Tu parles français or predictions?

MUSIC HALL 

by Jean-Luc Lagarce

The French play MUSIC HALL by Diffractions Theater Company is about the inner life of a vagabond female artist (and her two show boys.) It was written in 1988 and has only been performed in France… until now.

Things I liked:

Subtitles: Thankfully I speak French, but it has been awhile. The ‘sous-titres’ were very easy to follow and weren’t too distracting. I found after a couple of minutes I could easily follow the show because the main actress is American and pronounced all the French lentement (slowly). 

Length: I appreciate that the show was kept to 90 minutes. 

Play’s topic matter: A struggling artist, who always feels mocked and ridiculed… Artists make themselves vulnerable on-stage (or through whatever medium) but it is a universal human emotion. 

Things I didn’t like:

Direct address: It was unclear if the actors were talking directly to the audience or some ‘figurative’ audience, because they never engaged us in conversation. Was the time period now or the 1920s? (Meta? Self aware?)

Structure: Maybe I’m realizing I don’t like absurdist theatre…The actor’s struggle is interesting for 10 minutes, but after while the ‘parfois’ and ‘au début’ got a bit redundant.

Hesitancy: In a small venue you like this, everything is visible. So when an actor does a motion halfway, the audience sees it... 

I’m glad I was able to engage in French culture. Heads up the show is only running this week. 

For more info and tickets visit www.diffractions.org

May 13-17, 2014 | 8pm

Location: Roy Arias Studio - Theater 2

300 W 43rd St, 4th floor

New York, NY 10036

These are my pretty confident Tony Predictions:

Best Musical Revival- Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Best Play Revival- Twelfth Night

Best Play- All the Way

Best New Musical- A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (I guess?…)

Best Actor Musical- Andy Karl in Rocky

Best Actress Musical- Jessie Mueller in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical 

Best Actor Play- Bryan Cranston in All the Way

Best Actress Play- … NO IDEA

Best Direction of Play- John Tiffany, Glass Menagerie

Best Choreography Musical- Steven Hoggett & Kelly Devine, Rocky

i, object

ok. yes. i'm in this. but it's going to be different from anything you've ever seen before. definitely a SHOW YOUR MAMA WOULDN'T KNOW ABOUT...

i, object is a socio-political roving (move around with the performer 'Sleep No More' style) interactive piece. Created and devised by five women; Rachel Berger, Madeline Kolker, Ella Metuki, and Mariella Mosthof and with the specific director's eye by Roxy Schoenfeld.

I've learned so much from our process since we are literally making a piece out of nothing. I've become super conscious of my word choices. I've become more aware of how I define myself and how it changes depending on my setting. I've realized how pertinent our material has become, for example the viral article of the Princeton freshman claiming his 'male privilege'  (http://time.com/85933/why-ill-never-apologize-for-my-white-male-privilege/) to Shailene Woodley using the 'F' word (http://time.com/87967/shailene-woodley-feminism-fault-in-our-stars/).

I'm really proud of the work we've created and I hope to share it with you this weekend. 

What: i (,) object

When: May 9th & 10th 

Time: 8 pm

Where: Prince Street Project Space: 127-B Prince Street, NY NY 10012 (At Prince & Wooster down the steps under Wink)

How to go: More info & buy tickets here! http://iobject.brownpapertickets.com

 Plays on my radar:

- Music Hall by Jean-Luc Lagacre at Roy Arias Studios (Stage 2)  

- Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins at SOHO REP

- Red Eye by Thaddeus Phillips, Jeremy Wilhelm, Geoff Sobelle, David Wilhelm and Sophie Bortolussi with Ean Sheehy for Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental at NYTW

- The Mysteries by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar featuring the BATS at the Flea Theatre