Flux Theatre Ensemble

This blog has served us well. But with the new and gorgeous website up and running it was time to move on, and move in. The FluxBlog can now be found within the main Flux website at www.fluxtheatre.org/blog

Fear not; all the old posts, comments, pictures, and even tags have been ported over.

We'll keep this blog up for old links, but if you're interested to see what Flux is up to, the new blog will be the place you wanna go. There are already photos from the 2nd Annual Family Feud and a round-up of our most recent Flux Sunday, and many more posts to come.

Onward, and upward! Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

If the previous Sunday was the Flux of the actors, this Sunday was the Flux of the playwrights - as many strong pages as we've seen in a long time, and despite my best attempts, we simply could not stage them all.

Playwrights: Johnna Adams (The Anguisher), Fengar Gael (The Cat Vandal), Larry Kunofsky (So Retarded), Kitty Lindsay (Life is a Dream House), Kristen Palmer (Bridgeport), Brian Pracht (Unplugged In), August Schulenburg (Jane the Plain), Adam Szymkowicz (The Note)

Directors: Pete Boisvert, Kristy Dodson, Heather Cohn

Actors: Isaiah Tanenbaum, Jason Howard, Alisha Spielmann, Melissa Herion, Drew Valins, Tiffany Clementi, Cotton Wright, Ken Glickfeld, Kersti Bryan, David Crommett

Highlights included:
-Well, it's not everyday one gets to play a fundamentalist possessed by the spirit of a cat - so that was certainly a personal highlight.
-Working on Brian's Unplugged In - we've seen many incarnations of this play (and first scene), and while Flux Sundays are used less frequently for longer term development, it's always exciting when it happens
-Cotton and Jason as the tormented Karbie and Ben dolls - they found the slightly askew physicality that made those parts pop
-Reading through So Retarded allowed us to do two big scenes that play off each other...and boy, did they ever, and the second scene really highlighted Kersti Bryan's Flux Sunday debut

Now I had to leave early, so...did I miss anything that should be forever recorded in the annals of time? Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

We had one of the biggest actor turn-outs ever for this Flux Sunday, and it was exciting!

Playwrights: Larry Kunofsky (So Retarded), EM Lewis (If I Did This), Kari Swenson Riely (The Bicycle), August Schulenburg (Jane the Plain)

Directors: Heather Cohn, Leigh Hile, Brian Pracht, Alisha Spielmann

Actors: Lynn Kenny, Jason Richards, Kitty Lindsay, Maiken Wise, David Crommett, Tiffany Clementi, Matthew Archambault, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Rob Maitner, Anna LaMadrid, Cotton Wright, Melissa Herion, Jen Kipley, Jane Taylor, Robb Martinez, Stephen Conrad Moore

Highlights included:
-The debut of Kari's writing! She's been an acting force at Flux Sundays for some time, and it's always exciting when we see a different side of a talented artist.
-The moment when Lynn as Lucy negotiated Jen as Jen's sudden arrival with the audience - pure natural comedy - in Larry's So Retarded
-Speaking of that play, the whole New Haven/ n sympathizer section was painfully funny.
-Watching Rob and Robb offer two different but equally compelling takes on Hal, the dissolute mystery writer of Ellen's If I Did This
-Cotton's lovely Jane in Jane the Plain somehow maintaining the honesty of the character in the face of a shirtless, gleeful Matt Archambault as Scotty

If you were there, what do you remember? Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

Our first Flux Sunday back from the retreat had a smaller turn out, but that allowed us to do an exciting thing. We staged and shared four plays: two in the first hour and a half, and two in the second. This led to a bunch of rushed choices, but all together the experience was, well, a rush. It's not everyday, after all, that one is able to play a rolling Oedipus, a cop fighting organ theft, and a political activist clown in three hours.

