Theater

Jenna Watt’s delicate one-woman show kicked off Mayfest for me, offering up its bittersweet mix of hope and hate in a delightfully unselfconscious manner. Essentially, Flâneurs tells us the story of her friend Jeremy, who was the victim of a vicious assault. Except it’s so much more than that: it’s a musing on what it means to be safe, what it means to survive, and what it means to be home. Watt is a masterful storyteller – she has to be, given that the show is simply her on-stage, joined occasionally by a giraffe to represent Jeremy. The show begins with a pleasingly whimsical journey through Edinburgh, punctuated by anecdotes and maps, as Watt shows us (in Bristol) around her home city. It’s beautifully done with an overhead projector and a lot of conviction, meaning that although some of the material about home and recognition feels a little contrived, we’ve invested enough in Watt’s story not to care. This isn’t just Watt’s story, or Jeremy’s story, though. By making us see how random the attack on Jeremy was, and by interspersing her narrative with a policeman’s take on street violence, Watt invites us to go to a dark place where we are not safe. She invites us to remember every dark walk home, or every shock of reading about a violent act in a newspaper and realising it was local to us. She encourages us to think about whether we could defend ourselves, and whether we would step in to help someone else. It’s not preachy, though. Watt is an engaging and entertaining presence who keeps enough self-mockery in the piece to stop the occasional moralising being annoying. At its heart, Flâneurs is a love letter to Edinburgh, and to cities that make people feel at home everywhere. Watt urges us to reclaim our sense of safety, to feel secure and to enjoy our cities and our homes once again. She does not shy away from the violence in the world: “I’m afraid of being punched” – who isn’t? The parts where we hear Jeremy’s voice describing how his world shrank after his assault are particularly affecting – this is a piece that makes you think. Ultimately, though, it is celebratory. It’s a piece about the choices we make, and about survival. Aided by just a few props and her own body, Watt raises some interesting points about victims and perpetrators, about “them” and “us”, and about what we want from our environments. Well worth seeing. Flâneurs is playing at The Brewery in Bristol as part of Mayfest until 18 May. For more information see the Mayfest website. The post Mayfest review: Flâneurs appeared first on A Younger Theatre.

Kate Tempest is blazingly good. Everyone’s been telling me this for ages, and she won the Ted Hughes Award in March, but to see her take the stage and do her thing is mind-blowing. Using Greek myths as her starting point, Tempest elevates the everyday lives of a fictional group of South Londoners into the stuff of myth – never has it been clearer that we’re all the heroes of our own lives, and potentially the leading players in a tragedy. She does not shy away from the waste and hate and spite that poverty and neglect nurture, and yet the show is still uplifting, thanks to Tempest’s presence. She almost turns preacher at some points, urging us to take back some control from the false idols of capitalism and greed. Without ever stepping over the line into emotional manipulation or schmaltz, she has a gift for making you want to believe in the redemptive power of love. This is no naïve tale, though; love conquers some things but the ending is not happy for all of her characters. Alternating between full-on, heavily backed rap and a lyric spoken word style that soars round Bristol Old Vic, Brand New Ancients is a show like no other. Tempest takes the lives and hopes and foibles of normal, amazing, downtrodden people and illuminates them. She turns the stuff of everyday mundanity into poetry and screams it from the rooftops. And then she kicks up a gear. Backed by a stunning four-piece band (Kwake Bass on drums, Jo Gibson on tuba, Natasha Zielazinski on cello and Raven Bush on violin), the energy that emanates from Tempest is incredible. To carry off a one-woman show like this for over an hour, you need a passion for language, and Tempest has it in spades. By turns elegaic and celebratory, devastating and playful, Brand New Ancients will make you despair and then build you back up again, in one breath. Tempest’s grasp of language, her verbal dexterity, is mesmerising. When she preaches, implores or demands, you can feel the audience respond. She calls bullshit on almost everything that we hold dear, and we cry “Amen”. She says jump, and we jump. I’d tell you to go and experience Brand New Ancients for yourself, but based on the queue out the door of Bristol Old Vic tonight I think it’s a safe bet that tomorrow’s show is sold out, too. This is the beginning of a new tour, though, so I do urge you to catch this if you can. Kate Tempest is what theatre – and poetry – need. Brand New Ancients is part of Mayfest in Bristol. It’s on at Bristol Old Vic from 17-18 May, and then touring.  The post Mayfest review: Brand New Ancients appeared first on A Younger Theatre.

