#Sundown Collaborative Theatre

[jda-dycp]

My name is Jamel Duane Alatise, I’m an interdisciplinary artist, photographer, poet, director, and model. A British born Nigerian and Jamaican. I am also founder of a purposely-slow publication called People Journal.

I currently base my practice out of my small south London studio, and I am working with the Victoria and Albert museum on a learning and development programme for young people that ends in December 2024. 

I studied Performance and Creative Enterprise at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Some highlights from my career so far are:

2018 commission by Barbican for their OpenFest, a poetry performance performed on their Highwalks; and a subsequent beginning of my Stories project for the art publication People Journal

2020 solo digital exhibition ‘The Portraiture of Jamel Duane Alatise powered by fujifilm instax’ plus a year long sponsorship by Fujifilm instax.

2021 photojournalism commission by the Young Vic theatre, documenting their first queer, trans, intersectional, and global majority-led show in collaboration with MAC Cosmetics; and a subsequent commission to direct a documentary about the production coming back on the main-stage two years later in 2023

2023 commission from TATE to respond to their Tate Modern exhibition, Liz Johnson Artur’s ’Time Don’t Run Here’, resulting in a performance of poetry which was also later adapted into a soundpiece exhibited alongside Liz Johnson Artur’s work; and a subsequent commission to respond again to Richard Bell’s work and travelling piece ‘Embassy’, which resulted in a live performance and series of theme discussions in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, alongside Richard Bell. 

POETRY

2023 commission from TATE to respond to their Tate Modern exhibition, Liz Johnson Artur’s ’Time Don’t Run Here’, resulting in a performance of poetry which was also later adapted into a soundpiece exhibited alongside Liz Johnson Artur’s work

A small collection of poems from 2018 to 2020.

STORIES

Beginning first as a commission titled Satellites (video above), by the Barbican for their OpenFest, gathering anonymous, handwritten stories became a central part of my practice. Starting in 2018 with just a little over 30 accounts collected, and carried on over years, we now have a growing collection that’s steadily approaching thousands of contributions from anonymous people, across several languages including Chinese, English, French, Italian, Japanese, to name a few. 

The project has also been exhibited several times, and made into three different books and counting. 

PEOPLE JOURNAL

People Journal is a purposely-slow publication I founded in 2016 while working at another publication called SWVNK (and later Acure) – it started out of frustration, wanting to profile people that may not be the most popular but have really remarkable stories. Since it has grown into an active art project that documents people over longer time spans, focuses on the analogue, the handwritten, and the intimate moments between people during connections. In this respect, People Journal has been used as a vehicle to bring many together, foster connection, and encourage them to spend time offline, in real life, and doing something cathartic, whether in conversation or through arts and crafts.

The Portraiture of Jamel Duane Alatise

PHOTOGRAPHY

SUNDOWN KIKI

2021 photojournalism commission by the Young Vic theatre, documenting their first queer, trans, intersectional, and global majority-led show in collaboration with MAC Cosmetics;

subsequent commission to direct a documentary about the production coming back on the main-stage two years later in 2023:

[writemarcus]

JCTC Produces Reading of New Play SIBLING RIVALRIES By Marcus Scott

The production is set for September 18.

By: Stephi Wild Sep. 06, 2023

Jersey City Theater Center will present a reading of Sibling Rivalries by Marcus Scott, a new play set at a fictional Ivy League school in the years following the Obama Administration. This political drama follows a diverse group of young black men, all members of a fraternity, who face shifting loyalties and eroded principles when they are forced to compete against one another for a prestigious fellowship. Sibling Rivalries will take place at Jersey City Theater Center (165 Newark Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07302 / Entrance from Barrow St., Jersey City, NJ, 07302) on Monday, September 18 at 7:30PM. Tickets start at just $5.00 and are available at www.JCTCenter.org.  "As we prepare to showcase the extraordinary talent of Marcus Scott, a remarkable representative of the black, queer community, whose work we have had the privilege of nurturing by providing a creative residency in 2023, our enthusiasm knows no bounds. At the very core of our mission lies our unwavering commitment to open doors for emerging playwrights, allowing their voices to resound both locally and on the globally," stated Olga Levina, the Executive Producer at JCTC. "JCTC is immensely thankful for our enduring partnership with I Love Greenville and the sponsorship from Healthier JC, our collaboration has given rise to a wide spectrum of programming, each piece thoughtfully designed to shed light on the experiences and obstacles faced by people of color while celebrating their rich cultural traditions."  We wish to express our gratitude to the Performers' Unions: ACTORS' EQUITY ASSOCIATION, AMERICAN GUILD OF MUSICAL ARTISTS, AMERICAN GUILD OF VARIETY ARTISTS and SAG-AFTRA through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their cooperation in permitting the Artists to appear in this program.

About Marcus Scott

Marcus Scott is a playwright, musical theatre writer & journalist. Full-length works: Tumbleweed (finalist: 2017 BAPF & the 2017 Festival of New American Plays at Austin Playhouse; semifinalist: 2022 O'Neill NPC, 2022 Blue Ink Playwriting Award & 2017 New Dramatists Princess Grace Award in Playwriting Fellowship), Sibling Rivalries (finalist: Normal Ave's NAPseries, 2021 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference & 2021 ATHE-KCACTF Judith Royer Excellence In Playwriting Award; semi- finalist: 2022 Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, 2021 Blue Ink Playwriting Award & 2021 New Dramatists Princess Grace Award in Playwriting Fellowship; long-listed: 2020 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award), There Goes The Neighborhood (finalist: 2023 New Dramatists Princess Grace Award in Playwriting Fellowship, 2023 Blue Ink Playwriting Award, the 2019 Bushwick Starr Reading Series; semifinalist: 2023 BAPF) & Cherry Bomb (recipient: 2017 Drama League First Stage Artist-In-Residence, 2017 New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series; 2017 finalist for the Yale Institute for Music Theatre). Heartbeat Opera commissioned Scott to adapt Beethoven's “Fidelio” (Co-writer; Met Live Arts at the MET Museum, Mondavi Center at UC Davis, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, The Broad Stage, Rutgers Presbyterian Church, Baruch Performing Arts Center; NYTimes Critics' Pick! ★★★★). Scott is the recipient of the WTP Rosalind Ayres-Williams Memorial Scholarship (2022-2024). Scott is the recipient of the WTP Rosalind Ayres-Williams Memorial Scholarship (2022-2024). His one-act Sundown Town is published in Obsidian: Literature and Arts of the African Diaspora: Issue: 48.1.   His work has developed or presented at Concord Theatricals/Sam French OOB Short Play Festival, Queens Theatre (New American Voices series), The Fire This Time Festival, Zoetic Stage (Finstrom Festival Of New Work), Dixon Place, Feinstein's/54 Below, Abingdon Theatre Company, Downtown Urban Arts Festival, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Across A Crowded Room at Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library (NYPL), Musical Theater Factory's 4x15 Series, Space on Ryder Farm, Theatre West, New Circle Theatre Company, MicroTheater Miami, Columbia College Chicago, among others.   Residencies and retreats: The inaugural Personal Pizza Party Writers' Kitchen cohort (2023), The 2022 Valdez Theatre Conference, The Road Theatre Company's Under Construction 3 Playwrights Group (2022), Mojoaa Performing Arts Company's Southern Black Playwrights Lab (Cohort 2; 2022), Works & Process LaunchPAD “Process as Destination” Residency at the Guggenheim (2022), Prospect Musical Theater Lab (2021), María Irene Fornés Playwriting Workshop (2021), JACK Governor's Island Artist Residency (2021), Catwalk Artist Residency (2021), The Center at West Park Virtual Performance Residency (2020-2021), Gingold Theatre Group Speaker's Corner Writer (2020-2022), Liberation Theatre Company's Playwriting Residency Fellowship (2018), Athena Theatre Company's Athena Writes Playwriting Fellowship (2018-2019), the inaugural LIT Council at the Tank (2018-2019), Fresh Ground Pepper Artist-In-Residence BRB Retreat (2017), One Co. Writers' Residency at Little Farm (2017) and Goodspeed Opera House Retreat (2013). Scott is a 2021 NYSAF Founders' Award finalist, a 2021 Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award semi-finalist, a four-time National Black Theatre I AM SOUL Playwrights Residency finalist and a four-time top finalist for The Civilians R&D Group. His articles appeared in Architectural Digest, Time Out New York, American Theatre Magazine, Playbill, Elle, Out, Essence, The Brooklyn Rail, among others. BFA: State University College at Buffalo, MFA: NYU Tisch.

