Rude Mech's Lincoln Center Debut

STOP HITTING YOURSELF

A hilariously inventive new show, presented by the Austin, TX's devised theatre group called Rude Mechanicals. I highly recommend checking out their website to read up on the cool things they've done!

http://www.rudemechs.com/

Things I liked:

• Set made of gold, plus a three tier Fountain of Queso!
• Random tap dancing routine 
• Breaking the 4th wall (Actors talk directly to the audience)
• Handing out a $20 bill, then $1 bills for a small challenge like ‘show belly button.’ The challenges got progressively got weirder and weirder, until the audience stop raising their hands
• Close-Open game (where the audience has to ‘close’ their eyes and after 5 seconds will be told to ‘open’ revealing the cast in a new position on stage) 
• A phone placed under an audience member’s chair. When the Queen calls to talk to someone she is in fact talking to an audience member. It’s a riot!)
• Actors standing directly in front of audience revealing a truth about themselves as a person, not the character they are playing
• Linctix prices- 30 & under receive $20 dollar tickets if you sign up for their membership (which is FREE)

Things I didn’t like… (this one’s hard)

• I had a hard time grasping the structure of the piece because it was so different. The narrative was broken up between random songs,dances, and improv games. Rude Mech definitely gambles their success by putting the audience in a very unusual new situation with all the interactive improv games. I saw the show on a Sunday matinee, which is notoriously known for having a lot of blue hairs in the audience. There was a definite sense of skepticism lurking in the air. I was squeezed between a couple of young somethings and I could tell they were enjoying the new structure. 

NYTimes critic, Charles Isherwood, gives the show a 2.5 stars out of 5. He complains that there is no linear story. That is the beauty of this piece. We are always distracted today between, phone, computer, Facebook, work, and so on, why wouldn’t we acknowledge our jumbled lives in the kind of theatre we create today!

What this show did so beautifully was prove to me that devise theatre can be ironic and tasteful and hilarious. I’ve found my generation of theatre makers are very ironic. We are hipsters. But I’ve seen a handful of my gen’s work and it always leaves me feeling unsatisfied and sad. I can’t quite pinpoint why... To some extent it makes fun of what we do (creating art) in a malicious way rather than celebrating it and identifying the problems with how we are positioned in society. Rude Mech has been around for 20 years, so I have a feeling they started out exactly where we are, grappling with how to make art relevant and entertaining.

On a different note:

• Run to Pig Iron's TWELFTH NIGHT at Abrons Arts Center. Only 'til Feb 23rd. During the week the tickets are $30.
• If you're in the biz. Go see STAGE KISS at Playwrights Horizon. It's by one of my favorite playwrights, Sarah Ruhl! They have a deal for 30 and under.
• A brand new Caryl Churchill play called LOVE AND INFORMATION. It's presented by New York Theatre Workshop. You can get $20 tickets on Sunday evening performances if you buy them in advance at the box office. 

Was this a feminist day of art or just art?

Machinal

Rebecca Hall and Michael Cumpsty in Machinal

“It’s (Machinal's) about how chaotic isolation can be.” Michael Cumpsty plays the HUSBAND

This Saturday I saw Machinal at the Roundabout Theatre, for $20 using HIPTIX.  I had never read this play in college, but I remember hearing about it as a historical must-read. Before going, I did a little research: Machinal

* Written by Sophie Treadwell and premiered on B’way in 1928

* Inspired by the real life case of convicted Ruth Synder who killed her husband 

* This is the second time it’s ever been performed on B’way 

* Considered to be Expressionist theatre

The play: How daring of the Roundabout to produce such an avant-garde piece of theatre on Broadway. Hats off to them! This highly stylized work did not feel anachronistic. What’s interesting is I feel like the play had to walk a fine line. The main character played by Rebecca Hall is named Helen. She is the murderer/ the everywoman who could have lived in two different worlds: The VICTIM, where all men and machines are evil or The DEMON, where everyone else besides her is a victim. I believe that Lyndsey Turner, the director, does an amazing job of guiding the audience through Helen’s chaotic world in search of her own human freedom.  

