A few weeks ago I saw the Anderson Project at Arts Emerson with Cloteal and Stephen. I am so glad the three of us went to see the show together because this was the kind of piece you want to talk about after. The Anderson Project is a one man show written and directed by […]
In light of the recent national conversation around diversity in the theatre prompted by the Guthrie’s season announcement, I would just like to draw some attention to the season of a theatre close to my heart: the National Playwright’s Conference at The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. This summer, as every year, the NPC will host […]
April 29, 2012 at 4:20 pm
This past weekend, I saw Cafe Variations, a new show directed by Anne Bogart that combines text from various Charles Mee plays and Gershwin songs. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and leaving, I wasn’t entirely sure what I had experienced, but it was certainly a fresh, new way of shedding light on the age-old […]
April 27, 2012 at 7:38 am
A round up from MPR on the scandale of the Guthrie Theatre’s coming season: Guthrie Announces 2012-13 Season Guthrie Theatre’s Debt to Women & Diversity Joe Dowling Responds to Criticism of Guthrie’s Season And here’s a few from other sources: Polly Carl in HowlRound: A Boy in a Man’s Theatre Tad Simons on The Guthrie’s […]
April 26, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Rogue Artists Ensemble is this really cool company in LA. They were mentioned in the LA Weekly Article about how ensemble based theatre is changing the LA theatre scene. Their mission statement is as follows: Rogue Artists Ensemble is a collective of multi-disciplinary artists who create Hyper-theater, an innovative hybrid of theater traditions, puppetry, mask […]
April 24, 2012 at 10:00 am
I saw Café Variations on Sunday at Arts Emerson. Directed by Anne Bogart, with Music and Lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and words from Charles Mee, this musical is both full of heart and completely heartbreaking. The set is beautiful- a shimmering silver curtain hides the orchestra and the paneled ceiling changes colors […]
April 24, 2012 at 8:23 am
Caragas, Venezula is currently the largest departure point for cocaine in the world, and has been ranked the most dangerous capital. Yet in the midst of this city’s turmoil there is a beacon of light– Jose Antonio Abreu. Jose Antonio Abreu is an: economist, musician, reformer, and founder of El Sistema. In 1975 he created […]
April 20, 2012 at 12:35 pm
The Huntington Theatre Company’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom by August Wilson, directed by Liesl Tommy, is a funny, engaging, violent, tragic, endearing, and, at time,s overwhelming story about the blues, and much more. The characters in this play are all rich and fully developed, and it takes three hours to even begin to unpack their […]
April 20, 2012 at 7:46 am
Talking about Blasted today reminded me that a really great and disturbing short film of her play Skin is available on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z35muSllISg [Bonus: here’s a link to the NYT interview with Marin Ireland and Sarah Benson about the challenges of playing in Blasted.]
April 20, 2012 at 12:58 am
This past Saturday evening, I had the pleasure of seeing Company One’s Workshop Production of Lauren Yee’s Hookman at the BCA. I say pleasure because as I digest my experience with the play a few days later, I recognize all that I learned from watching this wonderful new play in development. This semester, I am enrolled […]
April 20, 2012 at 12:39 am
Over There is a play by Mark Ravenhill which premiered in March 2009 at London’s Royal Court Theatre, and which I was able to watch on digitaltheatre.com. It tells the story of twin brothers who were raised on different sides of the Berlin wall, but come together after its fall. The boys, Karl from the […]
April 19, 2012 at 2:00 pm
I found this article, by theatre director and arts consultant, Rebecca Novick, that is a plea to young theatre makers not to start theatre companies. The title immediately stood out to me because I have read and heard so much lately that we have to be willing to start our own companies because there won’t […]
April 18, 2012 at 11:13 pm
In Buenos Aires there is a class of people called cartoneros—cardboard collectors. The economy is so devastating, that inorder to survive citizens are forced to resort to sorting through the day’s trash in search of recyclable material, to be exchanged for money. Cartoneros pick out paper, cardboard, metal, and glass to help support their family. In […]
April 18, 2012 at 1:59 pm
While on Spring Break, I was able to buy standing-room tickets to see Book of Mormon. I entered into the production not having read up on it, despite its acclaim. From the the title I could assume it was clearly about Mormons, and because my mother is Mormon I know a little bit about the […]
April 18, 2012 at 1:22 pm
I was recently called in for an audition at The Huntington, for a production of INVISIBLE MAN, which is based off of the Ralph Ellison novel. The novel concerns itself with an idealistic young African-American man searches for identity and his place in the world in this epic journey through 1930s America. Ellison’s novel focuses […]
April 17, 2012 at 11:29 am
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the practicality of some of the mantras I’ve developed in the last 4 years. When I watched the Humana Festival Panel one of the topics I found the most compelling, as I mentioned in class, was the assumption that by incorporating new forms of media into the theatrical […]
April 16, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Currently I’m taking an independent study with Jon Savage, that’s focused on creating a world for the play to live in. As an actress I am use to understanding characters within the world of play, but I am not so savvy at having a deep understanding of the practicalities of how to create the world. […]
April 15, 2012 at 2:34 pm
Last night I saw Company One’s production of Hookman by Lauren Yee, put on by xx playlab, Directed by Greg Maraio, and Dramaturged by Ilana Brownstein. It was a very interesting experience. I was completely engaged the entire time, partially because I was not always sure what was going on, but also because it was […]
April 13, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Rape culture has been on my mind disturbingly often this semester. It started by doing The Vagina Monologues, a show which opened my mind in so many ways, not least to how culture and society undermine women every day. Since the show, I have been involved (literally and through writing, rallying, etc) in the conversation […]
April 13, 2012 at 1:21 am
After watching the wonderful Humana Festival panel with Ilana, I too began thinking more critically about criticism and its place in contemporary culture. I find that when I am looking for arts and entertainment news through a critical lens, my first impulse is to checkout the NYTimes’ artsbeat blog. I think the articles are generally […]
