Here's info about an unusually interesting event:
THE COLLEGIATE CHORALE
James Bagwell, Music Director
Presents The World Premiere Two Act Concert Version of
THE GRAPES OF WRATH
March 22, 2010 at 8pm at Carnegie Hall
The Collegiate Chorale, led by Music Director James Bagwell, presents the World Premiere Two Act Concert Version of Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie's musical version of Nobel Prize-winner John Steinbeck's epic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Grapes of Wrath, on March 22, 2010 at 8pm at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Ted Sperling with Jane Fonda as the narrator. Tickets are $25-$160 and are available through CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, or online at www.carnegiehall.org. For more information visit www.collegiatechorale.org.
An all-star cast from Broadway and the classical world comes together to present a rare mingling of opera and theatre in The Grapes of Wrath. Originally commissioned and produced by the Minnesota Opera and called "The great American opera" by Musical America, Gordon and Korie's new work melds popular musical styles of the '20s and '30s (song-and-dance, soaring love songs, banjo ballads, jazz choruses, and a barbershop quartet) with the classic drama of grand opera, all to a heart-wrenching yet uplifting effect. The composer (Gordon) and librettist (Korie) have crafted a special concert version of their original opera with narration written especially for this presentation. The starry cast includes Jane Fonda (narrator), Victoria Clark, Christine Ebersole, Nathan Gunn, Elizabeth Futral, Anthony Dean Griffey, Peter Halverson, Steven Pasquale, Stephen Powell, Andrew Wilkowske and Matthew Worth and the role of Tom Joad's young sister, Ruthie, will be sung by Nathan Gunn's daughter Madelyn Gunn. Music by Ricky Ian Gordon and libretto by Michael Korie. Featuring the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ted Sperling. Directed by Eric Simonson with lighting design by Frances Aronson and projection design by Wendall Harrington.
"In this concert version, we convey the story of the Joad family's journey across America in approximately two hours. We have retained many of the big musical set pieces, arias and choral ensembles, and we have eliminated much of the recitative, replacing it with a narrator who reads sections from the novel, allowing segues from those powerful passages seamlessly into music that continues the drama without loss of suspense or momentum. In addition, this version will feature music never heard in the original full staging of the opera. This is not only a concert version of the full opera, but a different version," said Michael Korie.
"We are honored to be presenting this richly textured work of soaring passion and devastating beauty. Inherent in its mission is The Chorale's commitment to premiering or showcasing exceptional American works such as Ricky Ian Gordon's The Grapes of Wrath. Gordon and librettist Michael Korie have given a musical voice to this quintessentially American novel in a lyrical language which draws from opera and American musical theater idioms. The choral writing and casting of soloists reflect this cross-over nature. I think both opera and Broadway lovers alike will be moved by this remarkable work," said James Bagwell, music director of The Collegiate Chorale.
The Collegiate Chorale, among New York's foremost vocal ensembles, has added to the richness of the city's cultural fabric for more than 65 years. Founded in 1941 by the legendary conductor Robert Shaw, The Chorale achieved national and international prominence under the leadership of Robert Bass. The Chorale has established a preeminent reputation for its interpretations of the traditional choral repertoire, vocal works by American composers, and rarely heard operas-in-concert, as well as commissions and premieres of new works by today's most exciting creative artists. In the summer of 2009, The Chorale performed for the fourth season at Switzerland's Verbier Music Festival. In July 2008, The Chorale toured with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem.
The mission of The Collegiate Chorale is to enrich its audiences through innovative programming and exceptional performances of a broad range of vocal music featuring a premier choral ensemble. Inherent in its mission is The Chorale's belief that choral music is a compelling collaboration that creates a powerful, shared experience unifying listeners and musicians of all backgrounds, beliefs and ages.
Music Director James Bagwell maintains an active schedule throughout the United States as a conductor of choral, operatic, and orchestral music. He has recently been named Principal Guest Conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra in New York. Since 2003, he has been Director of Choruses for the Bard Music Festival, conducting and preparing choral works during the summer festival at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College. He has also prepared The Concert Chorale of New York for performances with the American Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Mostly Mozart Festival (broadcast nationally in 2006 on Live from Lincoln Center), all in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. He was Music Director of The Dessoff Choirs for the past five season, and in 2009 he prepared the Dessoff Symphonic Choir for the New York Philharmonic performances of both Mahler's Eighth Symphony and Britten's War Requiem for Lorin Maazel's final concerts as Music Director.
James Bagwell has trained choruses for a number of major American and International orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, NHK Symphony (Japan), St. Petersburg Symphony, The American Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He has worked with noted conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas, Louis Langrée, Leon Botstein, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Raymond Leppard, James Conlon, Jesús López-Cobos, Erich Kunzel, Leon Fleischer, and Robert Shaw.
For eleven seasons, he has been Music Director for the May Festival Youth Choir in Cincinnati, which was recently featured on the radio program From the Top. He has conducted some 25 productions as Music Director of Light Opera Oklahoma, including Candide, Sweeney Todd, and The Merry Widow, among others. At Bard SummerScape he has led numerous theatrical works, most notably Copland's The Tender Land, which received unanimous praise from The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Opera News. He frequently appears as guest conductor for orchestras around the country and abroad, including the Jerusalem Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. For three seasons he was Artistic Director of The Indianapolis Symphonic Choir. He holds degrees from Birmingham-Southern College, Florida State University, and Indiana University. He has taught since 2000 at Bard College, where he is Director of the Music Program.
For more information, visit www.collegiatechorale.org.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Ricky Ian Gordon's (Music) credits include Dream True; States of Independence; and Stonewall/Night Variations with Tina Landau; The Tibetan Book of the Dead with Jean Claude Van Itallie; Only Heaven with Langston Hughes and Nancy Rhodes; Autumn Valentine; Sweet Song; and Morning Star with William Hoffman. He was part of the American Songbook Series in Bright Eyed Joy/The Music of Ricky Ian Gordon at Lincoln Center and at The Guggenheim. Recordings include Audra McDonald's Way Back to Paradise, Bright-Eyed Joy, Of Eternal Light (Water Music), Only Heaven and Genius Child (a song cycle for Harolyn Blackwell). Awards: The National Institute for Music Theater Award, The Stephen Sondheim Award, The Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Music Theatre Foundation Award, The Jonathan Larson Foundation Award, The Constance Klinsky Award, The Richard Rodgers Award.
Michael Korie (Libretto) was nominated for Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for Grey Gardens. He and composer Scott Frankel received the ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award. Also with Frankel are two musicals in development, Doll and Meet Mister Future. With composer Ricky Ian Gordon, his libretto to The Grapes of Wrath premiered to acclaim at Minnesota Opera, with upcoming productions at Utah Opera, Houston Grand Opera and Pittsburgh Opera. His librettos for operas composed by Stewart Wallace include Harvey Milk (San Francisco Opera) and Hopper's Wife (Long Beach Opera), both directed by Christopher Alden; Kabbalah (Next Wave Festival); and Where's Dick?, directed by Richard Foreman (Houston Grand Opera). He co-wrote lyrics with Amy Powers to composer Lucy Simon's Zhivago, book by Michael Weller, directed by Des McAnuff (La Jolla Playhouse).
Jane Fonda's (Narrator) work on stage and screen has earned her numerous nominations and awards, including Oscar Awards (Best Actress in 1971 for Klute and in 1978 for Coming Home) and an Emmy Award for her performance in "The Dollmaker." Her credits include Monster-in-Law, Georgia Rule, Coming Home, The China Syndrome, Julia, Barefoot in the Park, Nine to Five, On Golden Pond, "The Dollmaker" and four Broadway plays including Invitation to a March and There Was a Little Girl (Theatre World Award). In May 2005, Random House published Fonda's memoirs, My Life So Far. She has long been known for activism and advocacy on environmental issues, human rights and the empowerment of women and girls.
Nathan Gunn (Tom Joad) recently created the roles of Alec Harvey in André Previn's Brief Encounter at the Houston Grand Opera and Father Delura in Peter Eötvös' Love and Other Demons at the 2008 Glyndebourne Opera Festival. Other engagements this season include his returns to the Metropolitan Opera for Die Zauberflöte, the Dallas Opera for Malatesta in Don Pasquale and the Los Angles Opera for Il Barbiere di Siviglia and L'Elisir d'Amore. He also makes his debut in Bilbao as the title role in Billy Budd. Mr. Gunn has appeared in internationally renowned opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), Paris Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, and the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels.
Victoria Clark (Ma Joad) received the 2005 Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards, as well as a Drama League honor for her luminous portrayal of protective but domineering mother Margaret Johnson in the critically-acclaimed Craig Lucas-Adam Guettel musical The Light in the Piazza directed by Bartlett Sher at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater. Her virtuoso performance in the Tony Award-winning musical has made her a favorite among audiences and critics, including The New York Times' Ben Brantley, who called Clark's work in Piazza "the best musical performance by an actress this season." She garnered equally enthusiastic reviews for her performance at Chicago's Goodman Theater in 2004, earning the prestigious Joseph Jefferson Award. Last season, Clark was reunited with her colleagues Craig Lucas and Bartlett Sher for the Playwrights Horizons production of A Prayer for My Enemy.
Christine Ebersole (Mae / Waitress) received the Tony Award, Obie Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Special Citation from NY Drama Critics and the Drama League Award for Performance of the Year for her dual roles as Edith and Edie Beale in Grey Gardens. Her Broadway credits include Steel Magnolias, Dinner at Eight (Tony and Outer Critics Circle noms.), 42nd Street (2001 Tony and Outer Critics Circle awards), The Best Man, Getting Away With Murder, Harrigan 'n Hart, Camelot (opposite Richard Burton and Richard Harris), Oklahoma!, On the Twentieth Century, I Love My Wife and Angel Street. Off-Broadway credits include Alan Bennett's Talking Heads (2003 Obie and Outer Critics Circle awards, Drama Desk nom.), Three Sisters, Geniuses and four Encores! concerts. Regional credits include Much Ado About Nothing (Old Globe), Mame, Evita, My Fair Lady, The Marriage of Bette and Boo and Laughing Wild. Films include Tootsie, Amadeus, Dead Again, Richie Rich, Black Sheep, Folks!, True Crime, Till There Was You, My Favorite Martian, Thief of Hearts and My Girl 2.
Elizabeth Futral (Rosasharn) has established herself as one of the major coloratura sopranos in the world today, with a diverse repertoire that includes Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Verdi, Glass, and Previn. Ms. Futral has garnered raves at the world's greatest opera houses in such roles as Gilda, Juliette, Lakmé, Lucia, Nanetta, Mélisande, Romilda, and Violetta. She dazzled audiences and critics with her debut at the Los Angeles Opera as Cleopatra in Francisco Negrin's acclaimed production of Handel's Giulio Cesare. This was followed by her highly anticipated return to the New York City Opera, where she starred in the title role of the company's new production of Douglas Moore's classic American opera, The Ballad of Baby Doe.
