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Long time, no blog...And Humanafest 2008
Long time, no blog. Sorry.
To bring you up to speed on what has been going on with my life since I last posted, I shall utilize a series of images:
Now that you're up-to-date...
Last weekend, I went home to Kentucky to visit family and see shows at Humanafestival of New Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Shows I saw were:
This Beautiful City
the break/s
Ten Minute Plays
Becky Shaw
This Beautiful City is a musical stage-documentary following the lives of evangelical Christians and community members in Colorado Springs during the 'fall' of Ted Haggard of New Life Church. All of the dialogue was taken directly from interviews and news articles so the characters are real people in Colorado Springs involved with evangelical New Life Church, a black Baptist church, a Christian-Charismatic prayer group, and members of the Colorado Springs community. Scenes involved church worship from New Life and preaching from the Baptist church and an evening with the prayer group. These were sooooooo right on. I never imagined I'd see non-churched actors doing such an accurate portrayal of an evangelical service or a Christian Charismatic group. It was clear that they were serious about their research. Performances were very realistic versus simply mocking, which made it kind of creepy, actually. I liked it. Some very talented, versatile actors and great music. But, it needs some major cutting...too long.
http://www.actorstheatre.org/humana_city.htm
I would love to see more shows in this style. The main group of creators and actors are company members of The Civilians based out of NYC who create artistic works from investigations into actual experience. I heard great things about their show Gone Missing “Stories about things lost and found charting a musical landscape of loss” also in the same docu-musical style. Very cool idea. Their site: www.thecivilians.org
the break/s was a one-man show exploring “living history of the hip-hop generation” http://www.actorstheatre.org/humana_breaks.htm
Okay. I will venture to say that there was very little living history of the hip-hop generation on the whole. Nor was there much history of hip-hop itself, represented. The show was basically poetic essays of personal experiences of being a hip-hop dance choreographer and touring the world for different instruction/presentation obligations with a visit to Africa and a slice of a conversation with Prince and a one question interview with Jay-z (before he was big). So, I would say this show really seemed like one man’s experience trying to find his place with and in hip-hop. Not exactly what I was hoping to see. The dancing left much to be desired, which was the biggest disappointment. It seemed somewhat restrained, perhaps to accommodate the endurance needed to do a one-man show involving continuous movement and keeping a strong speaking voice. I have taken both breakdancing and hip hop classes, so I'm aware of what it could have been, but wasn't. Bring in some fly girls, at least! The projected images and interviews didn’t add much to the overall production, but the dee-jay was decent. In short, this show was a great idea, that didn’t quite deliver the goods.
The ten-minute plays. One stood out among all the others: Elaine Jarvik’s Dead Right. It was by far the best 10 minute play I’ve seen there in several years. Simple. Humorous. Thought-provoking. Ten-minute plays are so much more difficult to write than one-acts or even full-length plays because it’s essentially a stand-alone scene. It’s difficult not to write something that doesn’t seem too contrived or gimmicky. So, I was impressed that at least one of the four was really good.
Becky Shaw, written by Gina Gionfriddo/ directed by Peter DuBois, was very entertaining. Fantastic, brilliant dialogue. All of the actors were extremely talented. But, the show might have been more appropriately named Max Garrett who, as a character, stole the show; the main story seemed to be about his hidden desire for his non-biological sister Suzanna. While I appreciated Becky’s role in the overall story, serving to expose Max’s vulnerable side, I cared much less about her than I did Max. But, this might just be because I am so much like Max in so many ways. Max and Becky (practical, intellectual perfectionist meets awkward, suicidal drama-queen yet both master manipulators in their own right) were a great example of Hermetic principal of Polarity which is a common theme I keep seeing noticing in stories (and in life) lately. “…like and unlike are the same; opposites are different in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.”
