Reading , Pa.- Last year, when Albright College’s Artist-in-Residence Jeff Lentz and Mexican Artist Cocol Bernal decided to write a play – the Domino Players’ You Are Here –  they sat down with one another and talked about themes, plot points, characters and so on.   This year, as they work on a new play – Fish Out of Water, to be performed by the Domino Players October 1, 2, 3 and 4 – they will be having the same discussions...via the social network site Twitter. 

Followers of @JeffLentz and @CocolBernal on Twitter will get a unique insight into the way a play is constructed.  “We wanted to invite more people into this normally hidden process” said Matt Kopans, director of the Center for the Arts at Albright. “Cocol and Jeff have a really interesting process.  We wanted our students and our audiences to see that happening.”
 
“Why not?” said Jeff Lentz when he was asked about the project. “Last year Cocol and I listened to conversations in the Philadelphia Art Museum and then each wrote lines of dialogue back and forth using an instant message system.  That’s how we built the script. Twitter was the next natural step because it allows our students to watch the dialogue develop!”    

In addition to Twitter, the two are using Google Docs, an online word processing system, to write the final script.  “Now I don’t have to wait for Jeff to e-mail me back the latest version,” Bernal said. “I can just hop online when I’m inspired and work on whatever the most up-to-date version is.”

The duo plan to continue using new online technologies as the process goes on. “Once we get into rehearsal, we plan on having the cast record backstage ‘confessionals’ each night which we’ll post on YouTube and Facebook” said Lentz, who will also direct the play.

For more information:
On Twitter: @JeffLentz, @CocolBernal, @AlbrightCFA, @AlbrightCollege
On Facebook:  Fish Out of Water – Domino Players, Domino Players, Albright College, Albright College Center for the Arts
On the web: www.albright.edu/CenterForTheArts

Founded in 1856, Albright College is a nationally ranked, private college with a rigorous liberal arts curriculum with an interdisciplinary focus. The College’s hallmarks are connecting fields of learning, collaborative teaching and learning, and a flexible curriculum that allows students to create an individualized education. Albright College enrolls more than 1,625 undergraduates in traditional programs, another 500 adult students in accelerated degree programs, and 100 students in the master’s program in education. Albright College is located in Reading, Pennsylvania, about 60 miles west of Philadelphia.