Two-time Grammy Award-winning American tenor Anthony Dean Griffey (Jim Casy) has captured critical and popular acclaim on opera, concert and recital stages around the world. He has performed leading roles at the great international opera houses including The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glyndebourne, the Opera National de Paris, and the Teatro Comunale di Firenze. A regular guest of the world's orchestras, Mr. Griffey has collaborated with many of today's pre-eminent conductors, including James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Andrew Davis, Esa Pekka Salonen, Alan Gilbert, Kurt Masur, Donald Runnicles, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, James Conlon, and Charles Dutoit.
Baritone Peter Halverson (Pa Joad) has performed throughout the United States, distinguishing himself on the dramatic stage and in concert. A versatile performer, he has more than fifty roles to his credit including the title roles in Pelléas et Mélisande, Eugene Onegin, Don Giovanni, The Barber of Seville, Gianni Schicchi, The Man of La Mancha and Phantom. He has been a frequent guest artist with the Minnesota Opera, Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, North Star Opera, and has appeared at the Kennedy Center Mozart Festival, Oregon Bach Festival and San Luis Osbispo Mozart Festival. In addition, he has sung with the Florentine Opera, Berkshire Opera, Madison Opera, Tacoma Opera, Chattanooga Opera, National Symphony, Dallas Symphony, San Antonio Symphony and New Mexico Symphony.
American baritone Stephen Powell (Uncle John) brings his handsome voice, elegant musicianship, and robust stage presence to a wide range of music, from Monteverdi and Handel through Verdi and Puccini to Sondheim and John Adams. In 2009-10, Stephen Powell appears as Ford in Verdi's Falstaff with Pittsburgh Opera; sings as soloist in Szymanowski's Stabat Mater with Rome's Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Christoph Eschenbach conducting; in Messiah with the Huddersfield Choral Society in England; in the Brahms Requiem with Baltimore Symphony, as well as the Dutch Radio Orchestra at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Holland, both with Marin Alsop conducting; in Carmina Burana with Cincinnati Symphony, Paavo Jarvi conducting; appears in recital with wife Barbara Shirvis in Dallas, Texas; and sings 2 gala concerts with the North Carolina Symphony, Grant Llewellyn conducting. He also makes his Asian debut in La Traviata at the Beijing National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing, China, Lorin Maazel conducting.
Andrew Wilkowske (Noah) whose voice has been described as "nimble," with an "impressively open top," is one of the most versatile performers on the stage today. A gifted actor as well as singer, Wilkowske's Papageno in The Magic Flute "stole the show" according to the Washington Post, and was a "lusty-voiced fellow," according to Opera News. Engagements this season include a series of Figaros, making his debut as Rossini's Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Skylight Opera. He returns to Skylight later this season in the title role of Le Nozze di Figaro to complete Skylight's Figaro Cycle. In addition, Wilkowske reprises Mozart's Figaro with the Green Mountain Opera Festival (under the baton of Maestro Jacques Lacombe), Ashlawn Opera, and the Acadiana Symphony. Wilkowske's experiences are documented in his award-winning 'a year of figaro' blog.
Steven Pasquale
(Al) most recently starred on Broadway in Neil LaBute's reasons to be pretty. A regular on the theater scene, Pasquale's credits include Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden (World AIDS Day Concert), Henrik in A Little Night Music (opposite Victor Garber, Natasha Richardson and Venessa Redgrave), Captain Taylor in A Soldier's Play (Second Stage, opposite Taye Diggs), Tom in the Neil LaBute off-Broadway hit, Fat Pig, Robbie in the Ahrens/Flahrety/McNally musical A Man of No Importance (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations), Beautiful Child, The Spitfire Grill, Spinning Into Butter, Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party and he created the role of Fabrizio in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas' The Light in the Piazza. Television audiences have followed him for five seasons as Sean Garrity on the FX hit show "Rescue Me." His other television credits include a recurring role on HBO's Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning drama "Six Feet Under" and Sofia Coppola's "Platinum."
Hailed by the Dallas Morning News for his "dashing, fine bright baritone" and the New York Times for a voice that is "fully powered and persuasively expressive," Matthew Worth (Ragged Man / Connie Rivers / Truck Driver) was recently the featured "Sound Bites" artist in Opera News, and is enjoying successes on both the operatic and concert stages, in all styles from the Renaissance to new repertoire. Matthew Worth's engagements in 2009-10 include a return to Chicago Opera Theater as Charlie in Jake Heggie's Three Decembers, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette with New Orleans Opera, the title role in Don Giovanni with Virginia Opera, Jupiter in Orpheus in the Underworld with Central City Opera, Messiah at University of Richmond, in concert performances of The Grapes of Wrath with New York's Collegiate Chorale, as soloist in a holiday concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and in Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Donald Runnicles.
Ted Sperling (Conductor) won the 2005 Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his orchestrations of The Light in the Piazza, for which he was also music director. Broadway credits as music director/conductor/pianist: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Full Monty, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Angels in America, My Favorite Year, Falsettos, Drood, Les Miserables, Roza and Sunday In the Park With George. Mr. Sperling was also an original cast member of the Broadway musical Titanic. Off-Broadway credits as music director: A Man of No Importance, Wise Guys, A New Brain, Saturn Returns, Floyd Collins, Falsettoland, and Romance in Hard Times. As a stage director Charlotte: Life? Or Theater? and Striking 12, as well as a revival of Lady in the Dark starring Andrea Marcovicci. Mr. Sperling conducted the musical scores for the films The Manchurian Candidate, Everything Is Illuminated, and directed the short musical film Love, Mom, starring Tonya Pinkins.
Eric Simonson's (Director)plays and adaptations at Steppenwolf, where he is a member of the ensemble, include Nomathemba (written with Ntozake Shange and Joseph Shabalala), Carter's Way and, most recently, Honest (for First Look). Other plays include The Last Hurrah, Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright (with Jeffrey Hatcher), Edge of the World, Lombardi: The Only Thing and Speak American. His work has been produced in Japan and throughout the United States at theaters including The Huntington Theatre Company, L.A. Theatre Works, City Theatre of Pittsburgh, The Kennedy Center, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Arizona Theatre Company, Madison Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre and Crossroads Theatre Company. His adaptation of Moby Dick at Milwaukee Repertory was chosen as one of Time Magazine's top ten productions of 2002. Eric is also an accomplished theatre, film and opera director. His production of Steppenwolf's The Song of Jacob Zulu received six Tony® Award nominations, including one for best direction. He received the 2006 Academy Award for his documentary short A Note of Triumph, as well as the 2005 Princess Grace Statue Award for sustained artistic achievement. His adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five (originally produced at Steppenwolf) recently received its Off-Broadway premiere at New York's 59E59 Theater.
The American Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski. Under the music direction of Leon Botstein since 1992, the American Symphony has pioneered the performance of thematically organized concerts, linking music to the visual arts, literature, politics, and history. In addition, the American Symphony Orchestra performs in a lecture/concert series with audience interaction called Classics Declassified at Peter Norton Symphony Space. It is also the resident orchestra of the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, where it performs an annual concert series as well as in Bard's annual SummerScape Festival and the Bard Music Festival. ASO maintains an award-winning music education program which is presented at numerous high schools through New York, New Jersey, and Long Island. Among the American Symphony's recent recordings are music by Copland, Sessions, Perle, and Rands for New World Records, and music of Ernst von Dohnányi for Bridge Records. Its recording of Richard Strauss's opera Die ägyptische Helena with Deborah Voigt and of Strauss's Die Liebe der Danae were made for Telarc. Other recordings with Leon Botstein include Franz Schubert: Orchestrated on the Koch International label, with works by Joachim, Mottl, and Webern, and, on the Vanguard Classics label, Johannes Brahms's Serenade No. 1 in D major, Op. 11 (1860). The American Symphony inaugurated São Paolo's new concert hall and has made several tours of Asia and Europe. It has performed with the Peer Gynt Theater Company of Norway in Central Park, and has a long history of appearing in charitable and public benefits for such organizations as Sha'are Zedek Hospital, the Jerusalem Foundation, and PBS. The American Symphony Orchestra has had an illustrious history of music directors and guest conductors. Succeeding Leopold Stokowski, who directed the Orchestra from 1962 to 1972, were Kazuyoshi Akiyama (1973-1978), Sergiu Comissiona (1978-1982), Moshe Atzmon and Guiseppe Patane (co-directors 1982-1984), John Mauceri (1985-1987), and Catherine Comet (1990-1992). Notable guest conductors have included Leonard Bernstein, Karl Böhm, Aaron Copland, Morton Gould, Aram Khachaturian, James Levine, André Previn, Yehudi Menuhin, James de Priest, Gunther Schuller, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Sir William Walton.
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS FOR THE CHORALE'S 2009-10 SEASON
For season subscriptions please contact The Chorale office at 646.202.9623 or visit www.collegiatechorale.org.
CHORAL CLASSIC
Israel in Egypt at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 8pm
Music by George F. Handel
featuring
Sari Gruber, soprano
Brian Asawa, alto
Rufus Muller, tenor
The American Symphony Orchestra
James Bagwell, Conductor
Monday, February 22, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
RED BULL THEATER BURNING
A reading of a play is a strange thing. It must be clear, moving, emotional, funny, powerful, understandable, interesting, convincing, etc, using words alone, and usually not that many rehearsals. No stage design, no sets, no costumes, no body language, no weeks of rehearsal... neither to deepen the actors' understanding of the play and the character, nor to help the audience understand the play and enjoy the eye candy of great sets and costumes.
Burning, Burning, Burning, Burning by David Bar Katz managed to be funny, and powerfully moving, just on the strength of words alone in a reading at the Red Bull Theater. It is a meditation on ways that humans react when assaulted by unspeakable horror committed by fellow humans. And it's funny. But not at the end.
Burning, Burning, Burning, Burning by David Bar Katz managed to be funny, and powerfully moving, just on the strength of words alone in a reading at the Red Bull Theater. It is a meditation on ways that humans react when assaulted by unspeakable horror committed by fellow humans. And it's funny. But not at the end.
The acting, by Eric Bogosian and the entire cast, was excellent.
The story takes place during a time of horrible and repeated pogroms against Jews by their neighbors, when one member of the Jewish community returns after having been convinced that the Messiah has come and will save them all. The play is specific to its place and time (Poland 1666) and community and situation. But the subject -- how victims of sustained violence, massacres and atrocities against their ethnic, religious, racial, political, class or economic community deal with their situation -- is universal.
Red Bull Theater is currently developing a production of Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, which opens Feb 23. (See below for a description.)
