8 posts tagged “theatre”
the parent project opened last night to a full house.
yes, my mommy was there, as were several others moms (and dads) of cast members and directors. well, director.
what an incredibly supportive opening night at the beginning of the culmination of this six-month undertaking. even though the run has just begun, the whole project is nearly done.
come see it if you can.
The first week of rehearsals for "the parent project" is coming to a close. It's been a long week, and I know the journey is just beginning, but at some point, I feel like I regained some energy, that spark I needed to keep me focused and driven. The script is as perceptive, funny and tricky as earlier both hands pieces, but it's also more complex as anything I've ever seen from them, as well as having the additional component of hitting very close to home for many involved.
For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, "the parent project" began last fall, as a weekly series of writing/creation sessions headed by cheryl and tamara, the two hands behind both hands theatre company. Over the course of ten weeks, twenty-five-ish actors, artists and writers generated text and gesture to contribute to the creation of this script. We all participated in this "emotional excavation," telling stories about our families, sharing memories of our parents, exposing our fears, concerns, joys, and thoughts about the things we've learned from our kinfolk, the many ways we live/cope with them, and what we expect from life after they have left us.
As you can imagine, there was lots of laughter and more than a few tears shed.
Those of us in the acting ensemble, who also participated in the creation process, didn't see the final product of this until rehearsals began this week. I can't say what this was like for anyone but me, but it's fairly disconcerting to hear someone describe your mother or your family's dysfunction in your own words, without the knowledge that they are doing so. Good luck keeping a straight face during this.
It's going to be a wild ride.
What we can't get rid of :: Orla Swift's review of "exactly what t(w)o do," both hands' previous show. "the parent project" is mentioned toward the end of the article.
Hot on the heels of my recent post about David Talbert, Mr. Talbert's name turns up again. This time, the writer-director is mentioned in an article on NYTimes.com, The World of Black Theater Becomes Ever Bigger, which argues that the genre is poised to go mainstream.
One interesting tidbit about Talbert is mentioned in regards to his cleaving so closely to the urban theatre formula; he has attempted experiment within the form. From the article, "he once wrote a pure comedy without an inspirational message and was bluntly advised by audience members not to try it again." Perhaps I was a bit too harsh on him in my earlier blog, but my original point still stands, if not more so. It will only be through more experimentation and tinkering with the rigid form of "urban theatre," will these audiences be brought into the wider experience of theatre and be given the push it deserves to then ask more from its entertainment.
But of course, this may still be asking too much; "[Talbert] likens himself to Neil Simon as a playwright who tries to cater to his audience’s wants and tastes rather than hew to some establishment idea of high art."
Still, I would like to see the audiences for these shows clamor for "theatrical distinction," to pursue and demand high art. Theatre, along with all the other art forms, has incredible transformative and uplifting powers, but only if the commitment is made to employ them. I hate to come across as damning entertainment for the sake of entertainment, but the extent to which we are surrounded by messages that no longer inspire us is heartwrenching. Every day we are bombarded with negativity, which generally serves to lower esteem, and at worst, create mass apathy. I think we all deserve more, but we just have to be hungry for it.
Over the weekend I came across an article (Variety.com - Scribe drives urban sprawl) about David E. Talbert, writer-director on the so-called "African-American theatre circuit." The article goes on to later rightfully reference the chitlin circuit, placing Talbert's productions within a context. Talbert, whose name I'd never heard before this weekend, the reason which will soon become obvious, is a prolific writer in the tradition of Tyler Perry.
It's no secret that I have little interest in the stories these writers choose to tell, but I object to their statements (or at least Talbert's, in the article) that Black audiences aren't "in the market" for well-told stories that don't directly reference church, poverty or adultery. I've written before about a statement Perry made on KCRW's The Treatment, where he contradicts himself; he mentions a script he has had in development for quite some time, that is vastly different that the work he's known for. It's set during the Jazz Age and has very little in common with his Madea plays. He feels very strongly about bringing this story to wider audiences, then turns around and says that the audience base he's already built just "isn't ready for it yet." After years of being spoon-fed all this Madea silliness, no wonder!
