Flux Theatre Ensemble

We are on the hunt for a few more members of the Menders creative team. Please read the job descriptions below, and either forward this on to people who might be right, or apply yourself!

Assistant Director/Understudy

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Post by August Schulenburg

There is nothing like returning from my (perfect, dazzling, exhausting) honeymoon to find this evocative image for our upcoming production of Menders in my inbox. Kristy Caldwell is the brilliant artist responsible for the Dog Act and Ajax in Iraq postcards, and she's working on an image for the the Menders postcard that will tie all three separate images into a single image - you can see what I mean here.

Other folks looking for illustrations, if the above doesn't convince you, working with Kristy is the best. You should do it, too.

The image above, which will appear as a print ad in Issue 5 of Carrier Pigeon, really strikes at the secret, walled heart of Erin's beautiful play - I'm so glad to return to the city and hit the ground running on Menders. Read the full story

By August Schulenburg

"...but there are some ideals we cannot relinquish; there are some dreams that we won’t let go. The ideal that every human being has a right to peace, freedom, and creative self-expression; the ideal that every community is sustained by that creative self-expression; and the dream of a global stage where the stories of those communities are freely exchanged; we hold onto these things, because without them, theatre has no meaning.

Because theatre does not exist in opposition to Facebook and Twitter; theatre is not in competition with television or film: all of these forms, old and new, are in service to the expression of the human spirit. When Twitter helps spark a revolution against an oppressive regime, that is a victory for theatre..."

"If we look forward to 50 years from now, we will see this period as a precursor to a time when physics is totally reformulated in the language of holography," he says. "Once the theory is properly fleshed out, we will be able to apply it to almost any problem."

Menders: I recently discovered this blog Gender Across Borders, which recently posted a penetrating look at the Saudi Women Drivers movement, #Women2Drive, and the movement's surprising lack of support from the United Nations' UNWomen.

"The traditional one-way vertical relationship from the mass media to the audience does not exist anymore. Indeed, the whole notion of audience does not exist anymore, as users are now taking an active role in the creating and distribution of media."

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Check out this great interview at Works by Women of our own Heather Cohn! Heather has some great thoughts about Flux's programming, gender equity, and our upcoming production of Erin Browne's Menders.

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(What is The Wider Frame?)

Though Menders is a year away, it's not to soon to be thinking of the ripple in the real world this play makes. This is especially true on a day where the Senate votes to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell; an act that connects directly with Menders' themes of conflict between military service and sexuality.

There are a number of ways we'll be looking to frame the action of the play in a wider context, including blog posts and pre/post show speakers and conversations. Here is a list of some of the interesting possibilities - if this sparks an idea for a pre-show event, post-show speaker, or blog feature, please email me at gus at fluxtheatre dot org, or make a note in the comments.

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Walls play a major role in all three plays of our Season 4: Don't Look Away. In Dog Act, the legacy of a breach in a walled city defines the conflict. In Menders, we follow the arc of two student guards watching the wall of a post-apocalyptic city. In Ajax in Iraq, the walls are more metaphorical, as cracks appear in the borders between past and present, soldier and civilian, and heroism and cruelty.

Much of our marketing discussion has therefore centered around walls as a visual motif for the season. So I was particularly struck by this article Kelly O'Donnell forwarded me about art on the blast walls of Baghdad. As photo-essayist Holly Pickett writes:

Baghdad’s blast walls are a blank canvas. They reflect Iraqis’ shared history — both proud and painful facts of life here in the capital.

Beauty and violence; security and anxiety; the art in her photos connects with the themes of our season in a powerful way. We'll talk more on this blog about the further variations of this theme, but first, check out her photos and let us know what you think. Do you know of other examples of walls being repurposed as canvases for art? Read the full story

It's that time again! Flux is holding invited auditions for our 4th Season: Don't Look Away. Casting info for all 3 shows is below.

Flux Theatre Ensemble is casting for its production of Dog Act by Liz Duffy Adams, a post-apocalyptic comedy with music. First rehearsal, January 3. Production runs February 3-20
AEA Showcase (approval pending). Small stipend. Seeking Equity and Non-Equity Actors. Directed by Kelly O'Donnell.

Seeking: ROZETTA STONE - 30s, Female, actress of color. a performer and entrepreneur, a steadfast survivor, ability to play a musical instrument and comfort with light singing and dancing a plus; DOG - 20s to 30s, Male, any ethnicity, sensitive and vulnerable, a Dog by choice, not yet a man but no longer a boy, ability to play a musical instrument a plus; VERA SIMILITUDE - 30s-50s, Female, any ethnicity, Manipulative, resilient and power-hungry woman fighting for survival; JO-JO - 20s/30s, Female, any ethnicity, a semi-feral teenage girl; COKE & BUD - any age or ethnicity, Scavengers, savages who are underfed and vicious, must be both terrifying and comic.

Email submissions strongly preferred. Please send headshots and resumes to casting@fluxtheatre.org or Kelly O'Donnell, 76 9th avenue, 4th floor, New York, NY 10011.

Flux Theatre Ensemble is casting for its production of Ajax in Iraq, by Ellen McLaughlin, a tragedy overlapping the stories of Sophocles' Ajax and a female solider in the Iraq war. First rehearsal, April 29th. Production runs June 3rd-26th. Directed by August Schulenburg.
AEA Showcase (approval pending). Small stipend. Seeking Equity and Non-Equity Actors.

