THE BARN SERIES AT LABYRINTH THEATER COMPANY

It's time again for a series of free readings written, acted, and directed by some of New York (and the world's) best.

The LAByrinth Theater Company presents The Barn Series. Here's a list of the plays with their descriptions and reading dates.

The plays are FREE, but THEY SELL OUT! Well, they don't "sell" but you know what I mean. So, come early, or sign up as a LAByrinth LABpass member.

Tickets for all readings in the Barn Series are FREE to the public. No reservations necessary. Free tickets will be distributed an hour before curtain on a first come, first served basis.

LABpass Members can make advance reservations as a benefit of their membership. If you are a LABpass member, please call 212.513.1080 to make your reservation. For information on becoming a member:

http://www.labtheater.org/tickets/labpass.html


THE BARN SERIES
AT THE CHERRY PIT
CHANNEL
by John Jiler
Directed by Brian Roff*
Nov 29 & Dec 9 at 8pm

The illness of a child hurls together a rough-hewn white actor
and an elegant black doctor….with violent, awakening results.

Featuring Charles Goforth*, Ron Cephas Jones*


MARCY COMES HOME
by Adam Bock
Directed by Trip Cullman
Nov 30 at 8pm

When you drive out of town, but then come back on the
Greyhound bus - well, that can be hard.

Featuring Vanessa Aspillaga*, Quincy Tyler Bernstine*, Zack Booth,
Ari Graynor, Jason Butler Harner, Linda Larkin, Maulik Pancholy


IF YOU LOVE ME
by Lyle Kessler
Directed by Lola Glaudini*
Dec 1 & 2 at 8pm

Extremism in the name of love.

Featuring Sam Rockwell*, Elizabeth Rodriguez*, Yul Vazquez*


YOU ARE HERE
by Melissa Ross*
Directed by Mimi O’Donnell*
Dec 3 & 10 at 8pm

In You Are Here, six New Yorkers befriend and brutalize each other in a desperate attempt to control their out of control lives. As they stumble through the dive bars, cramped apartments and cut-throat boardrooms of a ruthless city, they wrestle with the reality of rapidly approaching middle age while still struggling to hold on to their disappearing youth.

Featuring Alexander Alioto, Max Casella, Michael Chernus, Sarah Nina Hayon*, Jennifer Mudge, Amanda Perez


THE BENDS
by Megan Mostyn-Brown*
Directed by Josh Hecht
Dec 4 & 5 at 8pm

When an alcohol fueled reunion between former college friends treads dangerous territory, everyone is forced to ask can we ever out run who we were? or is the past always there to haunt us?

Featuring Jeff Biehl, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Michael Gladis, Sarah Nina Hayon*, Greg Keller, Alexa Scott-Flaherty*


OH, THE POWER
by David Bar Katz*
Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman*
Dec 7 & 8 at 8pm

Ten years after they were forced to disband, a group of superheroes gather for cocktails in a finished basement in the suburbs to try to unravel the mysteries of their final mission.

Featuring Tina Benko, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Jeffrey Horwitz,
Joseph Parks, Ed Vassallo*, Yul Vazquez*


RIVERS OF JANUARY
by Ben Snyder
Directed by Stephen Adly Guirgis*
Dec 11 at 7pm & 9pm

Rio de Janeiro. New Year’s Eve. Three old friends struggle to make peace with the past, get a grasp on the present, and avert a tragic future.


HEAL ME TELEVISION
by Martha Wollner*
Directed by Kevin Geer*
Dec 12 at 7pm & Dec 21 at 8pm

1959. Small town, South. Lawerence Welk's on TV; home made ice cream with your peach cake; communion at home when you' re too sick for church; and a lynchin' just down the road. For goodness sake, don't just stand there gawking! Come on in!

Featuring Elizabeth Canavan*, Scout Cook, Andrea Haring*, Scott Hudson*, Russell G. Jones*, Florencia Lozano*, Kelley Rae O’Donnell*, Richard Petrocelli*, Yolonda Ross*, Finnerty Steeves, Sidney Williams*


THE WALKING GAME
by Daniel Harnett*
Directed by Padraic Lillis*
Dec 13 at 7pm & 9pm

A young man is having trouble holding on to reality and the room he's checked into - in this new musical one act.