Very interestingly, in conjunction with this play, they have scheduled readings of other versions of the story of the Duchess (The Red Bull Theater has a very active program of play readings):
Monday March 15th, 7:30pm
THE STEWARD OF THE DUCHESS OF AMALFI
by Lope de Vega
A lyrical, haunting tragedy of tortured desire, class conflict and revenge - written a few years after Webster's version.
newly translated by Álvaro Mendoza
Directed by Michael John Garcés
Featuring Zabryna Guevara and Alfredo Narciso
Post-play Bull Session
Monday March 22nd, 7:30pm
BRECHT’S DUCHESS OF MALFI
Adapted by Bertolt Brecht and W.H. Auden
Brecht’s version of Webster’s masterpiece for a 1946 Broadway production intensifies the original’s dark undercurrents.
Directed by Ian Strasfogel
Featuring Francesca Faridany
Post-play Bull Session
Here's a little more information from Red Bull about their production of Webster's Duchess of Malfi:
Very interestingly, in conjunction with this play, they have scheduled readings of other versions of the story of the Duchess (The Red Bull Theater has a very active program of play readings):
Monday March 15th, 7:30pm
THE STEWARD OF THE DUCHESS OF AMALFI
by Lope de Vega
A lyrical, haunting tragedy of tortured desire, class conflict and revenge - written a few years after Webster's version.
newly translated by Álvaro Mendoza
Directed by Michael John Garcés
Featuring Zabryna Guevara and Alfredo Narciso
Post-play Bull Session
Monday March 22nd, 7:30pm
BRECHT’S DUCHESS OF MALFI
Adapted by Bertolt Brecht and W.H. Auden
Brecht’s version of Webster’s masterpiece for a 1946 Broadway production intensifies the original’s dark undercurrents.
Directed by Ian Strasfogel
Featuring Francesca Faridany
Post-play Bull Session
Here's a little more information from Red Bull about their production of Webster's Duchess of Malfi:
THE DUCHESS OF MALFI
BY JOHN WEBSTER
DIRECTED BY JESSE BERGER
ABOUT THE PLAY
A great romance turns to horror as the Duchess of Malfi seeks true love in a world of forbidden passions. A play for our time as much as its own, John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi examines sexual repression, honor, class, and the true value of the human spirit, in this explosive drama of Italian intrigue. Red Bull Theater’s production is the first Off Broadway revival of this Jacobean masterpiece in over 50 years.
CAST
Heidi Armbruster, Jason C. Brown, Clark Carmichael, Keith Hamilton Cobb, Matthew Greer, Carol Halstead, Eric Hoffmann, Patrick Page, Matthew Rauch, Christina Rouner, Gareth Saxe, and Haynes Thigpen.
PRODUCTION
Designs by Beowulf Boritt, Emily DeCola, Jared B. Leese, Nathan Leigh, Erin Kennedy Lunsford, Jason Lyons, Sèan McArdle, and Jessica Scott. Casting by Stuart Howard, Music by Scott Killian, Voice and Speech by Shane Ann Younts, Choreography by Tracy Bersley and Stage Violence by J. David Brimmer. Stage Manager: Rebecca C. Monroe. General Manager: Lisa Dozier. Publicist: David Gersten & Associates. Directed by Jesse Berger.
A great romance turns to horror as the Duchess of Malfi seeks true love in a world of forbidden passions. A play for our time as much as its own, John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi examines sexual repression, honor, class, and the true value of the human spirit, in this explosive drama of Italian intrigue. Red Bull Theater’s production is the first Off Broadway revival of this Jacobean masterpiece in over 50 years.
CAST
Heidi Armbruster, Jason C. Brown, Clark Carmichael, Keith Hamilton Cobb, Matthew Greer, Carol Halstead, Eric Hoffmann, Patrick Page, Matthew Rauch, Christina Rouner, Gareth Saxe, and Haynes Thigpen.
PRODUCTION
Designs by Beowulf Boritt, Emily DeCola, Jared B. Leese, Nathan Leigh, Erin Kennedy Lunsford, Jason Lyons, Sèan McArdle, and Jessica Scott. Casting by Stuart Howard, Music by Scott Killian, Voice and Speech by Shane Ann Younts, Choreography by Tracy Bersley and Stage Violence by J. David Brimmer. Stage Manager: Rebecca C. Monroe. General Manager: Lisa Dozier. Publicist: David Gersten & Associates. Directed by Jesse Berger.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
MANIGMA
at the opening night party of MANIGMA
at the Clurman Theater on Theater Row
Michael Aronov is a terrific actor, bringing energy, humor and a distinctive personality to each of the characters he portrays in his one-man show, Manigma, currently playing (for just a few more days! scheduled to close on Feb 6) at the Clurman Theater on Theater Row (West 42nd Street in New York).
There will be no spoilers here. I won't even tell you what "manigma" means. And I urge you not to look it up until after the show. For the evening is full of surprises as each character's monolog provides a different perspective, all illuminating the essence of manigma. Better to let the evening come at you.
I will mention that Aronov has had many awards, and distinguished leading roles, including Dionysus in The Bacchae, where his portrayal infused his own sense of the masculine and feminine duality of the Greek god into the performance.
Manigma is being produced by a young and strong team including Jonathan Blitstein (whose film, Let Them Chirp Awhile -- The Movie , has just become available on Netflix) and Jennifer Makholm, a playwright and actress, as well as producer; her play "Faith in Humanity" is part of "The Required Reading Series," first readings of new plays. (Note: Originally scheduled for Jan-Mar, the Reading Series has been postponed and is being rescheduled.)
After you've seen the show (!) here's the meaning of "manigma:" http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Manigma
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
JUDE LAW AS HAMLET (& WATSON)
Jude Law is a terrific Hamlet.
He is clear, understandable, and looks just right.
Before I saw the show (the Donmar Warehouse production of Shakespeare's Hamlet, directed by Michael Grandage), I was skeptical of casting Jude Law as Hamlet: I've sometimes found him underwhelming in films; yet, he is a movie star. So I was afraid he might look wrong: too old, too movie-star-ish; and sound wrong: not have the vocal charisma to carry the role.
It was exactly the opposite.
Although he is six feet tall, he somehow looks young and small, at least compared to the "broad-framed" Kevin R. McNally who was cast as his uncle Claudius, the new king. So he seemed appropriate physically. And vocally he was commanding and completely understandable.
By the way, although Hamlet is said to be away at University, so we might think of him as quite young -- in his twenties or younger -- the Gravedigger says that Yorick has "lain in the earth three and twenty years," and Hamlet says he " knew him... a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times." Let's say Hamlet was 6 when Yorick died, give or take three years, that would make Hamlet somewhere between 26 and 32. So, in fact, a thirty-something actor is at an appropriate age to play this part.
The production as a whole is quite excellent. One of the clearest, simplest and most straightforward I've ever seen. I had only a few small problems with it. I was mystified by the reason for having the Player King and Ghost of Hamlet's father played by the same actor. It confused the meaning of the ghost (and the play), and added nothing. Also, I found the physical relationship between Ophelia and Hamlet weak. Especially since this version seemed strong (verbally) in describing their relationship: Though Polonius (but not Hamlet or Gertrude) feared that Ophelia was too much a "commoner" to be an acceptable queen for Hamlet, both Hamlet and Gertrude thought Ophelia and Hamlet had loved each other (before Hamlet left for the University). Gertrude thought they would marry. Yet, somehow, Hamlet never behaved with Ophelia convincingly as his one-time love, and Ophelia never behaved like a potential queen.
Despite these two minor issues, I enjoyed the play, and came out of this production with a much clearer understanding and appreciation of it. All in all, Jude Law and the director, Michael Grandage, and the whole Donmar company, created an especially well thought out and played presentation of this most difficult yet brilliant play.
Jude Law has a number of films currently in the pipeline. I'm looking forward to seeing him as Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes:
in "Sherlock Holmes".
Photo by Alex Bailey from WARNER BROS.
Guy Ritchie's casting, with Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock, and Jude Law as Watson, is certainly revisionist casting, after the "standard" films with a lean Basil Rathbone as Sherlock and a portly Nigel Bruce as Watson.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
STELLAR CHARADES AT LABYRINTH THEATER BENEFIT
The Seventh Annual Benefit for the LAByrinth Theater Company features a stellar collection of celebrities scheduled to appear and compete in CELEBRITY CHARADES! "(all subject to continuing availability)" ... including Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Ortiz, Cupid himself (Bobby Cannavale), and not just one, but TWO Julias: Julia Stiles (now appearing on Bway in Mamet's Oleanna) and Julia Roberts.
Julia Stiles
Now in Oleanna
Is scheduled to compete in Celebrity Charades
Photo by Eric Roffman
(Taken at the Tribeca Film Festival)
Here's the announcement:
Artistic Directors Stephen Adly Guirgis,
Mimi O'Donnell, Yul Vázquez
and the Board of Directors of
THE LABYRINTH THEATER COMPANY
invite you to the seventh annual benefit featuring
CELEBRITY CHARADES
JACKPOT!
MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2009
VIP COCKTAILS
The 2009 Dave Hoghe Award
will be presented to
Time Warner Inc.
THE LIVE AUCTION
with John Patrick Shanley
Bid for our priceless packages,
including a chance to play Charades
with the stars and
CELEBRITY CHARADES!
with referee Eric Bogosian
PLAYERS WILL INCLUDE:
Ian Astbury
Bob Balaban
Bobby Cannavale
Erika Christensen
Tom Colicchio
Billy Crudup
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Padma Lakshmi
Jesse L. Martin
Christopher Meloni
John Ortiz
Julia Roberts
Sam Rockwell
Cynthia Rowley
Daphne Rubin-Vega
Julia Stiles
Justin Theroux
Yul Vázquez
David Zayas
(all subject to continuing availability)
Watch four celebrity teams bluff and bust
in a fearsome, hilarious no-limit charades tournament!
Be sure to check out the CHARADES WEBISODES
featuring our favorite celebrities as they try
their damnedest to find out the secret location
of this year's Celebrity Charades©.
