Oh, and that guy David Simon.
All of this is good. A good'un.
About Me
- Freeman
- Matthew Freeman is a Brooklyn based playwright with a BFA from Emerson College. His plays include THE DEATH OF KING ARTHUR, REASONS FOR MOVING, THE GREAT ESCAPE, THE AMERICANS, THE WHITE SWALLOW, AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR, THE MOST WONDERFUL LOVE, WHEN IS A CLOCK, GLEE CLUB, THAT OLD SOFT SHOE and BRANDYWINE DISTILLERY FIRE. He served as Assistant Producer and Senior Writer for the live webcast from Times Square on New Year's Eve 2010-2012. As a freelance writer, he has contributed to Gamespy, Premiere, Complex Magazine, Maxim Online, and MTV Magazine. His plays have been published by Playscripts, Inc., New York Theatre Experience, and Samuel French.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
When Is A Clock
Have you purchased your copy? No? Well heck, it's a rainy Monday. Might as well pick one up. Think of it as a way of supporting me without having to click a Paypal button.
While you're on Amazon, you can read the hilarious review of the play by a Texas schoolteacher, who found it so "beyond the pale" that she threw it away. I mean, c'mon. You have to read it with that kind of endorsement.
While you're on Amazon, you can read the hilarious review of the play by a Texas schoolteacher, who found it so "beyond the pale" that she threw it away. I mean, c'mon. You have to read it with that kind of endorsement.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Question for you
I have a friend who believes that in order to compete in the current world of art and entertainment, theater should embrace how "disposable" it is. More quick and dirty, more homemade, more fast and fun, less precious and high-minded and expensive.
I'm not sure about that. I wonder if part of the reason theater audiences seem to be shrinking is because when audiences do venture Off-Off Broadway, they tend to find relatively "homemade, disposable" work and don't feel like it's worth their time and effort to seek it out. It's more expensive than a movie, more work to discover what to see, and more often than not, looks like it's been made on a budget of a few bucks and dressed in hand-me-downs.
Not that I think the handmade, downtown, two-chairs-and-glass-of-water aesthetic can't be terrific and compelling. I'm just wondering how you, the reader, feel about this question of the disposable versus the rare.
Not a fully formed thought, clearly. Just putting it out there.
I'm not sure about that. I wonder if part of the reason theater audiences seem to be shrinking is because when audiences do venture Off-Off Broadway, they tend to find relatively "homemade, disposable" work and don't feel like it's worth their time and effort to seek it out. It's more expensive than a movie, more work to discover what to see, and more often than not, looks like it's been made on a budget of a few bucks and dressed in hand-me-downs.
Not that I think the handmade, downtown, two-chairs-and-glass-of-water aesthetic can't be terrific and compelling. I'm just wondering how you, the reader, feel about this question of the disposable versus the rare.
Not a fully formed thought, clearly. Just putting it out there.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
A Few Good Men featuring..David Freeman!
Live in the Minneapolis area? Go check out my brother David in Urban Samurai's production of A Few Good Men. Opens on Friday!
Break a leg David!
Break a leg David!
How producing skills apply in the real world
I was told by a good friend that planning a wedding, for theater types, is a bit easier because you're used to the pressures of "putting on a show."
Does this ring true to those of you that have ever been married? Or do you call, you know, bullshit on that and think theater people are just as stressed as everyone else when they're getting married?
Did I mentioned I'm getting married in less than a month?
Does this ring true to those of you that have ever been married? Or do you call, you know, bullshit on that and think theater people are just as stressed as everyone else when they're getting married?
Did I mentioned I'm getting married in less than a month?
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
NYIT Awards 2010
Congratulations to the all the winners. Last year I wrote the show, but this year, between closing my own show on Saturday and wedding preparations, I was unable to contribute or attend. Still, glad to hear it was a terrific time.
Friday, September 17, 2010
The Reviews Are In For Brandywine Distillery Fire! Only two more performances!
The reviews are in for Brandywine Distillery Fire!
There are only two performances to go, including tonight. Make sure you pick up tickets in advance.
