Contributed by Doug Strassler
I don’t think it’s any secret that some of the most exciting and innovative theatre going on recently in New York has taken place at the Secret Theatre in Long Island City, the surprisingly accessible performance space that played host to one of the year’s great theatrical triumphs, Mac Rogers’ Honeycomb Trilogy. His three visionary plays – Blast Radius, Advance Man, and Sovereign – all part of Gideon Productions, ran through the first half of the year, but made such an indelible impression that I’ve been talking about them through the second half as well.
The trilogy covers a world upside down, though in ways more metaphorical than literal. I love the way that Rogers uses obviously expert knowledge in sci-fi lore like alien invasions and spaceships to inform more thematic plots about human relationships. Much of the first work dwelled on the bonds between friends and parent and child when tested, and then as the stakes got higher, the greatest relationship was that of brother and sister, played at various stages by Becky Byers, David Rosenblatt, Hanna Cheek and Stephen Heskett. Torn apart by ideology but still bonded by love, the Honeycomb plays used transcended its genre trappings to highlight something far more universal: the ups and downs of family ties.
The theme of family – specifically, how one defines it and who one should remain loyal to also permeates Micheline Auger’s American River, the latest production from the downtown collective Lesser America. Laura Ramadei and Robbie Collier Sublett play lifelong friends who eventually add benefits into the mix. The play, directed by Stephen Brackett, faces a lot of the more hidden, dark corners of the American psyche head-on; both characters have substance abuse issues and loyalty and reliability are neither of the pair’s strong suits. John Patrick Doherty and a hilarious Brendan Spieth completed the never-a-false-move cast, but it’s Ramadei’s searing turn that has stuck out in my mind ever since.
These shows, as disparate as they are, have plenty in common. More than anything, they all put an entertaining face on lost people struggling to find their way. Good thing the companies that mounted these works had their stuff together.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
Burying the Unities for Good: How Agitprop Changed My Life
Contributed by Vincent Marano
In theater, the adjective “life-changing,” is clichéd and often overused. I remember a lot of great performances; Fiona Shaw in Medea, Al Pacino in Salome, Ian McKellan in Amadeus, and great plays: anything by Mac Rogers, August Wilson or Athol Fugard; just fill in your favorite. While inspirational, very few plays or performances caused me to stand at the end of a pier somewhere and stare in to the void, wondering about the worthiness of my talent and the wisdom of my career choice.
However, there is one play that stands out, that changed my view of theater forever, that made me want to write and direct; Emily Mann’s Execution of Justice. I am sure nothing I saw that Wednesday matinee (I called in sick) was terribly original; the epic structure of this play about murders of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone of San Francisco by Dan White, the use of reporters, news clips and TV monitors (two three-story banks of monitors to be exact!) to convey exposition and force the audience into the action. The absurd characters like as a nun-drag queen Sister Boom Boom (played by a young Wesley Snipes) representing the conscious of the homophobic world at the beginning of the AIDS crisis.
Never mind about my outrage over the viability of the Twinkie-Defense, the pyrrhic pointlessness of the assassinations, the suicide-as-coda which deepened the human tragedy even further, it was the deft audience engagement that struck me. Here was a big, complex, hugely entertaining piece that touch me like no other theater experience I had before. It incited and indicted the audience, it leaven the atrocity with irony and gave minor characters a grace that transcended the real events it portrayed.
I thought it was just a trick at first. That Ms. Mann’s theatrical verisimilitude had succeeded in galvanizing my spirit and sense of righteous in much the same way a few drinks and no day job got me to argue over philosophical ephemera until 4 in the morning. Yes, it was political theater, but, it was so much more. Execution of Justice cracked open my soul and allowed me a few minutes to peak in and see what was I missing. Good or ill, I have been searching for it ever since.