Featuring Scout Cook, Kevin Geer*, Charles Goforth*, Marshall Sharer*


UTILITIES
by Jonathan Marc Sherman
Directed by David Bar Katz*
Dec 14 & 15 at 8pm

You should know how to break up with a friend.
You should know what your childhood idols are really like.
You should know what your partner is really feeling.
Shouldn't you? A story about how then became now.

Featuring Didi O’Connell*, Annie Parisse, Yul Vazquez*


NEW SHORT PLAYS
by Israel Horovitz
Directed by Israel Horovitz and Scott Illingworth
Dec 16 & 18 at 8pm

Israel Horovitz's New Shorts include
Just The Way You Are
...(an intervention from hell),
Inconsolable
...(on suicide),
The Vote In Orange
...(on the night France elected a Fascist candidate for the presidency),
Beirut Rocks
...(on the radicalization of an American Arab),
What Strong Fences Make
...(on the radicalization of an Israeli Jew).

Featuring Scout Cook, Jeremy Sisto, Francisco Solorzano


A FAMILY FOR ALL OCCASIONS
by Bob Glaudini*
Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman*
Dec 17 &19 at 8pm

A father without skills, nor the ability to show his feelings, attempts to navigate the demands of a wife with a temper, a wayward daughter, who brings a man home to live,and a son so bright he has trouble communicating.

Featuring Lex Friedman, Craig “muMs” Grant*, Didi O’Connell*,
Charlie Saxton, David Strathairn


THEY KILLED BOO BOO?
by Maggie Bofill*
Directed by Jill DeArmon*
Dec 17 & 18 at 11pm

Sisters, Men, Wolves and Song....and Boo Boo. This is the story of…

Featuring Carlo Alban*, Raul Castillo*, Adam Cohen, Salvatore Inzerillo*,
Angela Lewis*, Paula Pizzi*, Yolonda Ross*


UNTITLED
by Stephen Adly Guirgis*
Dec 20 at 7pm & 9pm



*denotes LAByrinth Company member


All readings take place at THE CHERRY PIT: 155 Bank Street

LABYRINTH HOME
http://www.labtheater.org/

THE BARN SERIES CALENDAR
http://www.labtheater.org/onstage/barnseriescalendar.html

THE LABYRINTH LABpass
http://www.labtheater.org/tickets/labpass.html

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

OTHELLO

John Ortiz as Othello, Jessica Chastain as Desdemona, and
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:

CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR

Aaron Sorkin, the author of The Farnsworth Invention on Broadway, now has an exceptional film in movie theaters.


Charlie Wilson's War is an excellent film about the way that Congress came to back a large, covert CIA operation in Afghanistan, funding the Mujahideen rebels against the Soviets, through the efforts of Congressman Charles Wilson.

Acting by Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks (who actually looks something like Charlie Wilson), and Philip Seymour Hoffman is excellent. The film was written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Mike Nichols, based on a book by George Crile.



It is superb story telling, based on things that really happened: the film takes advantage of the star power of the actors; their skill; Aaron Sorkin's brilliance at writing political drama; Mike Nichols sense of humor; and the fact that Charlie Wilson was both a colorful, drinking, ladies man, and a liberal congressman from Texas.

Politically, the film gently encourages us to root for the Mujahideen against the Russians; and suggests that the withdrawal of the Russians from Afghanistan was a factor in the break-up of Soviet Communism; then, still gently, it reminds us of how the US failure to rebuild Afghanistan after the war helped lead to the rise of the Taliban. It suggests that we must fight one war at a time, but we need to continue to do what is necessary at the end of a war. (This could be taken to suggest that in Iraq we need to stay and rebuild that country. Of course, the current debate is not about whether or not we should successfully rebuild Iraq, but whether our present actions are going to help or hinder that process.)

The film is fun, well made and interesting. It's basically a caper movie, where the caper is secretly funding a war.