More player announcements to come and
information at www.LABtheater.org
To Purchase Tables and Tickets
CALL (212) 513-1082
or
E-MAIL charades@LABtheater.org
THE HOUSE - $15,000
· Premium Table (seats 10) at
the VIP Cocktails and Celebrity Charades
· front page program credit,
press release and website acknowledgement*
· LAByrinth artist guest at table (optional)
**Very limited availability**
$14,000 is a tax-deductible
contribution to LAByrinth
THE PIT BOSS - $10,000
· Priority Table (seats 10)
at the VIP Cocktails and
Celebrity Charades
· program credit and website
acknowledgement*
· LAByrinth artist guest at table (optional)
$9,000 is a tax-deductible
contribution to LAByrinth
VIP - $1,100
· Priority table seating for 1
for VIP Cocktails and Celebrity Charades
$1,000 is a tax-deductible
contribution to LAByrinth
WINNERS' CIRCLE - $2,000
· Pedestal Table (seats 4) for
VIP Cocktails and Celebrity Charades
$1,800 is a tax-deductible
contribution to LAByrinth
CARD SHARK - $750
· Theater seating for 4 at
Celebrity Charades
$700 is a tax-deductible
contribution to LAByrinth
RAILBIRDS - $250
· Theater seating for 1 at
Celebrity Charades
$200 is a tax-deductible
contribution to LAByrinth
BANKROLL:
I cannot attend, but would like to
stake LAByrinth with a tax-deductible
contribution of $__________
*To appear in the program, names
must be received by Wednesday,
November 25
To Purchase Tables and Tickets
CALL (212) 513-1082
or
E-MAIL charades@LABtheater.org
or visit
https://secure.labtheater.org/charades.php
Now in Oleanna
Is scheduled to compete in Celebrity Charades
Photo by Eric Roffman
(Taken at the Tribeca Film Festival)
Here's the announcement:
Mimi O'Donnell, Yul Vázquez
and the Board of Directors of
THE LABYRINTH THEATER COMPANY
invite you to the seventh annual benefit featuring
CELEBRITY CHARADES
JACKPOT!
MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2009
VIP COCKTAILS
The 2009 Dave Hoghe Award
will be presented to
Time Warner Inc.
THE LIVE AUCTION
with John Patrick Shanley
Bid for our priceless packages,
including a chance to play Charades
with the stars and
CELEBRITY CHARADES!
with referee Eric Bogosian
PLAYERS WILL INCLUDE:
Ian Astbury
Bob Balaban
Bobby Cannavale
Erika Christensen
Tom Colicchio
Billy Crudup
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Padma Lakshmi
Jesse L. Martin
Christopher Meloni
John Ortiz
Julia Roberts
Sam Rockwell
Cynthia Rowley
Daphne Rubin-Vega
Julia Stiles
Justin Theroux
Yul Vázquez
David Zayas
(all subject to continuing availability)
Watch four celebrity teams bluff and bust
in a fearsome, hilarious no-limit charades tournament!
Be sure to check out the CHARADES WEBISODES
featuring our favorite celebrities as they try
their damnedest to find out the secret location
of this year's Celebrity Charades©.
More player announcements to come and
information at www.LABtheater.org
To Purchase Tables and Tickets
CALL (212) 513-1082
or
E-MAIL charades@LABtheater.org
THE HOUSE - $15,000
· Premium Table (seats 10) at
the VIP Cocktails and Celebrity Charades
· front page program credit,
press release and website acknowledgement*
· LAByrinth artist guest at table (optional)
**Very limited availability**
$14,000 is a tax-deductible
contribution to LAByrinth
THE PIT BOSS - $10,000
· Priority Table (seats 10)
at the VIP Cocktails and
Celebrity Charades
· program credit and website
acknowledgement*
· LAByrinth artist guest at table (optional)
$9,000 is a tax-deductible
contribution to LAByrinth
VIP - $1,100
· Priority table seating for 1
for VIP Cocktails and Celebrity Charades
$1,000 is a tax-deductible
contribution to LAByrinth
WINNERS' CIRCLE - $2,000
· Pedestal Table (seats 4) for
VIP Cocktails and Celebrity Charades
$1,800 is a tax-deductible
contribution to LAByrinth
CARD SHARK - $750
· Theater seating for 4 at
Celebrity Charades
$700 is a tax-deductible
contribution to LAByrinth
RAILBIRDS - $250
· Theater seating for 1 at
Celebrity Charades
$200 is a tax-deductible
contribution to LAByrinth
BANKROLL:
I cannot attend, but would like to
stake LAByrinth with a tax-deductible
contribution of $__________
*To appear in the program, names
must be received by Wednesday,
November 25
To Purchase Tables and Tickets
CALL (212) 513-1082
or
E-MAIL charades@LABtheater.org
or visit
https://secure.labtheater.org/charades.php
INSTANT THEATER
As part of LAByrinth Theater Company's exemplary Master Class Program, an incredibly diverse group of 16 ACTOR-DIRECTOR-WRITER-PRODUCERs (yes, quadri-hyphenates all) were challenged last Monday (11/9) to write, rehearse, produce and PUT ON LIVE FOR A LIVE AUDIENCE a REAL THEATRICAL EVENT! before next Monday (11/16 -- yep, that's 7 days).
The show will be Sunday evening (11/15) 8:00 PM
at 31-08 Northern Boulevard in Long Island City FREE with refreshments & discussion with the artists to follow.
LAByrinth Theater Company Master Class November 2009 Presents:
Elegies, etc...
Scenes from a funeral parlor
Sunday Nov. 15th at 8pm
3108 Northern Blvd.
Long Island City
[closest subway: N or W to 39th Ave.]
Entrance is FREE, refreshments, a sumptuous Portuguese dinner and discussion with the artists will follow. Running time: approx. 45 minutes.
In a series of vignettes, the performance explores with introspection, wit and humor our reactions and relation to death and loss: why do we mourn and for whom? In ELEGIES, ETC… the parlor becomes the space where the heroes open their hearts in ways they never have before, proving that, indeed, funerals are for the living.
As part of a class project, the 16 young dynamic artists of the LAByrinth Theater Master class joined forces to create this performance from scratch in less than a week. This is your opportunity to watch passionate art in the making!
Written by: Ernio Hernandez, Geoff Schuppert and Jonathan Blitstein.
Directed and performed by the Ensemble: Anastasia Morsucci, Brandon Scott Hughes, Danielle DeVito, Aktina Stathaki, Eric Roffman, Giovanni Sanseviero, Greg Seel, Jack Barley, Katie Van Rensalier, Mia Mountain, Rachael Richman, Sara Kubida, Soraya Butler, Ernio Hernandez, Geoff Schuppert, Jonathan Blitstein
Produced by the Ensemble.
Poster Design by Katie Van Rensalier
Check the Facebook Group The LAByrinth Theater Master Class 2009 for more info.
at 31-08 Northern Boulevard in Long Island City
Watch this space for more news (Bookmark this address!)!!
LAByrinth Theater Company assembled for this Master Class a diverse team: Each member falls somewhere differently in the actor-director-writer-producer (artist, musician) spectrum, tho' all are challenged to contribute to any and all specialties, especially not their own.
Athletic ability ranges from near couch-potato to near super-athlete; experience and age range from younger and recently in college to older and taught in college; employers range from steak houses to gourmet restaurants to colleges to self-employed to unemployed; ethnicities and nationalities range all over the place; talent and enthusiasm range from very high to very high!
Here's the "official" announcement:
LAByrinth Theater Company Master Class November 2009 Presents:
Elegies, etc...
Scenes from a funeral parlor
Sunday Nov. 15th at 8pm
3108 Northern Blvd.
Long Island City
[closest subway: N or W to 39th Ave.]
Entrance is FREE, refreshments, a sumptuous Portuguese dinner and discussion with the artists will follow. Running time: approx. 45 minutes.
In a series of vignettes, the performance explores with introspection, wit and humor our reactions and relation to death and loss: why do we mourn and for whom? In ELEGIES, ETC… the parlor becomes the space where the heroes open their hearts in ways they never have before, proving that, indeed, funerals are for the living.
As part of a class project, the 16 young dynamic artists of the LAByrinth Theater Master class joined forces to create this performance from scratch in less than a week. This is your opportunity to watch passionate art in the making!
Written by: Ernio Hernandez, Geoff Schuppert and Jonathan Blitstein.
Directed and performed by the Ensemble: Anastasia Morsucci, Brandon Scott Hughes, Danielle DeVito, Aktina Stathaki, Eric Roffman, Giovanni Sanseviero, Greg Seel, Jack Barley, Katie Van Rensalier, Mia Mountain, Rachael Richman, Sara Kubida, Soraya Butler, Ernio Hernandez, Geoff Schuppert, Jonathan Blitstein
Produced by the Ensemble.
Poster Design by Katie Van Rensalier
Check the Facebook Group The LAByrinth Theater Master Class 2009 for more info.
Monday, November 9, 2009
FREE FOR ALL
Free For All is a truly great book.
It's extremely interesting and well written, with fascinating recollections of the foundation and development of The Public Theater (and the arts of producing, directing, and acting, as well as fundraising and theater construction) from Joe Papp and actors, directors, and lots of others that worked with him. The interviews were conducted long ago, but only recently was Kenneth Turan given the release to go ahead with publication.
At the "Free For All" Book Party
Photo by Eric Roffman
It should be the reading of choice for anyone interested in theater...
And required reading for:
- Anyone interested in producing for the theater
- Entrepreneurs
- Anyone involved with a cultural non-profit
- Anyone involved in public policy
- Business schools
- Acting and theater schools
- Actors, directors and producers
- Literature and drama classes
- Historians of New York in the late 20th century
- Everyone else
(Seriously, it has important contributions to all these areas of study... and more. And I hope that the original tapes/transcripts, etc will be donated to a museum, library or university because they will also be invaluable to future scholars -- in all these disciplines above... and more!)
Papp and The Public Theater were pioneers in developing experimental and off-Broadway theater, developing an American tradition of playing Shakespeare, and developing non-traditional casting.
(My own opinion is that this would be a great time to develop a new, vigorous, new-theater movement. Of course, there's currently lots and lots of theater in New York -- a truly amazing amount of theater -- but I haven't seen it breakout into a new aesthetic. This book gives some clues as to how one emerges.)
The book is filled with interesting gems. Here's theater critic Clive Barnes on how Papp believed in keeping The Public alive:
Clive Barnes: "Joe has always understood the necessity of expansion -- not the desirability of expansion but the actual necessity... An arts organization is a living organism..."
The Public Theater was sufficiently well established by Joe Papp that it survived its founding Director. (Something that's not that easy to accomplish.) The current Artistic Director (Papp, of course, was Everything Director), Oskar Eustis, is leading The Public in a rich and expanding program of activities very much in the spirit of the institution that Papp established.
Current Artistic Director of the Public Theater
At the "Free For All" Book Party
Thursday, October 29, 2009
FREE PLAY READINGS FROM LABYRINTH THEATER
Free and almost free theater of the highest quality is rampant in NY right now... at EST (aka The Ensemble Studio Theater), RED BULL & LAByrinth Theater (among others). Here's a report from the LAByrinth Theater:
It's the last day of the Barn Series (readings of new American plays), and the start of Live Nude Plays. (Not physically nude, I think, rather philosophically undressed... These are informal readings without stage dressing.)
BARN:
FRIDAY:
CYNTHIA AND THE DREADFUL KITE
Book and Lyrics by Webb Wilcoxen
Music by Jonathan Comisar
Directed by Jill DeArmon
FeaturingCarlo Alban*J. Eric CookDanelle EliavCharles Goforth*Jinn S. KimJamie Klassel*Kelley Rae O'Donnell*Aaron Roman Weiner*
Someone has struck down Cynthia Schmidt's most cherished possession ... her kite. Now she is making something not-so-nice.