In theater, the adjective “life-changing,” is clichéd and often overused. I remember a lot of great performances; Fiona Shaw in Medea, Al Pacino in Salome, Ian McKellan in Amadeus, and great plays: anything by Mac Rogers, August Wilson or Athol Fugard; just fill in your favorite. While inspirational, very few plays or performances caused me to stand at the end of a pier somewhere and stare in to the void, wondering about the worthiness of my talent and the wisdom of my career choice.
However, there is one play that stands out, that changed my view of theater forever, that made me want to write and direct; Emily Mann’s Execution of Justice. I am sure nothing I saw that Wednesday matinee (I called in sick) was terribly original; the epic structure of this play about murders of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone of San Francisco by Dan White, the use of reporters, news clips and TV monitors (two three-story banks of monitors to be exact!) to convey exposition and force the audience into the action. The absurd characters like as a nun-drag queen Sister Boom Boom (played by a young Wesley Snipes) representing the conscious of the homophobic world at the beginning of the AIDS crisis.
Never mind about my outrage over the viability of the Twinkie-Defense, the pyrrhic pointlessness of the assassinations, the suicide-as-coda which deepened the human tragedy even further, it was the deft audience engagement that struck me. Here was a big, complex, hugely entertaining piece that touch me like no other theater experience I had before. It incited and indicted the audience, it leaven the atrocity with irony and gave minor characters a grace that transcended the real events it portrayed.
I thought it was just a trick at first. That Ms. Mann’s theatrical verisimilitude had succeeded in galvanizing my spirit and sense of righteous in much the same way a few drinks and no day job got me to argue over philosophical ephemera until 4 in the morning. Yes, it was political theater, but, it was so much more. Execution of Justice cracked open my soul and allowed me a few minutes to peak in and see what was I missing. Good or ill, I have been searching for it ever since.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
2012: the Year of Evolution
Contributed by Zack Calhoon
For my money, 2012 was the "Year of Evolution." Producing theatre during the Great Recession has caused theatre-makers in the New York Indie Theatre community to evolve both as an artists and producing organizations to survive. Artistic Boards having discovered that their donors could only be contacted so many times led them to seek out newer and more nimble avenues of project funding. Crowdsourcing sites like Indiegogo.com and Kickstarter.com, in less than a year, have become the new normal for budding theatre companies who want to finance their upcoming theatrical productions.
Indie Theatre-makers discovered they needed to also start thinking smarter, instead of larger. Consequently, co-productions and the exploration of alternative venues became a big trend this year. Rising Phoenix Rep produced a play, Elective Affinities by David Adjmi, that utilized a personal residence as a performance space rather than a traditional theatre. One of the most successful examples of a producers thriving in this new business model would be the BFG Collective. Boomerang Theatre, Gideon Productions and Flux Theatre Ensemble decide to combine their producing efforts, Voltron-style, to share the space rental costs and maximize the potential of the Secret Theatre in Long Island City.
In fact, it was Gideon Productions' of Mac Rogers' Honeycomb Trilogy, probably more than any other production that sticks out as one of the highlights of my theatre going experiences this year not only because of its extraordinary storytelling, but also because it couldn't have been possible without the built in infrastructural advantages that the BFG Collective theater companies afforded each other (i.e. a place to store their set between productions, aggressive cross-marketing opportunities, and the creation of a larger interweaving web of theatrical artists crossing each other's paths on a nightly basis at one venue). Because all three plays in the trilogy took place in the same house, they were able to keep modifying and distressing Saundra Yaklin's vividly realistic set from the first production Advance Man all the way to the end. This gave the production a wonderful continuity and expansive quality as the audiences got see how the set decoration evolved over the course of Rogers' epic saga.
I'm very excited to see what 2013 has in store for all of us both as a country and as theatre community. I also eagerly look forward to seeing what my fellow Indie Theatre-makers will be working on in the coming months.
