Flux Theatre Ensemble

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I was pleased to note that the Laurence Klavan of the Jewish Daily Forward mentioned Jacob's House in his 2010 round up, True Drama. Laurence's original review came at a time when I was unsettled by other critical reactions to the play. His current round-up is one of the more interesting takes on theatre in 2010, including an insightful look at The Wife, which he accurately describes as "engagingly grim". Well worth a read! Read the full story

(Ed. note: Ridiculously late, but this interview completes the set! Thanks to all the Jacob's House and Divine Reckonings artists that participated)
What is Jacob's House?
What is ForePlay: Divine Reckonings?

Kelly O'Donnell
Director, Jacob's House

Previous Flux Experience: co-founder of Flux. Played Tegan in The Lesser Seductions of History. Directed Rue, Riding the Bull, Life is a Dream and 8 Little Antichrists. Directed Food:Soul This Storm is What we Call Progress.

Do you have a favorite Bible character?
Jesus. Like most of my childhood friends, I don't talk to him anymore.

Are you blessed?
As a verb, no. As a 2-syllable adjective, absolutely.

If you were wrestling an angel, what moves would you use?
The transmogrifying Irish whip.

What would you do for more life?
Anything - as long as it doesn't hurt or inconvenience anyone. Until someone creates a magic longevity pill, I'll stick with leafy greens, better sleep and I'll always wear a helmet.

What's the weirdest thing in your parents' attic?
My parents used to have this really creepy 3 x 4 1/2-foot painting of a sad clown in our attic. I don't think it's there anymore but it still haunts all of us who saw it.

What is your prior experience with the Old Testament?
I went to Catholic School for my entire life so we studied it a lot. The nuns, however, made a point to ensure that we understood that it was the "old" testament and what we really should focus on is the new one. I'm still waiting for the third testament to be published to see how it all wraps up. I always did very well in Religion class because I love stories.

If you believe in a deity or deities, what kind do you believe in?
I always imagine God to be like Ralph Richardson's portrayal of The Supreme Being in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits. After a radiant entrance, he says "Oh I do hate appearing that way, it's an entirely noisy manifestation. Still, rather expected of one, I suppose."

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How did we miss this? Producer Michael Roderick wrote about Jacob's House as part of his Triple Threat Roundup on BroadwayWorld. Along with shout outs for Maeutic's Barrier Island (aka, the show I'm going to kick myself most for missing) and (new to me) Active Theatre Company's Magnetic North, Michael has good things to say about our now (boohoo) closed show.

Here is a favorite:

The show is executed with such clearness and simplicity thanks to the direction of Kelly O' Donnell who does an amazing job of moving us in and out of the characters' memories. O'Donnell gets top notch performances out of her actors and handles the show with an amazing sensitivity that only a director who understands ensemble can achieve.

Michael sees and creates more theatre than almost anyone, so we're especially thrilled to be included in this roundup.

And...if you agree with his positive prognosis, VOTE FOR US for the New York Innovative Theatre Awards. Audience vote counts for 25% of our total score, so your vote really does count, and with your help, we were nominated for 7 awards for The Angel Eaters Trilogy. Help us get back to the ceremonies!

And whether you liked the play or didn't, please do share your thoughts with us here in the audience thread. Read the full story

Doug Strassler's review for OffOffOnline is up, and while he has reservations about the play, he recommends the production (and shouldn't you take his advice, oh reader?) Doug is another critic highly valued by Flux, with Jacob's House his third review of our work.

Several of Doug's criticism's of the play itself mirror Aaron's, including the belief the play could improve with future rewrites. After Aaron's review, I took several long hard looks at the play, to see how much I agreed with some of his more interesting criticisms, and I've come to believe the plays works in exactly the way it wants to; it's just some audience members and critics wish it worked differently.

For those who connect with the epic arc, episodic structure, and past/present mirroring, the play works well, and from critics, strangers, and some of the toughest opinions of my inner circle, the play is a favorite. On the other hand, for not only Aaron and Doug (and James) but several of my favorite playwright friends, the ambitions of the play diffuse its power.

But the play is finished because I've seen it work well with very different audiences, and whatever flaws exist are as much a catalyst of the play's vitality as its strengths.

For favorite quotes, I simply love this take on director Kelly O'Donnell's work:

"O’Donnell proves to be a visionary, able to stage the historic and modern day scenes around each other without confusing temporal perspective."