Friday, October 30th - 8PM
"Everything exists in Webb. His heart is big and colorful and compassionate without being afraid of real things - and his plays are like that. He can show you how two of the biggest human motivators - fear and envy - make their home in the human heart in slow, smoothe and winding ways - the way water moves on land, the fish inside it and the fog above it."-- Andrea Ciannavei, LAByrinth Company Member
LIVE NUDE PLAYS 2009
BEAUTIFUL - October 31 - 9:30 PM
Written by David Anzuelo
Directed by Louis Moreno
An art-dealing Lucifer is on an industrial rock-fueled killing spree and only a phone-sex addicted descendant of Job can stop him: it's New York City 1994 - where everyone came to get f*cked!
HANDBALL - November 1 - 6:30 PM
Written by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld
Directed by Terry Kinney
A handball court on a hot summer day sets a handful of characters off into explosive drama. Old time neighborhood beefs, young love and real estate are the combustible elements at hand as nine characters find their way through the changing labyrinthine landscape of a neighborhood in NYC.
girl in window - November 1 - 9:30 PM
Written by Florencia Lozano
Directed by Pedro Pascal
love doesn't just stink, it sucks a**, and the people who help you get out from under the wreckage when your heart is busted open.
THE HALAL BROTHERS - November 2 - 6:30 PM
Written by Alladin Ullah
Director Liesl Tommy
When Two Bengali brothers- one unable to tell his sibling about his black girlfriend at city college and the other desperate to succeed in order to provide for family back home, try to keep afloat during the turbulent day of Malcolm X's assasination.
THE TALK - November 2 - 9:30 PM
Written by Frank Pugliese
Directed by Fisher Stevens
Four brothers come home for their mother's funeral, to find a past they never knew of, and the words to comprehend it.
NEUROTICA - November 3 - 6:30 PM
Written by David Deblinger
Directed by Padraic Lillis
Neurotica is about how someone we find so f*cking sexy and hot can also bring up sh*t about loneliness and rage and fear that can tempt fate with death ... or just the opposite. A dark comedy on love, with song and rap.
FREQUENTLY UNASKED QUESTIONS - November 3 - 9:30 PM
Written by Daphne Rubin-Vega
Directed by John Gould Rubin
Its a play! And a concert! The life and music of DRV are completely intertwined. In
FUQ's, she explores the life of her mother who immigrated from Panama and the
resulting consequences of her choices.
It's the last day of the Barn Series (readings of new American plays), and the start of Live Nude Plays. (Not physically nude, I think, rather philosophically undressed... These are informal readings without stage dressing.)
BARN:
FRIDAY:
CYNTHIA AND THE DREADFUL KITE
Book and Lyrics by Webb Wilcoxen
Music by Jonathan Comisar
Directed by Jill DeArmon
FeaturingCarlo Alban*J. Eric CookDanelle EliavCharles Goforth*Jinn S. KimJamie Klassel*Kelley Rae O'Donnell*Aaron Roman Weiner*
Someone has struck down Cynthia Schmidt's most cherished possession ... her kite. Now she is making something not-so-nice.
Friday, October 30th - 8PM
"Everything exists in Webb. His heart is big and colorful and compassionate without being afraid of real things - and his plays are like that. He can show you how two of the biggest human motivators - fear and envy - make their home in the human heart in slow, smoothe and winding ways - the way water moves on land, the fish inside it and the fog above it."-- Andrea Ciannavei, LAByrinth Company Member
LIVE NUDE PLAYS 2009
BEAUTIFUL - October 31 - 9:30 PM
Written by David Anzuelo
Directed by Louis Moreno
An art-dealing Lucifer is on an industrial rock-fueled killing spree and only a phone-sex addicted descendant of Job can stop him: it's New York City 1994 - where everyone came to get f*cked!
HANDBALL - November 1 - 6:30 PM
Written by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld
Directed by Terry Kinney
A handball court on a hot summer day sets a handful of characters off into explosive drama. Old time neighborhood beefs, young love and real estate are the combustible elements at hand as nine characters find their way through the changing labyrinthine landscape of a neighborhood in NYC.
girl in window - November 1 - 9:30 PM
Written by Florencia Lozano
Directed by Pedro Pascal
love doesn't just stink, it sucks a**, and the people who help you get out from under the wreckage when your heart is busted open.
THE HALAL BROTHERS - November 2 - 6:30 PM
Written by Alladin Ullah
Director Liesl Tommy
When Two Bengali brothers- one unable to tell his sibling about his black girlfriend at city college and the other desperate to succeed in order to provide for family back home, try to keep afloat during the turbulent day of Malcolm X's assasination.
THE TALK - November 2 - 9:30 PM
Written by Frank Pugliese
Directed by Fisher Stevens
Four brothers come home for their mother's funeral, to find a past they never knew of, and the words to comprehend it.
NEUROTICA - November 3 - 6:30 PM
Written by David Deblinger
Directed by Padraic Lillis
Neurotica is about how someone we find so f*cking sexy and hot can also bring up sh*t about loneliness and rage and fear that can tempt fate with death ... or just the opposite. A dark comedy on love, with song and rap.
FREQUENTLY UNASKED QUESTIONS - November 3 - 9:30 PM
Written by Daphne Rubin-Vega
Directed by John Gould Rubin
Its a play! And a concert! The life and music of DRV are completely intertwined. In
FUQ's, she explores the life of her mother who immigrated from Panama and the
resulting consequences of her choices.
EST OCTOBERFEST
Free and almost free theater of the highest quality is rampant in NY right now... at EST (aka The Ensemble Studio Theater), RED BULL & LAByrinth Theater (among others). Here's a report from EST:
Final Three Weekends for Octoberfest 2009!
We've passed the halfway point of this five-week festival of works in progress from EST Members, but there are still fifteen days left of readings, comedy and cabaret.
Over 65 performances left! Check the full schedule.
All tickets are free, though a $10 donation to support the work in progress is suggested. Reservations are recommended! Save your seats by calling 212-247-4982 or emailing boxoffice@ensemblestudiotheatre.org.
Want to get an insider look at the festival? Check out the EST YouTube page for interviews with the artists involved.
This Week's Schedule:
Thursday, Oct 29
7pm: Trade by Michelle Remsen* on the 2nd Floor
7pm: Doesn't Anyone Know What a Pancreas Is? by Carole Real* on the 6th Floor
8pm: A Story About a Girl by Jacquelyn Reingold* on the 2nd Floor
Friday, Oct 30
7pm: Desert Island Days by Emily Chadick Weiss on the 2nd Floor
7pm: Ghost Party: A Cabaret by Megg Farrell on the 6th Floor - VIDEO!
8pm: Murph by Bill Bozzone* on the 6th Floor
9pm: Ofest After Hours: New Plays on the 6th Floor, Drinks on EST!
Three new short plays by Elizabeth Diggs*, Maria Gabriele*
and Lloyd Suh*... plus drinks on us!
Saturday, Oct 31 - Halloween!
2pm: A Story About a Girl by Jacquelyn Reingold* on the 2nd Floor
2pm: St. Helena by Holli Harms* on the 6th Floor
4pm: Trade by Michelle Remsen* on the 2nd Floor
4pm: Doesn't Anyone Know What a Pancreas Is? by Carole Real* on the 6th Floor
7pm: Desert Island Days by Emily Chadick Weiss on the 2nd Floor
7pm: Ghost Party: A Cabaret by Megg Farrell on the 6th Floor - VIDEO!
8pm: Murph by Bill Bozzone* on the 6th Floor
Sunday, Nov 1
2pm: Time Will Tell by Kristen Lowman* on the 6th Floor
5pm: Famous: A Hollywood Musical by Yvonne Adrian* on the 2nd Floor
7pm: Time on His Hands by Kristen Lowman* on the 2nd Floor
7pm: Flight by Kent Alexander* on the 6th Floor
Monday, Nov 2
7pm: Famous: A Hollywood Musical by Yvonne Adrian* on the 2nd Floor
7pm: Flight by Kent Alexander* on the 6th Floor
8pm: The Cooperative Extension-Apple Pruning Workshop by Grace Woodard*
on the 6th Floor
Wednesday, Nov 4
7pm: Gustie Returns by Jane Wheeler* on the 2nd Floor
8pm: The Cooperative Extension-Apple Pruning Workshop by Grace
Woodard* on the 6th Floor
* denotes EST member
Final Three Weekends for Octoberfest 2009!
We've passed the halfway point of this five-week festival of works in progress from EST Members, but there are still fifteen days left of readings, comedy and cabaret.
Over 65 performances left! Check the full schedule.
All tickets are free, though a $10 donation to support the work in progress is suggested. Reservations are recommended! Save your seats by calling 212-247-4982 or emailing boxoffice@ensemblestudiotheatre.org.
Want to get an insider look at the festival? Check out the EST YouTube page for interviews with the artists involved.
This Week's Schedule:
Thursday, Oct 29
7pm: Trade by Michelle Remsen* on the 2nd Floor
7pm: Doesn't Anyone Know What a Pancreas Is? by Carole Real* on the 6th Floor
8pm: A Story About a Girl by Jacquelyn Reingold* on the 2nd Floor
Friday, Oct 30
7pm: Desert Island Days by Emily Chadick Weiss on the 2nd Floor
7pm: Ghost Party: A Cabaret by Megg Farrell on the 6th Floor - VIDEO!
8pm: Murph by Bill Bozzone* on the 6th Floor
9pm: Ofest After Hours: New Plays on the 6th Floor, Drinks on EST!
Three new short plays by Elizabeth Diggs*, Maria Gabriele*
and Lloyd Suh*... plus drinks on us!
Saturday, Oct 31 - Halloween!
2pm: A Story About a Girl by Jacquelyn Reingold* on the 2nd Floor
2pm: St. Helena by Holli Harms* on the 6th Floor
4pm: Trade by Michelle Remsen* on the 2nd Floor
4pm: Doesn't Anyone Know What a Pancreas Is? by Carole Real* on the 6th Floor
7pm: Desert Island Days by Emily Chadick Weiss on the 2nd Floor
7pm: Ghost Party: A Cabaret by Megg Farrell on the 6th Floor - VIDEO!