Playwrights: Larry Kunofsky (Tragedy on Ecstasy), Kristen Palmer (Bridgeport), August Schulenburg (Jane the Plain), Adam Szymkowicz (Market)

Directors: Heather Cohn, Marielle Duke, Leigh Hile

Actors: Carissa Cordes, Kitty Lindsay, Anna Lamadrid, Alisha Spielmann, Melissa Herion, Kathryn Lawson, Isaiah Tanenbaum

Highlights included:

-Anna tearing it up as Donna in Kristen's Bridgeport, not to mention the thrill of Larry's spellcasting. I'm very excited to see how these fanciful and gritty threads weave together.
-The whole Tragedy on Ecstasy cast, which embodied the Flux Sunday spirit of "let's just go for it."
-Melissa's chilling Clarissa, and Carissa as her hapless (puppet) victim in Adam's Market. I also loved Heather's use of the space (and Ann's scene changing shakers!)
-Kristen Palmer as Scotty the Hotty. 'Nuff said.

If you were there, what did you walk away with?

Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

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By August Schulenburg

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By August Schulenburg
(What is Flux Sunday?)

We're back! After an Ajax in Iraq sized hiatus, we returned to the friendly confines of Judson Memorial Church for some Flux Sunday action. It was a full day - we went over our 7PM limit - and everyone was really bringing it.

Playwrights: Fengar Gael (The Cat Vandal), EM Lewis (Now Comes the Night), August Schulenburg (Perse, The App of Paradise), Isaiah Tanenbaum (Viva Fidel)

Directors: Heather Cohn, Kitty Lindsay, Brian Pracht

Actors: David Crommett, Jane Taylor, Ken Glickfeld, Heather Nicholson, Kari Swenson Riely, Anna Lamadrid, Matthew Archambault, Ingrid Nordstrom, Vern Thiessen, Ryan Andes, Becky Byers, Leila Okafor, Carissa Cordes, Drew Valins

Highlights:
-Brian Pracht and Matthew Archambault found some really funny phone business in Viva Fidel, the play that routinely requires three times as many props as any other scene.
-Ken accidentally kicked my character's wounded leg in Now Comes the Night, and wow, that really helped my intensity the rest of the beautifully ravaged scene! Ellen said she might even keep it...
-No one gathered at this Flux Sunday will ever forget Ryan on the yoga mat as the cat-possessed Omar in Mary's The Cat Vandal. A supple kudos to Andes and director Heather.
-It was really cool to see two Perses and two Melindas in the long chunk of Perse we did - Anna/Becky and Heather/Ingrid each found completely different energies in the roles. I'm also unclear as to how they directed such a long scene so cleanly in so little time. Magic?
-Drew Valins was back! And he brought a real tenderness to Paco in The App of Paradise that grounded such an idea heavy short scene.

If you were there, what do you remember from the day? Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

Playwrights: Katherine Burger (Ever, Ever), Aja Houston (Superwomen?), Brian Pracht (Wendell Wants), August Schulenburg (The Temptation Show)

Directors: Tiffany Clementi, Katherine, Isaiah, Kelly O'Donnell

Actors: Ken Glickfeld, Matthew Archambault, Carissa Cordes, Leila Okafur, Kathleen Wise, Matthew Murumba, Lynn Kenny, David Crommett, Damon Kinard, Alex Marshall-Brown, Tiffany, Chudney Sykes, Isaiah, Aja, Gus, Jaime Robert Carrillo

Yup, it was a jam-packed Flux Sunday for our last Sunday of 2010, and there was all sorts of good work going on.

Highlights:
-A hot Flux Sunday for Tiffany Clementi, with a turn as the foul-mouthed gorgeous Sadie in Wendell Wants, calculating therapist in Superwomen?, and then bringing a playful directorial focus to the 2nd scene of Aja's pageant play.
-The trifecta for Isaiah Tanenbaum, with funny turns as an actor (Wendell), director (1st scene in Viva Fidel) and as a playwright, the comic highlight of the day in the 2nd scene of Fidel, where Matthew Archambault played the (literally) puppet dictator in a ludicrously staged scene by Kelly O'Donnell.
-But the scene that stuck with me the most was Chudney Sykes monologue in the first scene of Superwomen?. Aja crafted a subtly troubling monologue for Cleopatra about dreams and body image that Chudney handled beautifully.
-Personally, any day that I can act in a Katherine Burger play with both David Crommett and Ken Glickfeld is a good day. And so it was, in Ever Ever (if not for ever ever).
-Matthew Murumba easily fitting into a role I may just be writing for him in mind (The Temptation Show).

