Huzzah for Paragon Theatre! I don't remember signing up for their e-mail list -- they must have rented someone else's database -- but their e-marketing lately has been really well done. A full week before this event, I got an e-mail with details on their 365 Days/365 Plays performance. Great job, Paragon!
Anyhow, they will be performing all of Week 16 on one night, Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 7:00 p.m. at the Phoenix Theatre. And because Parks threw in a play for Leap Year, this means there will be eight play-lets performed. Hey, wait a minute -- shouldn't the project be called 365 Days/366 Plays instead? Hmmm....
Showing posts with label 365 Days/365 Plays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 365 Days/365 Plays. Show all posts
Monday, February 26, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
recap of Feb. 10: New Play Summit
This recap of the New Play Summit and 365 Days/365 Plays at the DCPA on Feb. 10 is long overdue.
True to what the DCPA customer service rep had said when I called, I was able to snag a ticket to the 10:00 a.m. reading of A Visitor's Guide to Arivaca (Map Not to Scale) by showing up a few minutes beforehand. Because I then had to move my car into the pay lot (why pay $8 if there was no guarantee of a ticket?), I entered the packed theater a few minutes after the reading had begun. I recognized a few actors I'd seen in 1001 and King Lear, including Jeanine Serralles and Markus Potter, and wondered how many rehearsals for this they'd been able to squeeze in amid their busy performance schedule.
I left the reading with mixed feelings about the play, which has already been workshopped in Tucson (American Theatre magazine's Dec. 2006 cover article covers it here). Having just finished The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle, the territory felt familiar yet more distant. Whereas Boyle's novel focuses sharply on the personal experiences of four people to illustrate the issues/problems of illegal immigration, Evangeline Ordaz's play seemed more didactic. She has placed at the center of her story one Mexican couple attempting to cross the border south of Tucson, with the supporting characters all receiving plenty of stage time as well. On the one hand, Ordaz gives voice to the many sides of the debate, and is generally even-handed about it, but on the other I came away from the reading feeling like I'd heard from archetypes more than from individual characters.
Regardless, it's always a pleasure to see and hear good actors at work. Despite what had to have been limited time to prepare, the performances were superb across the board. Special recognition should go to William Hahn, whose first entrance as Eddie the stoned ranch hand had his castmates laughing and enjoying his performance as much as the official audience did.
At noon, a group of DCTC actors performed one of the 365 Days/365 Plays in the Bonfils lobby. These plays are more like play-lets, or tiny versions of plays that may someday grow and develop. This noon offering seemed to be part of the recurring Father Comes Home from the War theme that Parks has described in some article I read somewhere. (By the way, I added a link to the More Sites I Like section of this blog that will take you to 'today's play' on the TCG website.) It was short, spare, and left me with more questions than I had before it started -- who was the man posing for the portrait with what seemed to be the Father's family? Why does the injured Father end the scene by dancing? Ah well, such is cutting edge work.
After my side trip to the library, I returned to the Bonfils lobby briefly, wondering if I wanted to stick around until 3:00 to see another of the 365 Plays. When I realized that the New Play Summit panel discussion already in progress was also free, my decision was made for me. I had thought the panel would feature playwrights whose plays were being read over the course of the weekend, but Evangeline Ordaz and Jason Grote were the only playwrights whose works were being performed. The rest of the panel was made up of Octavio Solis, Thomas Gibbons, and Julie Myatt. As moderated by Kent Thompson, the discussion was already well underway, and the prevailing theme seemed to be views on writing characters from a background different than one's own. Again, it's always interesting and edifying to hear more about process and motivation from those who've been doing it for a while.
The next two 365 Plays followed the end of the panel discussion in fairly quick succession, even catching a few patrons unaware as they tried to make their way down the steps and past the performers. The real excitement of the inclusion of 365 Plays into the New Play Summit, for me at least, was watching art being presented in a space not designed for that specific purpose. I like the idea that theater can happen any time, anywhere, with the audience standing around the sides and even behind the action. There is value in that, I think, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the 365 performances through the year to see how they handle the challenges.
True to what the DCPA customer service rep had said when I called, I was able to snag a ticket to the 10:00 a.m. reading of A Visitor's Guide to Arivaca (Map Not to Scale) by showing up a few minutes beforehand. Because I then had to move my car into the pay lot (why pay $8 if there was no guarantee of a ticket?), I entered the packed theater a few minutes after the reading had begun. I recognized a few actors I'd seen in 1001 and King Lear, including Jeanine Serralles and Markus Potter, and wondered how many rehearsals for this they'd been able to squeeze in amid their busy performance schedule.
I left the reading with mixed feelings about the play, which has already been workshopped in Tucson (American Theatre magazine's Dec. 2006 cover article covers it here). Having just finished The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle, the territory felt familiar yet more distant. Whereas Boyle's novel focuses sharply on the personal experiences of four people to illustrate the issues/problems of illegal immigration, Evangeline Ordaz's play seemed more didactic. She has placed at the center of her story one Mexican couple attempting to cross the border south of Tucson, with the supporting characters all receiving plenty of stage time as well. On the one hand, Ordaz gives voice to the many sides of the debate, and is generally even-handed about it, but on the other I came away from the reading feeling like I'd heard from archetypes more than from individual characters.
Regardless, it's always a pleasure to see and hear good actors at work. Despite what had to have been limited time to prepare, the performances were superb across the board. Special recognition should go to William Hahn, whose first entrance as Eddie the stoned ranch hand had his castmates laughing and enjoying his performance as much as the official audience did.