8pm: Murph by Bill Bozzone* on the 6th Floor
Sunday, Nov 1
2pm: Time Will Tell by Kristen Lowman* on the 6th Floor
5pm: Famous: A Hollywood Musical by Yvonne Adrian* on the 2nd Floor
7pm: Time on His Hands by Kristen Lowman* on the 2nd Floor
7pm: Flight by Kent Alexander* on the 6th Floor
Monday, Nov 2
7pm: Famous: A Hollywood Musical by Yvonne Adrian* on the 2nd Floor
7pm: Flight by Kent Alexander* on the 6th Floor
8pm: The Cooperative Extension-Apple Pruning Workshop by Grace Woodard*
on the 6th Floor
Wednesday, Nov 4
7pm: Gustie Returns by Jane Wheeler* on the 2nd Floor
8pm: The Cooperative Extension-Apple Pruning Workshop by Grace
Woodard* on the 6th Floor
* denotes EST member
Sunday, October 4, 2009
OTHELLO
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Iago in OTHELLO
Photo by Armin Bardel
The LAByrinth production of Othello, (here's the text) directed by Peter Sellars, with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Iago, John Ortiz as Othello and Jessica Chastain as Desdemona, is a feast for students and directors of Shakespeare, but quite skimpy on the delivery of emotion, especially in (what is usually) the cataclysmic conclusion.
There are many strange features in this production, some of which help illuminate the richness of the play, some of which confuse the audience and dissipate the power of the story and some of which actually do both.
Peter Sellars, of course, is best known for opera productions which have a reputation for quirky originality.
The first striking feature of the production is the slow pace at which the actors speak. This allows an audience unused to Shakespearean language to understand and process far more than is ever possible when the actors (as Hamlet suggested) speak their words trippingly on the tongue. Audience members (and actors) are allowed to savor and appreciate the poetry and the words.
For audiences used to the rhythms of modern films, and more interested in the experience than the details, however, this rich but 4 hour long presentation can seem plodding and tedious.
A second feature of the production is that Desdemona's father Brabantio is cut out of the play, characters are combined, and suddenly the characters pull out cell phones and start talking to each other across the room and on microphones. This gets the play off to a shaky start (not to mention the fact that the sound system seemed to be flaky for a while the night I saw the show). People new to the play, and those who know the play by heart are equally able to be confused about who is who and why they say what they say, at the beginning. (Not surprisingly, the appearance of the cell phones provoked some not very supportive laughter from the audience.)
The play is set (mostly) in a military base in Cyprus. This provides a universal, timeless environment in which to enact the tragedy.
However, Sellars does not seem to take this setting seriously. Hoffman, with a pot belly, and casual clothes, never in uniform, is vocally a great Iago, but physically impossible to imagine as a candidate for Othello's next in command. Other characters are in and out of uniform, and the set design does not evoke a military base, except fleetingly.
In most productions, Desdemona is a problem: The relation between Othello and Desdemona (O & D) is vapid and unconvincing. Here, Desdemona is a strong, though naive character. And there is a lot of physical communication between Othello and Desdemona. They kiss a lot, and lie next to each other a lot. This is a big improvement over most productions. Yet it still seems like puppy love. Because of the open set design, the other characters can freely observe Desdemona and Othello making out on a super-modern, stylized electronic bed. But what they see and what we see is not what Iago describes to Brabantio, Desdemona's father:
IAGO: Even now, now, very now, an old black ram
Is topping your white ewe.
This -- if taken to be an accurate representation of the O & D affair -- suggests that any glimpses we see of their physical relationship should be torrid passion, not innocent necking.
(If, in Sellars version, the intention is for Iago to be misleading Brabantio about the nature of Othello's affair, and the relation between Desdemona and Othello is intended to be depicted as almost High-Schoolish, then it takes away much of the urgency of the whole play. Note -- Since Brabantio is not in this production at all, I was a little confused at the time these lines were delivered, and it is hard to remember how these lines were used in this production.)
It was Sellars intention to create an Othello for the Obama generation. Sellars seems to consider most productions of Othello as demeaning to blacks in general and Othello in particular. It seems to have been Toni Morrison who changed his mind about the play (see the video interviews -- click on see all!)
In assessing the treatment of Othello in the play, realize that here is a black man, in white Europe, hailed as a great soldier, loved by a beautiful white woman for his character, having sex with her (and possibly other women), marrying her despite some objection by her father, and commissioned for an important military expedition. This is in a play written more than 400 years ago. How many modern plays, TV shows or movies treat a black character in an interratial sexual/romantic relationship and interratial career, with such importance?
Othello, the man, the general, is not a puppet for a simple anti-black propaganda play; he should be taken seriously by the director, the audience and the world. He is a great man and a terrible killer. And his interratial marriage is at the center of the play. The play is about the reaction of all the characters to Othello, his position, and his beautiful wife.
So I think it is a mistake, even in accentuating other aspects of the play, as Sellars does brilliantly, to minimize the importance of the basic thread. The relation -- the interracial relation -- between Othello and Desdemona should not be minimized. Indeed it should be maximized to the extent of exhibiting a physically provocative -- rather than timid -- passion. (In the "pre-Obama world" a black man would not be shown coupling with a beautiful white woman. The "post-Obama world" should portray these people as they are created in the play.)
Generally speaking, the casting of a Latino as Othello, and a black man as Cassio, and a big black woman as a combination of characters, does support Sellars stated ambition of making the play more about universal issues, and less about a stupid, credulous, murderous black man than is perhaps (he believes) usually the case. Liza Colón-Zayas as Emilia, Iago's wife, excellently carries Sellars' idea of how her character's silence is as important as Iago's deception in deluding Othello, and how her courage in revealing the deception unwinds the plot. (However, casting Philip and Liza as a couple is dubious; they are not convincing as a married couple.)
Indeed Sellars' essay and video interviews about the production are extremely interesting. He did accomplish what he set out to do. But, as so often happens, it is what he did not do and did not focus on and therefore did not do, that cause the weaknesses in the production.
It is at the end that the play has the greatest and strangest lapses:
1-- The classic line:
OTHELLO: Put out the light, and then put out the light
is not matched with any action that makes sense of the line. Othello is walking in meaningless circles around the bed.
2 -- The stylized electronic bed does not allow or evoke the emotions raised by the lines:
DESDEMONA: Prithee, tonight
Lay on my bed my wedding sheets: remember;
The wedding sheets, which should carry enormous emotional power, are missing from the bed, and can not deliver the message they should carry to Othello (and to the audience).
3 -- And finally, Ortiz simply does not produce the physical or vocal strength necessary to convey the powerful emotions that would illuminate this twisting of Othello from lover to killer and then convey the cosmic remorse that suddenly erupts when he realizes what horror he has committed; how he has been deceived, betrayed and destroyed.
So, all in all, I enjoyed this production and learned much from it, but did not exit from the theater emotionally devastated!
This is only the beginning of the "Othello Project," for Peter Sellars. According to the notes distributed at the theater, Sellars and Toni Morrison are discussing a prequel to Othello, called "Desdemona," starting from the stories that Othello told Desdemona so that she fell in love with him. And Sellars is planning to return to Othello as well as Toni Morrison's "Desdemona," in part with the idea of developing a film. This project should be exceptionally illuminating to all those who love Shakespeare.
In addition, on Sunday October 4, there will be a free panel discussion about Othello:
OTHELLO DISCUSSION EVENT
FREE OTHELLO DISCUSSION SUNDAY October 4:
"Is It Possible?": Othello in the Age of Obama
Luis Argueta, documentary filmmaker;
Mary Schmidt Campbell, Dean of Tisch School of the Arts;
Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx; and
Carmen Peláez, playwright and actress.
Moderated by Dr. Avery T. Willis, who has collaborated with Peter Sellars as an assistant director and dramaturg since 2006.
OTHELLO Sunday Speakers Series
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 3:00-4:00PM
General Admission Lobby opens at 2:15PM
NYU Skirball Center
566 LaGuardia Place & Washington Square South
Here are some interesting links:
WEB VIDEO -- James Earl Jones -- Othello's Testimony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJybA1emr_g&feature=related
Kenneth Branagh's version:
Paul Robeson as Othello & Uta Hagen as Desdemona:
Monday, September 7, 2009
NEW TERM AT HB STUDIO
The new term at HB studio starts today (sic; yes; Labor Day -- Lo-o-ong tradition of ignoring Holidays there; hey! actors work on Holidays).
There are many interesting classes:
George Bartenieff is teaching Shakespeare & Classics. George was Cadmus in this summer's production of The Bacchae at Shakespeare in the Park, Chef Max Bugnard, the cooking instructor in Paris in Julie & Julia. And, he's been on 30 Rock!
George Bartenieff
as Cadmus in The Bacchae
with his thyrsus & fawnskin outfit.
Photo by Joan Marcus.
Tracey Jackson, who wrote Confessions of a Shopaholic, is teaching screenwriting. She is a brilliant teacher, and hilarious as well. Take the class for her riffs, not just to learn how to write screenplays and deal with the real life of a screenwriter.
Anne Jackson (r) with Jerry Stiller, Eli Wallach and Anne Meara
at last year's benefit honoring Stiller & Meara.
Photo by Eric Roffman.
Distinguished actresses Anne Jackson and Louise Lasser and actor/director Austin Pendelton each teach courses for advanced actors.
There's a class this year reviewing Greek, Roman and other early plays.
Tony award winning director Jack Hofsiss is teaching a directing class as well as a career development class.
In addition to classes (in acting, speech, singing, movement, writing, and directing, etc) , there is a company of actors that regularly present plays in the theater next door. Coming up is Horton Foote's The Chase (see below **) with the HB Ensemble, including Catherine Kjome, one of my favorite actresses.
The faculty is excellent. They are all working actors (or working directors or writers or ...) Many of the faculty trace their careers back directly to Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghoff (or one generation behind, to teachers who studied with UH and HB) . The school is very serious about acting... or rather, not acting, but being real on stage.
There are classes for young 'uns too.
A la carte selection of classes is possible. There are day and evening classes. A full time program is also available. They cater to foreign students. Some classes are designed for advanced students with a required audition. Most classes are available to students at all levels, including beginners, with no prerequisites or audition required. Auditing a class before taking it is allowed and, in fact, encouraged. HB Studio is also one of the least expensive acting progams around, as well as one of the best, most professional, and most comprehensive. Many famous and successful actors have studied at HB.
Each year HB presents a benefit dinner. Last year Stiller & Meara were honored in a great evening. This year the dinner -- on November 9th -- will celebrate Horton Foote, in honor of Herbert Berghof's 100th birthday. (The Chase is being performed in conjunction with this celebration.)
HB is at 120 Bank Street. For information about classes, the benefit, the plays, or anything else... check their website: http://www.hbstudio.org/
(**The Chase, by Horton Foote opens September 13th and runs for 16 performances. For reservations call 212-989-7856 beginning August 31st. If you want to come to this, don't delay as tickets are free and will go quickly!
"The Chase" originally opened in New York in 1952, but it is still current. This HB Ensemble project was initiated a year ago. Horton Foote died this past March, so with this production we get to celebrate his life and his longtime collaboration with Herbert Berghof.
Horton Foote wrote the films "Tender Mercies," and "The Trip to Bountiful," as well as many, many important plays.)
