Boston Theatre - Weekend Openings

Labels: Boston Theatre, Memory of Water

- posted by Art @ 9:31 AM (2) comments

 
Boston Theatre Marathon Wrap-Up - And Some Unsolicited Advice
Larry Stark provides probably the most comprehensive coverage of the Boston Theatre Marathon. He attends pretty much the whole day and takes copious notes.

I was there for a few hours, and to be honest Larry jogged my memory about a two plays that I had watched, but completely forgot about. It is fun way to spend an afternoon, but it can all go by in a blur.

However, I am think I am over my days of trying to stay for the whole thing, (I've done it several times in the past.)

Once you are there, settled into your seat though, the experience can be addictive. You almost always find yourself anticipating the next play. There are a several reasons:

1. The last play was so good, you want to see another.
2. The last play was so bad, you want to end on a good note.
3. You look in the program and see that an actor, director or playwright you like or that you know personally is in the next show.

In my experience only one thing can break the spell, and I think Jenna Scherer hits on it in her recap of this year's festival:

What I was expecting was some serious variety. Playwrights on the bill ranged from first-timers to living legends such as Ed Bullins and Israel Horovitz, and troupes from the fringey and newish (Orfeo Group, Gurnet Theatre Project) to the firmly established (the Huntington, the American Repertory Theatre).

What I saw was a whole lot of sameness. With certain notable
exceptions, most of the plays were overwhelmingly safe. Each time the lights came up on another living room set, another cafe table, another bedroom, another contemporary middle-class potboiler, my heart sank a little more. It leads one to believe that the next crop of local playwrights are grounded in realism, in the now, in the theater of coffee-table exchanges and buried feelings. I kept hoping for something different, something strange and new - a period piece, a
sci-fi yarn, a metaphysical lark - but these were few and far
between.

Scherer admits that she did not attend for the whole day, but I have in the past and I can second her observation. Now part of this perception is a result of logistics: anybody who has been involved the Marathon, or in any short play festival, knows that if there are two plays with a kitchen setup, or a bar setup, it is better to have them back to back to facilitate a quicker set change. This logistical decision can have the effect of things looking the same, but, (if the plays are different enough,) it can also be inspiring. Seeing how many different ways playwrights can stage events around a park bench can be a hoot.

But the sameness can be crushing. Lots of things can keep you there in your seat, but have a run of three or four mediocre, kitchen sink plays that are about five minutes too long each, and suddenly you find yourself thinking about whether you can navigate out of the Wimberly's continental seating rows during a set change.

There is rarely anything really "out there" or really risky. Although a run of several wacky, anti-structured and baffling pieces that are also mediocre would probably engender the same flight response as the more realistic ones.

I really enjoy Whistler in the Dark's Fever Fest every year, but once it is over, I am usually ready to go home and watch a few episodes of 24, or watch something like The Devil Wears Prada.

Just one more note, (playwright to playwrights:) I know nobody asked, so just consider it a friendly comment:

Remember, your play doesn't HAVE to be ten minutes. It can be six or seven minutes, Heck, it can be five. If you have covered everything you want to cover, and your play is ending on the bottom of page 6, there is nothing that says you have to keep going all the way to page 10.

I only say this because I saw many, many plays in the past few years that are, believe it or not, way overwritten for ten minutes. Most of these plays are in the sketch, or joke category. In other words, the play seems to have been written on the premise of one, sometimes very slim, idea or joke. The playwright seems to be so enamored of their idea, or joke, that they keep repeating it over and over and over again for ten minutes.

A ten-minute sketch is simply too long. If you want empirical evidence, go and look at some of the most influential and funny comedy sketches of all time, from Abbot and Costello to Monty Python to Saturday Night Live to Mad TV and beyond. They are rarely anywhere near ten minutes long.

Somebody said there can be a big difference between a play that is 3 hours long and a play that is 3 hours and ten minutes long.

In the world of ten minute plays we should remember that there can be a difference between a play that is 8 minutes long and a play that is 10 minutes long.

And in blogging there is a difference between a post that is one paragraph and a post in which you're babbling, so I'll stop now.