[pbnapples]

Wanna Watch a DnD Show? 🥺

Y’all!! The show I stage managed opens NEXT WEEK! And guess what? It’s VIRTUAL! Do you know what that means? You can watch it from ANYWHERE! Hell, you can even watch it in your underwear!!!

I’m really excited y’all, because theatre has always been a huge part of my life, but I’ve never really been able to share it with my online friends as much because no one is local. But this time! This time I can share some of the amazing art I helped create with you all! 🥰

She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms will be streaming October 22nd-October 24th at 8:00PM (CST). The show follows a girl named Agnes who learns more and more about her sister by participating in a homebrew DnD campaign she wrote before her death. The show is heart-wrenching, nerdy as fuck, hilarious, and just a damn good time. The show also includes in-person fight scenes, elaborate puppetry, and an original score!

So, if you need something to occupy your weekend, or if you just wanna support some non-profit theatre artists, please consider tuning in. ☺️ You can find tickets at https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/56676.

[sundowntheatre]

“High in the mountains of southern Italy lies San Chirico Raparo, a poor isolated town which has become the unlikely venue for a theatre project bringing together young African migrants and Italians.” Time and time again, art is proven to be a great unifying force.   Collaborative art builds bridges, heals wounds, and promotes a sense of community and support.  

[wheresthewater]

“One of my plays is getting produced!” “What’s it about?” “So there’s this guy, and he really loves this one girl— she’s the girl of his dreams. But she’s going off to college. So he applies to every nearby college, just so he can be close to her. But the only college that accepts him is a clown college. But here’s the thing— he’s terrified of clowns.”

[blendways]

The premiere of blendways 𝒲𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 at Sundown Collaborative Theatre presents...Java Scripts: Double Shot - an Annual(ish) Short Works Festival

Waking Reveries show dates:

Sunday, August 28th

Friday, September 2nd

Sunday, September 4th

at Aura Coffee

Show begins at 8 PM

Waking Reveries: An audio/visual environmental dreamscape performance by blendways.

Manipulated field recordings, meditative ambient sounds, distorted archival footage, and contemplative dance practice transcend the audience into an ethereal dwelling place of ecological introspection where they are invited to meditate and contemplate along with the performer.

Featuring: sound, video, performance, zines, wearable art, mixed-media 🌿

[jamelalatise]

I documented the cast & BTS of Sundown Kiki, the @youngvictheatre's first entirely QTIPOC show, on @polaroid & @kodak. I also made postcards with QR codes that featured a selection of the pictures on the front – for the cast to share with more producers and theatres; in hopes that the linked headshots and résumés would generate more work for the artists coming out of lockdown. Sundown Kiki was devised by queer young artists from the global majority. Directed by Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu @tristanfaiduenu, with Creative Direction by Jay Jay Revlon @jayjayrevlon. It was produced by Taking Part at the Young Vic and also featured a collaboration with @maccosmetics. Special thanks to Taking Part and @lorna_mcginty for allowing me to execute a vision I’m really delighted by. (at Young Vic Theatre) https://www.instagram.com/p/CeTVENjIR4T/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[foryourart]

PLAN ForYourArt: May 3–9 Thursday, May 3

Recommended Openings and Events in Westwood

MFA Exhibition #4, UCLA (Westwood), 5–8pm.

Ann Hamilton and SITI Company: the theater is a blank page, CAP UCLA (Westwood), 8pm.

Recommended Westside Openings and Events

This is Not Halfway, American Jewish University (Bel Air), 7pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Culver City

Public, Issue No. 1, Arcana: Books on the Arts (Culver City), 6–8pm.

Recommended Miracle Mile Openings and Events

CraftNight: Face Pots! A Clay Workshop with Uno+Ichi, Craft and Folk Art Museum (Miracle Mile), 7–9pm.

Film: Free Screening: Fahrenheit 451, LACMA (Miracle Mile), 7:30pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Downtown

FREE FIRST THURSDAYS, The Broad (Downtown), 4–7pm.

In Conversation: Robeson Taj Frazier and Tommy the Clown, California African American Museum (Downtown), 7–9pm.

Lanka Tattersall: Real Worlds: Brassaï, Arbus, Goldin, MOCA Grand Avenue (Downtown), 7pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Chinatown

New books by Luke Fischbeck, Trevor Hernandez & Neha Choksi, Ooga Booga (Chinatown), 6–9pm.

Sherry Valence, Human Resources (Chinatown), 8pm.

Recommended Openings and Events Beyond Los Angeles

György Képes in the Cold War, Part II: Collaborations and Environments, Santa Barbara Museum of Art (Santa Barbara), 10–11:30am.

School of Music Visiting Artist Series: Factory Seconds Brass Trio, CalArts (Valencia), 2–4pm.

School of Music Visiting Artist Series: Mike Raznick, CalArts (Valencia), 2–4pm.

Queer Arts Collective (QAC) Community Meeting, CalArts (Valencia), 4–7pm.

Paul Brach Lecture Series: Marnie Weber, CalArts (Valencia), 4:30–6:30pm.

15's - Fifteen Minutes of Chorus, with Palm Springs Gay Men's Chorus, Palm Springs Art Museum (Palm Springs), 6:15pm.

Curated Cocktails | Sundowner Secrets, Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara), 7–9pm.

LPATCH, CalArts (Valencia), 7–9pm.

Ghosts: Dream Walker, CalArts (Valencia), 7–11pm. Continues May 4.

Documentary Screening - The Chinese Exclusion Act, The Huntington (San Marino), 7:30pm.

School of Music Visiting Artist Series: Gamin, CalArts (Valencia), 7:45–8:15pm. Also May 4.

2018 CalArts Expo, CalArts (Valencia).

Friday, May 4

Recommended Openings and Events in Westwood

CULTURE FIX: IKECHUKWU ONYEWUENYI ON MELEKO MOKGOSI, Fowler Museum (Westwood), 12pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Culver City

ACID-FREE Los Angeles Art Book Market, Blum & Poe (Culver City), 6–9pm. Through May 6.

LONAC: Strange Tales and DREW MERRITT: Slaying Idols, Thinkspace Gallery (Culver City), 6–9:30pm.

Recommended Miracle Mile Openings and Events

Talk: City as Cosmos: Art and Archaeology at Teotihuacan Symposium, LACMA (Miracle Mile), 9:30am.

Recommended Downtown Openings and Events

Movie Nights at the Museum: Little Shop of Horrors, Los Angeles Poverty Department (Downtown), 7pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Frogtown

Frogtown Story Show, Women’s Center for Creative Work (Frogtown), 7–9pm. $5.

Recommended Openings and Events in Los Feliz

Carrie Ann Baade - Apocalyptic Orgasm and Patrick McGrath - Credo, La Luz de Jesus Gallery (Los Feliz), 8–11pm.

Recommended Openings and Events Beyond Los Angeles

Film Screening: Mrs. Fang (2017) by Wang Bing, CalArts (Valencia), 4pm.