----
“Sly... [Alexis Sottile’s] monologue nails a certain brand of theater in-joke, the kind of thing that Christopher Guest would come up with if he set his sights on downtown theater…. Moira Stone’s turn is charming and precise.”
Jason Zinoman, The New York Times
“A rich stew… It's great that something fun and silly can also be smart and thought-provoking.”
Martin Denton, nytheatre.com
“Dialogue seethes with subtext…Brandywine embraces a winsome avant-garde sense of humor.”
Paul Menard, Time Out New York
“Hilarious…a cannily casual production.”
Mitch Montgomery, Backstage
“This is genuinely new, solid, exciting work. If you’re the conservative type who needs to be spoonfed the baby food of literalness, steer clear not only of this production, but of the entire Incubator Arts Project, and probably also several New York zip codes. Oh, yes. And me.”
- Trav S.D
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Brandywine Distillery Fire tonight
Just a reminder that we have a performance this evening, Tuesday. We're off on Wednesday, and then there are only three more shows. Make sure you get your tickets in advance.
Here are further details!
Here are further details!
The Times weighs in on Brandywine Distillery Fire
While it's not a glowing review, it's well-written, thoughtful, and from the paper of record, so I would be remiss if I don't share it here.
Jason Zinoman does highlight some performances and moments that I agree are worthy of praise. I don't agree with every word, but I wouldn't, would I? I don't really see the show as being about self-indulgent actors, for example, and that idea is headlined.
To really understand what all the fuss is about, you really should see it for yourself. It's only $18 and it runs for four more performances.
Update: Nytheatre.com's review is up as well.
Jason Zinoman does highlight some performances and moments that I agree are worthy of praise. I don't agree with every word, but I wouldn't, would I? I don't really see the show as being about self-indulgent actors, for example, and that idea is headlined.
To really understand what all the fuss is about, you really should see it for yourself. It's only $18 and it runs for four more performances.
Update: Nytheatre.com's review is up as well.
Jeff Freeman's birthday
It's my brother Jeff's birthday today. He turns 19. He is currently an Emersonian - like I was - and is spending his semester abroad at Kasteel Well. He's an actor. Our brother David is winning awards for writing plays while still in high school. So look out, crew. The Freeman Family Players will soon be descending on New York City.
Happy Birthday Jeff. Hope you're safe and well!
Happy Birthday Jeff. Hope you're safe and well!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Brandywine Distillery Fire schedule for this week
photo by Hunter CanningOnly four more performances of Brandywine Distillery Fire. We're on Tuesday, and then Thursday-Saturday. 8pm performances. Tickets can be gotten in this place.
Our first weekend went extremely well, I felt. We're currently waiting on press (one review is out, a few more to go before I can report on the consensus). I'll post links here as they become available.
If nothing else, you really have to see our cast. Pictured (mostly) above.
First two reviews for Brandywine Distillery Fire
I'm rather fond of Paul Menard's summation of Brandywine Distillery Fire for Time Out New York. Here's an excerpt:
"It’s difficult to know where to begin when discussing a play that runs away from any sense of a narrative beginning (not to mention middle and end) like an unruly toddler. But subverting theatrical convention is exactly the point of Michael Gardner and Matthew Freeman’s playfully illogical Brandywine Distillery Fire, which, it turns out, has absolutely nothing to do with Brandywine, distilleries or fires.
The title is only the first of many red herrings designed to throw audiences off the trail of a stable dramatic experience. At first glance—with the set’s red velour curtain, brocade chesterfield sofa and footlights—one might think that Gardner and Freeman are serving up a drawing-room comedy. The formal-wear-attired performers (including Steve Burns, former host of the children’s show Blue’s Clues), looking very Noël Coward but speaking very Gertrude Stein, deliver dialogue that seethes with subtext as they starkly shift from one seemingly vapid conversation to the next. Affecting a stilted cadence, the ensemble creates a disconnect between words and actions, continuously undercutting the value of language.
Don’t be scared off by this highfalutin metatheatricality: Brandywine embraces a winsome avant-garde sense of humor."Read the whole thing here.
