West of Lenin’s Demon Dreams: Folklore and Forgetfulness
Mr. Smith’s handling of the circular narrative is quite refreshing and refuses to become yet another simple story that gives easy answers. The ending even calls into question the entire evening’s storytelling itself. It is a substantial and enjoyable script, aided by six extremely good actors. Matthew Aguayo, Carter Rodriquez, Heather Persinger, Susanna Burney, Chris MacDonald and Sara Peterson give the production their all.
The Argument for On The Boards, Part One
For those who value On the Boards, the title of this essay is redundant; and yet, it is with increasing alarm that I find that the majority of my fellow artists are not attending their productions.
Kidd Pivot’s The Tempest Replica at On the Boards
Kidd Pivot’s founder Crystal Pite has seized the opportunity to put her stamp on Shakespeare’s The Tempest and has crafted a work of jaw-dropping physical intensity and emotional vulnerability.
Superior Donuts: The Kitchen Sink and the Coffee Pot
In these days of billions of Facebook postings and tweets about the most absurd minutiae in a human life, can banality remain banal anymore? Or has all drama simply been reduced to banality? Omar Willey traces the stream of banality back to its fountainhead.
UMO Ensemble’s Maldoror: Absurd Lyricism Envelops The Senses
As with all of UMO’s productions, one particularly needs to forget the brand of kitchen sink realism that is often presented on our stages. Instead, in order to begin appreciating it, what is required is an openness of the senses, an awareness of what’s transpiring onstage, and let meaning appear cumulatively after the fact.
Upstart Crow’s Titus Andronicus: In Which We Learn That Women Can Also Be Vicious
Of Titus Andronicus it is known that it was once one of Billy Shakes’ least produced plays, because it is one of his more visceral, brute-force works. Its metered language is geared toward the barbarity of its story, and contains little of lyrical beauty usually associated with the playwright–that is to say, it is lyrical, but vicious instead of beatific. It is the work of Shakespeare during his crowd pleasing days, its pulpy purpose is to rouse the rabble.
In Loving Memory of Heather Artena Hughes, RIP
Today we mourn the passing of Heather Hughes, a young and vibrant woman, whose life came to an end early Wednesday morning, due to late-stage lung cancer one day before she would have turned 45. She is survived by her son, her fiancee, and her family.
Bardolatry and Its Discontents
Shakespeare is treated with a true idolatry–Bardolatry. Producing groups do not help when they treat audience members like sheep and imply that they need not understand Shakespeare. Theaters are there to pass down the Law. They expect that the barbarians simply arrive at the Church of Theater, convert to the cause of Bardolatry and receive William’s Holy Word like a communion wafer. Whether or not the barbarians understand transubstantiation is immaterial to the purposes of the Church.
Wing-It Productions’ Election Show: The Show Where Everything’s Made Up and the Points Don’t Matter
As I sat in my seat and the tattered giant American flag went up as the backdrop on stage, President Obama left the stage. No, I was not amongst thousands of onlookers in Charlotte, NC, or sitting in front of my TV or computer screen. I was part of the voting public in the audience at an opening night in Seattle, WA.
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