Labels: Boston Theatre Marathon, Comedy, Playwriting, Ten Minute Plays

- posted by Art @ 7:43 AM (0) comments

 
Brand Loyalty?
Yvonne Abraham has an article that asks the question: So, with all the stress on corporate accountability, and emphasis on responsibility in MBA programs, what kind of corporate citizens are our top schools turning out?

Labels: Branding, MIT Sloan, Public Relations, Yvonne Abraham

- posted by Art @ 12:50 PM (1) comments

 
Loose Lips

Labels: criti, Theatre Blogging

- posted by Art @ 11:14 PM (2) comments

 
Boston Theatre - Friday Roundup
One Time Only!

It's That Time of Year Again. The Boston Theatre Marathon invades the Wimberly Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts on Sunday, May 11.

The day-long marathon of ten minute plays features directors, playwrights and actors from all corners of the Boston theatre community.


Last Chances

Merrimack Repertory's production of The Four of Us, the recent off-Broadway hit by Itamar Moses, closes. Reviews by Thomas Garvey, Louise Kennedy, Carolyn Clay. Catch it this weekend.

Robert William Sherwood's political play Spin ends its run at the BCA. Sandy Macdonald in the Globe, Carolyn Clay, Robin McGuire and Larry Stark at the Theatermirror, all weighed in.

Syllabus of Errors, from 11:11 Theatre Company closes up its short run at the Rehearsal Hall at the BCA.

David Lindsey Abaire won the Pulitzer a couple of years ago for his more muted Rabbit Hole, but Abaire's wacky, Durang-like style is in full effect in his play Fuddy Meers at the Piano Factory.

Opening:

The History Boys bows at the Roberts Theatre. Alan Bennett's play swept both sides of the Atlantic and spawned a film version, (surprisingly it didn't result in a TV series.) Speakeasy brings us the Boston Premiere, directed by Scott Edmiston. Louise Kennedy, Jenna Scherer, Carolyn Clay, and Thomas Garvey have reviews out.

Oscar Wilde, (the original History Boy), wrote one of the most enduring comedies the Western world has known. The Importance of Being Earnest opens at the Lyric Stage this weekend.

Cardenio opens at the American Repertory Theatre this weekend.

Ongoing:

Ryan Landry's Whizzin' skewers the Wizard of Oz with one of the hardest working productions you will see in Boston.

Dessa Rose has one more weekend at the New Repertory in Watertown.

Labels: Boston Roundup, Boston Theatre Marathon

- posted by Art @ 7:34 AM (0) comments

 
Welcome to the Future - No Roadmaps Available
Tony Adams at Jay Raskolinkov posts a clip of a very positive review of his company's production of Pirandello's Henry IV on the centerstagechicago.com site.

Tony then reveals the following:

Here's the rub. Due to unforeseen circumstances, (a trip to the
emergency room) the critic was only able to see the first act. Which until now only The Wife and I, and the folks at centerstage know. So since it's a good review I could/should probably have kept shut.

The review still ran, even though the critic couldn't make the second
act. I've written before about that before. This case seems different. I don't know if it is better, but there are two differences. One, the critic had to take someone to the hospital, which is a pretty good reason to leave a show. Two, this was not a blogger free from an editorial board. As a part of the Sun-Times Media Group they have editors who, I'd assume, would have to okay anything being published. It it a unique case? (Or it is similar to Weiss' writing about partial shows a few years back.) Is it different? Or does it only seem different
because it was a good review and not a scathing one?

It has already run so there is little we can do about it.

Earlier in the week, I posted how Sinan Unel had set up a blog to discuss the disconnect between his play and a bad review he had received.

Here Tony Adams is using his internet voice to explain a disconnect in a good review he received.

The Internet, with regards to cultural journalism is definitely going to be an interesting world.

Labels: Criticism, Cultural Journalism, Theatre Blogging, Tony Adams

- posted by Art @ 3:46 PM (4) comments

 
What Was the New Rep's Rachel Corrie?
The whole idea of contextualizing performances, whether it be through post show, pre-show or programmed pairings of plays seems to be on the rise.

Thom Garvey, in three parts tries to tease out the success or failure of the New Rep's recent pairing of the controversial My Name is Rachel Corrie, and Pieces.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Labels: My Name is Rachel Corrie, New Repertory, Pieces, Thom Garvey

- posted by Art @ 10:55 AM (2) comments