-----------------------------------
Zack Calhoon graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with BFA in Acting. As an actor he has worked with Boomerang Theatre (where he recently played the title role in Hamlet), Flux Theatre Ensemble, Dreamscape Theatre, Milk Can Theatre, Actors Shakespeare Company, Judith Shakespeare, Resonance Ensemble and Nosedive productions. His plays have been performed and developed by the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Boomerang Theatre Co., East 3rd Productions, Living Image Arts, Flux Theatre Ensemble, Oberon Theatre Ensemble, New Mummer Group, On the Square Productions, and Dreamscape Theatre. Playwriting credits: The Weird Sisters (East 3rd Productions, Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s PLAYFEST), Breaking Ranks (New Mummer Group), RINO (Core Creative Productions/Resonance Ensemble production at 2012 Brick Theater Democracy Festival, Resonance Ensemble Play commission) and Paint (Semi-Finalist for 2012 Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Winner of 2010 Georgia Theatre Conference New Play Award, 2010 Semi-Finalist for a Juilliard Playwriting Fellowship). He is currently working on a commission, Friday at Jimmy’s, for Rising Phoenix Rep. He wrote two episodes for the second season for the award-winning web series, Then we got HELP! (www.thenwegothelp.com). He is an Eagle Scout and a member of the Dramatist Guild, Writers Guild of America, East.
For my money, 2012 was the "Year of Evolution." Producing theatre during the Great Recession has caused theatre-makers in the New York Indie Theatre community to evolve both as an artists and producing organizations to survive. Artistic Boards having discovered that their donors could only be contacted so many times led them to seek out newer and more nimble avenues of project funding. Crowdsourcing sites like Indiegogo.com and Kickstarter.com, in less than a year, have become the new normal for budding theatre companies who want to finance their upcoming theatrical productions.
Indie Theatre-makers discovered they needed to also start thinking smarter, instead of larger. Consequently, co-productions and the exploration of alternative venues became a big trend this year. Rising Phoenix Rep produced a play, Elective Affinities by David Adjmi, that utilized a personal residence as a performance space rather than a traditional theatre. One of the most successful examples of a producers thriving in this new business model would be the BFG Collective. Boomerang Theatre, Gideon Productions and Flux Theatre Ensemble decide to combine their producing efforts, Voltron-style, to share the space rental costs and maximize the potential of the Secret Theatre in Long Island City.
In fact, it was Gideon Productions' of Mac Rogers' Honeycomb Trilogy, probably more than any other production that sticks out as one of the highlights of my theatre going experiences this year not only because of its extraordinary storytelling, but also because it couldn't have been possible without the built in infrastructural advantages that the BFG Collective theater companies afforded each other (i.e. a place to store their set between productions, aggressive cross-marketing opportunities, and the creation of a larger interweaving web of theatrical artists crossing each other's paths on a nightly basis at one venue). Because all three plays in the trilogy took place in the same house, they were able to keep modifying and distressing Saundra Yaklin's vividly realistic set from the first production Advance Man all the way to the end. This gave the production a wonderful continuity and expansive quality as the audiences got see how the set decoration evolved over the course of Rogers' epic saga.
I'm very excited to see what 2013 has in store for all of us both as a country and as theatre community. I also eagerly look forward to seeing what my fellow Indie Theatre-makers will be working on in the coming months.