There are many interesting classes:
George Bartenieff is teaching Shakespeare & Classics. George was Cadmus in this summer's production of The Bacchae at Shakespeare in the Park, Chef Max Bugnard, the cooking instructor in Paris in Julie & Julia. And, he's been on 30 Rock!
as Cadmus in The Bacchae
with his thyrsus & fawnskin outfit.
Photo by Joan Marcus.
Tracey Jackson, who wrote Confessions of a Shopaholic, is teaching screenwriting. She is a brilliant teacher, and hilarious as well. Take the class for her riffs, not just to learn how to write screenplays and deal with the real life of a screenwriter.
at last year's benefit honoring Stiller & Meara.
Photo by Eric Roffman.
Distinguished actresses Anne Jackson and Louise Lasser and actor/director Austin Pendelton each teach courses for advanced actors.
There's a class this year reviewing Greek, Roman and other early plays.
Tony award winning director Jack Hofsiss is teaching a directing class as well as a career development class.
In addition to classes (in acting, speech, singing, movement, writing, and directing, etc) , there is a company of actors that regularly present plays in the theater next door. Coming up is Horton Foote's The Chase (see below **) with the HB Ensemble, including Catherine Kjome, one of my favorite actresses.
The faculty is excellent. They are all working actors (or working directors or writers or ...) Many of the faculty trace their careers back directly to Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghoff (or one generation behind, to teachers who studied with UH and HB) . The school is very serious about acting... or rather, not acting, but being real on stage.
There are classes for young 'uns too.
A la carte selection of classes is possible. There are day and evening classes. A full time program is also available. They cater to foreign students. Some classes are designed for advanced students with a required audition. Most classes are available to students at all levels, including beginners, with no prerequisites or audition required. Auditing a class before taking it is allowed and, in fact, encouraged. HB Studio is also one of the least expensive acting progams around, as well as one of the best, most professional, and most comprehensive. Many famous and successful actors have studied at HB.
Each year HB presents a benefit dinner. Last year Stiller & Meara were honored in a great evening. This year the dinner -- on November 9th -- will celebrate Horton Foote, in honor of Herbert Berghof's 100th birthday. (The Chase is being performed in conjunction with this celebration.)
HB is at 120 Bank Street. For information about classes, the benefit, the plays, or anything else... check their website: http://www.hbstudio.org/
(**The Chase, by Horton Foote opens September 13th and runs for 16 performances. For reservations call 212-989-7856 beginning August 31st. If you want to come to this, don't delay as tickets are free and will go quickly!
"The Chase" originally opened in New York in 1952, but it is still current. This HB Ensemble project was initiated a year ago. Horton Foote died this past March, so with this production we get to celebrate his life and his longtime collaboration with Herbert Berghof.
Horton Foote wrote the films "Tender Mercies," and "The Trip to Bountiful," as well as many, many important plays.)
Monday, August 24, 2009
THE BACCHAE -- AT SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK
in The Bacchae
Photo by Joan Marcus
There’s a terrific production of The Bacchae (Βάκχαι), by Euripides’ (Εὐριπίδης), one of the greatest plays in all classic Greek theater, and indeed all theater, now at Shakespeare in the Park. Anyone with an interest in theater, Greek theater, or, generally, any theater which, remarkably, is as fresh now as if it had just been written, should see this version (playing just till Aug 30). It’s also outdoors, which is a rare connection these days with the ancient performances.
Greek gods often represented personalizations of archetypal human behavior or natural phenomena, or both. They were kind of living metaphors for strong, sometimes complex ideas.
Because the gods were archetypes, respect for the gods meant being respectful of the true nature of man and the power of nature. (Note 1 (disclaimer): This is one point of view. In one sentence. Many whole books have been written about the attitudes of Greeks to their gods.) (Note 2 (somewhat contrary view): See below: JoAnne Akalaitis, the director, takes a different point of view on the relation between the gods and men.)
Greek Gods did not exist a priori, they were created as myths, and the myths were refined by people, especially writers, and in the days of Greek theater, especially playwrights.
The story of Dionysus (aka Bacchus) and the Bacchae – the women followers of Bacchus – as described by Euripides was a combination of his invention with myths and history that were known to the Greeks. Each author that translated or adapted Euripides’ text and every director that staged the play since it was written added their own creative invention.
(Note: In a story about the National Theater of Scotland’s production of The Bacchae at Lincoln Center last year, I discussed in detail some of the alternative approaches to The Bacchae.)
Euripides’ version alludes to many themes associated with the myth of Bacchus:
THEME 1 -- It was a relatively new religion that swept in from the East.
This theme has echoes now in our modern world, where the western world is being tested by fervent promoters of a religion which is coming from the East.
THEME 2 -- Alcohol liberates the spirit, provides comfort – but also can provoke fighting.
This can be amplified to a basic cycle: a spirit of liberation, supported by forces of moderation; which is opposed by a repressive regime; and then there is an element which associates itself with the pacifist spirit, but which is violent.
This duality was certainly a part of the spirit of 1968-69 – the 40th anniversary of which we are celebrating now. It is epitomized by the journey from Woodstock (a festival of peace and love and mud) to Altamont (where, as described in Wikipedia, a member of the audience at a Rolling Stones Concert – one of whose anthems was “Sympathy for the Devil" -- was killed by a member of the Hell’s Angel’s). Or by the journey from the "summer of love" to the Manson murders.
Liberation:
Directed by Brian De Palma & Richard Schechner, US, 1970;
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Richard Schechner
The liberation of the 60’s and its tie to the myth of Bacchus was expressed in the version of this play known as
in Hair
Photo by Joan Marcus
It was also expressed (with Pot more than booze as the liberating drug of choice) by Hair.
Interestingly, a terrific production of Hair is currently playing on Broadway, where it was transferred after originating at Shakespeare in the Park last summer. Hair (especially the first act) could almost be an interpretation of the spirit of the Bacchic revelers in the present age.
in Hair
Photo by Joan Marcus
It is also interesting – and more than a coincidence I would think – that the current version of The Bacchae, now playing in Shakespeare in the Park features Jonathan Groff as Bacchus. He also played Claude in last year’s Hair at The Park, and also is part of Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock, about the festival.
The current version takes note of, but does not show (much less enjoy) the spirit of liberation. There is no sex, no nudity, no Bacchants in this production. (The chorus may be Bacchants in name, but they do not participate in any Bacchic revels.) The chorus, which in many productions takes the role of the liberated women, here are purely commentators (which they do in an especially rich fashion, as we comment below). The description of liberated women is – except in the scene with Cadmus & Tiresias (Τειρεσίας), who are sympathetic to the revels – almost entirely in terms of how Dionysus has crazed the women, especially the daughters of Cadmus.
Note: Tiresias is the blind seer. Cadmus is the old, retired legendary king of Thebes who has given his crown to his grandson, Pentheus. His daughters are: Semele, the mother of Dionysus; Agave, the mother of Pentheus; Autonoe and Ino. Dionysus is thus the cousin of Pentheus and also a grandson of Cadmus.
Dionysus claims that his father is Zeus, and therefore he has divine lineage. His mother claimed Zeus was her lover, but neither Cadmus nor his mother’s sisters believed her. This rejection is the primary motivation behind Dionysus' return to Thebes to claim the respect he and his mother were denied. Continued disrespect is the motivation for his revenge.
Revenge / Violence:
This production stresses the theme of revenge. Dionysus comes out angry. The Chorus is fierce. Dionysus gives Pentheus a chance to respect him. When Pentheus does not, Dionysus arranges for Pentheus to be brutally murdered by his own mother.
On one level this is a counter-reaction of violence to repression. On another level, this is the representation (we alluded to before) of the aspect of drink that makes people fight.
Depending on how you view the play, this is
- An expression of the barbarism of a pagan religion,
- Or the realistic depiction of the fury that gods unleash when you do not pay them the respect they require,
- Or the metaphorical description of the consequences of ignoring the reality the god represents.
- (Or just fury -- its a god, no reason needed, see theme 4.)
THEME 3 – Cross dressing
In the course of his revenge Dionysus convinces Pentheus to dress as a woman so that he will not be attacked by the Bacchants.
This is a strange statement on the face of it, since earlier Euripides’ has (at least according to most translations) suggested that men and women were making love among the revelries and, besides, Cadmus and Tiresias had just gone up to join the revelers. The simplest explanation is that Dionysus was lying to Pentheus.
Pentheus expresses reluctance to wear a woman’s clothes, and the reaction the play seems to be looking for is that Pentheus is humiliated by dressing as a woman.
With a smear of red lipstick
in The Bacchae
Photo by Joan Marcus
Bacchus, himself, in myths is portrayed as half-man half-woman. And stage directions in many versions of the play describe Dionysus, when he comes in, as having long blond hair, kind of androgynous. In this production, Dionysus wears just a smear of lipstick.
in Twelfth Night
Photo by Joan Marcus
Some commentators on the play treat the theme of cross dressing as the paramount theme of the play. Indeed the ads for this whole summer’s Shakespeare in the Park stress Cross Dressing: the other play this summer being Twelfth Night, in which Viola (played by Anne Hathaway) dresses as a man.
(Note: Viola dresses as a man to be safe going around in a strange country by herself (aka himself). It was, of course, convenient for Shakespeare to have women dressed as young men, since they were, in fact, being played by young men.)
Neither play seems to make too much of cross dressing in these productions. (It was a much more important part of The Scottish Theater’s version of The Bacchae.) With respect to how cross-dressing illuminates the relation between men and women, they do take almost the same view (that in the world they live in, men are more important) in very different ways (inflating women and deflating men in Shakespeare; mostly mocking women and – perhaps mockingly – almost worshipping hunting and killing as manliness in The Bacchae).
Twelfth Night notes how a woman can be just as manly as a man, when people think she’s a man. It bursts a bubble of assumed superiority for men, and elevates woman to the same level as a man.
The Bacchae, in the person of Agave, boasts how a woman can be just as strong as a man when she is crazed, while Pentheus, dressed as a woman is mocked: Men are strong, women are maddened by Dionysus; when a man is maddened, he is made to play the role of a woman and mocked; a woman can think she is as strong as a man only if she is maddened. In this view, Euripides is quite a misogynist. (Other interpretations of Euripides, stressing the androgynous nature of Dionysus, and the freedom and independence of women in the Dionysian rites, are quite different.)
THEME 4 – Human powerlessness in the face of irrational gods
I had no direct access to the creative team, but the NYT quotes JoAnne Akalaitis, the director, as saying the play is “partly about human powerlessness in the face of irrational gods…” In this interpretation, Dionysus is not even revenging himself, his fury is irrational.
(If one wishes to put this irrationality in context, it could be tied back to the idea that excessive drinking makes one irrational, and to a modern notion that the gods of Greece were pagan gods.)
