On Theatre and Politics - Matthew Freeman

It is, in fact. A brilliant actor, he is. But yes,...

2012-05-17T14:20:19.585-07:00

It is, in fact. A brilliant actor, he is. But yes, I'm afraid that it's not appropriate for kids.

I'm sorry to hear this about Steve Burns -- Go...

2012-05-17T13:28:53.913-07:00

I'm sorry to hear this about Steve Burns -- Goldie and Billie love Blue's Clues and they'd probably be just a tad too young to enjoy Confess Your Bubble, I'm afraid.

It IS that Steve Burns, yes?

Having filled out all of the 501(c)3 forms, and ta...

2012-05-11T09:34:44.986-07:00

Having filled out all of the 501(c)3 forms, and tax forms, insurance and other legal hurdles over several years ourselves, it's hard to just toss all that night-after-night work and move on.

But, I'm all for more mergers & acquistions in the arts, so hopefully, they can pass along the internal structures and processes of their company to another group of Ps.

That's so cool! Congratulations to both of you...

2012-05-07T07:49:49.650-07:00

That's so cool! Congratulations to both of you, and enjoy the crazy Fringe experience!

=)

2012-05-02T09:36:43.988-07:00

Thanks for reposting this, I missed it the first t...

2012-04-11T09:47:57.382-07:00

Thanks for reposting this, I missed it the first time around. Brilliant! I've had someone try to convince me of the whole you/though move closer/move away thing before; I responded by backing away slowly.

Butler, I love that joke! I always use "circu...

2012-04-11T06:55:25.889-07:00

Butler, I love that joke! I always use "circus clowns" though. That's how Kyle told it to me.

I love jokes! Jokes!

A guy is sitting in a dive bar on the lower east s...

2012-04-11T06:31:10.582-07:00

A guy is sitting in a dive bar on the lower east side, the kind of place that's been there a long time and always had shit beer and shittier service, peanut shells on the floor, you know the kind.

He looks over at the end of the bar, and over there, by the door, just a little bit of sunlight hitting him, it's Hitler. Or someone who looks very much like Hitler. He's older, you know, but the guy, he figures, this is Hitler.

So he sidles on up to him and says, "Can I buy you a drink?"

And the guy replies, "Ja."

And our man says, "I hope you don't mind my asking this... but... uh... are you Adolf Hitler?"

And teh guy says, "Ja!"

And our man says, "I knew it! I knew you didn't die! I knew it was faked! Wow! This is incredible!"

And the guy says: "Ja."

So their drinks arrive and they drink 'em and our man starts to get curious like, so he says to Hitler, "Hey,.... you working on any big plans?"

And Hitler replies, "Ja! I have big plans!"

And our guy says, "What are they?"

And Hitler says, "I have a doozy! We will kill ALL ze JEWS! Und FIFTEEN BALLERINAS!"

And our guy says, "Um. Why are you going to kill fifteen ballerinas?"

And Hitler says: "See! I told you! No one cares about ze Jews!"

A guy walks into a bar. He says, "Ow."

2012-04-10T15:25:38.254-07:00

A guy walks into a bar. He says, "Ow."

Neon and argon walk into a bar. The bartender say...

2012-04-10T14:27:12.677-07:00

Neon and argon walk into a bar. The bartender says, "we don't serve noble gases here."

Neon and argon don't react.

1) This looks terrific. 2) I'll be in NYC in ...

2012-04-07T06:50:14.683-07:00

1) This looks terrific.
2) I'll be in NYC in June, so I can actually see it! Hurrah!

... and if you've a mind to watch a decent UK ...

2012-04-02T15:10:24.445-07:00

... and if you've a mind to watch a decent UK horror film, you could do worse with The Cottage, which stars Reece Shearsmith as a profoundly unlucky kidnapper.

It killed me (well, not really), for American Horr...

2012-04-02T15:07:44.808-07:00

It killed me (well, not really), for American Horror Story to get all that useless press, while Psychoville was languishing in the On Demand section, with one random episode being head-and-shoulders better than AHS's entire season. Damn shame....

My Bushwick Starr musical is about this very issue...

2012-03-28T08:28:38.510-07:00

My Bushwick Starr musical is about this very issue, albeit through the lens of the fashion industry.