Saturday, May 5

Recommended Openings and Events in Santa Monica

Andrew Chuani Ho: The Other Side and Ryan Travis Christian: I'm Picking Up Where The California Raisins Left Off, Richard Heller Gallery (Santa Monica), 5–7pm.

Stripes, bG Gallery (Santa Monica), 5–8pm.

Ethereal, Christopher Grimes Gallery (Santa Monica).

Recommended Westside Openings and Events

SCULPTURAL MILLINERY & FASCINATOR WORKSHOP with Yvonne Lewis, Craft in America Center (Beverly Grove), 1–4pm. $85.

Women in the Field: Female Photographers, Annenberg Space for Photography (Century City), 5pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Culver City

Cig Harvey: Book Signing and Party, Kopeikin Gallery (Culver City), 4–6pm.

Suckulent Group Art Show Fundraiser and Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, The Love Hacienda (Baldwin Hills), 5–10pm.

John Bankston: The Sky above Us and Maria E. Piñeres: Primordial Chaos, Walter Maciel Gallery (Culver City), 6–8pm.

Recommended West Adams Openings and Events

Femmes Funking it Up, The William Grant Still Arts Center (West Adams), 2–4pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Compton

Big City Forum - YES to ADU - Talleres Publicos, AC Bilbrew Library (Compton), 10am–12pm.

Recommended Miracle Mile and Mid-City Openings and Events

Spring Marketplace 2018, Craft & Folk Art Museum (Miracle Mile), 11am–6pm. Also May 6.

Talk: Exhibition Tour: A Universal History of Infamy—Those of This America, LACMA (Miracle Mile), 1:30pm.

Talk: The Art of Wine: A Fine Vintage—Hockney Portraits and California Wine, LACMA (Miracle Mile), 3pm.

Nature: Human Nature and Art + Design Show, The Loft at Liz’s (Mid-City).

Susan Lizotte: New Work, Castelli Art Space (Mid-City), 7–10pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Hollywood

Valerie Green: Gray Area, Moskowitz Bayse (Hollywood), 6–9pm.

Recommended Downtown Openings and Events

Quiet Mornings: Art x Mindfulness @ MOCA, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (Downtown), 9:30am.

Italianita Italian Diaspora Artists Examine Identity, Italian American Museum of Los Angeles (Downtown), 10am–3pm.

Real Worlds: Brassaï, Arbus, Goldin tour, MOCA Grand Avenue (Downtown), 11am–12:30pm.

Ankita Mukherji: Places of being, 356 Mission (Downtown), 11am–6pm. Continues May 6.

Michael Lindsay-Hogg: Just Another Step on the Staircase, Werkärtz (Downtown), 5–8pm.

Angélique Kidjo: Remain In Light, Ace Hotel (Downtown), 8pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Chinatown

Nuestra América Poetry Reading, Human Resources (Chinatown), 1–5pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Lincoln Heights

WORKSHOP: Theatrical Contact Improvisation and Jam: Jessica Hemingway, Pieter (Lincoln Heights), 11:30am–3pm. $15–20.

Eye Candy Chard Gonzalez Dance Theatre, Pieter (Lincoln Heights), 8:30–10pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Glassell Park

Joshua West Smith: The Autumn, and the Violet, and Orion, Elephant (Glassell Park), 7–9pm.

Recommended Openings and Events Beyond Los Angeles

Art Matters 2018 - San Marino League Art Show, The Huntington (San Marino), 11am–4pm. Also May 6.

Children's Flower Arranging: Peonies, The Huntington (San Marino), 1pm. $25.

Talk & Book Signing: Designing with Palms, The Huntington (San Marino), 2:30pm.

The quiet while ~ ruuth, CalArts (Valencia), 5–7pm.

10 Years Sonic Boom, CalArts (Valencia), 8–10pm.

Sunday, May 6

Recommended Westside Openings and Events

KIDS: 826LA@Hammer: A Superpowered Comics Workshop, Hammer Museum (Westwood), 11am.

KCRW'S GOOD FOOD PIE CONTEST, Fowler Museum (Westwood), 12pm.

Public Art Auction, Santa Monica Auctions (Santa Monica), 1pm.

GALLERY TALK: OAXACAN BALL GAMES FROM ANCIENT MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA TODAY, Fowler Museum (Westwood), 2pm.

The Villa Council Presents Egyptology Meets Science: Giving Ancient Objects a Voice, Getty Villa (Pacific Palisades), 3pm.

Requiem: Aching for Acker, Beyond Baroque (Venice), 5–7pm.

Aline Mare: Requiem: Aching for Acker, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center (Venice), 5–7pm.

Recommended Miracle Mile and Mid-City Openings and Events

In the Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art, LACMA (Miracle Mile), 10am–7pm.

Talk: Panel Discussion: Women and the Arts in Iran, LACMA (Miracle Mile), 1pm.

In Tandem, The Loft at Liz’s (Mid-City), 3pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Chinatown

BEYOND THE STREETS, 1667 North Main Street (Chinatown), 12–7pm.$25.

CARRIAGE: Matty Davis & Ben Gould, Human Resources (Chinatown), 7–8pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Lincoln Heights

Julienne Fusello: Rising Star, Somebody Loves Me, As It Stands (Lincoln Heights), 5–8pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Frogtown

Show Thyself!, Women’s Center for Creative Work (Frogtown), 2–6pm. $36–45.

Recommended Openings and Events Downtown

Principles of Walking Meditation, Main Museum (Downtown), 1–3pm.

CAAM Reads! The Fire Next Time, California African American Museum (Downtown), 3–4:30pm.

A Retrospective of Dance Duets by Sophia Wang/Brontez Purnell, 356 Mission (Downtown), 3–6pm.

A Retrospective of Dance Duets by Sophia Wang/Brontez Purnell, 356 Mission (Downtown), 7:30–9pm.

Recommended Openings and Events in Eagle Rock

An Evening of Improvised Music, Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock (Eagle Rock), 7pm.

Recommended Openings and Events Beyond Los Angeles

Kun Opera in the Chinese Garden, The Huntington (San Marino), 1–3pm.

Lecture and Book Signing - California Plants, The Huntington (San Marino), 2:30pm.

The Actual 47 Rōnin Incident: Unjust Punishment and Vengeance by Luke Roberts, Santa Barbara Museum of Art (Santa Barbara), 2:30pm.

CalArts Brass Spring Concert, CalArts (Valencia), 5–7pm.

Guitars @ CalArts, CalArts (Valencia), 8–10pm.

Monday, May 7

Recommended Westside Openings and Events

Introduction to the Conservation of Modern Architecture, Getty Center (Brentwood), Through May 9.

Recommended Openings and Events Beyond Los Angeles

Kip's Desert Book Club: Desert Town by Ramona Stewart, Glass Outhouse Art Gallery (Twentynine Palms), 7pm.

Carnegie Astronomy Lecture - Dark Energy and Cosmic Sound, The Huntington (San Marino), 7pm.

Palm Springs Photo Festival 2018, Palm Springs Art Museum (Palm Springs). Through May 10.

Tuesday, May 8

Recommended Westside Openings and Events

In Our Time: An Evening of Film with David Lamelas, Getty Center (Brentwood), 7pm.

SCREENINGS: Part of the series The Black Book: Chameleon Street, Hammer Museum (Westwood), 7:30pm.

Recommended Miracle Mile Openings and Events

Course: On-Site: Compton—Teotihuacan, LACMA (Miracle Mile), 10am.

Film: The Seventh Seal, LACMA (Miracle Mile), 1pm.

Recommended Downtown Openings and Events

Gospel-Oke, California African American Museum (Downtown), 7–9pm.

Recommended Openings and Events Beyond Los Angeles

East Asian Garden Lecture - Reconstructing the Mindscape of a 17th-Century Korean Literati Garden, The Huntington (San Marino), 7:30pm.

