For all you OG comic book collectors

A fun website.

Playwrights In Conversation Links

I've updated my blogroll to include direct links to the five "Playwrights in Conversation" podcasts that I've hosted. If you haven't heard them, definitely give them a listen.

Nytheatrecast MP3: Playwrights In Conversation with Adam Szymkowicz
Nytheatrecast MP3: Playwrights In Conversation with James Comtois
Nytheatrecast MP3: Playwrights In Conversation with Mac Rogers
Nytheatrecast MP3: Playwrights In Conversation with J. Scott Reynolds
Nytheatrecast MP3: Playwrights In Conversation with August Schulenberg

Song For A Future Generation

Josh Conkel and the Management (which should be the name of his band) are presenting SONG FOR A FUTURE GENERATION right now at Under St. Marks. Four performances left, including tonight. You really must see it.

Read the description. Then go see it tonight. Or I stab and stab and stab until I have no idea why.

Clones, robots and teenage time travelers search for connection at a dance party aboard a satellite. So what if its purpose is to celebrate an exploding star? For the kids in this "sci-fi dance party spectacle" this is going to be the BEST NIGHT EVER.

Written by Joe Tracz, Directed by Meg Sturiano

Performed by Alex Teicheira*, Cal Shook, Jenny Gomez, Jennifer Harder, Joleen Wilkinson*, Joe Varca, Joshua Conkel, Matt Barbot, Nick Lewis, Ronica Reddick*, Tara Giordano*, Yesenia Tromp & Zoey Martinson*.

April 29th- May 15th
Thursdays & Fridays @ 8pm and Saturdays @ 3pm & 8pm.

Location: UNDER St. Marks
94 St. Marks, btwn 1st Ave & Ave A

Tickets: $18 - www.smarttix.com or call 212-868-4444

*Appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity - Equity approved showcase

Passion Play

My review of Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play is up at nytheatre.com

That Old Soft Shoe tickets are now available

Tickets are now on sale for THAT OLD SOFT SHOE at the Too Soon Festival. Here's the list of shows, and here's where to purchase tickets.

If you purchase your tickets before May 15th, 2010, you can receive the discounted ticket price of $15 (normally $18).

There are only five performances, spread out throughout June. Read the schedule carefully, and definitely get your tickets in advance. Note, also, that our first performance is on Sunday June 6th.

That Old Soft Shoe

Playwright Matthew Freeman, director Kyle Ancowitz, and Blue Coyote Theater Group return to the Brick with That Old Soft Shoe, a redacted comedy. Their previous appearances include the much ballyhooed productions of Glee Club and An Interview with the Author. In That Old Soft Shoe, a Senator from the Pacific Northwest arrives to inspect the goings-on in an undisclosed location, throwing the staff into turmoil. Will they all wind up working at a phone bank in Dallas? After all, it’s a new administration.

Blue Coyote Theatre Group
Written by Matt Freeman
Directed by Kyle Ancowitz
90 minutes

Sun 6/6, 2:30pm
Tue 6/8, 8:45pm
Wed 6/23, 8:45pm
Sat 6/26, 7pm
Sun 6/27, 4pm

Polls say

...that Americans, when asked, come up with an opinion about something based on no information.

Theater Talk

I DVR Theater Talk. I watch it because I like that feeling I get when my heart-light goes out.

Is it just me

...or does the summer movie season this year appear to be rather barren for nerds like me?

A little bit of the Denouement script

First, I swear I thought you’d lost it with this constructed bullshit about how everything needs to be simplified. How Gwen’s files would unlock some key to a better workflow and bleeding edge processes. But now I see what you were really after all along. To upend our whole system entirely with this nonsense about city-states. Does this look like goddamn Athens to you? In such and such B.C.? Or would you say BCE you liberal new historicist? You’ll have us all in the clink you will. You’ll have us worshipping lesser Gods and bartering for our stock options like a common Afrikaner. It’s shameless. And you should be ashamed.

Good News

This weekend...my lovely girlfriend Pam lost her senses and became engaged to me.

Hooray!

Too Soon Festival Logo!

I think it's fancy! Prepare to see this image for a full month.

Brick Theater + Matt Freeman = 2

Two shows that is. Coming up in mere moments.

First is Denouement. Only three performances to this production: Saturday May 22nd, Thursday May 27th, and Friday May 28th. Tickets are on sale here. As there are only three performances, I suggest you quickly get yours. As they will disappear.

If you saw Exposition last year, you will find much of that existing material enrobed in a new sticky sweet substance. If you didn't see Exposition, I certainly hope you'll check this out. It's a true collaboration between myself, the cast, and director Michael Gardner. I'm proud of the text, and I think it's a unique piece. Again, tickets are here, only three shows. Don't miss it.

Opening just the next weekend will be That Old Soft Shoe as a part of the Too Soon Festival. Tickets are not yet on sale, but we have five performances throughout June. Here is the show's description:

Playwright Matthew Freeman, director Kyle Ancowitz, and Blue Coyote Theater Group return to the Brick with That Old Soft Shoe, a redacted comedy. Their previous appearances include the much ballyhooed productions of Glee Club and An Interview with the Author. In That Old Soft Shoe, a Senator from the Pacific Northwest arrives to inspect the goings-on in an undisclosed location, throwing the staff into turmoil. Will their dancing lessons prove sufficient? Or will they all wind up working at a phone bank in Dallas? After all, it’s a new administration.