If you were there, what do you remember (other, than of course, Archambault's brilliantly flailing limbs?) Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

After two weeks off (one for Thanksgiving, one for NET's Micro-Fest), we returned to our trusty Flux Sunday back-up at 520 8th ave. That meant reads around the table, which, while not as fun as playing on our feet, does give us the opportunity to read more pages. And they were some solid pages, if I do so solid myself.

Playwrights: Fengar Gael (Devil Dog Six), Aja Houston (Superwomen?), Brian Pracht (Wendell Wants), August Schulenburg (One More Go Around The Darkness)

Actors: Will Lowry, Matthew Archambault, Alisha Spielmann, Jason Howard, Ken Glickfeld, Carissa Cordes, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Kathleen Wise, Ryan Andes, Ingrid Nordstrom, Heather Cohn, Garth McCardle, Regine Mont-Louis, Tiffany Clementi

Highlights:
-Aja's hilarious pageant play (wish we could have staged that second scene!) with a goofily lovable Grier from Regine and a fiercely focused Tiffany Clementi as Venus.
-Ken Glickfeld was ON this day: relaxed, nuanced, focused reads as Bernard in Devil Dog Six and Eliot in Wendell Wants.
-Watching our progression of Wendell's, from Isaiah's perfectly pitched younger Wendell to Garth's irony-laced teen Wendell to Jason's painfully present lover Wendell; it was a wide world of Wendell Wants.
-Ryan Andes dangerously funny cool kid. If you were there, you know what I mean.
-Ingrid Nordstrom taking my note of excitable and running with it as Charity in One More Go About The Darkness. I also appreciated Kathleen Wise's formidable Ellen.

What fireflies of the day did you catch in your bottle? Leave them in the comments below! Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

We were thankful to return to Judson for our last Flux Sunday before Thanksgiving!

Playwrights: Kira Blaskovich, Fengar Gael (Devil Dog Six), August Schulenburg (The Hand That Moves, The Temptation Show)

Directors: Kira, Amy Staats

Actors: Candice Holdorf, Kimberly Klein, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Ken Glickfeld, Jane Taylor, Kari Riely, Stacey Jenson, Matthew Archambault, Corey Allen

Highlights included:
-Amy's daring direction of The Hand That Moves towards a more abstracted, dreamlike quality than I'd intended - it's always exciting to see directors take unexpected risks with your work!
-Getting a chance to take the emotional slalom of Kira's two-hander along with Stacey Jenson - the vocabulary between former lovers is always fun to negotiate
-But the field this day belonged to Fengar's Devil Dog Six, with Corey Allen and Isaiah Tanenbaum turning in especially focused performances in these raucous series of scenes

If you were there, what memory from it did you lovingly fold to keep in your back pocket? Read the full story

On November 26, 2007, in our 6th post on the Flux Blog, I explained Flux Sundays, our then year old weekly workshop process. This process has undergone a subtle but important evolution, and it seems therefore important to post a revised explanation of just what, exactly, a Flux Sunday is and does.

Flux Sunday is a weekly workshop process that brings 10-30 actors, playwrights and directors together to read and lightly stage 3-8 scenes. Directors have an hour and a half to two hours to lightly stage the scenes, and then we gather together for the last hour to share them. Flux Sundays are almost always on Sunday (natch) from 4 to 7PM at our new home, Judson Memorial Church.

The goals of Flux Sunday are:

• To build a creative home for Members and Friends of Flux through the sustained, long term collaboration of making theatre on a weekly basis
• To develop new plays with the intention of moving them into Have Anothers, Food:Souls and full production.
• To explore relationships with new playwrights, actors and directors beyond the hit-and-run of auditions/interviews.
• To empower Members and Friends of Flux to shape Flux's destiny by inviting new artists to Flux Sunday through our new Guest Policy.

This new Guest Policy allows any permanent invitee of Flux Sunday to invite any artist to attend any Flux Sunday they attend themselves. This not only brings new talent to Flux, but allows our core community an active role in shaping Flux's work. The exception is playwrights, who should still submit plays through fluxplaysubmission@gmail.com. This policy difference reflects the profound impact playwrights have on the Flux Sunday experience.