I was really struck by how modern the language sounded even though it was written almost 90 years ago. The topics brought up in the play are so relevant as well: women in the workplace, expectations of childbirth, the justice system and the media. These may sound like broad sweeping brushstrokes of society, but the play is full of the mundane: a panic attack on the subway, washing the dishes, a salesman wanting a Swiss watch. As a modern day 20 something, all of these things resonate with me. 

For a straight show on Broadway, it has a huge ensemble cast of 18 people. That’s wonderful, more jobs for actors! Also it has a range of generations, maybe not as diverse as it could be, but definitely taking baby steps towards the idea. Rebecca Hall, is plain but as she should be. She is sweet, sincere, confused and completely relatable as the every woman.  I think what makes the play so jarring is that everyone is trying to do their best within the confounds of the machine. No one knows better than the system of order they were born into, but when you start to question your unhappiness, like Helen, she dreams of rest. 

I was particularly impressed by the set design: a creatively structured box, that rotates clockwise from scene to scene, as a different place. For example one side was a subway station, the next was office, jumping to a hospital room and it was seamlessly done. Magic. 

Later that Saturday evening, I took advantage of New York’s culture scene and went to the Brooklyn Museum's free first Saturday of the Month. Highly recommend it! The museum is beautiful and is manageably sized. What linked the play to the museum was an exhibit in the feminist wing by a visiting artist named, Wangechi Mutu. She was born in Nairobi, Kenya, but is now based in Brooklyn. Her work combines found materials, magazine cut-outs, painting and photography. She speaks out about gender, race, war, colonization, exoticization of the black female body. At the exhibit, her collage depicted female figures that were part human, animal, plant, and machine, in fantastical landscapes. These creations reminded me of Machinal because they created a mood that was unnerving, shocking and identifiable with a piece of myself within in each work.

Wangechi Mutu (Kenyan, b. 1972). Misguided Little Unforgivable Hierarchies

Links: 

Roundabout Hiptix: http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/Shows-Events/HipTix.aspx

Brooklyn Museum: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/visit/first_saturdays.php

Natasha, Pierre... This title is way too long

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

First off, I think this title is way too long. Try selling it to a friend, “Yes you should go see Natasha, Pierre… Shoot I forget the rest of it, but yea it’s a cool show about War and Peace.” Catch my drift? I never had to read this Tolstoy’s dense novel. BUT, the show, written by Dave Malloy does a good job of clearly explaining the silly Russian love triangle. Here are my thoughts about the play:

 

Likes:

• Creation of ambiance=Impeccable. As the host led me to my table, I was flabbergasted by the awesome decor. The show takes place in a TENT on B’Way. Set designer Mimi Lien transformed the white walls by draping them in red curtains, hanging elaborate Russian paintings, filling the room with tiny tables and  Tiffany lamps and a wrap-around stage that can be viewed from all corners of the tent.
• Costumes had a great steam-punk vibe that I really dug. The cut up corsets, layered gloves, multiple rings, curly cue up dos and beautiful dresses gave me something to admire when the songs were lacking. (Disclaimer: I was frustrated that the opening number I saw a couple of actors fidgeting with their costumes. Maybe this is a pet peeve of mine, but it definitely brought me out of the ‘experience.’)
• Innocence to Magic: I liked the way Rachel Chavkin, director, seamlessly had the actors enter and exit from all sides of the tent. Phillipa Soo never lost the mystical innocence of coming to a new city, Moscow and the imagination of undying love. The help of the set and costume design aided the enchantment of evening

Dislikes:

• Music variety: Overwhelmed by the different types of music used to portray the story of WAR AND PEACE. It ranged from Rock, classical, folk, techno, to absurd ‘ha-has’.
• Passé ensemble members: What the heck were these guys doing in this play? They looked super unenthusiastic and bored to be a part of this show. I mean come on... Friday night, and y’all are doing a B’WAY show in a tent. GET PUMPED!
• Deception by the food and the time: On the internet it looks like you get a meal with the purchase of your extremely overpriced ticket. BUT no, you can purchase perogies for 20 dollars. (Note: You only get 4) Or how about cocktail, straight up Vodka for 16 dollars. I understand you’ve got to pay the crazy amount of employees you have that need to get the orders in the 30 minutes before the start of the show, but this was just a bit obscene. The show was almost 3 hours. (longer) From the time you stand in line around 7:45 to the time you get out 10:50, the show exhausts you, instead of invigorating you.

