March 3, 2011 at 5:49 pm
“Where Bison Run” by Victor Lesniewski is a new play about hockey– minus the ice rink. Not many contemporary plays deal with the politics of the N.H.L., or even Hockey in general. Lesniewski is a new playwright (he works at the US patent office during the day) and his background is in electronics and engineering, which he studied at Carnegie Mellon. Not only is his playwrighting background limited, but also his Hockey experience. So, while it all may seem a bit of a stretch, the play recruited a cast of seasoned actors to participate in a staged reading at Ars Nova in Hell’s Kitchen last Monday evening, and generated a shared sense of excitement from the cast and audience members alike. I’m just interested in seeing how one would be able to pull off a play about hockey without any ice.
By sophie.simpson
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March 3, 2011 at 4:24 pm
So for those of you who studied the NYC avant-garde movement in Modern Drama II or saw the movie, The Hours, you should recognize the name Philip Glass. As one who really loves his music, I really wish I could go to THIS. It is a great example of how interdisciplinary coordination can bring the separate spheres of the art world together to make something epic.
By smarois
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March 3, 2011 at 2:07 pm
I meant to post this over the weekend after the great discussion last Friday. I hadn't seen Children of a Lesser God (1986) since, oh, let's say a long time ago...I couldn't help but wonder if the movie was as poignant as I remembered. Handsome, hearing, Will Hurt arrives at small school to teach the Deaf to speak, of course, and slowly falls in love with the gorgeous Marlee Matlin who doesn't want to learn to speak. Ooh! Conflict!
Don't worry he'll fix her, if for no other reason THAN HE'S TALKING VERY LOUDLY TO HER AND FORGETTING (ignoring, actually) TO SIGN...at which point I couldn't take it anymore. Netflix, on demand. See if you get more than thirty minutes in.
Movies v Live Theater. Is there really any question???
(I did think Matlin was great in her West Wing roles, they paid her far more respect.)
By philschroeder
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March 3, 2011 at 1:59 pm
http://bo.st/eexFP5
A most bizarre story out of Chicago, involving sex in the classroom. Clearly this is theater, albeit a bit unconventional. Modern? Good question. I hope the tie-in to this week's reading will be obvious, otherwise I just look like a weirdo.
🙂
By philschroeder
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March 2, 2011 at 9:36 pm
Well, EdgeBoston liked the Gold Dust Orphans' parody? version? remake? of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and so did I.
I went to the Machine (a.k.a The Ramrod Center for the Performing Arts) a gay bar in the Fenway, thinking I was going to drink gin and tonics and laugh all night. It didn't take long for me to realize I was faced with a serious piece of theater and I darn well better pay attention. Well, there were some rollocking good times on stage too, as befits a troupe of drag queens; it's sort of the nature of the art: One minute you're droll and campy, the next you're crying in your G&T.
Read about it here, and then go see it here.
By jgf
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March 2, 2011 at 6:06 pm
Unfortunately this article is about a year old, but it's still an interesting thing to check out.
It's the third of a week long, interactive theatre experience. 12 theatre companies exhibit their own unique production as audience members are free to roam about and chose which plays they will experience.
This article talks about some of the interactive experiences, such as giving your cell number away so that one of two actors can call you and perform directly with you or 'The Interview' where a solider asks the audience yes/no questions and then invites them to ask him some.
Also at Hive 3 was 'At Home With Dick and Jane', which involves a 10 minute pre-show, a filmed interview of a playwright and film producer, and is then followed by a silent, live-action experience. One audience member at a time is put in a chair and can only see what a film camera would see. They are then steered throughout the set, as if filming the actions happening in front of them. You can watch the whole thing here.
This article talks about Hive 3 which happened in March of 2010. Hive seems to be put on every other year, so hopefully there will be a Hive 4 in the spring of 2012!
By John Chapman
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March 2, 2011 at 5:23 pm
The Boston Globe had great things to say about Ti-Jean, playing now at the Central Square Theatre. The review is absolutely glowing:
http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2011/02/22/a_devilish_time_in_ti_jean__his_brothers/
Congrats to Phil Berman, Hampton Fluker, Kristin Calabria and Joseph Ahmed!!!
By ahunt
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March 2, 2011 at 11:32 am
This isn't as crazy as it sounds. Do you know there is a grad student in creative writing who is investigating writing and performing a play entirely in the digital space? Well, when you've spent something like ten years at Wired what do you expect? But as he explained it to me, there are already people on Twitter who are embracing fabricated roles. Interesting, me thinks.
This week’s assignment was to write a 1-tweet play that features a 3+ SPEAKING ROLES and a BOAT.
By jgf
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March 2, 2011 at 12:09 am
I was looking up Nicole Zapko after falling in love with Love Person and the chemistry that happens with deaf culture in theatre, and I came upon this article about a Hindu cultural piece she collaborated on back in 2001. It's quite an old article but i still thought it was really interesting.
http://www.citypages.com/2001-10-03/arts/three-s-company/
By narbonne
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February 25, 2011 at 12:21 am
Wrong! So, while reading this week's plays, I started thinking about other handicaps that could be explored by theater. Sight seems like a pretty integral part of any production; so much money goes into lighting, set, props, costumes, etc. All these elements are meant to be seen. Well, here's an experiment in blind theater. Crazy, right!?
Also, totally intended to post this earlier...
By smarois
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February 24, 2011 at 10:16 pm
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/arts/23iht-LON23.html?_r=1&ref=theater
So this post is kind of a tease..... I was lucky enough to see the 2006 production of Brian Friel's "Faith Healer" with Ralph Fiennes, Cherry Jones and Ian McDiarmid, and it was one of the most amazing performances I have ever seen. I'm sure this revival will be incredible, so if you happen to be overseas and can catch it, I would 😉 But to the rest of us, I really recommend reading this play. Just for the sheer pleasure and inspiration that it is sure to bring. The writing is amazing, and the themes are timeless. Also, there are some clips from the 2006 production online, too.