While these workshops were previously closed to audience, our revised Mission Statement and Core Values seek to blur the divisions between artists and audience in building a creative home. To that end, we're continuing to extend the audience's role in our developmental work, and as Flux Sunday is the heart of that work, it makes sense to open it up. Therefore, the last hour of Flux Sunday (usually 6PM) is now open to members of Judson and Flux's wider community. Look for the next scheduled Flux Sunday in our Up Next section, and email me at gus at fluxtheatre dot org if you'd like to attend.

Furthermore, our last audition process has convinced me that we need a better way of meeting new artists. Not only did we end up seeing less than 10% of those who submitted, but the audition process itself is antithetical to the collaborative process of making theatre, and it is very easy to mistake an average artist who is a great auditioner for a great artist who is an average auditioner. The warm, collaborative spirit of Flux Sunday seems a far better way to sound the true spirit of an artist. To that end, I'm hoping to soon announce a new way of joining us for Flux Sundays - please stay tuned for that.

Flux Sunday was one of the first programmatic decisions the Ensemble made after our founding, and it remains the cornerstone and catalyst of everything we do. Hopefully, this new evolution will make us even stronger. Read the full story

Ken Glickfeld to the rescue!

With our usual Flux Sunday spaces occupied, Ken rode to our rescue, allowing our theatre-making momentum to continue. I had thought we'd only be able to read scripts, but he was willing for us to stage scenes, and though that shift led to a time miscalculation on my part, some lovely work happened.

Playwrights: Katherine Burger (Ever Ever), Fengar Gael (Devil Dog Six), Brian Pracht (Unplugged In), August Schulenburg (The Hand That Moves)

Directors: Heather Cohn, Katherine, Brian, August

Actors: Jane Taylor, Kimberly Klein, David Crommett, Ken Glickfeld, Lynn Kenny, Alisha Spielmann, Ryan Andes, Kathleen Wise, Chudney Sykes, Damon Kinard, Candice Holdorf, Leila Okafur

Highlights:
-Um, holy crap, Lynn Kenny. Evidently, she had a big bowlful of Acting for breakfast. Not only did she ably navigate Lois' tricky future-vision scene in The Hand That Moves, but her performance as Leah in Unplugged In was high strung as Christmas lights on the top of the tree. Yeah, that metaphor may have failed, but how would you describe that awesomeness?
-The many hats of the day award went to impressive newcomer Chudney Sykes, who rocked out a lovestruck do-gooder, a Jamaican nurse, and outraged slacker dude, respectively.
-Strong direction from both Heather and Brian sharing the end of Unplugged In, with Lynn's scene above matched by go-for-broke turns in the blinding scene from Candice as Zero and Leila Okafur as Leah.
-Ryan Andes's playing of Jean-Pierre in Devil Dog Six - he was as French as a baguette made out of berets (metaphor failure again?).
-Kathleen Wise and Alisha "Paint It Black" Spielmann making some invisible/banana children feel all too real.

If you were there, what did you remember before the Feud benefit made you forget? Read the full story

Our 3rd Flux Sunday at Judson Memorial Church had the ill-fated luck of falling on Halloween, and a haunted Flux Sunday it was indeed, with mysteriously disappearing accents, bedeviled containers of chocolate, and a small turnout. But, like the valiant ghostbusters we are, we persevered to get some good work done.

Playwrights: Katherine Burger (Ever Ever), Fengar Gael (Devil Dog Six), August Schulenburg (Untitled)

Actors: Ken Glickfeld, Carissa Cordes, Gretchen Poulos, David Crommett, Tiffany Clementi, Matthew Archamabult, Damon Kinard

Director: Katherine, Heather Cohn

Highlights Included:
- The debut of Damon Kinard, who gave a strong read as the charming tyrant husband in The Baby Play
-The tag-team comic duo of Ken Glickfeld and Matthew Archamabult as adult Lost Boys Tiggy and Weasel in Katherine's Ever Ever. I admit, I nearly broke.
-Fengar bringing pages from Devil Dog Six, a play we've long admired but not yet played with - excited for more!

If you were there, and weren't devoured by zombies on your way home, what were your highlights? Read the full story

Our second Sunday at Judson Memorial Church was also our first with audience members from their congregation - exciting! And they were certainly treated to a wide variety of um, entertainments, shall we say?