Here is a quote from Talbert, along a similar thread: "Broadway sells a lot of wonder," he says. "We sell reality."
Reality, Mr. Talbert, is not the narrowly-defined viewpoint you seem to
have about your audiences. Black audiences have always been in search
of "wonder," as you put it. How about adapting some of the hundreds of
African proverbs for your audiences? They are rooted in both a deep
sense of wonder as well as the need to understand the realities of
life. Reality is not all gospel songs and beauty shops. These are
merely elements and settings of everyday life that beg to be given
mythic contexts. Black audiences have imaginations equally vast as any
others. Is this a such surprising, revolutionary thought? It shouldn't
be.
In the past, I have waited with bated breath to discover what has been written about productions I've done. Local papers publish their reviews on Saturday and Wednesday, so those days were usually fraught with anxiety then either elation or indignance. But not this time.
Rarely do I feel a show burrows quite so deep that my performance would be unaffected upon reading reviews. I tend to take most opinions with a rather large grain of salt, so that reading reviews has, at times, enhanced the energy I bring onstage with me. Writers can sometimes highlight points that need to be clarified, or business that could stand to be discarded. They can, at times, be as useful as the watchful eye of an attentive director. None of that applies to The Cherry Orchard, however.
Maybe it's the degree to which I have accepted that I am Trofimov, and the fact that I'm not really fighting it. Understanding his basic judgemental nature allows me to see my own, and recognizing that the existance of that trait in myself is a factor of my having been cast in the role means that I can't achieve a safe distance between myself and the character. I am Trofimov because he is in me. He was created because of people like me. And that's why I'm being chosen to play him.
Additionally, he is caught in a romantic entanglement wherein the person whom he cares most deeply about will never return those feelings, on top of the fact that it's altogether inappropriate for him to express those feelings in the first place. This object of his affection is already caught up in a relationship wherein she is being "robbed blind," as Trofimov states, esentially giving away the love he wishes to have directed at himself.
So yeah, the role is hitting dangerously close to home.
Reading reviews, be they criticisms negative or positive, would only serve to further complicate matters, creating conflicting motivations that would only paralyze me if I try to act on them while onstage. And that's not interesting theatre.
Take a picture of your reflection.
During the final night of Ten by Ten (which was actually an afternoon), I carried my camera around and snuck photos of the cast. One of my roles required me to sit in the green room for a half hour, having latex prosthetics applied to my face, so most of the shots I took before the show began were of my transformation into that character, but once the makeup was finished, I was able to get shots from other backstage vantage points.
The shot I've uploaded here is of the third character I played, in a segment called "The Idiot's Guide to Classical Music," by Doug Reed. In it, I got to play a rather tuneful bellhop who sings his way into a young bride's ... room. La la, indeed.
What did you do this weekend?
I am acting in the fifth edition of Ten by Ten, a festival of ten-minute plays. We opened this weekend, and have seen some really nice audiences for the four nights we ran, so I'm looking forward to more strong houses next weekend.
This is the third year I've done Ten by Ten. I seem to only work the odd years. I acted in a play called "Yes, Mamet" for the inaugural year, and two years ago I acted in three plays in the festival, "Measuring Matthew," "Hating Beckett," and "On the Natural Form."
This year, my plays are "Physics," "Saver," and "The Idiot's Guide to Classical Music." The latter is a sung, or hummed-through piece with no dialogue. It's a lot of fun.
That was the bulk of my weekend; I spent the rest of my time in Durham. Saturday afternon I bummed around Ninth Street, had lunch, coffee, and took it easy. Last night I went with a friend to see a play at Manbites Dog.
For some untold reason, Spielberg's movie about the life of Frank Abagnale, Jr., Catch Me If You Can, is being adapted into a Broadway musical starring Nathan Lane. Lane is playing Hanratty, the role Tom Hanks filled opposite Leo DiCaprio.
According to Playbill, a workshop is planned for August, which will also feature Tom Wopat as Frank Abagnale Sr (Christopher Walken in the movie), and Christine Ebersole as Paula Abagnale.
The story is definitely interesting, and the movie was enjoyable, but I remain confused as to why it has to be a musical.