At noon, a group of DCTC actors performed one of the 365 Days/365 Plays in the Bonfils lobby. These plays are more like play-lets, or tiny versions of plays that may someday grow and develop. This noon offering seemed to be part of the recurring Father Comes Home from the War theme that Parks has described in some article I read somewhere. (By the way, I added a link to the More Sites I Like section of this blog that will take you to 'today's play' on the TCG website.) It was short, spare, and left me with more questions than I had before it started -- who was the man posing for the portrait with what seemed to be the Father's family? Why does the injured Father end the scene by dancing? Ah well, such is cutting edge work.
After my side trip to the library, I returned to the Bonfils lobby briefly, wondering if I wanted to stick around until 3:00 to see another of the 365 Plays. When I realized that the New Play Summit panel discussion already in progress was also free, my decision was made for me. I had thought the panel would feature playwrights whose plays were being read over the course of the weekend, but Evangeline Ordaz and Jason Grote were the only playwrights whose works were being performed. The rest of the panel was made up of Octavio Solis, Thomas Gibbons, and Julie Myatt. As moderated by Kent Thompson, the discussion was already well underway, and the prevailing theme seemed to be views on writing characters from a background different than one's own. Again, it's always interesting and edifying to hear more about process and motivation from those who've been doing it for a while.
The next two 365 Plays followed the end of the panel discussion in fairly quick succession, even catching a few patrons unaware as they tried to make their way down the steps and past the performers. The real excitement of the inclusion of 365 Plays into the New Play Summit, for me at least, was watching art being presented in a space not designed for that specific purpose. I like the idea that theater can happen any time, anywhere, with the audience standing around the sides and even behind the action. There is value in that, I think, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the 365 performances through the year to see how they handle the challenges.
Feb. 20 & 23 365 Days/365 Plays @ DU
Again, props to John Moore, whose MySpace page was the only source of details for this week's offerings that I could find.
WEEK 15: UNIVERSITY OF DENVER
Suzan-Lori Parks' '365 Days/365
Plays' Colorado cycle now shifts to the University of Denver, where the Week 15 cycle will be performed at the following times:*Tuesday, Feb. 20 at the Driscoll Student Center Bridge.
When? 12:50 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 1:45 p.m. and 2:50 p.m.*Friday, Feb. 23 in the Ritchie Center just before the school's 7 p.m. hockey game, and again after the first period ends (estimated 7:45 p.m.).
This is what we're told: "Look for the Babe Catcher, tap dancing, a man walking on water and the waitress from Coney Island Joe’s. You’ll see a woman in mourning, hear a short sketch performed in Spanish, and marvel at a painting on the wall of the King President’s bedroom." The performers are not from the theater department but from DU's Living and Learning Communities students and staff. They are "an ensemble of risk-takers with a passion for community engagement, performance, the arts and creative endeavors."
All performances are FREE. For more info, email Fay Coulouris (fcoulour@du.edu) or Roscoe Hill (rehill@du.edu).
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Feb. 14-17 365 Days/365 Plays @ Dairy Center
This week's set of plays in the 365 Days/365 Plays cycle are being presented by madhause at The Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder.
Week#14
February 14th, 16th, 17th at 8:00pm
February 15th at 2:00pm
The Dairy Center for the Arts
East Theater, 2590 Walnut Street
FREE ADMISSION
Week#14
February 14th, 16th, 17th at 8:00pm
February 15th at 2:00pm
The Dairy Center for the Arts
East Theater, 2590 Walnut Street
FREE ADMISSION
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Feb. 9-10 365 Days/365 Plays @ DCTC
The best place to find details on this week's presentation of 365 Days/365 Plays is again on John Moore's MySpace page. All plays will be performed at the Denver Center on Friday, Feb. 9 & Saturday, Feb. 10, in conjunction with the New Play Summit.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Jan. 22-26 365 Days/365 Plays @ Naropa U
Again, my plans to attend a performance in the Colorado 365 Days/ 365 Plays festival have been thwarted by my day job. This week's set of plays is being performed at Naropa University in Boulder during the lunch hour, Monday through Friday only. It's too bad, because it sounds very interesting.
The format here will be a contemplative, improvisational practice called 'The Red Square,' which involves calling upon audience members to help create each piece. The technique was developed by Barbara Dilley.The only place I was able to find details regarding Naropa's performances was on John Moore's MySpace page, as the main Colorado page hasn't been updated in a few weeks.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Jan. 18-21 365 Days/365 Plays in CO Springs
According to the pdf calendar on the Curious Theatre website, this week's schedule of 365 Days/365 Plays is being performed in Colorado Springs by THEATREWORKS at UCCS. However, I can find no further information on the THEATREWORKS website.
Next week sees the return of the festival to the Denver/Boulder area.
Next week sees the return of the festival to the Denver/Boulder area.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Jan. 8-14 Week 9 of 365 Days/365 Plays
This week's set of plays from the 365 Days/365 Plays festival is being performed in Boulder by The International Theatre Collective. Each day's performance begins at 11:30 a.m., and is being performed in sites around Boulder. The only performances I'd be able to make would be Saturday or Sunday, but given the weather forecasts and the outdoor setting, we'll see...
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Get set...
If I had set myself the goal of getting out to a free performance once a week throughtout 2007, my work here could almost be done thanks to the 365 Days/365 Plays Festival. The festival started in November 2006 and will end, oddly enough, in November 2007. What you may not glean from the link included above is that this initiative is Denver-born, thanks largely to Bonnie Metzgar at Curious Theatre Company. This week's plays will be presented Friday 1/5 and Saturday 1/6 by Amateur Surgeons Productions -- I've never heard of them, but I'll be attending one of those nights. See you there?
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