Theatre – Page 3 – Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

Ubu and The Truth Commission

An often reviled 1888 play always returns to remind and haunt us when history recycles bad guys.

Alfred Jarry’s 1888 play Ubu Roi never goes out of style. It may disappear from the spotlight but always returns when ostentatious, overbearing, overeager and slobbish rulers ascend to power and use it injudiciously to cause harm and destruction. The message, like these monomaniacal megalomaniacs, recycles again proving there really isn’t much new under the sun.

Every now and then new productions or adaptations Jarry’s work hit stages to remind us and often revolt us. The original production of Ubu Roi, and many others since, have been reviled as offensive as the grotesque behaviors and characters the story reveals. At its core, Ubu Roi is a sort of parody of Macbeth with a little Hamlet tossed in along the way. To give you an idea, the title of the play is occasionally translated as King Turd.

In 2016 The Handspring Puppet Company presented their multi-media version Ubu and The Truth Commission, featuring live actors, puppetry, documentary footage, music and animation. It’s worthwhile viewing anytime, but in our current moment it’s a necessary kick in the teeth. You can see the entire thing (about an hour and a half) on YouTube at the link in the featured video below.

Handspring makes the story, like all of their work, entirely their own and it’s not only quite a treat, but given that this production happened in 2016, seems eerily and entirely prescient for the moment we’re living in.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

One Year Ago After Hell Froze Over We Opened The Lehman Trilogy

Shows come and go. Some create bonds that transcend the impermanence.

One year ago tonight we opened The Lehman Trilogy at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis. Openings come. Openings, and shows, go. This one has stuck with those of us who lived, worked, sweat, froze, caught COVID, and finally got the show in front of an audience. You can watch the trailer below.

My undying love and gratitude to the three gentlemen who played the Lehman brothers (and everyone else) in the show, Michael Gravois, Kevar Maffitt, and John Maness (pictured left to right below.)

Along the way they became my brothers as well. It was one of those shows that creates a bond that will never break, regardless of the adventures we each and all pursue in the future. Those are the rare shows. They are the rare talents I got to work and play with and always cherish.

Onwards.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

A nod to Billy Joel, a little Faust, a little Shakespeare and the cycle of life keeps turning.

We may not have started the fire. In the words of Billy Joel, “it was always burning.” Still we can always try and fight it. I’m not sure how that’s working out but it does seem to be our lot. Sifting through smoke and ashes, here’s a little Sunday Morning Reading to share.

Kicking things off is David Todd McCarty’s Looking for God, Sitting in Hell. Summed up nicely, “we get so lost in semantics that we forget the important parts.” Indeed.

David Sterling Brown tells us What Shakespeare Revealed About the Chaotic Reign of Richard III – And Why The Play Still Resonates In The Age of Donald Trump. The only thing I question is the word “still” in the headline. There’s not a moment of being human that isn’t contained in the stories and characters of Shakespeare. We haven’t invented a new way of being good, bad or indifferent in quite some time.

And while we’re on the literature beat Brian Klaas give us Faustian Capitalism. Again, there’s nothing new under the sun here as we watch this country’s wealthiest men bend their knees in supplication, but there’s some small comfort in knowing we’ve been this selfishly stupid before.

John Pavlovitz hits a nail on the head with The California Fires Are a Disaster. The American Cruelty Is A Tragedy. It may be beyond our capacity to comprehend devastation, but as the previous two entries show, it shouldn’t be beyond our ability to know we keep repeating the same mistakes. Or maybe that’s really just the hell we’re living?

Speaking of Faustian bargains, Mike Masnick lays out The Good, The Bad, And The Stupid In Meta’s New Content Policies.

This piece should scare you, but again, its subject is as old as humankind’s penchant for inhumanity. Stephanie McCrummen shines a bit of light as The Army Of God Comes Out Of The Shadows.

Derek Thompson takes a look at The Anti-Social Century and how our reality is changing as we spend so much of our time alone.