So... come to these shows and bask in their splendor.

nytheatrecast conversation with Gus Schulenberg

Gus and I talk about JACOB'S HOUSE. Give it a listen here.

Actors! Great Part Needs Casting! Read!

Hey everyone,

Some good friends of mine are putting up their annual production of a Midsummer Night's Dream in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. This is a children's production, and it's incredibly fun and well-attended. Everyone involved is extremely experienced with outdoor work and Shakespeare. It'll be fun, you'll meet lots of great people. One thing that's great about it is that even though it's child friendly, the production is one that adults enjoy as well. I know Pam and I have watched and enjoyed it each year!

Contact rohanakenin @ gmail.com with your headshot and resume.

Seeking experienced actor to play Oberon and Puck (Puck as hand and rod puppet) in a showcase. $200 stipend. Ideal skill set = experience with Shakespeare, outdoor performance, and either puppetry or good at picking up new physical skills.

Rehearsal May 10 - June 3 weekday evenings and weekend daytimes. Dress rehearsal Friday June 4 in the morning. Rehearsals will probably be quite light the first week.

Outdoor performances all weekends in June. Saturdays at 11:00 a.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. (means actors can be rehearsing for, or even begin performing in other shows while we run)

There is also the possibility of one or two additional Friday performances June 11 and or 18.

Get on it! They're getting started soon, so don't wait!

The Desk Set

Did you know that Matthew Trumbull can soon be seen in a production of The Desk Set, directed by Tim Errickson?

It's true. Tickets are here.

Did you know

That Theatermania just launched an iPhone app?

Issac and J. Holtham get married

Read this and this.

So, two of the best and most prolific theater bloggers decide to join forces and also write about...other stuff. Very cool. Have fun with that, and I hope you keep giving theater some love.

Blogging is odd. There's no one to say "Hey, you're done with that part of the job." People quit or change or just get quiet. That's how it goes.

As for me, this blog has retained it totally inaccurate name and will retain its tone and content. I've never viewed this blog as a product in and of itself...I view it as a place where I can speak, be heard, and hear other people too. Sometimes I get my gander up and write at length on a subject, sometimes I make jokes, and sometimes I link to YouTube. It is sufficient, I hope.

Occasionally I get busy. Right now is one of those times. I hope those of you in New York who follow this blog will allow their interest in my daily thoughts or whatever to migrate into the real world and check out what my actual work looks like. Those of you who live farther away, I've got publications I invite and encourage you to read and send me thoughts about. I'd love to be in a conversation about my actual work, not just about what I think about Treme (which I like, for the record) or the new Dr. Who (who I also like) or Collateralized Debt Obligations (which I listen to too many podcasts about).

I've never really believed that my voice should become a cultural authority on any given subject. I'm just a guy. Thanks for reading. Keep reading. And much luck to Isaac and 99seats, as their readership and subjects expand.

Denouement

Excellent Denouement rehearsal this past weekend.

Great meeting with Kyle about That Old Soft Shoe.

And, finally, I certainly did NOT buy Avatar on Blu-Ray. What a waste of time and money that would have been! (Cough!) I mean, seriously. What are you accusing me of?

It's official

Annie Baker will shortly be writing for HBO!

That's what that means right?

How to solve problems

Swoon!

Spare me the hysterics about this video.

There are people that waited longer lines to see The Phantom Menace, and at the end, they just saw a movie.

Hope springs eternal. There are lots of people that want to be on stage. Lots of nice kids who have stars in their eyes that make big sacrifices in order to be seen by casting directors. I think there are some movies about that from the mid-70s. It does not make me faint. If it makes you faint, I dunno. Take a pill.

It's a long line. They're young kids, having fun, trying their luck, learning life lessons, flirting. Whatever. May their spirit infect us all. May their unabashed belief in a lucky break defeat anyone's concern for their well-being.

Have you noticed

That Isaac's made some changes over at Parabasis? Kudos.

I, though, will remain affixed in this blogger template until someone reminds me it's not 2005. I'm not someone who loves change. I'm a little more in tune with stasis. Maybe.

Some fun things are going on over in Freeman Country.

A solo version of In the great expanse of space there is nothing to see but More, More, More will be seen at a showcase of work by recent graduates of RADA on May 14th. Directed by Georgina Guy and performed by Valerie Gogan. Ms. Guy has been workshopping When Is A Clock with Greylight Productions at the Newbury Corn Exchange across the pond.

That Old Soft Shoe, my latest play, will be see at the Too Soon Festival at the Brick in Williamsburg. Dates are yet to be announced, but I've got the impression we'll be early in the festival, which runs June 4th to July 3rd. Directed by Kyle Ancowtiz, as is customary and proper. We have yet to cast the production. Actors? Interested? We'll be announcing auditions soon. Very soon.