Wednesday, May 9

Recommended Mid-City Openings and Events

Live Sound Bath with Jónsi, Alex Somers and Paul Corley, Marciano Art Foundation (Mid-Wilshire), 6:30pm. Sold out

Recommended West Hollywood Openings and Events

Patient Zero: Richard A. McKay in Conversation with Steven Reigns, West Hollywood City Council Chambers (West Hollywood), 7–9:30pm.

Recommended Frogtown Openings and Events

Get Selfish: Collage Night With Yasmine Diaz, Women’s Center for Creative Work (Frogtown), 7–9:30pm. $5.

Recommended Openings and Events Beyond Los Angeles

Curator Tour: Bonsai Behind-the-Scenes, The Huntington (San Marino), 9:30am. $15.

LA Chamber Orchestra - Brahms & The Schumanns, The Huntington (San Marino), 7:30pm.

[theatredirectors]

Yoni Oppenheim

Hometown? 

New York, NY (and I spent summers in Tel Aviv, Israel as a child).

Where are you now? 

New York, NY.

What's your current project?

Set in a society torn apart by internal strife, ecological disaster, and interference from foreign powers, my current project examine the cost of humiliation and explore what it means to be a member of a community, to be a leader, to have moral courage, and to resist. I am currently directing two plays written by the acclaimed Israeli playwright Dani Horowitz, Last Tree in Jerusalem and A Page of Talmud, for my company 24/6: A Jewish Theater Company. The plays will be performed together on one bill from December 4th – 15th, 2019 at TheaterLab.

I translated Last Tree in Jerusalem. This is the world premiere of my translation and the first time these plays - written 20 years apart - have been presented together. I had the opportunity to meet and interview Dani Horowitz in Israel as he was writing Last Tree in Jerusalem in response to the disengagement from Gaza. I fell in love with the script and felt that I had to translate it and share it with a wider audience.

I am also a 2019 Target Margin Theater Institute Fellow. I am one of five fellows who come from an array of artistic disciplines (dance, visual arts, and playwriting). 

Why and how did you get into theatre?

The short answer: Harold Prince

The long answer:  I discovered the theater in eighth grade when my piano teacher gave me songs from Phantom of the Opera to play. I had never seen a musical – Broadway or elsewhere. The closest I got to Phantom was the evocative ads I saw on the side of the M86 bus I took to school. At some point, it dawned on me that these songs were from plays that were staged in theaters and that I could actually go and see them.  They were too expensive to attend, but I could envision my own productions in my head.

I borrowed the cast recording for Phantom from the library and saw that a man named Harold Prince had directed it. I didn’t know what a director did or who Harold Prince was so I spent hours at the performing arts library reading about his work. I was inspired by his creative vision and collaborative spirit. Eventually, I saw The Phantom of the Opera and have had a desire to see and make theater ever since.

What is your directing dream project? 

My dream project would be to devise a show with a diverse multi-generational cast comprised of people of different physical abilities. I would also love to do theater in prisons. I would like to reengage with theater work I used to do with non-actors ranging from senior citizens and at-risk teens.

What kind of theatre excites you? 

Theater that embraces the unique properties and limitations of the theatrical form and doesn’t try to mimic what film and television do better. Work that engages in ritual. Work that pushes and questions what can constitute a theatrical event. When I was doing my master’s degree in Oslo, I befriended the members of an artistic collective called Verdensteatret whose work pushed the bounds of live performance towards installation and multi-media art. Witnessing their work and process first-hand was eye-opening and inspiring. They modeled a way of being an artist in the world. Here in NYC, I love the Public Works initiative at The Public Theater.

What do you want to change about theatre today?

I am a Sabbath-observant Orthodox Jew, meaning that from Friday sundown to Saturday night I don’t work. I co-founded 24/6: A Jewish Theater Company in order to provide myself and other Sabbath-observant artists opportunities to work and grow in our craft. I wish mainstream theaters could be more flexible and accommodating in their schedules, particularly in New York which has a very high concentration of religiously observant Jews.

What is your opinion on getting a directing MFA? 

I did not get an MFA, so I can’t speak to the experience. I got my BFA from NYU-Tisch which is one of the few drama programs with an undergraduate directing concentration through Playwrights Horizons Theater School. I wasn’t interested in rushing into an MFA after such an intense experience, nor did I have the finances to do so.  However, I feel like over the years I’ve cobbled together my own MFA of real life. Before founding 24/6: A Jewish Theater Company, I directed stuff freelance and learned a ton by assistant directing new works. I reached out to theaters and opera companies for observerships and had the opportunity to see how directors like Peter Sellars, Ivo van Hove and Mark Lamos work. I am also a dramaturg and spent several years as Doug Wright’s research associate as he wrote his Ibsen-themed play Posterity. I then served as the production dramaturg for the world premiere at Atlantic Theater Company. It was a rare opportunity to see a play develop from idea to production and be part of that process.

Who are your theatrical heroes? 

Rina Yerushalmi, Harold Prince, Julie Taymor, Thomas Ostermeier, Henrik Ibsen, Anne Bogart, Peter Brook, Catherine Filloux, and Leone de' Sommi Portaleone.

Any advice for directors just starting out? 

There is only one of you in the world. Your specific perspective and aesthetic is necessary for our cultural ecosystem to be diverse and healthy. Discover your voice, keep growing and learning, and own it. Do the work no one else can.

Part of growing is seeing as much aesthetically and culturally diverse work as you can - not only theater, but of all artistic disciplines.

Your life in the arts is a marathon, not a sprint.

Plugs! 

24/6: A Jewish Theater Company Presents Last Tree in Jerusalem / A Page of Talmud by Dani Horowitz December 4-15th, 2019 at TheaterLab  357 West 36th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY

Tickets: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1020520

More info: https://twentyfoursix.weebly.com/

Target Margin Theater Institute Open Studio: December 18th, 2019 4pm-8pm

at Target Margin Theater 232 52nd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11220

https://www.targetmargin.org/our-season/institute/

NYPL for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center has a great free exhibit all about Harold Prince until March 31, 2020 which I really enjoyed.  Don’t miss it! https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/company-harold-prince-broadway-producer-director-collaborator

_

[twistednuns]

June 2019

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”   

A (very) sunny day in London. Seeing a seal in the Thames, right under the Tower Bridge. Walking through St. James’s Park, eating ice-cream. Taking a beautiful picture of Laura in Covent Garden. Finally getting out of the underground. A tiny rainbow reflection in the sky over Greenwich.

Playing badminton in the evening with Frank. Sitting by the river, making new friends (duckies).

Micha. Meeting in Thalkirchen after I had just seen a half dead mouse. Walking along the river, finding a nice spot across from the zoo with a bunch of musical hippies playing the drums on the other bank. We got drunk on Toro Loco and Grasovka in ice hockey cups until he kissed me in the middle of a sentence. It took quite a while until I noticed I was just kissing my first man with a tongue piercing. At some point I re-erected a knocked over portable toilet (does drunk me have superhuman powers?) and we walked to the subway together. Such a gentle weirdo.

Making breakfast for someone other than me. Sharing an apple. Eating out of the same bowl.

IKEA has veggie hot dogs now. Excellent. I also got a new cutting board. And that’s ALL I got. I’m virtually patting myself on the shoulder right now.

Christoph and Lauren’s wedding was pretty chill. We squeezed into a car, went up a very steep hill to attend the ceremony and spent the rest of the day around a camp fire drinking gin and tonics or dancing to very bad music. I loved getting to know Michael’s boyfriend of 4 years. I always received gay vibes from him… good to know that my gaydar isn’t broken.

