Flux Theatre Ensemble

A super-fast reminder that amidst the flurry of new membership, weddings, and the preparation for a fall chock-full of exciting projects (stay tuned!), Flux is attending tonight's New York Innovative Theatre Award ceremonies.

We'll be performing a short play and expressing our very humble thanks as we accept the Caffe Cino Fellowship Award, crossing our fingers for Becky Byers and Jason Paradine (nominated for their work in Dog Act as supporting actress and set designer, respectively), and just generally celebrating with the indie theatre community that we are both a part of, and love.

There are still tickets available online or at the door ($25). See you there!

PS: If you can't make it, no worries: they'll be streaming the whole thing here. Read the full story

Thanks to everyone (around 100!) who came out for our sixth Food:Soul, Adam Szymkowicz's Hearts Like Fists. This was a special Food:Soul for us, as our first Food:Soul was Adam's Pretty Theft. It was also our second partnering with Judson Memorial Church's Bailout Theater series, a relationship we're hoping to deepen.

(*Remiss in our first posting was including a thank you to the businesses that provided food, including John's Pizzeria of Bleecker Street, NoHo Deli and Juice Bar, and Norwich Meadows Farms, provider of the Judson Church Community Supported Agriculture program.)

It was also our first event after our 5th Annual Retreat, and so was the first chance to test out our newly articulated Core/Aesthetic Values and Mission in action. Part of that mission is to treat our audience as partners in our process, so if you were there, PLEASE share with us your thoughts in the comments section below. What were you favorite parts in the play? What worked at the event, and what could we do better?

To inspire you, here are some beautiful shots of the reading, all courtesy of Isaiah Tanenbaum.


Thanks again to everyone who made this possible - now share your thoughts in the comments below! Read the full story

Jake Alexander, the Have Another Maestro, captained the whole affair from start to last call, and do you see how charming he is? Very.
It's one thing to be a crazy talented playwright/actor who is capable of writing plays in rhyming hexameter (we're looking at you, Johnna Adams). It's quite another to whip together the wax head of Marie Antoinette the night before. Hooray for Lickspittles, Buttonholers and Damned Pernicious Go-Betweens!
Mary Fengar Gael's first scene from Opaline had the audience howling and the gift of the evening was one particularly funny moment where the mighty Ryan Andes, with a sweeping gesture, knocked Nancy ever so slightly in the head, and to apologize (in character), gave her a sideways hug that stopped the play with laughter; and just when the laughs seemed ready to ebb, Nancy expertly leaned her head just so against Ryan's chest, as if to say, all is well; and the laughter swelled again. Little gifts of live theatre (in bars).
The night ended with Aaron's gorgeous end of act 1 scene from his play, We Are Burning. The lovers above can't be fully happy, because...
...because the memory of lost love is so perfect.
Our audience (spot director Alexis Williams!) was warm...
...our minds were rapt...
...and a lovely time was had by most (and maybe all).
Did we mention David Ian Lee was brooding and enigmatic as Prometheus? Did you see him steal Amy Fitts' beer in the scene? Now that's acting.
This one speaks for itself. And now...
...you're obligatory Isaiah artsy logo in action shot...
...and a bonus Isaiah acting shot.

For all the pics, go here. Check them out, and let me know if there are any others that MUST be posted here.
What were your favorite moments in the night? Comment below!
And THANK YOU to everyone who came out - it was a great night, and we were thrilled to share some of our plays in development with you. Read the full story

Yes...
After so long...
It's finally happening...
The return of bar staged reading series at Jimmy's #43, Have Another!
You might remember Have Another from its previous incarnations. But it's been over a year since we've held this event. Why are we bringing it back, besides the obvious fact that theatre over beer is fun?

Because we want to open up our play development process to you, attractive audience person. Another thing that came out of the NET summit was a movement from theatres to share the process of making theatre with an audience (a post on that anon), and while we've been dabbling with that through past HAs and Food:Souls, we want to move further in that direction. Have Another is our attempt to bring you into the process of what we're developing through our Flux Sundays in a non-traditional theatre setting.

And the line-up of scenes is looking great! Check it:

So see you this Wednesday, July 8th at 7PM. at Jimmy's #43, located downstairs at 43 East 7th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue! Read the full story

SO!