Denouement, a sort of sequel to Exposition, will have a limited run at the Brick May 21-May 28th. Created by me, director Michael Gardner, and the cast: Fred Backus, Kina Bermudez, Steve Burns, Maggie Cino, Ivanna Culliman, Alexis Soittle and Moira Stone.

I've recently received an offer from Playscripts.com to publish Glee Club. When that's finalized, I'll have more details, but that's certainly exciting. You can read about my other Playscripts offerings here. I certainly hope you'll pick up a copy or two of The Death of King Arthur. Why not? Gonna kill you?

Plus, I'm working on a script for the animated promotional/educational video for this upcoming book.

And last night, I recorded a new nytheatrecast with August Schulenberg, to discuss his upcoming play Jacob's House. Great conversation, and when it's live, I'll share.

Next stop

Off to record an nytheatrecast interview with August Schulenburg. Fun, fun.

Tone Deaf

This section of today's New York Times article about the Wall Street Reform debate is a sort of window into the oddball thinking that must take place internally in DC. It's DC-only thinking.

"The bellicose stance by Democrats, even as Republicans insist they are hopeful of a bipartisan deal, carries some political risk. Voters, often frustrated by the acrimony in Washington, could decide that Democrats, who control Congress and the White House, are being arrogant by refusing to make concessions. "

Does anyone think this is a politically astute assessment? Democrats have never been accused of arrogance by any serious voter or comedian or thinking human that I've noticed. They are accused of being wimps. It's Republicans whose boisterous posturing seems to be treated by the press as a win-win. The Republicans are admired by the press for making lies stick in the minds of the American public, despite how corrupt the behavior is. Democrats who try to be "bi-partisan" with this deposed minority party are accused of cowardice. If they attack, they risk being considered the reason for acrimony.

Most people don't think this way. The DC press, who use the horse-race, and not the substance, to fuel articles, love this type of Catch-22. Even if they contradict their own assessments of the politics a scant few months ago.

How a bill becomes a law...

...in Georgia.

Vote for GLEE CLUB

Let's face it: if you don't vote for us, you're a tool.




Vote for GLEE CLUB at the NYIT Awards.

That Old Soft Shoe

Finally finished the new draft. It now includes the line "I make the trains run on time" in Italian.

A question of family

About a week and a half ago, George Hunka welcomed the new daughter of Reverend Billy into the world and then said, probably not all that seriously:

"Perhaps the blogosphere can now take up the burning question of day-care centers for the children of playwrights, musicians and performance artists. But we're changing the world, one child at a time ..."

Frankly, having children in the world of the performing arts is a real challenge, especially for those of us with prospects for income that are close to doodley-squat, as Kurt Vonnegut might say.

I'm 34 and while in the middle of Indiana I'd probably be a father of three already, most of my friends are bravely moving into this phase of life now. My actor/director/all-around performer friends Sean and Rohana are married with two children. Qui Nguyen and Abby Marcus have a son. Joshua James has a son. My friend David DelGrosso and his wife Erica have a little girl on the way. George Hunka is a father, of course. To name a few.

In the world of two income households, it's harder and harder to imagine large families. But in the arts, especially the transitory world of theater, having a family is a decision that comes with almost dire risks. As a community, we reward each other for flexibility, the ability to move around quickly and easily, the ability to take projects that offer little to no financial reward besides cab money. Being a parent comes with it an inherent cost-benefit analysis of all our activity. How much time can we have for artistic expression that doesn't pay, when our decisions affect the comfort and health of someone helpless?

Have you wrestled with this decision? If so, what made you decide to begin a family? Or what made you decide not to? Or are you still thinking about it as a hypothetical?

If you have, or are starting, a family... how has it affected your approach to your work in theater, if at all?

Update: A thoughtful and personal response from George.

Ontological-Hysteric Theater to leave St. Marks Church

Incubator series will remain.

The Ontological-Hysteric Theater announced April 16, 2010 that it will cease operations at the theater space at St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery at the end of the 2009-2010 season (June 30, 2010). The Incubator presenting programs will take over the theater July 1, 2010. Since taking up a permanent home at St. Mark’s Theater in 1992, the Ontological has presented annual theater works by Richard Foreman, whose trademark “total theater” unites elements of the performing arts, visual art, philosophy, psychoanalysis, literature and, in recent years, film. “My aesthetic remains the same, but after many years of making theater there’s been a thematic deepening of everything I’ve been working towards that can now only be made possible through film,” said the playwright and director.

Mr. Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric Theater will continue to function. While not eliminating the possibility of occasional theatrical production, it will focus on film/video work under the sub-set of the International Bridge Project. Under the co-leadership of Foreman and previous Ontological administrator Sophie Haviland, the Bridge Project was established in 2004 to promote international art exchange between countries around the world through workshops, symposiums, theater productions, visual art, performance and multimedia events. Foreman and Haviland have already filmed material in nine countries around the world (including the U.S.).

Read on.

Can this be true?

Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public, said in an interview on Wednesday that $600,000 was a fairly typical price tag for a full production there, a cost that was shared by the two companies. He said that he was disappointed by LAByrinth’s departure, but that the Public planned to continue collaborating with the company on some shows in the future.

