The locals describe the festival as a "modern day Woodstock". It's earthy, and dirty, and reminds me of my youth group days, where as teenagers, we used to sit out under the stars at retreats and talk the night away. Bonnaroo has (I think) about 100,000 attendees each year (maybe more). All camping, dancing, drugging, and sunning together. There are three stages and three tents where bands play, the main stage is the "What Stage", the second largest playing space is the "Which Stage", there's also "This Tent", "That Tent", and "The Other Tent". There are vendors lining the paths, a ferris wheel, and a freak show with fire eaters and a peep show.
As you walk to the freak show, you'll pass a community art project tent. Hanging from the trees above are giant raindrops. They have wooden frames, and are hung from wire cabling. On blankets outside the community tent (and on tables inside) people paint squares, mixing eco-friendly paint on cardboard palettes. As days pass, the raindrops become covered in cardboard squares painted in water tones: shades of blues, greens, yellows. As they finish, artists turn in their squares and the workers twist a nail through the top of each piece, then attach each to a raindrop. Later when a raindrop is completely covered, workers fly them up into the trees.
One of my squares was an interpretation of the henna painted on my arm - the earth meeting the sea in swirls of blue and green, never touching, an inch or less from meeting. My second, a dedication to one of my favorite songs. On it was a big blue head with a golden crown. Later at the Phish show, someone was passing around name tags, and I became, "Prince Caspian". During Phish's second concert, the song was played in the second set.
But what I will remember most happened in the lull between Phish's sets on the last night. Allison, Carl, and I sat where we stood for the first set. Then small talk: We are all from Philadelphia, although Allison and I have never met Carl. Carl is a stand up comedian by night. I work at People's Light by day. Allison works at the National Constitution Center...Then Carl asks if Allison knows Nora Berger-Green, who got him an acting job in
The Laramie Project at Arcadia. And I remember that he was the best thing in that show, that we couldn't stop asking "Who is THAT?" And the only answer we ever received was "He's a Grad student." So, Allison says - "I'm directing a piece called Four Dry Tongues. Would you want to be in it?" I say, "Do it. You were the best thing in
Laramie." And so Allison casts a piece for the Philadelphia Fringe at Bonnaroo, in Tennessee. A part she has been turning over in her brain since weeks before the trip, and which she was never quite able to cast. On the trip home she asks if I will Stage Manage/Assistant Direct, and I say yes.