Seeking: A.J. - 20-early 30s, Female, any ethnicity, a soldier in Iraq, her natural power made dangerous by the betrayal of another officer; AJAX - 20-30's, Male, any ethnicity, a physically commanding Greek soldier made bitter when Athena takes his mind; CONNIE MANGUS - 20's to 30's, Female, African-American, A.J.'s closest friend, a smart soldier wrestling with grief and regret; ATHENA, any age, Female, any ethnicity, the capricious Goddess of War and Wisdom; ODYSSEUS/PISONI, 20's-40's, male, any ethnicity, in the Greek world, the trickster who takes the armor that should pass to AJAX, in the Iraq world, the wisecracking soldier who sticks up for A.J.; CHARLES, 20's-30's, Male, any ethnicity, a soldier in Iraq and friend of Pisoni's; SERGEANT/TEUCER, 30's, Male, any ethnicity, the superior officer who betrays A.J. and in the greek world, Ajax's brother; TECMESSA: 20's-30's, female, any ethnicity, Ajax's wife, a captive who retains her formal royalty; GERTRUDE BELL/REBO, 20's-30's, Female, any ethnicity, early 20th century British archeologist and administrator and in the Iraq world, a soldier; SICKLES, 20-30's, Female, any ethnicity, a soldier; LIEUTENANT/MINISTER: a solider and minister in Iraq. All roles but A.J., AJAX, and ATHENA play multiple roles. Experience with heightened language and physical theatre a plus. Actors of color strongly encouraged to submit.

Email submissions strongly preferred. Please send headshots and resumes to casting@fluxtheatre.org or Kelly O'Donnell, 76 9th avenue, 4th floor, New York, NY 10011.

Flux Theatre Ensemble is casting for its production of Menders by Erin Browne, a dark fairytale in which subversive storytelling is the key that breaks down the walls. Production scheduled for Winter 2011/12 – exact dates TBD. Small stipend. Seeking Equity and Non-Equity Actors of any ethnicity. Directed by Heather Cohn.

Seeking: COREY – 20’s, female, a “wall mender” or guard, ardent with a strong moral code; DREW – 30’s-40’s, male, also a wall mender & Corey’s teacher, a storyteller, subversive; TAM – 20’s-30’s, female, lives underground because she’s allergic to the sun; ASH – 20’s-30’s, female, a business woman turned subway guitarist by night; JEFF – late 20’s-40’s, male, a lonely farmer who falls in love with an angel; LILA – 20’s-30’s, female, otherworldly, slightly magical. For all roles, a familiarity with puppetry a plus.

Email submissions strongly preferred. Please send headshots and resumes to casting@fluxtheatre.org or Kelly O'Donnell, 76 9th avenue, 4th floor, New York, NY 10011.
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Flux is thrilled to announce our fourth season!

Our fourth season explores the cost of a society remaining always vigilant. In our see something, say something world, what happens to empathy when we're always on guard?
What is our responsibility to those keeping watch?
And what happens when our defenses are breached?

Information on the plays:

Dog Act: A theatrical, post-apocalyptic dark comedy, Dog Act follows Zetta Stone, a traveling performer, and her companion Dog (a young man undergoing a voluntary species demotion) as they walk through the wilderness of the former U.S.A with their little troupe. They are heading toward a gig in China, if they can find it…and if a secret in Dog's past doesn't undo them.

"[A] delightful dark comedy…. It’s a bright dystopian blend of pop and high culture… peppered with astonishing and exhilarating eruptions of storytelling and wondrous plays within the play…. Adams’ vaudeville routines are each a stroke of genius…. The monologues by each of the performers are near classics of their kind. Best of all is ‘The Mortality Play...’ a blissfully eclectic history of humanity… Dog, as they say, has legs.” –Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

Ajax in Iraq: Past and present collide in Ellen McLaughlin's mash-up of Sophocles' tragedy Ajax and the Iraq War. The play follows the intertwining paths of the Greek hero Ajax and A.J., a female soldier in Iraq, both undone by the betrayal of a commanding officer. The atrocities they commit as a result of those betrayals force us to look at our culpability in the actions of those keeping us safe.

Developed over 16 months in 2009 with the graduate acting students at A.R.T., Ajax in Iraq weaves together Sophocles' play with material based on interviews with veterans. Says McLaughlin, "[Ajax's] pain, however much we wish to turn from it, compels our attention and our empathy. Looking at this play in the light of our times, his agony suddenly seems terribly modern. His voice can be heard in the voices of veterans speaking now about their experiences in Iraq. I came to feel that this disturbing and impossible play might be the means of grappling with this disturbing and impossible war."

Menders: Corey and Aimes are new recruits mending the wall that guards their city from an unnamed threat. But as their teacher Drew tells them stories of the world outside, they begin to wonder at the real purpose of the wall. His subversive tales also unlock personal desires, until an unexpected act of passion tears the menders apart. Inspired by Robert Frost's poem, Mending Wall, Menders is a hauntingly lyrical look at what we're walling out.

Menders continues our development of Erin Browne's work. After developing plays like Trying and Return at Flux Sundays, and giving her Narrator One a Food:Soul, we knew it was time to share her work at the level of full production. We'll be developing this play with Erin over the next year, so stay tuned for updates from that process.

We are thrilled to be bringing you these three plays, that for all their differences, speak to a common question. We'll be talking a lot more about these plays over the next months, and the fascinating ways they work individually and together. We very much hope you will join us for our Season 4: Don't Look Away. Read the full story