Perhaps one of the keys to being less alone and less anti-social is choosing your friends wisely. Natasha MH says that “To survive this life, it’s crucial to discern which friends are worth keeping and which aren’t. You are the guardian of your own peace of mind” as she lays out The Optimist’s Dilemma In A Pessimistic World.

And finally, Ian Dunt offers A Little Bit Of Hope After A Terrible Week, in what he calls a survival guide for the next four years. Ian says “History has no direction.” He’s correct. It’s a circle, a cycle, a carousel.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. You can also find me on social networks under my own name.

Sunday Morning Reading

Sunday Morning Reading is on the road but there’s still plenty to share.

We’re on the road this weekend to get the Christmas holidays started with the grandkids, but there’s still time to share a little Sunday Morning Reading. Enjoy.

First up is a piece by Margaret Dean called An Afternoon In My Strawberry Fields. You’ll enjoy wandering there.

I don’t think the sun sets anywhere on the planet that there isn’t a current political crisis. Artists and storytellers keep doing their thing regardless. This story from Tom Phillips and Etienne Cóte-Paluck tells of a Haitian theatre troupe still carrying on in the face of that island’s chaos. Check out ‘An Act of Rebellion: Haitian Theatre Persists Amid Political Crisis and Violence.

No crime story has quite captured public attention and exposed how insufficient American media is at reporting out what’s behind the headlines as the murder of United HealthCare’s CEO Brian Thompson. The act is shocking, the reaction to it is shocking as well, yet not surprising. Some of the best reporting I’ve seen so far comes from the BBC from Mike Wendling and Madeline Halpert in Killing of Insurance CEO Reveals Simmering Anger At US Health System.

If you’re wondering about that “simmering” and why I don’t think we should be surprised by what this event reveals, check out this guest essay in the New York Times from Dr. Helen Ouyang entitled What Doctors Like Myself Know About Americans’ Health Care Anger.

Casey Newton delivers one of the best pieces I’ve seen on Artificial Intelligence with The Phony Comfrots of AI Skepticism. You might want to hang on to this one for future reference.

Mark Jacob wonders Can Journalism Survive Billionaires? My short answer is not with this current crop.

If you think repealing women’s right to vote in America isn’t on the agenda of some in the world of MAGA misogyny check out Emma Cieslik’s piece Christian Nationalism’s First Item On The Agenda: Repeal The Women’s Right To Vote.

Brian Krebs is a name most on the Internet have run across as a top-notch security researcher and reporter. Robert McMillian and Vipal Monga have gone behind the curtain to reveal some of the lengths Krebs has to go through to keep himself secure. And not just on the Internet. Check out He Investigates The Internet’s Most Vicious Hackers-From A Secret Location.

A Dream Cast Delivers a Dreamy Dream of Autumn by Jon Fosse

Exceptional performances highlight a magical evening with a magical play.

Fantastic! That’s the first, but not the last compliment I’ll issue to the remarkable cast of our staged reading of Jon Fosse’s play Dream of Autumn last night. Matt Keely, Thomasin Savaiano, Gabrielle Brite, Amy Stricker, and Kevin Grubb were each, and as an ensemble, gloriously fantastic. They deserve all the praise that came flying their way after the reading. Producers should hire them.

Dream of Autumn was presented as a part of this year’s International Voices Project festival. Each piece is given a one-night only reading after a limited rehearsal period (more on that later).

For those unfamiliar, the actors read from their scripts, but are expected to bring full life to the text. This group sure did. Dream is a tricky play, dwelling in the realm of magical realism, with time shifts, and in this story character shifts, that can turn on the edge of dime. In a full production there would be production elements to help the audience follow those shifts. In this very barebones reading style, with the actors sitting in chairs and reading from their scripts from behind music stands, those shifts were handled via the reading of stage directions and the acting choices made by each member of the cast. According to the audience during our post-performance talk back, every one followed each twist and turn.