The Drama League celebrated the 2012-2013 Broadway and off-Broadway season with their 79th annual Drama League Awards lunche

What's that, my friend? You say that you love Gilbert & Sullivan, but you don't have the...er... patience to sit through an entire Savoy Opera? You're not alone, my friend. I mean, I love me some G&S, but some of those shows just seem to go on and on and on, especially in inexperienced hands. There's nothing more tedious than sitting through an amateur production of The Gondoliers or H.M.S. Pinafore. (Pacing, my friends. It's all about pacing. If it can't be good, dear God, make it short.) Well, have no fear. The Hypocrites are here, with a fresh and zippy 80-minute production of The Pirates of Penzance, which recently opened at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass. Call it Gilbert & Sullivan for modern attention spans. The Hypocrites is a Chicago-based theater troupe known for its distinctive re-imagining of classic works. The recent acclaimed production of Our Town, directed by David Cromer, originated with The Hypocrites in Chicago. Here, the troupe has taken The Pirates of Penzance, cut it down (the adaptation is by Sean Graney and Kevin O'Donnell), and whipped up a frothy atmospheric production complete with beach balls, picnic tables, and plastic wading pools. The atmosphere is true to the playful spirit of the original show, while adding some lovingly ridiculous elements of the group's own devising. In truth, "adaptation" here means little more than a significantly truncated version of the original with a few modern references and sight gags thrown in. The result is short, sweet, and relentlessly silly. The real fun here comes from the spirited and arch direction by Sean Graney, and the lovingly over-the-top performances from a cast of Hypocrites regulars. Particularly strong among the hard-working crew of ten were a lovingly mock heroic Zeke Sulkes as the pirate apprentice Frederick, a delightfully dotty Christine Stulik as both Ruth and Mabel, and an amusingly imperious Matt Kahler as the famed Major General. The cast members, who also serve as the show's on-stage band, mill about convivially among the audience members, many of whom are seated on the stage and on benches surrounding the playing area. I'm not one to automatically respond to immersive theater such as this, but thankfully the A.R.T. staff saw fit to provide regular seating away from the on-stage antics. (I crouch, squat, and scurry for no show.) This particular production of The Pirates of Penzance is certainly not for G&S purists. As I said, the show and the score have been cut down rather severely, but this in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. G&S have a strong tendency to repeat refrains almost incessantly, most of which the production at hand has dispensed with, as well as turning much of the recitative into spoken text. The score has been rearranged and modernized for guitar, banjo, flute, spoons, and the occasional woodwind. The musicianship, both sung and played, was for the most part serviceable, although the apostrophic "Hail, Poetry" was simply stunning, thanks to both the sotto voce singing and sensitive lighting.  On a final note, I have to say that I'm genuinely torn over the fact that this admitted crowd-pleaser comes to us under the auspices of the A.R.T. As you may know, the A.R.T. has come under fire for its overtly commercial bent under the helm of artistic director Diane Paulus. And this production of Pirates certainly ranks among the theater's more mainstream-friendly offerings. I mean, there's a certain amount of theatrical invention involved here, but it's certainly nothing you would call challenging or deep. At least it's not pretentious like Pippin, by which I mean a pretense of meaning. Pirates doesn't try to be anything beyond what it is, which is a rollicking good time. But is that what a major non-profit, operating within one of the most august learning institutions in the world, should be doing?

Hopefully June 10 will be a warm spring night, because the Skivvies are coming to 54 Below in nothing but their…skivvies. Broadway veteran Lauren Molina (Rock of Ages, Sweeney Todd) and Nick Cearl

Fanatical Catholic protesters might want to mark their calendars for May 27. That night at 7PM, Joe's Pub will host a one-night-only concert performance of Popesical, a new musical comedy by Adam Ov