Hear, hear. So, read the whole thing here, then get your tickets, and after you've seen the show, please share your thoughts here. Read the full story

Flavorpill's review is out, and it is short but happily sweet! My favorite quote is easy, as the final two lines have it:

"Combining a dysfunctional family with old-time religion and mythic America makes for rich metaphors and juicy theatre. Flux wrestled outside forces and won."

So, read the whole review here, then get your tickets, and after you've seen the show, please share your thoughts here. Read the full story

Every once in a awhile, you actually come close to that perfect review you wrote in your head to calm your nerves and help you sleep; it's positive, of course, but more importantly, it makes you feel the whole of the play has been fully felt, and a measure of it set down right.

Such a review is Laurence Klavan's take for The Jewish Daily Forward. I'm especially grateful that he connected with Dinah's final monologue, which is at the heart of what the play is really about.

I'm also thrilled by the note about Kia Rogers lighting magic, which builds subtly throughout the play to create the several last haunting moments.

And as far as favorite quotes go, this closing paragraph ranks very high up:

Replacement in the Bible often has tragic consequences, but those for the Flux Ensemble are happier. For one thing, it’s prevented the ensemble from producing “J.B.,” a play that read today is an intermittently powerful but self-serious and probably unplayable 1950s chestnut. And there’s another play to which a favorable comparison can be made: “Enron.” The multimillion-dollar extravaganza that quickly closed on Broadway also purported to expose American corruption in a fantastical style, only to emerge as obvious and inflated. To anyone willing to travel downtown, climb four flights and sweat a little, the intrepid “Jacob’s House” will say more with a lot less about the American idea.

This review is a long happy exhale after the white-knuckle process of putting this play up.

So, read the whole review here, then get your tickets, and after you've seen the show, please share your thoughts here. Read the full story

In a recession, value counts more than ever, so the good folks over at The Happiest Medium have come up with a great idea - two reviews for the price of one! With their new feature, 4 cents, two reviewers see the same play and then go back and forth, old school Siskel & Ebert style.

Into this arena step Karen Tortora-Lee and Antonio Minino. Karen's thoughts count a lot with us, as this is her sixth Flux show, after the Trilogy, Pretty Theft, and The Lesser Seductions of History. This was Antonio's first Flux show, but as one of the esteemed producers over at Maeutic Theatre Works, currently producing Barrier Island, we were thrilled he was able to attend and opine.

Enough build-up: their reviews are up, and both are happily positive. As befits a review with two reviewers, I will offer two teaser quotes instead of one:

"The secret to Flux’s success — as I’ve seen time and time again, but illustrated so beautifully in Jacob’s House — is how all the arms of talent reach out and clasp each other so firmly."

"This is a well-focused generational play that studies the complexities of one single family during a time of exposed emotional gashes, and after all the greed, muck, jealousy and memories are cleaned off, the blood is thicker than any little old house"

So read the whole thing here, then get your tickets, and after you've seen the show, please share your thoughts here Read the full story

Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for, New Hampshire's favorite son James Comtois weighs in on Jacob's House! And how can you top this for an opener?

"Flux Theatre Ensemble's latest production, Jacob's House, is an Americanized retelling of the Old Testament story of Jacob. It's at times fun, confusing, thought-provoking, frustrating, touching, muddled, and cathartic."

He goes on from there, offering well thought out criticism about the layers of complexity in the first act, and praise for the design and performances through out. It's the kind of detailed response any playwright and producer wishes for from a fellow playwright/producer. I hope to reply to some of these strong questions he raises later, but for now, just heed his parting words and get your tix!

"Jacob’s House makes for a night of compelling and fascinating theatre. It deals with a man blessed with fortune and long life, and shows the after-effects and consequences those gifts have on him and his family."

Read the whole thing here, then get your tickets, and after you've seen the show, please share your thoughts here. Read the full story

Flux is very lucky: we have now developed a relationship with critics and artist-bloggers that stretches over multiple shows to create a shared body of call and response. Toby Thelin has now seen 6 Flux shows - from the 3 plays of the Angel Eaters Trilogy, to Pretty Theft and The Lesser Seductions of History, and now to Jacob's House.

This kind of long term relationship is critical (pun sadly intended) to a young company, because it allows us to better gauge the external perception of our progress. So an excerpted comment like this...

"This is a company where the core members are comfortable enough with each other to really take risks, pushing themselves and each other to attain greater performances...The acting in this company tends to keep getting better with each successive production, and that’s not a bad trait to have...Isaiah Tanenbaum frankly surprised me in his role as the Lawyer/Messenger; Isaiah has consistently delivered solid, well-thought out performances, but in this one he goes above and beyond, inhabiting the skin of his character to an almost frightening extent, truly a joy to watch."