This Beautiful City
the break/s
Ten Minute Plays
Becky Shaw
This Beautiful City is a musical stage-documentary following the lives of evangelical Christians and community members in Colorado Springs during the 'fall' of Ted Haggard of New Life Church. All of the dialogue was taken directly from interviews and news articles so the characters are real people in Colorado Springs involved with evangelical New Life Church, a black Baptist church, a Christian-Charismatic prayer group, and members of the Colorado Springs community. Scenes involved church worship from New Life and preaching from the Baptist church and an evening with the prayer group. These were sooooooo right on. I never imagined I'd see non-churched actors doing such an accurate portrayal of an evangelical service or a Christian Charismatic group. It was clear that they were serious about their research. Performances were very realistic versus simply mocking, which made it kind of creepy, actually. I liked it. Some very talented, versatile actors and great music. But, it needs some major cutting...too long.
http://www.actorstheatre.org/humana_city.htm
I would love to see more shows in this style. The main group of creators and actors are company members of The Civilians based out of NYC who create artistic works from investigations into actual experience. I heard great things about their show Gone Missing “Stories about things lost and found charting a musical landscape of loss” also in the same docu-musical style. Very cool idea. Their site: www.thecivilians.org
the break/s was a one-man show exploring “living history of the hip-hop generation” http://www.actorstheatre.org/humana_breaks.htm
Okay. I will venture to say that there was very little living history of the hip-hop generation on the whole. Nor was there much history of hip-hop itself, represented. The show was basically poetic essays of personal experiences of being a hip-hop dance choreographer and touring the world for different instruction/presentation obligations with a visit to Africa and a slice of a conversation with Prince and a one question interview with Jay-z (before he was big). So, I would say this show really seemed like one man’s experience trying to find his place with and in hip-hop. Not exactly what I was hoping to see. The dancing left much to be desired, which was the biggest disappointment. It seemed somewhat restrained, perhaps to accommodate the endurance needed to do a one-man show involving continuous movement and keeping a strong speaking voice. I have taken both breakdancing and hip hop classes, so I'm aware of what it could have been, but wasn't. Bring in some fly girls, at least! The projected images and interviews didn’t add much to the overall production, but the dee-jay was decent. In short, this show was a great idea, that didn’t quite deliver the goods.
The ten-minute plays. One stood out among all the others: Elaine Jarvik’s Dead Right. It was by far the best 10 minute play I’ve seen there in several years. Simple. Humorous. Thought-provoking. Ten-minute plays are so much more difficult to write than one-acts or even full-length plays because it’s essentially a stand-alone scene. It’s difficult not to write something that doesn’t seem too contrived or gimmicky. So, I was impressed that at least one of the four was really good.
Becky Shaw, written by Gina Gionfriddo/ directed by Peter DuBois, was very entertaining. Fantastic, brilliant dialogue. All of the actors were extremely talented. But, the show might have been more appropriately named Max Garrett who, as a character, stole the show; the main story seemed to be about his hidden desire for his non-biological sister Suzanna. While I appreciated Becky’s role in the overall story, serving to expose Max’s vulnerable side, I cared much less about her than I did Max. But, this might just be because I am so much like Max in so many ways. Max and Becky (practical, intellectual perfectionist meets awkward, suicidal drama-queen yet both master manipulators in their own right) were a great example of Hermetic principal of Polarity which is a common theme I keep seeing noticing in stories (and in life) lately. “…like and unlike are the same; opposites are different in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.”
– The Kybalion. Strong writing. The audience thoroughly enjoyed it. http://www.actorstheatre.org/humana_becky.htm
I return from the Humanfest with some good ideas. The problem is that I start resenting the day-job I have that consumes time I could be using to develop ideas into something substantial. Also, lately I find myself thinking about doing some more stage directing. Ah…but one thing at a time, I suppose.
I return from the Humanfest with some good ideas. The problem is that I start resenting the day-job I have that consumes time I could be using to develop ideas into something substantial. Also, lately I find myself thinking about doing some more stage directing. Ah…but one thing at a time, I suppose.