“The only real way for us to lower costs is to pay artists less, but paying artists is part of the point of the Public,” he said.

Is this really the only cost cutting measure available to the Public? I ask not out of incredulity, but sheer ignorance. I fully admit that.

What I learned in the NY Times today

Today in the New York Times, I learned that they didn't teach the meaning of socialism in those fancy 'colleges' back in the day. Also, there are lot of white guys over 45 that don't like helping the poor.

Denouement: Where It All Began

What's up

Light posting lately, which I assume you aren't a bit stickler about. Glee Club was a big success and I'm very proud of the work that was done. I'd like to write a post-mortem about the production when I get the opportunity. I have, though, lept immediately into two new projects and they're taking up my brainspace.

First is Denouement. This is a sort of follow up to Exposition. Our first rehearsal is this evening. Michael Gardner will direct. A short run of public performances will follow our workshop of the piece, at the end of May.

Also, I'll be presenting That Old Soft Shoe at The Too Soon Festival in June. Kyle Ancowtiz directing. I'm currently doing rewrites on the play. All I can say for now is that it takes place in "An undisclosed location. Probably Florida," that its subject is the political ping-pong that our treatment of detainees has become, and that there will be dancing.

Next To Normal wins Pulitzer Prize for Drama

In the spirit of being a good theater blogger, I acknowledge this, and refer you to Playgoer for the all the scoops.

I would say that, despite the politics of all of this, and not having seen Next To Normal, I know plenty of people who believe that the show itself is a really terrific one.

Thank You!

I've been having a bit of a crappy day. But this lightened my mood. It looks like an Onion Video, but it's oh so very real. Thank you, Fox, for being you.

h/t TPM

Internships/Apprenceships/etc

There's a little fun discussion brewing around internships and apprenticeships.

Scott Walters notes the class issues.

Parabasis and 99seats discuss the legal framework and the merits of such an internship.

Even though I understand that theaters also have no money to pay people, and even though I realize that there is a great value in apprenticeships and internships (you can't start at the top after all) I do think that it's a system that rewards - not exclusively, but inherently - individuals who are less concerned about income.

I don't want to overly generalize - there are plenty of people out there that make sacrifices in order to get these opportunities. It just seems to me that if the question is access (and it is) , then the ability to work for free during regular working hours, even to work for very little, makes access far easier.

Life ain't fair, get a helmet, one might say. That's easy to say if you can afford a helmet.

You really should go and see this

...because everyone is raving about it.

Samuel and Alasdair:
A Personal History of the Robot War

Tickets herein.

Love is my Sin

I was invited to a preview of Love Is My Sin, the new production from Peter Brook and Theater for a New Audience, currently at the Duke on 42nd Street. It is a series of interconnected sonnets, performed by Michael Pennington and Natasha Parry.

At just under one hour, with little in the way of embellishment, Brook offers us something that feels at the same time quaint and rebellious. A rug, four chairs, two tables, two books, a piano and a leaflet: that's it. Franck Krawczyk performs the music onstage, less an active participant than a part of the production's trappings. I couldn't help but feel unsettled by it. Criticized? Questioned? Why do I stuff my own plays with so much jabber?

Love is my Sin isn't a monumental experience, a piece of theater intended to shatter or shake up. It's, instead, a meditation in the purest sense of that word. Think about this, it says. Enjoy this. I did and I did.

It also made me realize that when seeing new works, I have gotten so used to the strain to impress, to make an impression, that I don't notice it anymore. Young writers, myself included, reach for the audience with every word. There's a muscularity to it. A competitiveness. A sense of urgency and ambition. Even at its most hidden, it's there.

Here, that strain is missing and it just made me breathe a little more deeply in the room. Not only because Shakespeare has nothing to prove (and neither, for that matter, does Peter Brook) but because there's not a moment in the piece that is more than it needs to be, or is even wantonly underplayed for its own sake. The moments are as they should be, the performances light but not weightless, the proceedings comfortable without ever feeling unimportant.

I don't feel the need to expound on the virtues of Shakespeare's sonnets. All I can say is that I was moved by the experience, and I heartily recommend seeing this. Even if only to contrast it with the hurlyburly of the average theater-going experience.

Love Is My Sin runs until April 17.

Final Performance of GLEE CLUB! Audience Response!

Tonight is our final performance. Thanks to everyone who has come to GLEE CLUB and enjoyed it.

As a special treat, I interviewed some of our audience members about their responses to the show. Take a look!

Outrageous Fortune finally sinks in

UPDATE!

Hey everyone -

I'd like to announce, with great sadness, that I am effectively ending my dream of being a playwright. I've done my best to live in denial, but after reading Outrageous Fortune, the facts are overwhelming. We're irrelevant, poor, and the institutions that were built in order to give the American Theater vibrancy and life have failed. Really, what is it about plays that is so necessary? No one gives a shit anymore. I quit, and you should quit, too.

What? We need more plays about politics? We need another play by a writer about what it means to write? We need more plays about how to have a love life? Someone else needs to reinterpret the Greeks?