 

I was excited for some SITE SPECIFIC IMMERSIVE THEATRE but this is really just a DINNER THEATRE in the middle of Times Square. Save your money. Buy some Vladimirs at your local liquor store and go see Marie Antoinette at Soho Rep starring Marin Ireland for some HEIGHTENED PERIOD DRAMA.  (I saw it at Yale Rep, highly recommend it.)
 

Looking forward to seeing:

 
è  The Goddess, Starring my friends Tricia Alexandro, Rick Busser and Michael Kingsbaker

è  SALESMEN: A mediation on Masculinity and American Real!, Featuring my friends Patrick Schied, Hugh Trimble and Nick Smerkanich

è  DANI GIRL by EPBB (YAY free dinner and theatre, cough cough)
 

Shout-outs:

è  Other Desert Cities, Starring lovely Jessica O’Hara-Baker

è  Ms.Bovary, Produced by dear Katie Lindsay

 
è  The Rest of Your Life, Featuring Mackenize Lansing

 

SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE

Kurt Vonnegut's SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE at FringeNYC Encore Series 

 

Shamless self promotion = Can't write a critique about this one... 'cause I'm in it.

Here are some stills from the production: We open tonight at Players Theatre (115 Macdougal Street)

 

Thursday, October 10 @ 7:00 pm

Friday, October 11 @ 7:00 pm

Saturday, October 12 @ 8:00 pm

Saturday, October 12 @ 10:00 pm

Sunday, October 13 @9:00 pm

 

Ticket info: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/927913/1380672321869

 

Meet the cast: http://www.truefalsetheatre.org/2013/09/24/meet-the-cast-of-slaughterhouse-five-off-broadway/

(Quinn Coughlin and Jamie Effros- Eye doctor scene)

(Jamie Effros and Rachel Berger- Honeymoon scene)

(Lena Hudson and Jamie Effros- Learning about Kilagore Trout scene)

 

(Zane Roberts, Christopher Travlos and Quinn Coughlin- Cinderella scene)

(Bruce Bluett- Blue Fairy Godmother scene)

(Jamie Effros, Anni Weisband, Zane Roberts, Rachel Berger and Christopher Travlos- Party scene)

 

(Jamie Effros and Anni Weisband- Montana's pregnant scene)

 

Coming up. I will be seeing NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 next Friday. Looking forward to a Russian Site-Specific Tent Party about the novel War and Peace! The following week, I got my free ticket to see Exit Pursued by Bear's production of DANI GIRL (Synopsis: When Dani, a precocious nine year old, loses her hair to leukemia, she embarks on a magical journey in order to get it back. Simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking, DANI GIRL is a tale of life in the face of death, hope in the face of despair, and the indomitable power of the human imagination.) 

 

 

THE AMORALISTS, it's a cult: a huge theatre company doing huge things

This past weekend I saw The Amoralists’ production of The Cheater’s Club written and directed by Derek Ahonen at Abrons Arts Center (deep into the Lower East Side). Known for their large casts and big team of artists, this theatre company was founded by AMDA grads (American Musical and Dramatic Academy) on November 2006. Their mission statement goes like this:

"The Amoralists are a theatre company that produces work of no moral judgment. Dedicated to an honest expression of the American condition, our ensemble explores complex characters of moral ambiguity, plumbing the depths of the social, political, spiritual and sexual characteristics of human nature. "

My recent introduction to this theatre company was a real pleasant surprise. Impressed by such a full-scale production with backing solely through personal donors and amused that a ticket cost FIFTY DOLLARS!  I was very grateful for the free ticket from my friend who had auditioned for the Amoralists and since they liked him, graced him with two free tickets! Hint: Audition for more theatre companies, which in turn (if you’re good enough) gets you free tickets to their productions.

The Cheater’s Club 

Liked:

 Their ability to make me scared in a live theatre event. This equals success in my eyes. Yes the play is a comedy. Four spouses leave their significant others in order to have a ‘no strings attached’ weekend at a haunted Inn. I was caught in the anticipation of the action. For example wondering where the grim reaper character will appear….

 High quality set design. I really felt like I was at a Broadway production with the level of construction. The two-story Inn had four specific rooms, a hidden down stairs, a trap door, and a detailed bar. And a piano! 