We only had about six hours of rehearsal to prepare, and the cast took the direction that was given and ran with it, culminating in a very “in the moment” experience for themselves as well as the audience. This was the first time this cast had read the play start to finish, together, without stopping. It was also the first time I had heard it. You could feel the entire room caught in the moments of the play and the moments of performance, breathing as one.

Having directed a number of these staged readings I’ve seen similar quite a few times, but rarely as well and as thrilling as last night’s effort. I often maintain that one of the true tests of an actor’s mettle is watching them carry the day with little preparation, trusting their skill and instincts. This team certainly carried this play last night further than most.

My hat’s off to each of them. Job exceptionally well done.

All photos by Scott Dray.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. Check out the categories for this blog to read more about my theatre work.

Next Up: Dream of Autumn by Jon Fosse

My next gig onstage: Dream of Autumn by Jon Fosse

Monday night, November 18 at the International Voices Project we unveil a staged reading of Jon Fosse’s Dream of Autumn. Fosse won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2023 for his work.

Dream of Autumn was translated into English by Sarah Cameron Sunde. The piece features quite a tension filled family reunion gathering at a cemetery. That’s actually a mild description of this piece the takes some twists and turns with time along with a dip into the wild world of magical realism. I doubt you’ll ever look at a gravestone the same way again.

The staged reading is free, and The International Voices Project is an organization I’ve worked with for years and certainly one that deserves support for bringing voices from other countries to Chicago.

Come check us out.

Politics and Theatre: Demonstrators Wave Nazi Flags Outside Performance of Diary of Anne Frank

Like everything else the theatre and the arts are in for turbulent times ahead.

Most of my theatre professors earned their bones in the 1960’s. So it’s no suprise that one of my favorites once told us that “you aren’t doing real theatre unless someone shows up with guns to stop people buying tickets at the box office.” I’m not sure this was what he had in mind.

CleanShot 2024-11-12 at 14.33.42@2x.

A group of people showed up outside a community theatre performance of The Diary of Anne Frank in Livingston, Michigan waving Nazi flags. Obviously this upset the play goers and the play doers. Some were escorted to their cars following the performance. The demonstrators left the American Legion parking lot, where the play was being performed, after being told to by local police, but did exchange words with patrons across the street.

Here’s a quote from The Fowlerville Community Theatre via CNN:

The Fowlerville Community Theatre, which put on the production, said in a statement the play “centers on real people who lost their lives in the Holocaust” and added the cast and crew “endeavored to tell their story with as much realism as possible.”

“On Saturday evening, things became more real than we expected,” the group said. “The presence of protesters outside gave us a small glimpse of the fear and uncertainty felt by those in hiding.”

“As a theatre, we want to make people feel and think. We hope by presenting Anne’s story, we can help prevent the atrocities of the past from happening again.”

Something tells me theatres, and the arts in general, are in for more of this, and not just on topics that bring out anti-semitism, given how we’ve just turned this country upside down and inside out, revealing all the ugly that I think my professor genuinely thought that theatre and the arts should be protesting against and illuminating.

Of course the theatre and the artists have also shown throughout history that they can be important voices against ugliness and hatred as well even in times when they’ve been shut down and persecuted. Art and storytelling always finds a way.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Winning Night for The Lehman Trilogy

A winning team takes home awards for The Lehman Trilogy.

It was a big night for Playhouse on the Square and our production of The Lehman Trilogy in Memphis. Nominated for seven Ostrander Awards, an annual award celebrating excellence in theatre, we won four: Set Design, Leading Actor, Overall Production, and I was honored with an award as Director. POTS also took home a number of awards for other productions as well.

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We had a more than one blast getting the gang back together over the weekend before, during and after the awards event. Lots of reminiscing. Lots of fun. Lots of “we have to do this again” conversations. And we do.

On the big night, I can’t beign to describe how much joy I felt watching John Maness, Michael Gravois and Kevar Maffitt win the award for Leading Actor as a trio. These three gentlemen tackled a unique challenge and did indeed blend into one and it would have been impossible to single out one from another. It was a terrific way to acknowledge this unique collaboration.