...is truly gratifying to read - creating an artistic home where our community of artists and audience push each other is exactly what Flux is about.

Toby goes on to offer some insightful criticism regarding the complexity of the play; in particular, the number and treatment of the secondary characters. I'm curious if others had this experience - I tried to create vivid, full-bodied roles even for single-scene characters - but it may be that extending that intensity to secondary characters clouds the overall focus of the play. This is something Aaron mentioned in his review, as well; so I look forward to seeing if this is a common response to the play.

Toby ends on this happy note:

"As in all Flux Theater Ensemble productions, there is a whole lotta love in Jacob’s House. When that love is combined with the careful craft and growing talent of this remarkable company, the end result is well worth experiencing."

So take his advice, read the whole thing here, then get your tickets, and after you've seen the show, please share your thoughts here. Read the full story

At long last nytheatre.com's Martin Denton attended a Flux show! We've been wooing him for a long time, and as readers of this blog know, we're big fans of all he does for our theatre community.

I'm thrilled that Matthew Archambault, Zack Calhoon, Jane Taylor, Jason Paradine, and Kelly O'Donnell are singled out for praise, and am fascinated by the question Martin ends the review on:

"I found myself thinking hard about the differences between being chosen by God to found a nation, as the Bible tells us Jacob was, and deciding more or less on your own that God sanctions all your actions, as this American Jacob seems to do. "

Is this a question you found yourself asking? For me, it seems clear that our American Jacob has a direct, personal relationship with a divine force of uncertain origin and intent; first, through the conduit of his mother, Rebecca; and later, through his three direct encounters with the Messenger. This divinity clearly wants him to take America as his own, but to what end is unknown; and how to morally interpret this sanction, and Jacob's wavering course in carrying out, is left open ended.

Regardless, I was thrilled to have Martin and Rochelle at last in our audience. So, read the whole thing here, then get your tickets, and after you've seen the show, please share your thoughts here. Read the full story

Everyone at Flux is thrilled by the announcement that our Jacob's House sound designer, Elizabeth Rhodes, was nominated for a Drama Desk for her work on John Ball's In the Heat of the Night.

Congratulations, Betsy! You rock! Read the full story

A mixed but fascinating review of Jacob's House is up from Aaron Riccio at That Sounds Cool. Readers of this blog know that Aaron is one of my favorite reviewers, so I take his criticisms seriously. Read the whole thing here.

First, the good stuff: I'm thrilled that Isaiah Tanenbaum's and Matthew Archambault's performances are singled out for praise, and gratified that Aaron connected with the chess/death scene of the second act.

Now, the bad: the thought of Tamar being a creation of shreds and patches is unsettling for me, as I deeply care for and connect with her journey. To me, her word play and comic energy are simply weapons she uses to achieve her beloved father's blessing; and her deepening relationship to Dinah is one of my favorite subtle arcs of the play. But I will live with Aaron's critique of her a little longer - sometimes my attachment to the characters as they exist in my body can blind me to the weakness of their execution on stage.

But the most unsettling is this phrase: "and it's certainly better than nothing, especially for the actors who are given a chance to showcase their skills." From the moment we began this unusual process, this question was always with me - is it better to risk this play, whatever it will be, or give up the field entirely? The question is especially piercing, because it involves the energy of so many other people than myself. And maybe it would have been better to give up the field and done nothing.

And this simple question has a trap door within it, that I think all of us as artists feel deeply - does our work mean enough to the world to merit doing, or would we be better off serving life a different way?

Because I love life, am grateful for every unlikely second of it, and I want to give back as much beauty and meaning as I can. And so I'm always asking myself if there is a better way to do so than writing plays, which, if the world's uncertain response to date is any judge, may not be the right gift.

Because it's not (as Aaron speculates) the children of Jacob that I connect with most - it is Jacob himself, who says:

"I’ve been hungry that way, and not just for food. I’ve been hungry for a lot of things, not knowing if I would ever be full. And then some things in you starve and die, and other things just keep starving and can’t die. And so I think there’s no such thing as right or wrong, there’s just hungry or full. I want to be full, you know?"

Other things just keep starving and can't die - the longing to have my plays matter to life is such a thing in me, a starving that can't die. And so even as I wonder about other paths to meaning, that hunger says don't let go.