Taking polaroid pictures in the beautiful afternoon light. I also loved Christian’s outtakes of the theme music quiz. One of them honestly looks as if I’d just won a beauty pageant - we have a host, two ladies with jealous side glances and me, all excited, open mouth, in front of the mic, waiting for her tiara…

Spending a few hours in my mum’s garden. Doing dangerous yoga exercises in the grass. Walking barefoot. Marveling at the lush roses everywhere. Watching a blackbird taking a bath under the cherry tree. Very entertaining.

I want to learn Spanish and this video gives me hope - apparently I can heavily rely on my French vocabulary.

Why the men I like usually look the same.

Hanging out with Martina, Tobi and Diego the dog at the Thalkirchen campsite. Watching the rafts go by (horrible music), driving them home with their car right before the apocalyptic thunderstorm.

The perfect dessert: berries or peaches with fresh cream. The perfect dinner: Truffle pasta.

The concept of eclecticism.

Spending the afternoon with Franzi at Maria Einsiedel. Meeting baby Elise for the first time. Hopping into the Eiskanal, turning my body into a freezer for five minutes. Eating tiny lemon ice-cream and galia melon.

Meeting Catrin and Andreas at Brillengalerie in Altheim. Really good cappuccino (he’s an optician AND a latte artist). I loved trying on those gorgeous glasses and talking to Catrin about the Latte Art championships and rude customers.

Our trip to the Bavarian Forest to make a cake tree for the wedding. We visited Lena’s uncle who turned a tree trunk into a three-tiered cake stand with his chainsaw. We helped. I really want to get a chainsaw license now.

Once again: roses. They are incredibly lush this year. I don’t know why exactly but climate change seems to have one tiny upside.

Drawing. Portrait practice. Filling my sketchbook from idee. Polychromos coloured pencils.

Using Instagram’s story feature for the first time. I love editing pictures and adding gifs and colours. Immature and tacky but fun.

Looking trough old analogue pictures. Finding lots of my dad looking like the perfect Millennial. 90s fashion really IS back. I still loathe fanny packs though.

I found someone who’s coming to India with me!! I’m going to travel with Bibi this summer. So excited!

Unfortunately: the Solitaire app on my phone. Unhealthy obsession. You know you’ve got a problem when you’re getting REALLY good…

The smell of dill pickles reminds evokes vivid memories of my grandma. She used to make them herself, in heavy stoneware next to the wash room in the cellar.

Spending the evening with Bibi at Kulturdachgarten (having Ginger Spritz as a sundowner in the late afternoon sun), eating Israeli mezze at NANA in Haidhausen and seeing Rocketman at Rio cinema. My colleague works there so we got discount tickets and free ice-cream. Taron Egerton is a fabulous actor. If I had to describe the film in one word it’d be flamboyant. Also, I’d have loved to be the costume designer for this.

Iglo veggie love frozen meals. With Hela curry ketchup. Nom.

Extremely cute new rockery plants (who will have to do with regular potting soil I’m afraid).

Meeting Andre at Thalkirchen. Spending the evening on an Isar gravel bank, drinking the beer Martina brought from Croatia. Joining the… eh, what’s the Mile High Club for people who prefer water to air travel? Catching the last train home. Taking dinky photobooth pictures because we still had ten minutes to spare. That fake photo strip makes me happy instantly whenever I look at it.

Getting better at asking for what I want.

The character Moe in the Netflix series Trinkets. To me, she’s so much more attractive than Tabitha. And I love her attitude. And her hookup in episode seven. What a pretty man.

Manu making me realise how much I look like my dad. “At least jawwise!”

Spending the evening with Tom. Pre-theatre Spritz, Melancholia at Kammerspiele, Isar-beer near Müllersches Volksbad. Talking about our insights and issues.

It’s fascinating to see the lupin in front of my balcony door open it’s blossoms gradually from bottom to top. This plant has such an interesting structure and geometry.

Salad season. Somehow I only like salads in the summer but then I eat them passionately. With strawberries, Black Forest tofu, peaches, blueberries, mangoes, olives. Those nice, firm Roma tomatoes you only get during the summer months. I made a huge bowl of Tabouleh the other day and had it for breakfast, lunch an dinner.

Going home in the morning, smelling of another person.

Booking flights to India. 5 weeks. I’ve never been gone for so long and then I chose India of all places… I feel a mild panic attack coming but I’m also super excited.

Artificial cherry flavour.

A day trip with Lexi. She brought crisps and a fun Mexican dice game which we played on the train. Spending the whole afternoon soaking in the warm water at Therme Bad Aibling. Discovering the amazing acoustics in the various domes. Making a new duckie friend. Weird mirror selfies with hairdryers. Dinner at a Bavarian restaurant in Rosenheim. Teaching le Sash some obscure Bavarian words.

The word obscure, come to think of it. Uncanny is a close second.

Jupiter being so bright in the night sky. I always notice it first as soon as it’s dark.

Librarians are secretly the funnest people alive.

So many things, really. I’m feeling quite happy at the moment. My only problem is that I keep gaining weight. Somehow enjoying myself is adverse to the strict regime I need in order to stay perfectly healthy.

Random things: Schweppes Fruity citrus and orange lemonade. Tomato sandwiches with fresh basil on olive ciabatta. That squirrel running over the garage roof in the morning. Dreaming of ferry rides through US rivers. And intercourse with a panther. The Garner Ambre Soleil natural bronzer spray with coconut oil. Nice colour, good smell, minimal chipmunk effect. And of course me regular Garnier sun oil. It’s the bottled essence of summer.

Filling in for someone in the Natural 20s pub quiz team. Being invited to a pen and paper round with feline characters only. Meeting Sophia who, I realised later, played Rosencrantz (or Guildenstern?) at Entity Theatre’s production of Hamlet last year.

My complete and utter obsession with Phil Collins’ version of You Can’t Hurry Love. I think it’s going to be my next karaoke song.

A desire and drive to be creative. Making collages out of dried leftover paint. Drawing on the window panes. Getting out gouache, pastel chalks, oil pastels, those weird 3-in-1 coloured pencils which create such a nice texture. Drawing first thing in the morning. Spending hours drawing owls for the coffee roasters. Using coloured pencils to draw portraits of all the cool girls of Instagram.

Oh, speaking of art. I don’t want to jinx it but I might get the chance to write a book soon! I met an editor who works at a publishing house for lifestyle books and needs someone to make a book about portrait drawing/painting for her. So. Excited. They’re also looking for a trainee in the graphic design department. I really hope I get to collaborate with them in one way or another.

Cute summer outfits. Good colour combinations. Accessorizing. Wearing pretty clothes with a creative twist. Actually putting some thought into putting together an outfit can be a lot of fun. After all it’s just another way of making a collage.

Polarized sunglasses providing me with the bluest skies and rainbow-tinted tram windows.

The Croatian man who sat down next to a visibly pregnant Bavarian woman on the subway and started telling her about his daughter Persephone and the abduction myth connected with her. I keep reading and hearing about Demeter and Persephone lately, for example about Baubo and the vulva presentations / Demeter worship.

Carmen Rohrbach’s Unterwegs sein ist mein Leben. I was very impressed by how much she has seen and experienced. How much she knows about nature and animals. I mean, she’s a biologist, too. Reading this book made my days a little more special because it gave me a sense of how much more there is to discover on this planet.

Eating vegan ice-cream (pumpkin seed and ginger-turmeric) with Micha. Sitting on the balustrade in front of the Art Academy. Staring into these insanely pretty blue eyes all the time. Looking for the toilets, roaming through the hallways. I love the architecture of that building.

A ladybug escaping the subway train through an open door. Freedom!

I love how the characters resemble each other so much in the different generations in the TV-series Dark. Uncanny. And they feature very nice colour contrasts, too. I guess I like their production designer / cinematographer.