Disliked:

Cinematic elements… I’ll explain myself. The more I think about it, it’s not the set designer’s fault that he needed to focus the audience from the massive plot it was the playwright’s fault. The overwhelming story takes place in a bar, hotel lobby, four different hotel rooms, hotel basement, a graveyard, and an ambiguous theatre. There was too much going on...

 Inconsistency of accents... There were Russian, Irish, Italian, Spanish, New York, Southern and more... I found that the accents being thrown around that weren’t fully realized.  

Mixed feelings:

Shout-outs to my FringeNYC people

• Thoughtful and well crafted direction by Max Reuben of Sheeple
• Seductive and charming acting by Michael Kingsbaker in This is a Play About Artists
• A little birdy told me that Padraic Lillis won best direction for his play Bully. Congrats!
• Amazing directing by Dan Cooley in the production of BANG BANG YOU’RE DEAD
• Malachy Silva played a very convincing crazy man in Strange Rain
• Sweet and beautiful Margy Love killed it in Adventures of Boy and Girl
• The whole production team of Slaughterhouse-Five… looking forward to the extension! Here are the details: www.bit.ly/SH5encore

 Huge shout out to Patrick Scheid for writing his own one- man show on Nietzsche’s Zarathustra called Zara Notes performed at HERE arts center and killing it, plus for sharing his ticket with me!

Coming soon… Mama’s critique of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Women and Their Feet

ANN Review: Three amazing women on their feet!

What a coincidence that the night I go and see ANN, the Democratic Senator from Texas, Wendy Davis becomes a social media sensation by advocating for women’s health filibustering a restrictive abortion bill. Davis was on her feet for 11 hours straight. These are the shoes she wore. 

That same night, Gloria Steinem (American feminist, journalist, social and political advocate) gave a talk back about her relationship with Ann Richards. She also discussed the politics of current women’s rights. I felt so lucky to be in the audience of this historic event. Three Amazing women on their FEET!  

To be honest, I had never heard of Ann Richards before. Who was this woman? Turns out she was a pretty revolutionary lady. Most people consider Ann Richards the first female Governor of Texas, since the legitimate first governor Miriam ‘Ma’ Ferguson is often discounted for being a proxy while her husband, James ‘Pa’ Ferguson was being impeached. During Ann’s time in office, she reformed the Texas prison system, instituted the Texas Lottery system and attempted to make funding more equitable in the Texas school system. She’s most known for her charismatic personality, her care-free sense of humor and her notorious whispy hair-do. 

                                   

                                             Ann Richards                                     Holland Taylor

     

Holland Taylor wrote and created this one woman show about Ann Richards. I believe she successfully gives us a taste of Ann’s personality. Set in present time, Taylor crafts the opening as a graduation speech to an imaginary private college, then seamlessly into her office on the Hill, then to her post-governorship in New York, then back to her direct address to graduating seniors. 

What I liked about ANN:

Holland Taylor’s amazing ability to keep the audience engaged by being purely spontaneous, especially during her scenes when she’s in her ‘on the hill‘ office. She manages to juggle holding an imaginary phone conversation, talk to her secretary (well done voice over by Julie White), ignore the screaming public outside Richard’s window, sign documents on her desk, apply red lipstick, sew the fringe on her Texas flag and CARRY A ONE WOMAN SHOW! She gracefully conquers her Governor duties while doing 10 other things at the same time. 

  

What didn’t work for me:

The first act was way too long. I’ll admit I fell asleep within the first 10 minutes but quickly came back to life once she was in her office (it could have been the New York heat and not Taylor’s acting). Taylor kept establishing that she was playing Ann Richards who was giving a college graduation speech, except it went on and on. I understand the set-up. Direct address immediately engages the audience, breaking the fourth wall, but there was no new information being passed out, so I literally passed out. 

In conclusion, I appreciated that I Holland Taylor didn’t make me feel stupid for not knowing anything about Ann Richards. The well crafted script helped me follow Ann’s career path to becoming governor. Taylor seems to have written a beautiful eulogy to Ann. The final image after Taylor’s bow is a 12 foot portrait of ANN that comes down from the ceiling as Taylor blows Ann kisses of gratitude. Ann’s life was cut short by cancer. I can now add to my list of heroes Wendy Davis, Gloria Steinem, Ann Richards and Holland Taylor. Thank you for the Magic of theatre...