I'm inclined to agree with you, though it also makes me feel bad. It seems un American to suggest that some people have better taste than others but... well... there you are.

League of Gentlemen is one of my favorite shows of...

2012-03-28T08:22:59.306-07:00

League of Gentlemen is one of my favorite shows of all time.

There are a few points in the Daisey dilemma that ...

2012-03-26T09:02:12.903-07:00

There are a few points in the Daisey dilemma that I have trouble with. There's the specific way he answered emails from TAL outlining their need for him to understand that everything in his show needs to be totally factual. There are the tv spots he agreed to, where he took fictionalized elements from his play and posited them as truth. There's the strange way he seemed so unprepared for TAL's Retraction episode.

But to address your point, Matthew, that we're still better off knowing...having felt something real...as a result of the story, even if it was dishonest in some ways:

In following the fallout of Daisey's story, it appeared that Apple's overseas factories were actually some of the better factories in which people can be employed in the region. The worst prevalent issue was illegally long working days...not lethal dust, underage workers, or suicide on company time. Apple's response has been really positive, but from what I'm reading, no other companies are rushing to follow suit with their increased transparency and more frequent factory checkups.

People are asking if Daisey deserves such a public drumming. So, did Apple really deserve it? Fiction was required to make it a compelling piece of theatre, which makes me think not. Considering all of the truly scary working situations in China, and systematic human rights violations made by the Chinese government, Daisey seems to have forced a lesser issue into the national dialogue by dressing it as something it's not.

Daisey's show was presented as truth, and then he doubled down by lying to journalists. Even if his motivations were 100% pure (which would make him the superlative human being), the critical response against him online seems to be one of the things that makes the internet so great.

...although I do hear you. There are entirely more grievous lies and liars up to more dastardly endeavors than Daisey. Where's our mighty internet when it comes to politicians, leaders of industry, and financial officers??

This month's Zoetrope: All Story has a very in...

2012-03-19T12:44:09.747-07:00

This month's Zoetrope: All Story has a very interesting essay that probes into some of the problems of TAL and Ira Glass's approach. To call TAL journalism is only slightly less silly than calling Daisey a journalist.

"Ira Glass" and "consistent"

2012-03-19T12:24:47.694-07:00

"Ira Glass" and "consistent"

Fact and Truth

2012-03-19T12:16:09.928-07:00

Fact and Truth

Brilliant. I want you to know that you saying &quo...

2012-03-14T07:00:19.264-07:00

Brilliant. I want you to know that you saying "help yourself" will be the new Mac start-up sound.

I love that this is actually a real company!

2012-03-13T11:30:34.249-07:00

I love that this is actually a real company!

I don't think incompetence "changes"...

2012-03-07T13:25:08.397-08:00

I don't think incompetence "changes" politics. She was just another example of someone elevated into a position for which she wasn't prepared.

You just said "Obama, if he'd been a white man, would not have been nearly as notable." True, but that's...the point, right? He wasn't/isn't a white man. There is no "white Obama." Just like there's no male Palin.

I think Obama signifies something far more significant to America (party aside) than Palin ever did or will.

Good question. Clearly, guys like Chris Christie a...

2012-03-07T13:22:12.047-08:00

Good question. Clearly, guys like Chris Christie and Marco Rubio stayed on the sidelines.

So who are their best troops, then?

2012-03-07T13:21:13.763-08:00

So who are their best troops, then?

I think Palin changed the game in a more fundament...

2012-03-07T11:40:58.683-08:00

I think Palin changed the game in a more fundamental way. If you had a male Sarah Palin, he would've been a huge deal. Catastrophically unfit for office from among the most minor of states, saying, thinking and believing the most awful things. That she was a woman compounded all of that.

Compared to Obama, who, had he been a white man, would not have been nearly as notable, as far as presidential candidates go. I don't think a white Obama would have been nearly as interesting a specimen as Clinton, GW Bush, or Palin.

Obama's race may be an extremely important facet of the 2008 election, but it's one of the few historically noteworthy parts of the Democratic ticket. I think Palin signifies something much more historically significant in the Republican Party than Obama does within the Democrats.