Late-night Isar strolls. Drinking red wine, lying down, watching the stars surrounded by fireflies! (which are quite rare where I live so I was lucky - the strangest thing is that I had drawn a firefly into my sketchbook earlier that day, feels like I manifested it)

Tollwood gin and tonics, forgetting to go home, ending up in a gay club at 3am. Nice Thursday.

Making up for the lack of sleep on Friday afternoon. Waking up late. Releasing my inner Julia Child at 2am by making sushi rolls, taboulé and Bergsteigerbrot, something like super tasty vegan granola bars with lots of nuts and honey.

A little bike tour with Frank along the river. Pseudo-meditating on a log, eating some snacks I brought. Floating with the current. His alliterations (“further fodder for future followers”).

[upalldown]

Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars

Nineteenth solo album and first in fourteen years from the veteran singer-songwriter, produced by Ron Aniello

10/13

Between October 2017 and December last year, Bruce Springsteen took what essentially amounted to a day job, clocking in at the Walter Kerr Theatre on West 48th Street in midtown Manhattan. Despite the high visibility of a 236-performance residency, during which he evocatively leafed through his back pages and punctuated familiar songs with revealing and eloquent anecdotes, the man himself gave very few interviews to a media craving insight pertaining to the hottest ticket in town. Consequently, it was left to others to ponder where next for this icon, this articulate chronicler of the American Condition, this unswerving blue-collar champion. Some, including those comparatively close to or even embedded in the Springsteen camp, went as far as to suggest the Broadway run might be a last hurrah, a carefully choreographed farewell after more than two-thirds of a life lived in the spotlight. The evidence, while not irrefutable, was persuasive. In practical terms, prior to the arrival of Western Stars, it had been more than seven years since Springsteen’s last album of entirely new material, Wrecking Ball. Following that dizzying benchmark (in a career littered with same), 2014’s High Hopes was a patchwork woven together from outtakes of varying archival stripe, re-workings of former glories and a smattering of cover versions. When promoting the album on a world tour, Bruce and his trusty E Street Band routinely shoehorned entire earlier long-players into their set; it was a lottery as to which audience would get Born To Run, Darkness On The Edge Of Town or Born In The USA, performed in full and in sequence. Yet that hugely popular conceit was just the start of a five-year period of Springsteen curating his past. His next global jaunt took the form of a 35th anniversary celebration of The River, followed by the 2016 publication of his weighty Born To Run autobiography (he narrated the 18-hour audio version himself) and its companion compilation Chapter And Verse. Concurrent to all this was the launch of downloads of full concerts from years gone by on an official, dedicated archive website – at the time of writing the series runs to 39 gigs. That doesn’t include three themed digital-only live compilations marketed by his Sony paymasters, nor the Springsteen On Broadway set accompanying the Netflix film of the theatre show. All have been devoured by fans with relish, but understandably prompted questions about the future. Was the man who’d gleaned so much inspiration from the highway and the vehicles that rode it finally, unfathomably, running on empty? It remains to be seen whether Western Stars is the beginning of a fresh and newly fecund narrative in Springsteen’s career arc, or if it will prove to be a whispered, introspective strum taking him ever closer to the end credits. Certainly, it arrives shorn of the pizazz and hullabaloo of a sell-out stint on the Great White Way, but like Bruce’s theatre “piece” (which is what it was, to all intents and purposes) it’s informed by tangible echoes of what went before. In April, when announcing it was on its way, Springsteen said the new album would be “a return to my solo recordings featuring character-driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements.” The first part of that description places it firmly in a triptych with Nebraska and Devils & Dust, while also revisiting the more contemplative corners of Tunnel Of Love, albeit without the emotional baggage. Western Stars is Springsteen at his most novelistic, scratching out pocket portraits that owe as much to the printed word of John Steinbeck, Raymond Carver or even Jack Kerouac as they do a lineage that would boast weather-beaten troubadours like Kris Kristofferson, Jimmy Webb, or his younger self. And while all 13 songs are written in the first person, it’s fairly clear none of them are autobiographical and are, for the most part, inhabited by Americana archetypes. He may well identify directly with the jobbing songsmith in North Of Nashville, nursing a drink at the city’s famed musician hangout the Bluebird Cafe while ruing the love he left behind as he followed dreams of stardom. Most prosaic, given the album’s title, is the modern-day ranch hand of Chasin’ Wild Horses (“We’re out before sun-up, in after sundown/Two men in the chopper, two under saddle on the ground”), likening the pursuit of feral equines to taming his own internal beasts. The movie world rears its head in Drive Fast, as a stuntman, legs full of corrective steel pins, reminisces about a romance with a B-movie starlet, and again in the title track in which the protagonist veteran actor looks down on Tinseltown from his home in the Hollywood hills before dining out for the thousandth time on the day he was shot by John Wayne. It’s almost as if the songs can be neatly filed into one of two drawers: the search for the end of a rainbow, or the disillusionment of discovering the pot of gold never shines as bright as he hoped. A filmic air settles over much of the actual music; the “sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements” evoke the scores of, say, Elmer Bernstein or others tasked with adding sonic grandeur to the Monument Valley westerns of John Ford. That said, the swoon of strings on the uncomplicated heartache of There Goes My Miracle is closer in tone to the pop melodrama of The Walker Brothers. In more subdued pockets (Somewhere North Of Nashville, the detail-rich Moonlight Motel), the sparse intimacy of just Springsteen and multi-instrumentalist producer Ron Aniello is enough to convey a mood of longing, of confession. Early 70s collaborator David Sancious returns to add occasional piano and Hammond, but there is no place for long-serving E Streeters, and perhaps those goodbyes have already been exchanged. Pure conjecture, maybe, but just a few months shy of his 70th birthday how likely is it, realistically, that Springsteen has a hungry enough heart to strap on the Strat and set out on a marathon trek with his erstwhile fellow travellers? Western Stars feels like either the epilogue to a magnificent era or the discreet prologue to a more modest one.

https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/western-stars

[writemarcus]

Loyalty comes to a head in reading of ‘Sibling Rivalries’ at JCTC

Updated: Sep. 12, 2023, 5:41 p.m.|

Published: Sep. 12, 2023, 5:23 p.m.

By David Mosca | The Jersey Journal

Jersey City Theater Center will have its next live play reading, “Sibling Rivalries” by Marcus Scott, on Monday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m. The new play is set at a fictional Ivy League school in the years following the Obama Administration.

This political drama follows a group of young black men, all members of a fraternity, who face shifting loyalties and eroded principles when they are forced to compete against one another for a prestigious fellowship.

“As we prepare to showcase the extraordinary talent of Marcus Scott, a remarkable representative of the black, queer community, whose work we have had the privilege of nurturing by providing a creative residency in 2023, our enthusiasm knows no bounds,” said Olga Levina, the executive producer at JCTC. “At the very core of our mission lies our unwavering commitment to open doors for emerging playwrights, allowing their voices to resound both locally and globally. JCTC is immensely thankful for our enduring partnership with I Love Greenville and the sponsorship from Healthier JC. Our collaboration has given rise to a wide spectrum of programming, each piece thoughtfully designed to shed light on the experiences and obstacles faced by people of color while celebrating their rich cultural traditions.”

Scott is a playwright, musical theatre writer, and journalist. Some of his full-length work includes “Tumbleweed” (finalist: 2017 BAPF & the 2017 Festival of New American Plays at Austin Playhouse; semifinalist: 2022 O’Neill NPC, 2022 Blue Ink Playwriting Award & 2017 New Dramatists Princess Grace Award in Playwriting Fellowship), “There Goes The Neighborhood” (finalist: 2023 New Dramatists Princess Grace Award in Playwriting Fellowship, 2023 Blue Ink Playwriting Award, the 2019 Bushwick Starr Reading Series; semifinalist: 2023 BAPF), and “Cherry Bomb” (recipient: 2017 Drama League First Stage Artist-In-Residence, 2017 New York Theatre Barn’s New Works Series; 2017 finalist for the Yale Institute for Music Theatre).