Shout outs:

Michael Kingsbaker's company The Shelter who produced Lily & Kosmo Live about a young girl’s adventure into space told in the style of an old time radio show. 

Kinky Boots: Huge shout out to the fabulous drag queens who carried the show! I give it a solid B. I saw it with my dad in high hopes that it would live up to its TONY for BEST MUSICAL, but, it lacked the heart for me to care about the characters. I still don’t know what was missing, but something was missing...  

All my (solo) ladies... now put your hands UP!

All my (solo) ladies... now put your hands UP!

Did you know that there were/are at least five one woman shows on BROADWAY/OFF-BROADWAY this spring! Why hasn't this been discovery been on the cover of NYTIMES! Viva la feminity in the 21st century theatre. Granted, I don't know how much commerical appeal these ladies have, they sure do have the ability to give some tour de force performances! (I can only speak for Benko and Shaw. Hopefully deals will pop up to be able to review all of these shows!)

Tina Benko in Jackie at the Women's Theatre Project (unfortunately closed March 31st)

Kathryn Hunter in Kafka's Monkey at Baryshnikov Arts Center (short run April 3rd-17th)

Fiona Shaw in Testament of Mary at the Walter Kerr Theater (Now until June 16th)

Bette Midler in I'll Eat You Last at the Booth Theater (Opens April 24th until June 30th)


Holland Taylor in ANN at the Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater (Now until September 1st)

Quick Synopsis:

Jackie is based on the life of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Kafka's Monkey is an adaptation of Franz Kafka's 1917 story, "A Report to an Academy," an allegory of Jewish assimilation.  The Testament of Mary follows Mary's relationship with Jesus (kind of). ANN is a portrait of Ann Richards, the legendary former governor of Texas. I'll Eat You Last is an inside view into the life of casting agent/business manager Sue Mengers. What do all these women have in common?

The common thread is that these women have been SENTENCED TO A LIFE OF PERFORMING.

In Jackie's case, she has to uphold the perfect wife, First Lady image. Through her use of cocaine and feigned smile, she masks her loathing of Kennedy's affair with Monroe. Tina Benko, who plays Jackie, did an amazing job with the slam poetry style of writing. She contorts her body into awkward positions, through the infamous Jackie white glove wave to the wide-eyed cheeky smile, you can tell that 'Jackie' is performing for the American people. 

In Franz Kafka's case, we see a woman dressed up in a suit going from ape-like characteristics to becoming a 'human'. I believe that Baryshnikov Arts Center description sums it up: "This resourceful ape is as desperate and determined as a Beckett tramp, longing for home and freedom yet settling for the dubious comforts and pseudo-freedom of the theater."

In Mary's case, her son is following a path she doesn't deem appropriate. Frustrated by the attention from his followers, Mary tries to avoid the limelight. This is further exemplified by Mary's final declaration to the audience, on her Jesus's death and life,  "It was not worth it." She too had to perform her exaltation for a son she wanted to be just normal. 

In Sue Menger's case, she performs her way to the top of the theatre and film business. She became the talk of the town, using crude language and brash comments to get the best performers to sign with her.

In Ann Richards case, she defies what a typical Governor from Texas should be, by being a Democrat and a Feminist. Held up in a critical public eye, she charms her confederate citizens to vote her into the executive branch of the state government.

In conclusion, these strong-willed, powerful women prove that sometimes we have to perform our way to the top, or sometimes we don't want to be at the top (in the case for Mary) but we wear our masks in order to show devotion to what the public wants: A nuclear American family, A savior, An 'ideal human,' A gossiper and A fighter. I'm proud to be a female artist apart of the Millennial Generation, if we already have 5 one woman shows now, think of what our future holds...



Shout-outs: Not quite solo, but should be highly considered:

Tina Paker in Women of Will and Ruthie Ann Miles in Here Lies Love though they are not "one woman shows" they lean in that direction. Will examines Shakespeare's female characters. Love follows the riseand fall of Filipina First Lady Imelda Marcos, in a dance club setting! 

*** One man shows currently on Broadway: Alan Cumming in Macbeth and Nathan Lane in The Nance