Come on, people. There's nothing left. Why try? Why even goddamn try? All I know is that whatever impulse that once pushed me into writing plays was destroyed by the idea that it is very hard to make money at it.

After this one more play, I'm done.
Plays are useless in the age of film and television.
Right or wrong, it's my life and my choice.
I really do thank everyone who supported me and believed in me.
Love to all of you.

Forget what you wanted to be.
Only focus on what is possible.
Only see the world as it is.
Live free of expectation and ambition.
Sorry if that disappoints you all. But it really is the only choice.

Teaser

Looks like we'll be bringing my new play "That Old Soft Shoe" to the Too Soon Festival. More news as it appears.

Dear My Matthew Freeman

Hey Matt Freeman!

My favorite movie is also Star Wars.

And I love your comments section.

What are you, cowards?

Can't take a little GLEE CLUB?

Glee Club closes on Saturday

Tix.

TCG Blog

Find it here.

Kyle and I play Hamm and Clov

While shooting a video last night for GLEE CLUB. It was our finest hour. Finest. Hour.

Live in the Minneapolis area?

My Dad and Stepmother are doing a book signing in Wazata, near Minneapolis. They collectively have 30 meditations in this book. Leonard and Lindsey Freeman. Lovely people. Say hi for me.

At the Bookcase in Wayzata next Tuesday night, March 30th from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Forward Day by Day has recently released Praying Day by Day: A Year of Meditations, commissioned in honor of its 75th anniversary.

Date:

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Time:

7:00pm - 9:00pm

Location:

The Bookcase

Street:

607 East Lake Street

City/Town:

Wayzata, MN

Tracey!

Tracey Gilbert (who played Bronwyn in the original production of When is a Clock) appears in this wonderfully wicked Onion News Network video. She's the Stouffer's Exec. Congrats Tracey!



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Playgoer talks about Mass Produced Culture

Read his terrific post here.

It reminds me a bit of a discussion we had in 2007, when the Sopranos Series Finale went up against the Tony Awards. I'd recommend a look back.

Roundabout revises subsidiary rights policy

Playwrights, take note.

Certainly an improvement. Still, I'd love to know how much actual money is generated for institutions like the Roundabout by subsequent productions? Especially considering how little playwrights make generally as it is. If the Roundabout, or any other company like it, took exactly zero dollars from playwrights, would that significantly reduce their bottom line?

I'm curious, that's all. I acknowledge that large theatrical institutions help establish plays and therefore often create the subsequent productions by the very act of producing them. Still, playwrights do not, as a rule, earn a living from their work as a rule at this point. Is there some better way for companies to generate operating budget? Or are subsidiary rights a larger piece of the pie than I realize?

Anyone out there have numbers on this?

GLEE CLUB offers Thursday "Date Night"

"How lucky we are to have frankly immoral plays about morbidly unhappy people...witty, consistently well-paced, superbly acted and directed and sardonically amusing."
- EDGE NEW YORK

"It’s chock-full of comedic twists and snappy plays on stereotypes of life
outside the big city, flannel shirts and all."
- FLAVORPILL

"It's a black-hearted laugh riot, full of surprise and the curdled milk of human kindness."
- 99 SEATS

"Date Night" Thursday Discounts!

No matter how loathsome you are, our GLEE CLUB will make you look like a gentleman by comparison. Buy two tickets for the price of one at the door on Thursday nights!
RSVP at bluecoyote@bluecoyote.org!

Flashmobs for World Theater Day! March 27th! Get Involved!

Check this awesomesauce out.

____

The New York City World Theatre Day Coalition will be producing a series of FLASH MOBS to celebrate World Theatre Day on Saturday, March 27th. A flash mob (or flashmob) is defined as a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual act for a brief time, and then quickly disperse.

There will be seven separate flash mobs from 11am - 5pm. We've designed the event like a "pub crawl" so performers can go from one mob scene to another. Performers are welcome to participate in all of them or only one or two.

Email us at info@nycwtd.com to get involved. Upon receipt of ones email, we will send out SECRET INSTRUCTIONS on when and where to report for each spectacle. We are trying to gather hundreds of people so forward this invitation to your theatre companies, your friends, and families, you do not need to be a theater artist to participate.

The descriptions of the flash mobs are as follows:

* The Message Reading
directed by Amanda Feldman
A poetic reading of the International Theatre Messages.

* Join Us In Song
directed by Kyle Ancowitz
Performed by the cast of Glee Club a Matt Freeman play currently being produced by Blue Coyote Theatre Company at the Access Theater, everyone will sing the chorus together with one united voice.

* All the World's a Stage
directed by Alex Mallory
A play on Shakespeare's famous phrase the mob will split up and encourage everyone to take part in a simple call and response.

* Zip Zap Zop
directed by Tom Wojtunik
We will storm a NYC park to play everyone's favorite theatre game, with a crowd this big; it should be quite a sight.

* [UNTITLED]
directed by Amanda Joshi
It's so awesome; we can't even describe it.

* Cheers to You
directed by Morgan Gould
Just what it sounds like, a thunderous round of applauds.

* The Kiss
directed by Isaac Byrne
We will recreate the famous photo of a nurse kissing a sailor times one hundred.

