We really don't care about theatre do we?

think i might've told this story before on ILX, but oh well...four or five years ago i was working in a massive fuck off rec shop on oxford st when who shld walk in but tom stoppard. he proceeded to ask me a series of fairly oblique questions abt this and that...i can't really remember the convo at all, but i do vividly recall that he suddenly got v v interested when i told him there was a group called tortoise!

Right, so if Stoppard plays a Tortoise track on Desert Island Discs we'll know the source ;-)

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/06/08/theater/theaterspecial/08tony.xlarge10.jpg

^^Broadway demographic circa 2009^^

LOLOLOLOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Kcj0FSP7g

Joe Turner's Come and Gone, which closes Sunday, is very good. Worst audience ever, though.

somnambulant? vocal? or did you see the Obamas necking?

people talking, cell phones ringing, people TALKING ON THEIR CELL PHONES, numerous late arrivals (before and after intermission), one person walks over a half dozen people to get out of their row then walks back a few minutes later then in the second act walks back out and EXITS THE THEATER VIA THE STREET DOOR BEHIND THE AUDIENCE, old lady returns from the bathroom 10 minutes into second act and slowly proceeds across the rear and side orchestra aisles talking (complaining/apologizing to the usher) IN FULL VOICE THE ENTIRE WAY DESPITE NUMEROUS SSH'S (and one "oh shut the hell up" lol)

Inside baseball, but an interesting study about gender and producing new plays in NY Mag and today's Times -- not the result you might think:

Sands also sent out four previously unseen scripts by prominent female playwrights — Lynn Nottage, Julia Jordan, Tanya Barfield, and Deb Laufer — to artistic directors and literary managers nationwide. Each script was assigned two pen names, like Mary Walker and Michael Walker. The results were surprising: Female readers rated scripts with female pen names 15 percent lower than those with male pen names, while male readers rated the scripts equally. Sands attributes this to women thinking that women's plays "will be less well received."

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/06/25/theater/Night600.jpg

Anyone seeing this?

Director-friend posted on Facebook that she "forsees a production of no exit with ed, farah, and mj."

who's ed?

Ed McMahon.

Purcarete's production of Faust: how amazing does this look? seeing it at the edinburgh international next month:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXU78K6XSwg

100 performers!

Caffe Cino posters, programs from the mid-1960s.

wrong link i hope...

i'm thinking of going to see "The Rivals" in the Abbey Theatre. I am hoping for plenty of "Sirs!" action.

Oops, here's the Caffe Cino posters link.

would like to see:

http://caffecino.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/useusecceyencinoeyen1.jpg

http://juliaa.etsy.com/

Damn, wrong link, though I would recommend JuliaA's earrings, too.

Meant to post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7INfm99741E&NR=1

how are the wooster group these days? thinking about seeing their production of la didone at REDCAT later this month, wondering if i should bother?

i saw this in edinburgh two years ago and it was TERRIBLE.

any suggestions for london these days?

hey chilxors, my grad school colleague's play is being staged in this victory gardens season preview. it's free. you should check it out and tell me how it is!

also i kept kicking myself for not seeing that wooster production bc everyone said it was amazing. now i don't feel as bad!

RIP Zakes Mokae.

saw him in Master Harold on Broadway back around '82.

I remember seeing that production on PBS.

yeah, cept they stuck in Matthew Broderick.

Anyone else see Laramie Pt. II tonight?

whoa what.

Heard about it on NPR. It addresses the 20/20 thing about meth

My friend's (well, close family friend really) play got a pretty great review in Variety!

Wasn't quite as enthusiastic about it as this reviewer was - it's definitely got a few wholes that I hope will get patched up before it gets, as I'm fairly sure it will, a transfer to a bigger space - but was thoroughly entertained all the same.

Kinda interesting to see H4nna directing something with such a populist, contemporay feel given that her background is more Harold Barker, Pinter, Stoppard and the RSC, but really really impressive how well she pulled it off.

Sry if this seems a bit spammy, just really pleased!

aw, my friend's play is a winner!
http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/theater/81553/the-ten-best-plays-in-chicago-in-2009

so proud!
wish i could have seen it.

my most recent set design, forgive the indulgence!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/memcell1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/memcell3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/memcell5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/memcell8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/memcell6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/memcell7.jpg

there were people in it too!

what was the show?

"Memory Cells" - a new play by a scottish writer called Louise Welsh. Her starting point was one of Louise Bourgeuis' Cells, hence the heavily LB influenced set.

Nice. Last play I saw was Pains of Youth at the National last month, the music was kinda interestingly early 20th century inspired classical-electronic interludes in between the scenes. It had a suicide, but that is no spoiler as you could tell five mins in :-)

Katie Mitchell's thing? i really wanted to see that. there's something - a video - on the guardian website about the sound design for it. it looked really interesting.

memory cells was good as ws the set design

I've seen that doors-as-wall in a couple of places now, ur a pioneer jed! unless u stole it from elsewhere

i stole it from louise bourgeois!

jed - Yeah, that's it. For anybody else, the link to the page at the Guardian site.

i've been working on a theatrical clowning show and it's pretty impossible to convince people to go, but i saw it last night and it was incredibly entertaining and actually quite touching at times! one of the clowns did an entire piece in japanese and was able to convey everything perfectly, which is pretty freaking impressive to me!

Non-circus clowns are the best.

Intriguing B'way cast for the new Martin McDonagh play (movie stars, of course): Walken, Sam Rockwell, Anthony Mackie, Zoe Kazan.

well, even if no one i know personally would go, we sold out last night! also makes me wish i had more $ to go see more shows. i miss theatre/opera/etc.

Does anyone if/when Tom Paulin's Medea might be coming to London?

no, but it's in glasgow in a couple of weeks so thanks for the tip!

one star from lynn gardner in the guardian, maybe not...