Something too much of this...read the whole thing here, then get your tickets, and after you've seen the show, please share your thoughts here. Read the full story

Readers of this blog know I love juxtaposition, so you can imagine my excitement reading Will Kenton's review at Cultural Capitol, which sparks our Jacob's House not only against a similarly themed play; but a wider frame of culture and religion. In a fascinating turn, he uses the Walter Benjamin quote that inspired Jason Grote's This Storm Is What We Call Progress, the play that was our second Food:Soul.

While I can't speak to his take of Wide Eyed Productions' Noah's Arkansas, not having seen the play and liking through acquaintance their AD and playwright; I am very grateful for a review that holds passages like this:

Mr. Schulenburg accurately captures the ambiguity of Jacob’s achievement as the third and most important patriarch of Israel: he is both the founder and the original sinner, the parvenu and carpetbagger who gave rise to the twelve tribes; he is the kind of guy who cracks a whole lot of eggs to make his self-aggrandizing omelette.

I'm also happy he connected with the Laban scene and Bianca's great work in that difficult swath of text (nearly a play within the play, our Laban).

So, read the whole thing here, then get your tickets, and after you've seen the show, please share your thoughts here. Read the full story

So for The Lesser Seductions of History, we had an audience feedback thread that was one of the highlights of the process. The nearly 20 comments left gave me great insight in how the play was being received, particularly with the fraught character of ONE.

I'd love to try this again for Jacob's House, so please, if you saw the play, let us know what you thought in the comment field below.

A few rules of the game: this is a safe space, so while criticism is welcome, snark and hostility are not. A good rule of thumb is simply to keep to things you'd feel comfortable saying face to face. While you can choose to post as anonymous, we encourage you to take ownership of your thoughts.

Thank you, and see you at the theatre! Read the full story

Our first review is out! Wendy Caster is first in over at Show Showdown. I'm thrilled the review is a positive one, especially as I have a (hopefully unjustified and kind of silly) sense of foreboding about the reviewers who attended last night. I like how she tracked the reveal of the characters' long lives - I spent a lot of time in rehearsal fine tuning how that part of the story was told.

Favorite quote:

"The characters are complex, the story is compelling, and the language ranges from good to gorgeous."

So read the whole review here, then get your tickets, and after you've seen the show, please share your thoughts here. Read the full story

I had a blast talking with fellow word-slinger Matthew Freeman as part of nytheatrecast's playwrights talking to playwrights series. Listen to us gab the light fantastic here.

Saturday night's performance was our most vocally responsive yet, really connecting with the comedy of the play in a satisfying way. Sunday night (tonight!) is our last night with the $11 discounted tickets, so use the code MANIFEST, and hopefully we'll see you tonight! Read the full story

My interview with Alice Wade of Backstage is up, and shes does a great job of crafting the narrative of events that lead to Jacob's House. Read the whole thing here.

Last night we opened to a sold out house, and after these crazy 68 days, I found out the play does, in fact, work. Huzzah and a deep exhale.

And it was interesting to juxtapose the experience of the play with the house packed to the slightly under half full audience of preview. At preview, the show played well, but it didn't quite transport the audience the way it did last night. It continually amazes me what an impact the audience has on our experience of a play, and how a certain critical mass needs to be present for a play's alchemy to work.

So now, with the play up and working and with lots of room to grow, our job becomes convincing the on-the-fence folks to make time to see it, to achieve that critical mass for every show.

So please, take advantage of our opening $11 discount ticket offer with the code MANIFEST, and hopefully I'll see you at the theatre tonight or Sunday night! Read the full story

I had a great interview with Jody Christopherson over at the New York Theater Review blog about Jacob's House. Jody is an ideal interviewer for this play, since she would fit right in with the vitalists of Jacob's family - most recently she both produced and starred in (with a nimble and heartfelt performance) Erin Browne's Trying, all the while rocking the NYTR blog.

Read the whole thing here to learn more about who Jacob is, and just exactly why working with Kelly O'Donnell is something everyone should do. And then...score some $11 tix to opening weekend w/the code MANIFEST - tonight's opening is sold out but we'd love to see you Saturday or Sunday night. Read the full story

I was thrilled to be interviewed by Mark Peikert of New York Press about writing Jacob's House after the denial of the JB rights. Phone interviews are so tricky - you don't have the considered economy of email interviews, nor can you pick up on the social cues when your idea has been fully heard and you've begun rambling. But thanks to the magic of the editorial pen, the interview does a great job of expressing my excitement about the process.

Read the whole thing here.

After you read, why not grab some $11 discount tix for opening weekend? We've sold out opening night, but we'd love to see you Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday on this oh-so-pivotal opening weekend. Read the full story