Mitch Montgomery at Backstage calls the piece "frustrating and hilarious." Can't argue with that. His review seems happy and mystified in equal measure.
When more reviews appear, I'll link to them.
UPDATE: Aaron Riccio seems particularly perturbed by our play, but I'll link to it in the name of general goodwill. He refers to it as "too mystifying to be annoying." Yikes. At least that means it's not annoying?
Criticism is something that it's always hard to engage with publicly. I'm sure I'm not the only playwright that doesn't want to quibble with reviews in public: it seems petty, and sort of pointless, and it risks making you seem thin-skinned. It also can create an adversarial relationship with the press - not exactly a great plan. Also, some reviewers might touch on weaknesses in the piece that are valid, and you can't really absorb that right away. Just like anything, in the midst of the creative process, it's impossible to be objective.
"It’s difficult to know where to begin when discussing a play that runs away from any sense of a narrative beginning (not to mention middle and end) like an unruly toddler. But subverting theatrical convention is exactly the point of Michael Gardner and Matthew Freeman’s playfully illogical Brandywine Distillery Fire, which, it turns out, has absolutely nothing to do with Brandywine, distilleries or fires.
The title is only the first of many red herrings designed to throw audiences off the trail of a stable dramatic experience. At first glance—with the set’s red velour curtain, brocade chesterfield sofa and footlights—one might think that Gardner and Freeman are serving up a drawing-room comedy. The formal-wear-attired performers (including Steve Burns, former host of the children’s show Blue’s Clues), looking very Noël Coward but speaking very Gertrude Stein, deliver dialogue that seethes with subtext as they starkly shift from one seemingly vapid conversation to the next. Affecting a stilted cadence, the ensemble creates a disconnect between words and actions, continuously undercutting the value of language.
Don’t be scared off by this highfalutin metatheatricality: Brandywine embraces a winsome avant-garde sense of humor."Read the whole thing here.
Mitch Montgomery at Backstage calls the piece "frustrating and hilarious." Can't argue with that. His review seems happy and mystified in equal measure.
When more reviews appear, I'll link to them.
UPDATE: Aaron Riccio seems particularly perturbed by our play, but I'll link to it in the name of general goodwill. He refers to it as "too mystifying to be annoying." Yikes. At least that means it's not annoying?
Criticism is something that it's always hard to engage with publicly. I'm sure I'm not the only playwright that doesn't want to quibble with reviews in public: it seems petty, and sort of pointless, and it risks making you seem thin-skinned. It also can create an adversarial relationship with the press - not exactly a great plan. Also, some reviewers might touch on weaknesses in the piece that are valid, and you can't really absorb that right away. Just like anything, in the midst of the creative process, it's impossible to be objective.
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Brandywine Distillery Fire opens tonight
Tonight is the first of only eight performances of Brandywine Distillery Fire. The play opens the fall season of the Incubator Arts Project. If you're free tonight, and willing and able, I suggest you get some tickets and check it out.
If you're a regular reader of this space, and you're considering seeing the show, tonight or tomorrow would be terrific times to make it. Early performances, in a short run, are a real key to the overall success of the production.
Tickets here.
For tonight and tomorrow night, there's a discount code that gets you $10 tickets. The code is "dogfighting".
If you're a regular reader of this space, and you're considering seeing the show, tonight or tomorrow would be terrific times to make it. Early performances, in a short run, are a real key to the overall success of the production.
Tickets here.
For tonight and tomorrow night, there's a discount code that gets you $10 tickets. The code is "dogfighting".
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Congratulations
Congratulations to my dear friends Dave and Erica on the birth of their baby girl, Emma Marie DelGrosso. Born September 4th, 2010. Much, much love. Welcome Emma!
Friday, September 03, 2010
Discount Code for Brandywine Distillery Fire
Brandywine Distillery Fire opens on Thursday September 9th and tickets are now on sale. We're offering a special discount code for the Friday September 10th performance.
Click here to order Friday tickets. Then, enter the discount code "dogfighting" for $10 tickets.
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Jan Brewer's silence
This is just one of those moments where a person you feel is doing bad things looks like a fool, and you get the enjoy it.
That's all.
That's all.
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