Playwrights: Katherine Burger (Ever Ever), Fengar Gael (The Spell Caster), Kristen Palmer (Untitled), Brian Pracht (Wendell Wants), August Schulenburg (Presents, Denny and Lila), Daren Taylor (Porn Makes Jesus Cry)

Directors: Ryan Andes, Matthew Archambault, Katherine Burger, Heather Cohn

Actors: Elise Link, Alisha Spielmann, Antoinette Broderick, Gretchen Poulos, Susan Ferrara, David Crommett, Mariam Habib, Amy Staats, Ken Glickfeld, Brent Rose, Jane Taylor

Highlights included:
-Susan gracefully making the tempo gear shift in her cold read of the sad end of my monologue Presents ( lovely to hear 5 different actresses take a crack at Keely), not to mention her chill/shiver inducing turn as Janet in Kristen's play dealing with a violent act long planned and suddenly done
-Elise's lovely moment as Lila reaching out to child Denny as Jabber remembers walking behind them when they were young, and hand in hand (and is it weird that watching Gatz I thought that Denny and Lila bore a strange resemblance to The Great Gatsby?)
-Brian Pracht is a merrier (so far) mood in his Wilderesque comedy of growing up, Wendell Wants
-Alisha rocking another one of Kristen's ladies as Emily in a funny/tense scene with Isaiah
-Jane as a love-struck middle-aged Wendy still in awe of Peter in Katherine's Ever Ever
-Matt Archambault's high stakes staging of Daren's Porn Makes Jesus Cry
-Heather's transformation into soul-sucking snake in The Spell Caster!

This was a Flux Sunday where we finished two plays, Denny and Lila and The Spell Caster; and began several new ones, and so it goes for as long as we can keep going.

What were your favorite highlights? Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

(Flux fire hydrant to the left discovered and captured through the power of photography in Brooklyn by Adam Szymkowicz)

Yup, on October 9th, we broke the fundamental laws of physics, and for the first time in three years, held a Flux Sunday on a SATURDAY. So far as I can tell, the universe did not (as many pundits feared it would) end, unless of course it did end and we live now in some eerily similar mirror universe.

Setting such lofty considerations aside, it went really well for a hastily assembled day. We had TONS of pages, and ran right up to the 7PM mark, but it felt quick, because the pages had some pop to them.

Playwrights: Johnna Adams, Fengar Gael, Kristen Palmer, Brian Pracht, August Schulenburg, Adam Szymkowicz

Actors: David Crommett, Ken Glickfeld, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Matt Archambault, Gretchen Poulos, Antoinette Broderick

Highlights included:

-A great Flux Sunday for Gretchen, who brought a casual loveliness to Adam's Josette (in the untitled French play), a subtly heightened feel to girl in Kristen's The Stray Dog, and a rough playfulness to the jade Cheat in Johnna's Pickpocks, Jades, and Swindlers, her second play in the style of Lickspittles, Buttonholers, and Damned Pernicious Go-Betweens (brace yourselves - it looks to be a trilogy).

-A smoking scene from Brian Pracht's Unplugged In, courtesy of some tight rewrites from Brian, a focused performance as Chris from Matt A, and a hilarious turn from Travis as Zero. This scene was popping!

-The debut of Antoinette Broderick, who played a con-artist, tattoo artist, and 18th century swindler with aplomb.

What were your impressions of the day? What did you think of the stylistic new ground Adam struck in the love affair between Matt and Josette in that untitled French play? Did you notice that I inadvertently included a Dr X speech pattern in the Denny and Lila scene? How did the end of Kristen's The Stray Dog land with you? Aren't Doug and Cheryl romantic? Isn't that picture Adam took of the fire hydrant kind of cool? And could you believe it when Mayra bit the frickin' head of that snake???

And for the record, this was the last Flux Sunday (er, Saturday) before we embarked to a potential new home...but more on that anon. Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

Playwrights: Fengar Gael (The Spell Caster), Brian Pracht (The Misogynist, Unplugged In), August Schulenburg (Where It Comes and Where It Goes, Symbolic Gestures, Carrin Beginning)

Actors: Candice Holdorf, Richard Watson, Kari Swenson Riely, David Crommett, Gretchen Poulos, Anthony Wills Jr, Jason Howard, Ken Glickfeld, Kelly O'Donnell, Alisha Spielmann, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Heather Cohn, Matthew Archambault, Tiffany Clementi, Ryan Andes, Lynn Kenny

An actor heavy Flux Sunday made for three lucky playwrights and an upbeat three hours. We heard the next installment of The Spell Caster, Brian brought in a rewritten ending for The Misogynist and a rewritten beginning for Unplugged In, and I brought in two new shorts and the first (good) play I ever wrote, Carrin Beginning, nearly 12 years after its original production.