After the Flash Mobs there will be a Celebration and Networking Event from 5:00pm - 8:00pm at The Houndstooth Pub, located at SE corner of 37th Street & 8th Avenue.

For more information about World Theatre Day and the NYC World Theatre Day Coalition visit the website www.nycwtd.com.

Flavorpill on GLEE CLUB

"Thoroughly enjoyable... Chock full of comedic twists!"

Only two more weeks of GLEE CLUB

GLEE CLUB has been getting full houses and extremely happy audiences. Saturday's performance was SRO. Definitely get your tickets in advance.

I'd also like to remind those of you that have seen the show to vote for us at the NYIT Awards. I'd urge you to consider the exceptional performances of Stephen Speights (who plays Ben the choir director) and Tom Staggs (who plays the soloist, Hank.) They richly deserve the few minutes of your time it will take to log onto the site and vote.

You can also vote for "The World Will Make You Smile" - that cruelly catchy song.

If you've already seen the play: Thank you for coming!

Homestarrunner

Jesus! I'd completely forgotten about this.

Still True

James Comtois revists GLEE CLUB

It's a show that is very funny, grim and original. I honestly can't think of any other show I've seen like it.

Protest Coverage

We're probably an hour or so away from the House of Representatives passing the Senate Bill and reconciliation, and finally passing Health Care Reform. Thank. God.

What I find interesting in the coverage is the amount of credence the press is giving to the Tea Party protesters, who seem to be maybe 300 people.

I remember when we protested the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Millions of people all over the world, protested. The media treated it as a bit of curiosity. George Bush referred to the protest as a "focus group" and went unchallenged.

300 people yelling racial slurs? The country is angry. There's a growing movement against the Progressive Agenda. Millions protest against illegal war? Fringe.

99 seats on Glee Club

Thanks 99 seats, for the good word below. He discusses our play, and also three others he saw and enjoyed this week. Thanks!

A lot of folks have said good things about Glee Club and all of them are more than deserved. It's a black-hearted laugh riot, full of surprise and the curdled milk of human kindness. There were two specific things I liked about it. One, "downtown" indie theatre is generally thought to be avant-garde, formally experimenting, non-linear or twee and full of whimsy. Glee Club is very, very much not. It's practically Aristotelian: one place, one course of action, it all happens in real time. It's a recognizable place, in the "real" world and presented without frippery or embellishment. The other thing I like about it is its point of view on art. Or Art. Often plays about art focus on the uplifting, soul-stirring aspects, even if they dig into the glorious monsters artists can be sometimes. But it's rare to see a show that says "Being an artist practically requires that you destroy yourself and quite possibly others." It was a thrill to be there.

7 years

Today is the 7th Anniversary of our criminal invasion of Iraq. We are still there. We are still at war. We have always been at war with Eurasia.

Have a great day.

"Finished."

I had a chat with my pal Marshall a few weeks ago about his poetry and the group of poets he meets with to hash out work, give each other notes, and generally encourage one another. One thing that struck me was how he termed a poem that was viewed universally as working well and accomplishing its goals. He would say "Everyone agreed that that poem is finished."

Finished.

That's not a phrase I hear very often, in the collaboration heavy/development happy world of theater. A playscript can often feel, unless it is published, in a constant state of flux. During any production of a play of mine (I don't mean workshop, I mean production) I will receive unsolicited advice quite often on what the next draft of the play should look like, what could or should be changed. The assumption is, I believe, that a play is a moving target, and is never truly finished. I think playwrights have, more often than not, accepted that view of their work.

I'd love to see the term "finished" used more by writers and by those who work in development. There is no piece of work that can satisfy all eyes, all audiences, all metrics. But a writer, and those that he or she trusts, can find a point where they say...not "this is good" but "this is finished."

I also think it's healthy for playwrights to say "this is a finished work." Then, the discussion can evolve. The lectures and lessons from laypersons and professionals alike can end, and a discussion of each play as a fully formed piece of art can emerge.

Do you think this is feasible? To move towards this sort of language? Or do you believe that because of the collaborative nature of theatre, there is no such thing as a "finished" play.

Furthermore, as a playwright, when do you look a script and say "I am not changing this any more. It is finished." Or have you never said that?

This poem

...is so fantastic.

LITANY
by Billy Collins

You are the bread and the knife,

The crystal goblet and the wine...

-Jacques Crickillon

You are the bread and the knife,

the crystal goblet and the wine.

You are the dew on the morning grass

and the burning wheel of the sun.

You are the white apron of the baker,

and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,

the plums on the counter,

or the house of cards.

And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.

There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,

maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,

but you are not even close

to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show

that you are neither the boots in the corner

nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,

speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,

that I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,

the evening paper blowing down an alley

and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees

and the blind woman's tea cup.

But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.

You are still the bread and the knife.

You will always be the bread and the knife,

not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine.

Always appreciate

Aaron Riccio's posts about criticism. Here's a good one.

Congratulations to George Hunka and Marilyn Nonken

Congratulations and much love to George and Marilyn as you welcome your second child, Billie Swift Hunka, into the world.