-----------------------------------
Zack Calhoon graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with BFA in Acting. As an actor he has worked with Boomerang Theatre (where he recently played the title role in Hamlet), Flux Theatre Ensemble, Dreamscape Theatre, Milk Can Theatre, Actors Shakespeare Company, Judith Shakespeare, Resonance Ensemble and Nosedive productions. His plays have been performed and developed by the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Boomerang Theatre Co., East 3rd Productions, Living Image Arts, Flux Theatre Ensemble, Oberon Theatre Ensemble, New Mummer Group, On the Square Productions, and Dreamscape Theatre. Playwriting credits: The Weird Sisters (East 3rd Productions, Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s PLAYFEST), Breaking Ranks (New Mummer Group), RINO (Core Creative Productions/Resonance Ensemble production at 2012 Brick Theater Democracy Festival, Resonance Ensemble Play commission) and Paint (Semi-Finalist for 2012 Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Winner of 2010 Georgia Theatre Conference New Play Award, 2010 Semi-Finalist for a Juilliard Playwriting Fellowship). He is currently working on a commission, Friday at Jimmy’s, for Rising Phoenix Rep. He wrote two episodes for the second season for the award-winning web series, Then we got HELP! (www.thenwegothelp.com). He is an Eagle Scout and a member of the Dramatist Guild, Writers Guild of America, East.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
End of Year Wrap Up
In 2012 Indie stages were packed with some amazing
productions with incredible performances, innovative concepts and designs,
surprising accomplishments and interesting trends. We have asked a group of
artists who have been avid OOB audience members this last season to share some
of their favorites and enlighten us about some of the trends and themes that
they saw on the boards.
We are very interested to see their response and share it
with you.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Disaster Relief for the Arts
Indie theatre companies and artists are feeling the adverse effects of Hurricane Sandy. Here are some funding organizations that might be able to offer you some relief.
If you are need of emergency financial assistance due to Sandy, the Gottlieb Foundation offers relief options.
TDF is offering help for Indie Theatres that need office space
The Drama League is offering their office to artists who need to charge electronic devices (520 8th Avenue, Suite 320)
From the Arts & Business Council of New York
With extraordinarily wide-spread destruction in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, grantmakers across the country will be looking to help with the cleanup and rebuilding. Here are some resources to remember:
- As always, for artists, Craft Emergency Relief Fund+ is a great place to start. And their Facebook page is especially worth noting for information coming in as the damage stories unfold.
- Arts Ready is a resource that should be remembered in the wake of this devastating event.
- Center for Disaster Philanthropy has a "Hurricane Sandy Hub" where information is being assembled.
- Likewise from Council on Foundations, has a list of resources
From Fourth Arts Block
- Federal disaster resources will be available to you only if you register at FEMA. Go to www.disasterassistance.gov and register as soon as you have the capacity! [FYI: New York City Arts Coalition is a good resource for arts organizations that have difficulty or questions about registering.] (It is also advisable to take pictures, document any damage, and keep a good record of what you spend post-Sandy.)
- If you work in performing arts and entertainment and need assistance, reach out to The Actors Fund New York Office at 917-281-5936 or The Actors Fund Work Program NYC at 212-354-5480.They have stated their availability to support!
- AIC-CERT responds to the needs of cultural institutions during emergencies and disasters through coordinated efforts with first responders, state agencies, vendors and the public. For 24-hour assistance from trained volunteers, call (202) 661-8068.
- Here is a list of Volunteer opportunities
ART/NY offers some great relief resources
TCG has a good list of Disaster Management Resources
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) has an Emergency Resource page
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
OOB Cancellations & Rescheduling
WE ARE HAPPY THAT MOST THEATRES HAVE HAD POWER RESTORED AND PERFORMANCES ARE NOW RESUMING.
Please make sure to check out the production websites for updated schedules!
Hurricane Sandy has left the city with a crippled public transportation system, power outages and massive damage that will take days, weeks and maybe even months to rectify.
We all know how much work and planning go into getting a production up and on its feet. Something as uncontrollable or as widespread as a hurricane can be devastating to a production. Whether it is canceled rehearsals, tech or actual performances, damage to the theatre, or that the subway shutdown makes if difficult for cast, crew and audience to get to the theatre, the next couple of weeks could be difficult for indie theatre productions.
