thankfully, jkj10 was able to be take wonderful stills after she saw his performance. The show tonight at Mobius in Cambridge, MA is in a very small venue, no microphones or fancy lighting. The amazing thing is that it is in close walking distance from where Nora & my grandfather Gordon first lived after they were married, at the time of diaries. Nora walked the streets we'll take tonight to her show.

He and I have secured a grant from our local Cultural Council for another upcoming performance. We'll display Nora's diaries, photographs and some selected items from her archives. My oil paintings will hang around the venue, painted collaged scenes and items taken from entries written in the the teens & early '20s. G will perform his work surrounded by memories of Nora's world.

For the Record,
This day came in sunny and warmer. lots of melting, but more snow coming on Saturday. Sunday we are treated to a brunch at G's sister, S's and her boyfriend, D's apartment, can't wait. Monday is a holiday for T, President's Day.