"Good Fences Make Good Neighbors"

What does this phrase mean in the age of the Internet?

David Johnston gives us the thumbs up

Thanks David!

Discount Code: A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick

Playwrights Horizons has kindly offered theatrosphere followers like you a discount code to use for tickets to A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick. Awfully generous of them! I'm happy to pass the code along.

A COOL DIP IN THE BARREN SAHARAN CRICK

By Kia Corthron

Directed by Chay Yew

Blog reader DISCOUNT! Use code “CDGR”

Limit 4 tickets per order. Subject to availability.

Order by March 28 with code CDGR and tickets are only

· $30 (reg. $50) for all performances through March 21st

· $40 (reg. $50) for all performances March 23 – April 11

HOW TO ORDER: Order online at www.playwrightshorizons.org Use code CDGR.

Call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily)

For Christ's Sake

Finally!

New Title for Trayf

Sometime later this year, Trayf (pictured above) which appeared at the Second Coming of the Baby Jesus One-Act Jubilee at few years ago, will be published by Playscripts, Inc. In order to make it a bit more producible, it shall be called Rabbi Hersh and The Talking Lobster.

This is also a funny title. I insist that it is.

William F. Pewen's Op-Ed

One of the things that drives me most crazy in the world of political punditry, is the idea that Republicans - who have not argued in good faith, who have spread lies about reform in order to kill it, and whose arguments amount to "ways not to reform the healthcare system and kill the Obama Presidency" - share equal blame with Democrats for a lack of bi-partisanship.

For example, this idiotic Op-Ed.

"Republican cries for fiscal responsibility also ring hollow when you consider the party’s record of establishing higher-cost private Medicare plans and enacting a drug benefit that wasn’t paid for. The fact is that under the Republicans’ watch, critical problems of escalating health costs and access to affordable coverage were largely ignored.

Yet Democratic leadership worsened the erosion of bipartisanship. With dissonant voices excluded, too many Democrats failed to recognize that most Americans, who already have health insurance, wanted the assurance of continued, affordable coverage. Health security, especially in a severe recession, should have been the central concern."

This is a central message the Democrats have addressed. Quite officially.

The fact is, Obama has done more than pay lip service to the idea of bipartisanship. The Democrats included Republican ideas publicly and purposefully. But when you reach across the aisle only to get your hand bitten over and over, eventually you are forced to stop. Otherwise, shame on you.

GLEE CLUB is not for kids!

Strange thing happened at GLEE CLUB the other night: a couple of teen-aged girls and their mothers showed up at the Access Theater to see our little play. They had seen a listing mislabeling our show as about high school kids - it is, of course, about miserable middle-aged men.

While I understand we have this guy in the play, and while I did see those teen aged girls laugh quite a bit at all the awful pain they were witnessing, and while I do not want to dissuade any person who would like to pick up tickets to see our "deeply offensive" play, I believe it is a very bad idea to bring anyone under 17 to see it.

Thank you for your time and attention.

2 am Theatre

Delicious, delicious content and linking.

Matt Freeman, writer

I would like to send, in solidarity, my support to Matt Freeman, Freelance Writer.

I hope you have great success Matt. I hope you are hired forever and ever.

Amen.

Great Moments in Freeman History: How to Write a Manifesto about the State of the American Theatre on your own Blog!

Almost a year ago, I wrote this blog post. Why write a new one?

How to Write a Manifesto about the State of the American Theatre on your own Blog!

Too Soon Festival

I'm submitting my application to the TOO SOON FESTIVAL at the Brick Theater today. Hopefully, I will not let everyone down. I will try not to, but let's face it, I have only these rudimentary tools.

(Hits piece of paper with a rock.)

Christ Almighty

It is Monday, and rainy, and because we just "sprang forward" it's 7 am at 8 am. Tell me a joke or something.

Thanks to

Community Dish for hosting a fun event this evening.

Tonight see Glee Club

And get a free car! I have lied to you, yet again.

Test

Posting blog to twitter. See?

There are not two ways to look at all things

It's funny, I've been reading reviews of THE GREEN ZONE and they all note that there is this liberal streak in it, that questions the reasons for going to war in Iraq. That it's got a political "point of view."

This is not a point of view. This is a fact. We went into Iraq under false pretenses and were directly lied to by people in power. That's not leftist. That's history.

Very, very bad

Very. Bad.

Remember to mention the good news

Like this review of Next Fall. Success stories are just as important to highlight as challenges.

Tonight

Get tickets. Tomorrow too.

Advertising

Dirty word, I know. But look at this:



That is DISNEY, folks.

Now look at this.




That ad isn't even like...all that great. It's just a car commercial.

Why are we so very, very bad at this? I mean, I don't even mean we need to spend millions and hire David Fincher to direct our commercials.

Anyone have an example of theater or arts companies that are using viral video or other types of commercials that seem to actually work? And can someone explain to me why we are, by and large, so incredibly awful at using technology (video!) that's not even, ya know, new?

You think theatre can't get any more culturally irrelevant?

Name the Boxing Heavyweight Champion of the World.

Who won the Stanley Cup last year?