THE STAGING
There is an additional element in the interpretation of a play, especially a Greek play, and that is how the play is staged.
In the story I referred to above, I discussed the staging of the play last year by The National Theater of Scotland. That staging was notable for its ability to find humor in the text, and for cross-dressing, and for its vivid effects.
in The Bacchae
Photo by Joan Marcus
In addition to being outdoors! (as Greek plays were originally staged), the most notable element of the staging in The Park is the magnificent score by Philip Glass, and the singing, chanting, dancing and appearance of the chorus. It is almost operatic, and is the central element for most of the play. (In the program, Eustis, the Artistic Director of The Public Theater, says the chorus was “almost really the starting point for this entire endeavor.”)
Watching The Bacchae, and listening, I thought back to the last opera I saw: Doctor Atomic, with a score by John Adams. There is something about our times that is bringing a certain musical sensibility, large in scope, concerned with real and mythical events, recent and ancient events, that remind us of the precariousness of our situation, comfortable at home, but threatened by the possibility of imminent cataclysm.
There is a similarity between our times and the times when Euripides wrote The Bacchae – Athens was in grave danger, both militarily, politically, and philosophically, with much of the danger coming from Persia and the East. The Bacchae may be 2,400 years old, but it is a modern play, and this is a timely production.
(Note: It has little to do with rest of this article, but I just wanted to note that these are extraordinary photos by Joan Marcus. These are not only great shots, but they show the extraordinary concentration and the incredible life that is going on with every one of the characters shown in the pictures. They are a great tribute both to the productions, and to the photographer.)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
NOISES OFF FROM THE SHAKESPEARE THEATRE OF NEW JERSEY
Noises Off
By Michael Frayn
Directed by Paul Mullins
Noises Off is one of the funniest plays ever written... or, more accurately, ever staged, since it is not just the words but the physical actions that are hilarious. It is classic farce.
"Noises Off (British for off-stage commotion that can be heard by the audience), by Michael Frayn pulls back the curtain on a third-rate troupe of actors performing the sex-farce Nothing On, where backstage romance, slamming doors, missing actors and a plate of sardines lead to hilarious chaos."
Photo: ©Gerry Goodstein.
There's a new production this summer (with great reviews from The New York Times & other major papers), directed by Paul Mullins, at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, an independent professional company which is performing this summer at Drew University.
Highlighting the production are a fabulous young English actress, Katie Fabel, the well known American actress, Laila Robins, and Tony Award™ winning actress Harriet Harris.
This summer's home to
Photo by Andrew Murad
Noises Off
By Michael Frayn
Directed by Paul Mullins
By Michael Frayn
Directed by Paul Mullins
August 5 - 30, 2009
F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre
at Drew University
36 Madison Avenue
Madison, NJ 07940
Phone: (973) 408-5600 Fax: (973) 408-5700
Administration: 973-408-3278
Online ticketing: http://www.shakespearenj.org/OnStage/PurchaseTickets-show4.html
Email:BoxOffice@shakespearenj.org
36 Madison Avenue
Madison, NJ 07940
Theatre Notes: The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University is an intimate theatre with 308 seats, excellent sight-lines to the stage and no seat more than 32 feet from the stage. It is fully accessible to people with disabilities -- both audiences and Theatre employees alike, with wheelchair seating in both the orchestra and balcony and an infrared listening system for the hearing impaired.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
STRAWBERRY SEASON... BULL
One of the most interesting competitive short play festivals is here again. The Strawberry Festival, sponsored by the Riant Theater, begins tonight and runs for ten days, when the best play, director, actor and actress will be announced at an awards ceremony.
One of our favorite actresses, Kathleen Wilce-Kaczan, is in TAMING THE BULL (written by C.C. Corry and directed by Rob Anderson), playing Dominique De Wilde, showing Saturday. (See below, series G.)
Here's the schedule for the festival:
STRAWBERRY ONE ACT FESTIVAL
August 13th through August 23, 2009
One of our favorite actresses, Kathleen Wilce-Kaczan, is in TAMING THE BULL (written by C.C. Corry and directed by Rob Anderson), playing Dominique De Wilde, showing Saturday. (See below, series G.)
Here's the schedule for the festival:
STRAWBERRY ONE ACT FESTIVAL
August 13th through August 23, 2009
At The Theatre at St. Clement's,
423 West 46th Street, between 9th Avenue & 10th Avenue
Tickets are $20 for Round 1 when purchased online and $25 when purchased at the Box Office.
Click here for tickets.
Series A
Thursday, August 13th at 7pm
AT NIGHT IN PRAHA
by Steve Capra
The most awful things happen at night in Praha – under German occupation. But the heart is never defeated.
JUMPING THE GUN
by Kyle Overstreet
Falling in love is about timing, or is it?
DREAMING OF A WHITE HOUSE
by Leanna Renee Hieber
When your ex wants you back and the offer is super hot, should you stay or run away?
I DO . . . I GUESS
by Michael Musi
His future arrived before his entrée.
Series B
Thursday, August 13th at 9pm
ANOTHER CHANCE
by Keith R. Higgons
Ultimatums and hangovers seldom go hand in hand.
BUSINESS OR PLEASURE
by Tom Diriwachter
A Spanish lesson at the local Starbucks turns into more than what each player bargained for.
THE CONCRETE WALL
by J. C. Svec
The most difficult time in life is when you say goodbye.
A BROKEN BARBIE
by Ree Merrill
Barbie, broken before shipping.
Series C
Friday, August 14th at 7pm
THE DEBT
by Jerry Della Salla
There is a price to coming home.
MELT INTO THE SUN
by Camilla MaxwellDeath leaves a heartache no one can heal, and love leaves a memory no one can steal.
HOW TO BE CUTE AND BREAK HEARTS
by Tommaso Matelli
Love and fear are good to be laughed at. Especially when they surface to make and break the walls you had.
CHRYSALIS
by Sue Hodara
In the winter of their life together, a husband and wife consider the marital vows they made to each other.
Series D
Friday, August 14th at 9pm
THE BABY
by Susan Kaessinger
A husband runs for cover when his pregnant wife becomes hormonal.
STRAIGHT MEN ARE BITCHES TOO
Written & Directed by Anthony Fusco
Watch what happens when 4 friends reunite at a local gay club in NYC to celebrate a 25th birthday party that turns into SCANDAL. Dirt will be dished tonight.
COMPUBOTS
by Paul Trupia
Isn't technology wonderful?
PRESCRIPTIONS
by Ellen Orchid
House sitting for your shrink can be weird.
Series E
Saturday, August 15th at 5pm
DOUBLE FEAR
by Joseph Lizardi
A couple is suddenly paralyzed by a fear they are afraid to reveal.
DRIVING: A LESSON
by Lucy Gillespie
Do you know who is behind the wheel?
CRIME STOPPERS
by Paul Schmitt
Do you want to be prey or predator?
LOOKING FOR TALIKA
by Von H. Washington
An evening of shared memories turns sour when hidden suspicions erupt in an outpouring of accusations that threaten to destroy what has been considered an ideal relationship.
Series F
Saturday, August 15th at 7pm
JOINING THE PACK
by Will Lenihan
Things heat up when Jack's girl friend comes to his house for dinner to meet his parents.
LIZ AND PAUL
by Jude Hinojosa
Breaking up is hard to do.
GENERAL ADMISSIONS
by Crish Barth
A neurotic couple's lovely night out at the theatre turns into a relationship altering revelation.
INTRODUCTIONS
by Laurence C. Schwartz
An incoming college freshman has her own ideas about female fertility, sex and the future; only to rouse the fear of her peers.
Series G
Saturday, August 15th at 9pm
TAMING THE BULL
by C.C. Corry
A powerful emotional drama depicting the last living moments of a larger than life man and his wish to die at home.
NOVEMBER MOURNING
by Rachel Knowles
When the truth finally comes out, is it really what you want to know?
A TIME IN SOUTH AFRICA
by Ayanna Nichell
A tale of liberation and retribution.
Series H
Sunday, August 16th at 5pm
JUST LIKE YOUR UNCLE AL
by Michael Monasterial
A man reflects on his childhood and the turning point in his life.
UP A RIVER/DOWN THE AISLE
by Jake Lipman
The neurotic girl's guide to scattering ashes and finding the right wedding dress.
I JUST WISH
by Burt Grinstead
Three different people find themselves feeling something we've all felt, alone.
Series I
Sunday, August 16th at 7pm
BIRD WATCHING
by Jeffrey L. Hollman
What else can be seen when bird watching in Central Park?
THE LIFTERS
by Carol Hollenbeck
When two teenage girls rebel, they definitely have a cause.
16 T0NS
by Adam Harlan
A man has a job to do and soon that's what he becomes. The job is all he knows.
STROLLER WARS
by Heather Gault
Two Park Slope couples collide in this hilarious battle of friendship, hypocrisy, and what it means to be a parent.
Series J
Sunday, August 16th at 9pm
DIFFERENTIATION
by Charlotte Rahn-Lee
What's love got to do with it?
BEASTIE BUSTER
by Gretchen O'Halloran
A woman confronts the beasties taking away her independence.
DEUTERANOMALY
by Jessica Fleitman
If you can't see the difference between red and green, how do you know when to stop and when to go?
TURKEY DAY
by E.K. Deutsch
An Arkansas farm family experiences revelation and tragedy on Thanksgiving Day.
The Strawberry One-Acts Festival Semi-Finals Summer 2009
Monday, August 17th and Tuesday, August 18th at 7:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
The best plays from Series A thru J of the competition.
Tickets: $20.00 online. $25.00 at the Box Office.
Call the box office 646-623-3488 after August 16th to see which shows are in the Semi-Finals or check OUR BLOG on our website.
The Strawberry One-Acts Festival The Wild Night Summer 2009
Wednesday, August 19th at 7pm & 9pm
The Artistic Director selects a few plays and gives them one more chance to be in The Finals. Tickets: $20.00 online. $25.00 at the Box Office.
Call the box office 646-623-3488 after August 16th to see which shows are in the Wild Night or check OUR BLOG on our website.
The Strawberry One-Acts Festival Finals Summer 2009
Friday, August 21st at 7pm
The best plays from the Semi-Finals & The Wild Night
Tickets: $25.00 online. $30.00 at the Box Office.
Price includes a reception during intermission.
Call the box office 646-623-3488 after August 19th to see which shows are in the Finals or check OUR BLOG on our website.
The Strawberry One-Acts Festival Awards Ceremony & Performance Summer 2009
Sunday, August 23rd at 1:30 pm
The four best plays from the Finals will perform.
Awards will be given to the Best Play, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor.
Tickets: $25.00 online. $30.00 at the Box Office.
Call the box office 646-623-3488 after August 21st to see which shows are going to be performed or check OUR BLOG on our website.
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