Highlights included:
-One of Tiffany's best Flux Sundays ever, with a feisty Maxine a-gabbin' in The Spell Caster; one of my favorite line readings ever as Libby in The Misogynist ("Um..YES!"); and a revelatory read of Leah in Unplugged In (had always seen this role very differently, but she brought a fascinating maturity-gap/power-dynamic to Leah's relationship with Chris).
-Kelly O'Donnell, Anthony Wills Jr, and Gretchen Poulos finding the perfect balance of comedy in heartbreak in my little Living Wage short, Symbolic Gestures.
-Ryan's sultry stage directions, which turned the sex-role-playing scene of The Misogynist up a few degrees
-Ken's brief but memorable turn as Scaramanga in Unplugged In
-Richard's unsettling/charming delivery of Turlough in Carrin Beginning

What were your thoughts? Did you like a happy ending Misogynist? And what do you think will happen in the power struggle between Mayra and Louisa in The Spell Caster? Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

After 3 weeks off for our 5th Annual Retreat (aka, Flux Sunday all day long), we returned to action with a high spirited Flux Sunday.

Playwrights: Johnna Adams (Nurture), Fengar Gael (The Spell Caster), August Schulenburg (Denny and Lila, The Refrigerator Hums)

Actors: Isaiah Tanenbaum, David Crommett, Alisha Spielmann, Richard Watson, Candice Holdorf, Nancy Franklin, Matthew Archambault, Tiffany Clementi

Highlights:
-David Crommett as Doug reading a litany of comforting, loving words in his near-oblivious effort to win over Cheryl in Johnna Adams' Nurture. It's been so exciting to watch him get more of this role every time!
-Finally getting to share Isaiah Tanenbaum's work on Marcus in Denny and Lila - we'd worked on it at the retreat, but ran out of time to share some of the scenes.
-Mary's super-theatrical mirror-maze scene in The Spell Caster - the carnies chasing each other through the distorting maze, and through Mayra's strange powers of perception - I'd love to see this scene on stage
-Nancy Franklin as the Italian conjurer of self, Louisa, in The Spell Caster - when she speaks as this character, we all look around and smile at how good she is in the role
-Our post Flux Sunday impromptu hang out w/Candice, Tiffany, Alisha, Heather and I...sometimes, you're not quite ready for Flux Sundays to be over (hence the incoming innovation of Speak Easy - more on that anon!)

If you were there, what highlights or discoveries did I miss? Read the full story

What is Flux Sunday?

Playwrights: Rob Ackerman (Throwing Gumballs), Zack Calhoon (Hell, West, and Crooked; Stolen), Kristen Palmer* (The Stray Dog), Brian Pracht (The Misogynist), August Schulenburg (Denny and Lila)

Actors: Susan Ferrara, Nancy Franklin, Ken Glickfeld, Kari Riely, Gretchen Poulos, Heather Cohn, Matt Archambault, Cotton Wright, Tiffany Clementi, Jason Paradine, David Crommett

This was our last Flux Sunday for a few weeks, as our next two weekends will be spent at our annual retreat at Little Pond (more on that anon, huzzah!) But we went into the break on a resilient note, as Tiffany rode to my rescue and ran the first half of the session as my bus crept slowly through the Sunday rain.

That means I can't tell you about the 1st half, so if you were there, reader, let me know what worked in the comments. But for the 2nd half highlights:

-Brian's The Misogynist ending on a pleasingly ambiguous note, as our troubled Ethan seems to be finding some measure of self-awareness that has eluded him until now; and the last scene between him and Libby is lovely.