All in all it was a great night for celebrating that rare achievement when you create an amazing piece of theatre and an amazing bond in one of those rare experiences that don’t come around that often and is more than just another show.

Bravos and Kudos to all!

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

From James Joyce to finger painting, some Apple spoiling, some Peter Falk, some politics and what will the LLMs spit out next?

“Every life is many days, day after day.” But Sundays are for reading. Here’s a mix of politics, tech, and culture into what I hope is a tasty smorgasbord of good writing and good reading. Also some good fun. Enjoy this edition of Sunday Morning Reading.

There aren’t many areas of interest I follow that don’t seem to be fraught with tension and turmoil these days. Apple, its technology and business practices, is certainly one of those. One of the best recent pieces I’ve read on how the tides of popular and populist opinion may be shifting against the folks in Cupertino is one written by Matt Birchler. Check out Is This The Slow Decline of Apple’s “Cult”?

This is a terrific read and a terrific piece of theatre and entertainment history. Wayne Lawson’s When Peter Falk Was My Roommate, and Theater Ruled NYC is a trip down a memory lane most of us probably never were aware of.

Joan Westenberg takes a look look at The Bruised Egos of the Intellectual Narcissists that want to populate our thoughts. Joan also takes a good look at Truth Social, Twitter and the Loneliest Reich.

David Todd McCarty thinks we should rekindle some of what we lost as we pass through the years and recommends borrowing a four-year-old to help us see the world through their eyes in Finger Painting Through Life.

On the politics front, Marc Elias is doing the work for us all in his legal efforts to secure voting rights and the all important counting and certifying of the vote. Best piece of political news I’ve heard this week is that Elias has joined the Harris campaign’s legal team. Check out The Fight To Certify Elections Has Already Begun. We can’t say we haven’t been warned.

Perhaps you remember when the Nord Stream Pipeline exploded earlier in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Bojan Pancevski gives us one helluva story in A Drunken Evening, A Rented Yacht: The Real Story of the Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage.

It’s easy to think this tempest of a political moment we’re in is something that’s suddenly sprung upon us. Aaron Timms reminds us that it’s been brewing for awhile in The Decade That Mangled The American Right.

Artificial Intelligence may be losing some of its luster as its purveyors continue to lust after our data. For those who enjoy seeing this play out, Aaron Drapkin gives us AI Gone Wrong: A List of AI Errors, Mistakes and Failures. I wonder how the LLMs will incorporate Drapkin’s work and spit it back out.

If you don’t recognize the quote that begins this week’s Sunday Morning Reading, perhaps Natasha MH gives us a clue in her piece Reading James Joyce Ulysses Will Be Fun, They Said. Tackling Joyce may or may not be worse than a trip to the dentist, but you can risk being “embalmed in spice of words.”

Sunday Morning Reading

On the road this weekend, but regardless here’s some Sunday Morning Reading to share.

David Todd McCarty tells us that he felt the Earth move last weekend when Biden stepped away from his candidacy and endorsed Kamala Harris. He’s not the only one who felt the ground shifting under his feet.

Thomas Zimmer says Kamala Harris May Force A Reckoning. Here’s hoping she does and we do.

Joan Westenberg takes on the Macro-Morons with Micro-Vision. She’s talking about the VCs greedily bankrolling Trump. All I can say is at least they are being open about the destruction they hope to cause.

Politics is synonymous with lying. Actually for most living is synonymous with lying. Maria Popova dives into Lying In Politics by talking about Hannah Arendt On Deception, Self-Deception, and The Pyschology of Defactualizataion.

Perhaps you have, perhaps you haven’t heard of the Federal Theatre Project. Regardless you might not have heard of Martin Dies. Check out A Texas Congressman Wrote the Cuiture War Playbook When He Killed a 1930s Theater Program by Courtney Thomas. Yup, there’s nothing new under the sun.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.You can also find me on social networks under my own name.