We will keep a running list of productions that have had to cancel or reschedule performances. Check their websites for more details and please help fill their remaining performances:
PRODUCTIONS
APAC has canceled the following performances of Billy Witch- Thursday, November 1 @ 8p
- Friday, November 2 @ 8p
- Saturday, November 3 @ 2p
Nosedive Productions' performance of The Blood Brothers Present...Reanimated on October 31st has been canceled
Rising Sun's performance of Bug on October 31st has been canceled but they will resume their normal schedule starting 11/1 & have ADDED PERFORMANCES on November 4th
Duo Theatre has canceled the following performances of All About Meat (the Garcias)
- Thursday, November 1 @ 8pm
- Friday, November 2 @ 8pm
- Saturday, November 3 @ 8pm
The New York Neo-Futurists performances of Too Much Light... on 11/1 & 11/2 have been canceled
The Crook Theater Company is OPEN and performances of Macbeth resume 11/3
Tenement Street Workshop is cancelling performances of Rough Approximations until power is restored to the Incubator Arts Project
EBE Ensemble is cancelling performances of Choking the Butterfly until power is restored to PS122
Horse Trade Theater Group has canceled their HT Halloween Party for October 31st
The Midtown International Theatre Festival was postponed but is now scheduled for Sunday, November 11th (more info.)
The Gallery Players has canceled performances of Company through the weekend, but will resume their schedule on November 8th
Theater for the New City has rescheduled their Halloween Costume Ball for November 3rd
The Greek Cultural Center has canceled the following performances of In Laws from Tirana
- Friday, November 2
- Saturday, November 3
- Sunday, November 4
Project Y Theatre Company is postponing their reading of Downward Facing Debbie
God Light Theater is postponing their reading of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Lunar Energy is OPEN and will resume performances of By Rights We Should Be Giants on November 2nd
Parodivas Productions will OPEN as scheduled with performances of Dog Opera beginning November 1st
AliveWire Theatrics is OPEN and resumes performances of You Will Make a Difference on November 2nd
The Bushwick Starr is OPEN and resumes performances of Blood Play on November 1st
The Brick is OPEN and resumes performances of the Yiddish Theater Festival on November 1st
UnitedSolo Festival is OPEN including performances on October 31st
Bedbugs!! The Musical is OPEN and has a performance on October 31st
Rabbit Hole Ensemble's production of Alone is OPEN including a performance on 11/1
Balancin' Productions' production of Follow will resume performances on 11/3 @ 3pm
The Theatre Project is OPEN and resumes performances of Barbicide 11/3 & had added performances on 11/4
Blue Coyote Theater Group is OPEN and resumes performances of Coney 11/3
SPACES & SERVICES
Jimmy's 43 is without power and in need of HELPThe Clement Soto Velez Cultural Center was hard hit and is in need of HELP
Horse Trade Theater Group is without power, but seems to be dry. More details will be forthcoming.
LaMaMa is without power and all performances are canceled until further notice
PS122 is without power and all performances are canceled until further notice
Incubator Arts Project is without power and all performances are canceled until further notice
Judson Memorial Church is closed on October 31st, but will be holding a candlelight vigil
Dixon Place is without power and all performances are canceled until further notice
The Living Theatre is without power, but will have a candlelight performance of Home/Sick November 1st
Galapagos Arts Space is OPEN and resumes performances 11/3
HERE Arts Center has had power restored and will resume performances 11/3
The New Ohio Theatre has had power restored and will resume performances 11/3
The Cherry Lane Theatre has had power restored and will resume performances 11/3
Barrow Street Theatre is now OPEN
Shetler Studios and Theatres are OPEN
The Brick is in good shape and is now OPEN
BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange (Park Slope) is OPEN
The Secret Theatre is OPEN
TKTS is OPEN and selling tickets
Check out NYC Performing Art Spaces' FB Page for information about rehearsal spaces
The Cultural Data Project is up and running
OTHER NYC EVENTS
NYC Halloween Parade is canceled for October 31st, but may be rescheduled for next week.NYC Marathon is canceled and resources will be distributed to Sandy relief
90% of Public Schools to resume classes on November 5th
Updates from Con Edison
Transit Tracker - check here for updated information about NYC public transportation
If you are cancelling or rescheduling performances, please let us know info@nyitawards.com
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