-Tiffany as Davia loving her plaything John (Matt A) in Zack's Stolen; it was great to see Tiff revel in her power and cruelty

-Kari winsomely playing the con artist Lila seducing the small town doctor in Denny and Lila

-But above all, the read-through of Rob's Throwing Gumballs that followed; this zany heart attack of a play conceals a sincere crisis of an artists' moral responsibilities. Thanks to all who stuck around and joined us as we finally heard the whole play at a go.

So if you were there...what did I miss that's worth remembering?

*Kristen had to cancel last minute, but I believe her scene was read anyway. Read the full story

What is Flux Sunday?

Playwrights: Johnna Adams (Nurture, Gidion's Knot, The Planned Obsolescence Of Karl Rove), August Schulenburg (Deinde)

Actors: Matt Archambault, Nancy Franklin, Brian Pracht, David Crommett, Ken Glickfeld, Jane Taylor

I admit, I went into this Sunday worried about the small turn out. But it ended up being a really satisfying evening, with our intimate crew reading through 3 scenes of Johnna's, 2 of which were older scripts we joked were B-Sides. They ended up blowing us away, reminding us of her crazy range as a playwright.

Highlights:

-No matter what else happens in my life, I can now say that I have played, at least in reading form, a Bleak Karlian Skriker. What is a Bleak Karlian Skriker you might ask? Oh, just a fire-breathing lizard demon living in the Magical Rovitanian Wonder Cabinet with the face of Karl Rove. No, they can't that away from me.

-Our inability to finish scenes in both Nurture and The Planned Obsolescence Of Karl Rove without laughing. Oh, ludicrous litany of Rove ailments, how could we stand against you?

-The disturbing undercurrents of Gidion's Knot, with lovely performances from Brian Pracht as the teenage war poet, and Ken Glickfeld as his poetry-struck forget-monster of a father.

-Jane Taylor's moving read of Dara's rhapsody after she is given an unexpected new lease on life in Deinde

-Johnna and Brian Pracht speaking with one mind in Deinde, no easy feat for a cold read

If you were part of our band of sisters and brothers, what do you remember?

AND...stay tuned for some changes in Flux Sunday policy... Read the full story

What is Flux Sunday?

Yes, I know, I owe you reports from from 7/11 and 7/18. But I'd like to start a new trend of blogging about Flux Sunday immediately afterwards, so all those who atteneded can chime in with thoughts, before time steals them.

Playwrights: Johnna Adams (Nurture), Zack Calhoon (Obamaville), James Comtois (McTeague), Kristen Palmer (The Stray Dog), Brian Pracht (The Mysoginist), Adam Szymkowicz (Curently Untitled), August Schulenburg (What Is Outside)

Actors: Isaiah Tanenbaum, Jane Taylor, David Crommett, Alisha Spielmann, Christina Shipp, Nancy Franklin, Matthew Archambault, Ken Glickfeld

Yup, we had a bevy of playwrights (a quill of playwrights?) and a whole bunch of pages. It was a solid three hour sandwhich of theatre, and I left full.

Highlights included:

-Johnna Adams's new play, Nurture. The tyrannical mother Cheryl and her obliviously smitten suitor Doug bond over their strange dancing daughters in a scene of shocking comic vitality. I'm not sure we quite got the the tone of this one - I have a hunch it is quicker and more deadpan - but it seems like an exciting new style for Johnna, and I can't wait to see where it goes.

-The scene between 'best friends' Jim and the dying Matt in Adam's new play; Jim's completely insincere attempt at empathy has all of us appalled and laughing

-Things getting ugly in The Mysoginist, with a particularly unsettling scene between Matt Archambault's Ethan and Alisha Spielmann's Libby (Alisha turned in several strong performances)

-The air of mystique pervading the first scene of Kristen's new play, tentatively called The Stray Dog. Curiosity, piqued.

-Ken Glickfeld as Curtis and David Crommett as James going toe to toe in Zack's Obamaville; things don't end well for this Tea Party; but even sitting round an office table, they weren't afraid to blow things up.

-Ken again in the shyly lovely courtship scene between Grannis and Nancy Franklin's Miss Baker in James' McTeague. Aww. And we needed some awww...it was a Sunday made up mostly of blackest comedy and violent drama.

It was great to have so many playwrights bringing pages that seemed to be pushing in new directions; or further in old ones; and I look forward to the next round.

SO...if you were there, lay down some cool wisdom in the comments field, y'here? Read the full story