The "Broadway" season may be winding down, but things are heating up beyond Beyond Broadway! Here are 7 shows not tom miss in June 2013!SONTAG: REBORNNew York Theater Workshop brings back terrific The Builders Association production of Moe Angelos' Sontag Reborn. Originally presented as part of the Under The Radar Festival in 2012, Angelos portrays the noted thinker as a young adult, forming who she will become. The show provides fascinating insight into Susan Sontag, the person.SONTAG: REBORNBased on the books by Susan Sontagand edited by David RieffAdapted and performed by Moe AngelosDirected by Marianne WeemsTuesday, May 28th - Sunday, June 30thNew York Theatre Workshop79 East 4th StreetNew York, NY 10003For Tickets and Info: Click Here----- Clubbed Thumb's SUMMERWORKSOne of our favorite events of the year is Clubbed Thumb's SummerWorks, three more-than-workshop productions of three new plays, usually quirky. This year's offerings are:Baby Screams Miracleby Clare Barron directed by Portia KriegerPhoebe in Winterby Jen Silvermandirected by Mike DonahueLa Breaby Gregory S. Mossdirected by Adam Greenfield Clubbed Thumb presents Summerworks 2013May 24 – June 29, 2013The Wild Project195 E. 3rd Street(between Ave. A and B)New York, NY 10009 For Tickets and Info: Click Here-----The Comedy of Errors Daniel Sullivan directs the first production of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors to hit the Delacorte in twenty years. (The last one featured Elizabeth Franz, Boyd Gaines and Marissa Tomei in 1992.) This time around, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Hamish Linklater star in this broad comedy about identical twins separated at birth and mistaken identities. This production has an unusual 8:30pm start time but the running time is listed as only 90 minutes. But knowing these two actors, I'd expected it to run longer at times!The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival presents The Comedy of Errorswith Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Hamish Linklaterdirected by Daniel SullivanMay 28th - June 30thDelacorte TheaterCentral ParkEnter at West 81st StreetTickets are free, but can be a challenge to get. For more information: Click Here-----MANNA-HATAPeculiar Works Project, known for their nifty site-specific performances, will next take on nothing less than the 400-year history of New York City. MANNA-HATA written by Barry Rowell, directed by Rowell and Kathleen Amshoff. will take place at the James A. Farley Post Office on 8th Avenue, soon to become part of history itself when it becomes Moynihan Station.MANNA-HATA (from the indigenous Lenape tribe's name for the island) is the extraordinary true story of the transformation of New York City from a small island to a booming metropolis. Featuring famous scoundrels (Peter Stuyvesant, Boss Tweed, Robert Moses); artistic legends (Walt Whitman, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Dorothy Parker); and other beloved City figures (Emily Roebling, Jane Jacobs, Shirley Chisholm), MANNA-HATA shares tales of graft, oppression, and violence, as well as stories, poems and songs of love dedicated to the Great City herself.The 21-member cast, playing all of the live music and over 100 roles, includes Everett Quinton, Christopher Hurt, Catherine Porter and Cherrye Davis.Peculiar Works Project presentsMANNA-HATAby Barry Rowelldirected by Barry Rowell and Kathleen AmshoffFriday, June 7 - Sunday, June 23, 2013James A. Farley Post Office 425 Eighth Avenue(enter on West 31st Street, just west of 8th Avenue)Tickets are $18, and must be purchased in advance!For Tickets and Info: Click Here-----SOUND SCAPEThis summer, The Brick Theater puts sound designers center stage in what promises to be a truly unique approach to their annual summer festivals.Some of the highlights include:Cliff House's The Beckett Cycle looks at Beckett's radio and television plays. Six of Six Productions' Commotion Collage is based on Dadaist Simultaneous and Sound Poems. Submerged presents a sound and music driven adaptation of Dante's Inferno.Tu

Might I recommend you check out Retro Productions A Day in the Death of Joe Egg? It's a fantastic play, of course, but it also features top flight performers getting to sink their teeth into great work. I think we can be so driven by new plays and new play development that in the Off-Off world, we rarely see a good company of actors just sinking their teeth into a classic.It's running until May 25th at the Workshop Theater.Tickets can be gotten herein.

The Broadway revival of Annie welcomed Emmy Award winner Jane Lynch to the company with an "opening night" celebration at Ruby Foo's following the Thursday,

I’m not smart enough to read The Economist. Thankfully,  I have some friends that are . . . and one of them sent me a great article featured in this month’s issue that talked about The Broadway!  (I get all oogly inside when publications outside of our industry pay attention to what we do . . . because it means people who don’t normally pay attention to us, might do just that.) The thesis of the article was something that you and I have known for a loooong time:  ”Answers to almost all the world’s problems can be found on Broadway.” It’s a fun article that calls for Kim Jong-un to listen to the lyrics of West Side Story, for Google to listen to Fagin, and more. Read it here. And then let’s hope that our Congress listens to this lyric: You can drive a person crazy. You can drive a person mad. Now stop acting like a bunch of tubas and start working together and pass some laws that people actually want. Huh.  I might be remembering that incorrectly.  But something tells me Sondheim will forgive me. (Got a comment? I love ‘em, so comment below! Email Subscribers, click here then scroll down to say what’s on your mind!) _ _ FUN STUFF: – Play our Tony Pool and you can win an iPad.  Click here to enter and win! - Win two tickets to ModROCK! Click here! - Only 51 performances of Macbeth remain!  Get tix.