David Rooney talks to Time Out

Variety lets staff go. People become, suitably, concerned.

Here's David Rooney talking to Time Out NY.

• On media and the arts: “As you said in your blog, we all have reason to be concerned about this ongoing erosion of arts coverage. In every way the critical voice is being undervalued. And if people feel they can take away editorial supervision and replace it with random freelancers filing to a copy desk where whoever happens to be there is editing that copy with no expertise and no experience in that field—you know, you start to wonder, Where is the authority in this coverage? What is there to set any paper apart as the paper of record? How is it different from people just filing random articles on blogs?”

Clyde Fitch Report: 5 questions

An interview at Clyde Fitch Report with Me.

And yes, I do remember that conversation. I think it was Astor Place? Thanks so much for the kinds words, Mr. Leonard Jacobs. Very much appreciated.

Twitter

Damn it. I'm on Twitter now. You can follow me. This is me.

Daily Plays

Might I mention that one of the very best theater blogs currently being quietly maintained is Kristen Palmer's blog? Where she actually reads lots of plays and responds to them?

Read it. It is thusly added to my sidebar.

Question

What is the most contemporary play that is currently a part of the public school curriculum? I mean, I know this changes from state to state, but generally... what would it be? The Zoo Story?

Glee Club!

Tickets here.

Vote for GLEE CLUB for the NYIT Awards

After you see GLEE CLUB, make sure you log in to the New York Innovative Theatre Awards and vote for our show!

It will ask you to go through a simple sign-up process.

Then you choose our show from a drop down menu, and rate our production from 1-10 in various categories.

There is a sizable audience component to receiving these awards, so please take the time to do this. It would help a great deal.

Thanks!

Sold Out Preview! Woot!

Glee Club's first preview last night sold out. Excellent! You know what that means? Get tickets early and often!

Also...thanks David Johnston!

Glee Club is Back!

Glee Club's first preview/public performance is tonight!

Get a ticket!

Check out the rehearsal video!

Have a dead loved one turned into a stone!

If you are in NYC and able to come to the show tonight, I would be deeply appreciative. Tickets for tonight, tomorrow and Friday's performances are all $15 ($10 off!)

We've got a great idea... do it again!

I simply love the new GOP talking point of "start over again." Health care reform didn't actually start a year ago. People have been trying to get some version of health care reform passed for over 50 years. The idea that there are issues that just haven't been taken into account is just hilarious on its face.

It would be wonderful if the press would cover the GOP arguments as what they are - stalling tactics with no factual merit. Then we could discuss what's happening (the Democrats are trying to get enough votes to overcome the abuse of the filibuster in order to enact necessary reforms of a broken system, and the GOP is attempting to protect the status quo and win a cynical political fight); as opposed to discussing the relative merits of the theatrics.

Wait...wait!

WHAT?!

J. Holtham's reading

Looks like fellow blogger and playwright J. Holtham has a reading coming up next week and I'm happy to encourage everyone to go check it out.

The Ensemble Studio Theatre presents
As a part of Memberfest

a reading of
MANIFESTO
a comedy by J. Holtham

Directed by Kareem Fahmy

Tuesday, March 16th at 7:30 p.m.

The Ensemble Studio Theatre
549 West 52nd St.

FREE!

For more information, call (212) 247-4982

Read Game Change

I definitely enjoyed it. But I can't say there was a single line in it that actually...surprised me. It's pretty much what I expected, based on my own obsessive interest in the election. It's a fun read, and a great little hardcover artifact, but I can't say I walked away enlightened.

Write It Yourself

Not to put too fine a point on it, but my response to posts like these is "Then, write your own plays." There's no use scolding artists when their experiments don't connect with you. They're going to experiment anyway. Those same experiments do connect with someone, I'll bet. Maybe not you all the time. Luckily, there are lots and lots of plays. Go read a different one.

Heck, maybe go read an older one. I don't know why anyone needs to write some new version of Death of a Salesman, for example. That play is already written. It reminds me of an interview I saw once with Bob Dylan. The interviewer asked him if he felt like he could write songs these days that were as important and defining as Blowin' In The Wind or The Times They Are A-Changin'. His answer?

"No. But I did it once."

If you don't see something to enjoy in the plays being written today, that doesn't mean you are excluded. It just means that today's playwrights don't speak to you. There are lots and lots of plays that will, or have, I'm sure. Be patient, read the things you love, and stop prescribing your taste to other people.

Plays aren't written to order. I read the frustration in posts like these, and I understand it. But there's only really one solution if you feel that a certain play that should exist that does not already. Write it.

Glee Club Discount Code Expires on Wednesday

The first performance of GLEE CLUB in Wednesday. If you'd like to use our special discount code for tickets, you have only today and tomorrow left to do it. The code expires on Wednesday.

Use the code WEDS10, before March 3rd, you can get a $10 ticket for any Wednesday performance!

Definitely take advantage of it. It's a $15 discount on $25 tickets. Very good deal.

Also, our first three preview performances are being sold at a special discount as well. I certainly want to fill the houses those nights, so if you're able to come then, please do! I'll be very happy to see you, and you'll get inexpensive tickets to boot.