Workshopping for the Weekend

Here's the beautiful crew with whom I spent the better part of last weekend: Steph, Rick, Deborah and Khaira. (I am the one squirming on the end because someone else is holding the camera!) We were on high alert and primed for learnin'!

We worked on Friday afternoon, and then went to see a play together. It was The Vancouver Playhouse production of Dangerous Corners by JB Priestly. Our mission was to see it once, and then describe it for a handful of blind and visually impaired patrons. We prepared the pre-show notes together all day Saturday, even working through dinner.

Though there was always time to pause and chuckle.

Just before the show, I snapped this photo of Steph and Khaira in the booth. The Vancouver Playhouse is ideal for audio description because they have a sound proof booth (once used as a crying room). The theatre has been incredibly behind the audio description project from the get-go and we are so appreciative of everything they're doing to get this pilot program off the ground. Oh! Normally, there's only one of us describing at a time, but, given the fact that all four of us were going to be evaluated, we tag teamed the show. It was nice to share the booth with a colleague!

On Sunday, we re-grouped to deconstruct what we'd done the night before, and to talk about where we were going from here. It was an intense and amazing weekend, filled with learning and laughter. And at the end of the day on Sunday, we all headed back to Khaira and Steve's for a BBQ, where we dined on home-made veggie Japa Dogs, blackened tilapia, skewered scallops and veggie skewers.

Our lovely host Khaira:

Her son, Teva (the most beautiful boy in the world):

Our fearless leader, the wise and adorable Deborah:

Here's Rick and Steph watching Teva drive the bus (don't you love the computer literacy of the average 2 year old? Cuz in a year or two, when my computer crashes, Teva's the one I'm gonna call!)

And after a dessert of cupcakes and Beard Papa's cream puffs (oh lordy!), Rick said "hey - do a long exposure and shoot me spinning!" So that's precisely what we did.

A weekend of work, ended in play and all was well with the world.