He was commissioned by Heartbeat Opera to adapt Beethoven’s “Fidelio” and his one-act “Sundown Town” was published in Obsidian: Literature and Arts of the African Diaspora: Issue: 48.1.

Sibling Rivalries will take place at Jersey City Theater Center, 165 Newark Ave, Jersey City, entrance from Barrow St. Tickets start at $5 and are available at www.JCTCenter.org.

[agencytheatercollective]

Graphic Design: Falling In Love

My name is Cody and I'm the marketing director for The Agency Theater Collective. Briefly about me: I got started with graphic design and marketing around 2008 in Denton, Texas with Sundown Collaborative Theatre and continued honing those skills until about 2012. 

I first worked with The Agency acting in their 2013 production of I Wish To Apologize to the People of Illinois. After that, they asked me to design the poster for their next show, At The Center, and I think to avoid paying me they asked me to be a company member instead. (Just kidding.) Anyway, I've been designing posters with The Agency since then. 

I first saw Jack Schultz’s show, I'm Falling In Love All The Time, when he premiered it as part of The Basement Series in 2017. It was great. I was blown away. (And maybe jealous. I thought I was the young, attractive playwright in the company, but whatever...) So when we decided to give him a longer run of the show, I was excited to work with Jack on the graphic design. 

The show is very personal to Jack, but has a comedic tone that often reflects on very heavy matters. So we knew we wanted to hint at the sense of loss and family and addiction without creating an image that threw those themes in your face and ultimately misrepresented the show. Jack knew he wanted to work with Morgan Sosic as the photographer and we brainstormed ideas for the shoot. I thought having Jack in his bed would allude to the romantic/sexual themes but could also connote an addict who was strung out. He'd be looking across the bed to a photograph of him and his brother on the nightstand. We wanted to try and highlight the difference between his present and his past by emphasizing the negative space between him and the photograph. On the nightstand would be a cup of coffee which is the major motif of the play. 

After Jack and Morgan had their photoshoot, I evaluated the looks to see what would work best. The natural light in the images gave me an idea of where to pull inspiration. It reminded of a photoshoot with one of my favorite jazz musicians, Chet Baker, and his wife Halema in the 50's. 

It was also used as a poster for the 1988 documentary about him called Let's Get Lost. Chet Baker had a long and storied history with drug abuse and I thought it seemed apropos to give a nod to that poster and old jazz albums in general. 

We switched the photo on the nightstand to an older photo of Jack and his brother Andrew via some photoshop magic to help increase the "distance" between them and left it as the only part of the image in color to point its importance. And here’s the final product...

Get your tickets here: wearetheagency.org

[sundowntheatre]

Unexpected Connections

Hello Everyone!

My name is Julia, and this is my first post (one I hope of many) as an artistic member of Sundown Collaborative Theatre. I have been thrilled and have loved every moment with these wonderful people and look forward to the future. With our recent wrap-up of our extremely successful show, Bug, I felt that it was the perfect time to talk about something very close to my heart.

I can still remember the feeling I experienced the first time I was introduced to theatre as a child. If there was a word to describe what entered into my tiny, 4 year old brain and heart at that moment, I would write it a thousand times.

Growing up, my family didn’t have much, but we had everything we needed and never felt lost and forgotten in the world as far as material objects were concerned. When I was around 4 years old there was a special on TV where CATS the musical aired. Now, as a disclaimer, I completely understand why maybe that musical is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I felt totally in awe. I wasn’t really sure what they were doing, but I knew I wanted to be a part of it. My mom presented me with the best surprise I could have dreamed of when I got home from school one day, as she had ordered the 1998 movie musical VHS copy for me. We didn’t always have extra money to spend, so this action is still close to my heart. Parents, mothers especially, can possess such selfless qualities, and I believe this gift set off a chain of events that lead me to become a performer and a lover of the arts. I, of course, proceeded to annoy my family with the Andrew Lloyd Webber special multiple times a day for the next several years, learning all the songs and the dance moves—occasionally forcing my mother, brother, and actual cats to contribute, as well.  It is still a guilty pleasure, and, despite the musical’s bad rap, I defend it still today because of the special place it holds in my heart and the joy it has brought me over the course of my lifetime.

As I have grown older over the years and have dealt with my own personal struggles, I realized how much I wanted to help people crawl out of the dark hole that is depression and anxiety. Psychology and the study of the brain immediately became an interest in addition to my artistic endeavors, and the need to understand people, their actions, and their choices became a personal goal for me that I set out to become more educated on.

It was when I was in 8th grade and took on my first real acting role as Mrs. Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank that I started realizing how much Psychology and Theatre intermingle. From an actor standpoint, I felt that the more I read in my beginner Introduction to Psychology books, the more I felt that I could identify the wants and needs and actions of the characters in the story I was helping present. Expanding my knowledge of psychology has helped incredibly with character development and character creation as well. From a psychological standpoint, beyond acting being a therapeutic tool for me, I felt like it allowed me to fully immerse myself in a role and completely expand my perspective of the situation. I feel like the combined interest in both fields broadened my empathy and allowed me to set out on the path of becoming someone that looked for a deeper meaning in a lot of elements of life and with people. I’m not perfect or anywhere near, but I feel like this has allowed me to take a step back and think about peoples actions before immediately reacting or judging—something I can always work harder to do, but have always strived for.

Art is an expression, which is why art therapy and music therapy are so successful. Play therapy in children, in which the therapist and the child act out certain role play activities, can be extremely important as a means for coping with stressors. I believe, personally, that anything in life that connects us to the greater whole of our existence is so crucial. In a world that is so divided, art brings us together and teaches us that, though we have different thoughts and skills and approaches to things, that is ultimately what makes us individually wonderful. Can you imagine how horrible it would be to see the same play a thousand times performed the same way each time?

I went on to explore studies in both psychology and theatre, and continue to hope to explore both topics. I could never picture a life without theatre, as it seems exhaustingly bleak. When I think of all the plays and movies I have seen that have provided a much needed connection and have given me something to identify and relate to, I’m so grateful for the way performing has enlarged and developed my understanding and love for other people.

I think, as an artist, all we can hope for is that we can either become a cathartic release for other people in the face of hardship or that we can provide a much needed laugh. If we can allow someone a means of identifying with a moment or a piece, what a beautiful connection we have made.

As someone who has been interested in both topics, I’ve found myself being asked multiple times why I would want to major in two fields that are completely unrelated. I typically have to agree to disagree, as I feel that the two have always been very closely linked, and I am excited to see how they can continue to link in the future.

-Julia Bodiford, Artistic Associate

[kairuy]

DIVERSITY IN SEATTLE THEATRE, JULY/AUGUST 2017

In August the Gregory Award nominations went out, and holy crap, I was excited. All five best director nominees were women. All five best new play writers were women. Three of the best production nominees were directed by women, and one of them was the all-female BRING DOWN THE HOUSE, a two-part adaptation of Shakespeare’s HENRY VI. Artists of color dominated, especially black artists, especially black women artists, while Asian and Latinx artists also grew from previous years. There is strength in numbers. People are finding their voices, finding ways to tell the stories that mean something, finding ways to collaborate. This is how you gain power. In that moment, I was so proud that the distant thunder I first heard last year had become a roar: we cannot be silenced.

1. Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare, dir. Jon Kretzu, Seattle Shakespeare Co/Wooden O. As usual, diversely-cast.

2. Please Open Your Mouth, Joanna Garner, dir. Norah Elges Scheyer, Café Nordo. Diversely-cast.

3. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare, dir. Leah Adcock-Starr, Off-Road Shakespeare Company. Diverse-race-AND-non-gender-specific casting. Everyone learned a bunch of different parts, and they pulled them out of a hat at the beginning of each performance.