By smrish
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February 24, 2011 at 12:34 pm
I post this link to Shakespeare & Company's Hamlet Tour, educational outreach for a few reasons. One is that I want to be really up on Shakespeare & Company's news because I want to play Juliet like none other, and they're doing Romeo and Juliet in the summer of 2012. (Seriously, like if we're talkin about jobs in the theatre, this is one that I want to get someday.) Also, I think its interesting to compare the end of the article "Educational Outreach" (all the funding they're receiving from the NEA) to how little or no funding "indie theatre" or new small companies doing controversial/original/contemporary work are getting. Not to mention, I think its an interesting comparison to the latest blog posts about lack of jobs in the theatre....
http://berkshireonstage.com/2011/02/15/economy-version-of-hamlet-the-perfect-vehicle-for-young-actors-to-take-on-the-road/
Perhaps "theatre makers" have to find a channel through which to showcase their new, original work to the educational system of America and see if they can get on their feat thru educational outreach funding from NEA...maybe NEA thinks contemporary theatre has nothin' on Shakespeare, but that's too bad, I think young high school students need to see it all...
By narbonne
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February 24, 2011 at 10:56 am
I think this article really sums up where most of us are/will be in the next few years. It talks specificially about problems in the theatre world in Britain and how that's affecting emerging artists' abilities to find work. It also poses questions on whether or not it's worth spending so much time and money on degrees in the performing arts at the same time that the theatre world is holding onto seasoned actors, producing more conservative plays, and offering fewer employment opportunities. While it's specific to Britain, I feel like similar things can probably be said about the theatre world in the US right now.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2011/feb/22/theatre-cuts-unemployment-youth
By John Chapman
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February 24, 2011 at 10:21 am
The Spidey Project, from the Peoples Improv Theatre, challenges whether putting $65 million into a Broadway musical is the best course of action to make it good. Their goal: write, compose, cast and stage a musical about Spiderman with $0 and mount it March 14--the day before Turn Off the Dark is scheduled to (finally) open.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/22/the-other-spider-man-musi_n_826855.html
Official blog site: http://thespideyproject.blogspot.com/
By lmr25
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February 24, 2011 at 9:53 am
I found this interview with Aditi Brennan Kapil, who wrote Love Person, on Minnesota Original. It's mostly about her newest play, Agnes Under the Big Top, but it also has some really interesting information about her upbringing and her way of working. It's only eight minutes long and really gives a sense of who she is as an artist.
http://www.mnoriginal.org/art/?p=3280#
By manders1
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February 23, 2011 at 9:28 pm
Chuck Mee's play "Heaven on Earth" opened at La MaMa in NYC this week, and while the reviews of the show itself are mixed, its a piece that sounds very Chuck Mee-esque. Classic Greek themes of hope and destruction, and, to quote the article, "[“Heaven on Earth”] isn’t really about ideas. It’s about what can be done in a theater." Sounds a bit like the american flag-as-rug idea he used in bobrauschenbergamerica, no? Daring, mischievous, an amalgamation of texts and ideas. Oh, Chuck Mee....
By sophie.simpson
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February 23, 2011 at 2:28 pm
In light of Fallujah, Ajax, and Theatre of War all living in our consciousness right now, this article on a former marine who decided (and has managed) to act when he got back from war in the Middle East seemed pretty relevant and interesting to me. I particularly got a kick out of the part that describes how traits of a marine are useful to an actor, too. No kidding. Enjoy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/theater/22driver.html?ref=theater
By ahunt
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February 23, 2011 at 11:07 am
Here's a blurb about Bhavabhuti's Uttararamacharita! And an excerpt!
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:N809npiudo8J:nextfuture.sriaurobindosociety.org.in/may07/nfmay07_wonder.htm+bhavabhuti+uttararamacharita&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com
By marionlc
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February 22, 2011 at 10:50 pm
I found the text, in Sanskrit and English. It's a love poem! Surprise surprise. Read a bit of it, it's not that long.
http://books.google.com/books?id=EYerSw3pTW4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=srngaratilaka&source=bl&ots=b6gXBDazvr&sig=QDa5aUhYJlKiDVgQofSPL4E5kOs&hl=en&ei=-X5kTZrGFoP7lwe1_8znBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=srngaratilaka&f=false
Written by Kalidasa, said to be known as the greatest Indian poet & dramatist. He wrote plays, too! 5th century, dude.
By marionlc
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February 22, 2011 at 10:41 am
If you're interested in what's going on in the arts in Boston, this guy and his blog, The Hub Review, is a must-read. It's not that you're always going to agree with him, or that he's always right, it's that he is one of the most intelligent, knowledgeable, and prolific critics in Boston.
I always read him with a bit of trepidation because he doesn't hold back, and I realize that someday he may be writing about my work. That makes me nervous. He really makes me think of the critics role in all this that we do, and on one hand I want to say, Who asked you? On the other hand, after having worked as a columnist for a newspaper (full disclosure: freelance) I want to say I fully understand the desire and the drive to write about something you passionately care about.
Who is he? From his blog:
A local reviewer for several years, I was cast from my perch at the Boston Globe some years ago, but have yet to find another print haven (and probably won't, as they're vanishing fast). In the meantime, I simply couldn't keep quiet about the state of Boston culture (also, I missed the free tickets). This town needs a smart, unfettered critic who's not interested in tossing softballs to the suburbs (or the academy), and I guess I'm just dumb enough to take the job. You can reach me with invites, praise, screeds, etc., at hubreview @hotmail.com.
Check him out.
By jgf
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