4. Downstairs, Theresa Rebeck, dir. Julie Beckman, Theatre22/ACTLab. White or white-presenting.

5. Greensward, R. Hamilton Wright, dir. Richard Ziman, MAP Theatre. Race-specific, cast accordingly.

6. Hoodoo Love, Katori Hall, dir. Malika Oyetimein, Sound Theatre/The Hainsberry Project. Race-specific, all-black cast.

7. The Wong Kids (reading), Lloyd Suh, dir. Harry Todd Jamieson. Almost entirely Asian cast.

8. Pericles, William Shakespeare, dir. Annie Lareau, Seattle Shakespeare Company/Wooden O. Diversely cast.

9. Feed/back, Amelia Wade (devised piece), dir. Megan Brewer, MAP Theatre. Diversely cast.

10. Hamlet, William Shakespeare, dir. Robin Lynn Smith, Freehold Theatre. Diversely-cast.

11. Resistance Cabaret, UMO Ensemble, dir. Elizabeth Klob, UMO Ensemble/ACTLab. White or white-presenting.

12. Sundown at the Devil’s House, Eddie DeHais, dir. Eddie DeHais, Café Nordo. Both race-specific and non-race-specific, diversely-cast.

13. Mud, Maria Irene Fornes, dir./trans. Rose Cano, ESE Teatro. They did this in two versions: the original English, and in Spanish. Monica Cortes Viharo, who is in the graduate program at UW, learned Spanish for this role; you could tell, but it wasn’t necessarily a distraction.

14. American Archipelago, multiple writers, dir. Bobbin Ramsay, Pony World Theater, race-specific and cast accordingly.

15. Fool for Love, Sam Shepherd, dir. Alex Bodine, ACTLab. Diversely-cast.

16. 14/48, multiple writers and directors. They made a major change: all the roles come out of a single bucket, not divided by gender. That was pretty cool.

17. Over and Under, Juliet Waller Pruzan and Bret Fetzer, dir. Rachel Katz Carey, Annex Theatre. Diversely-cast.

18. Alex & Aris, Moby Pomerance, dir. John Langs, ACT. Diversely-cast (can you say that a play is diversely-cast if there are only two actors in it?).

19. Madagascar Jr., Kevin Del Aguila, George Noriega and Joel Someillan, dir. Hattie Andres. This was Seattle Children’s Theatre’s summer program performance, so, all little kids. Very diverse.

20. Intiman Emerging Artists Showcase, solo works, multiple directors. This was all about diversity.

21. Building the Wall (reading), Robert Schenkkan, dir. Desdemona Chiang, ACTLab/Azeotrope/Outsider Inn. Race-specific, casted accordingly.

22. The Moors (reading), Jen Silverman, dir. Erin Murray, Forward Flux. Diversely-cast.

23. Fractured. multiple writers/directors, BASH Theatre. White or white-presenting.

24. We Are Pussy Riot, Barbara Hammond, dir. Logan Ellis, Theatre Battery. Diversely-cast.

25. Statements After An Arrest Under the Immorality Act, Athol Fugard, dir. Emily Harvey. Race-specific, casted accordingly.

26. Proof, David Auburn, dir. Arlene Martinez-Vasquez. Latinx cast and company, bilingual English/Spanish adaptation.

27. Nite Skool, created and directed by the Libertinis, Annex Theatre. Race-specific, I think.

28. Okay, Bye (reading), Josh Conkel, dir. Marquicia Domingue, ACTLab. Diversely-cast.

29. Goblin Market, Polly Pen and Peggy Harmon, dir. Teresa Thuman, Sound Theatre. Diversely-cast AND they switched roles back and forth.

30. Persuasion, Harold Taw and Chris Jeffries, dir. Karen Lund, Taproot Theatre. White or white-presenting.

31. 14/48: Nordo, multiple writers/directors, Café Nordo. Diversely-cast.

32. Much Better, Elizabeth Frankel, dir. Henry Nettleton, Really-Really Theatre Group. Diversely-cast.

[artsvark]

National Arts Festival programme open for booking

Excerpts from the Past. Photo credit: Lerato Maduna.

Check your calendars and credit cards because The National Arts Festival’s 2017 programme is online and open for booking at www.nationalartsfestival.co.zaNewcomers to the Festival may feel a little overwhelmed by the 700 productions on offer, so this is a short guide to navigating the programme.

The key Festival programme comprises a Main and Fringe programme. The Main Programme showcases works that have been selected by a 21-person artistic committee after a lengthy application and consideration period. Dance, theatre, music, performance art and visual art are all represented in this mix and audiences flock to these popular shows which include the work of the 2017 Standard Bank Young Artists. The Main Programme also features international work and new work from South Africa’s top talent.

This larger than life puppet was one of a few at the entrance to the monument welcoming guests to #NationalArtsFestival #NAF2016

The Arena is part of the Main Programme and showcases the work of previous winners of the National Arts Festival’s Standard Bank Ovation Awards as well as international award-winning fringe productions.

The Fringe component of the Festival sees a mix of works across genres but these are not curated or selected. Anyone with a performance looking for an audience can enter on the Fringe and the result is an exciting lucky packet of shows. From bold new work to remakes of the classics, from debuts to familiar faces and everything in between – they are all on the Fringe. The National Arts Festival is part of the World Fringe Alliance and draws on a pool of Fringe talent and talent-spotters to stimulate an exciting and innovative global energy for both performers and audiences.

The Student Theatre portion of the programme is a platform for interesting new work from the universities and colleges of South Africa. Expect to see young creatives flexing their muscles both on stage and behind the scenes as they receive an invaluable introduction to the experience of performing.

Think!Fest is a non-performance element of the Festival. The ideas, emotions and conversations surrounding the Festival programme play out in this space, where speakers, groups and panels swap opinions and create an open floor for robust discussion

Heading to the screen, the annual Film Festival is a collection of seldom seen films that are making an impact through their content and creativity. The programme features work from South Africa and abroad and reflects on some of the themes and ideas in the Festival’s stage programme.

The Standard Bank Jazz Festival is a hot highlight of the National Arts Festival. Bringing some of the best talent locally and globally to the stage, it is here that collaborations between musicians are either seen once and never repeated or form the basis for ground-breaking new projects. The Dakawa Jazz Series is another music highlight, a project of the Eastern Cape’s Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture; the series brings Eastern Cape jazz musicians to the stage for an annual showcase of the region’s talented artists.

In association with the Cathedral of St Michael and St George, Grahamstown, SpiritFest explores faith through a series of workshops, discussions, book launches and performances.

This year Grahamstown’s Child Welfare celebrates its 100th anniversary and there are plenty of family-orientated shows, talks and workshops at the Festival, as well as a daily story time where children will be read to by actors and others. Check in on the Family Fare section of the programme for more. There is also the Children’s Art Festival, held at St Andrew’s Preparatory school, with a daily programme of events for children aged 4-13. It is an ideal way for families to engage with the National Arts Festival at their various age and interest levels, and for parents to enjoy the Festival knowing that their children are being stimulated and entertained in a safe environment.

Beyond the scheduled programme there is always lots going on in Grahamstown during the Festival with a free daily SAfm Sundowner Concert at the Monument, street performances, the Fingo Festival, markets and free entertainment stages and the annual closing Street Parade through the streets of Grahamstown. The restaurants, cafes and bars buzz until late at night as Festival-goers debate ideas, mingle with artists and share their top tips.

Tickets range from R20 to R150 and can be booked directly on the National Arts Festival’s site.

For a guide to planning and booking of accommodation and travel, visit the National Arts Festival’s hospitality guide and FAQ’s on the website.

National Arts Festival programme open for booking was originally published on Artsvark