The play is written, the cast is smoking, and rehearsals have begun... but due to the competitive nature of the event, we must get Cheney-style with the specifics of plot. All I will say is William H. Macy has chosen a good prop, and we are running with it. The short play is written by me, directed by Member Heather Cohn, and features Members Tiffany Clementi, Michael Davis, Jason Paradine, Christina Shipp, Isaiah Tanenbaum, and Cotton Wright. Yup, all star. And if you've wondered how to fit Zeus, The World Wide Web, Iraq, high school, and Alvin and the Chipmunks into a ten minute entertainment, check out the details here, buy your ticket and we'll see you there! Read the full story

So you've already bought your tickets for Battle of the Bards (and thank your doing that!). But how, oh how, will you be able to stay in touch with Flux after that but before Pretty Theft? Why not check out this event from our friendly neighborhood company Impetuous Theater Group that features a play from Member me and some acting from Member Jason Paradine! Read the full story

BLACK AND WHITE AND BLUE
Our last Flux Sunday of 2008 was the most intimate we'd had in a while, and that combined with Michael's delicious cookies gave the day a relaxed holiday air. We read a bunch of pages from Rob Ackerman's Volleygirls and my 60's play, and three delicious pages from Johnna Adam's Lickspittles, Button Holers and Damned Pernicious Go-Betweens.

1966
We read through most of the newly revised 60's play, up through 1966 and the Black and White ball. Highlights were Jason Pardine's Bobby, Michael Davis' George, and Kelly O Donnell's Tegan. The play is really coming now, and soon the challenge will be honing in on the heart of a play with ten equal parts. I suspect the play my finally live between Anisa and Tegan, but Marie becomes more and more interesting every year, and there's nobody I want to listen to more then Martha.

LITTLE SPITTLE
Though we only read a few pages of Johnn'a hexameter comedy, it was enough to give all of us the holiday treat of Brian Pracht's ridiculously divine Peder the Lickspittle.

VOLLEYGIRLS
We closed Flux Sundays in 2008 by reading through the end (almost) of Rob Ackerman's Volleygirls. It was a perfect note to end on, as the Coach and his players pulled out a victory of the classic against all odds variety.

And that was the end of Flux Sundays in the year of Aught Eight. Read the full story

This was the last Flux Sunday before the trilogy began, and again, it was a full three hours, with scenes from Rob Ackerman's Volley Girls, Johnna Adam's Lickspittles, Buttonholers and Damn Pernicious Go Betweens, Jeremy Basescu's The Will, Mary Fengar Gail's Beggar At The Feast, and my own 60's play.

Over two months later, I remember Jason Paradine's hilarious Coach in Volleygirls, Brian Pracht's deliciously self-satisfied smirk as Peder in Lickspittles, a fierce turn by Mary as Eleanor in The Will, and Johnna Adam's lyrical read of Martha in my 60's play.

Then everything was put on hold as we watched a family through three generations try to bring back mankind's lost beauty and grace in the horns so long lost and almost forgotten. Read the full story

Here's a few lovely teaser shots (with bonus text from the plays) from our recent Angel Eaters Trilogy photo shoot. For dates, times and more information, go here.

(Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Rebecca McHugh as Melanie, Zack Robidas as Jeremy)
MELANIE: I don't want to put you in danger by telling you the warehouses exist, but you need to know what is going on.
JEREMY: Can I buy you a taco? Just so you eat something?
MELANIE: Yeah, sure.
JEREMY: Really? You want me to get you one? You'll eat it?
MELANIE: Yeah. If I want to die from cancer from the growth hormones like melengestrol that are injected into US cattle. Or develop hermaphroditic featured from the fluorocarbons in the cow's tissues. Jesus, Jer! Why would I eat a flipping taco knowing what I know?
JEREMY: Can I buy you some groceries?
-Melanie and Jeremy, 8 Little Antichrists
Read the full story

(Photo: Allison Bolah. Pictured l to r: Autumn Horne, August Schulenburg, Heather Cohn, Jane Taylor)

A VOLLEY OF BURNING 60'S

One of the best parts about Flux Sunday (from a playwrights perspective) is the weekly need for pages. You have to bring them every week, and they damn well better be as strong as the actors and directors you hand them to. And with that need as a spur, it's amazing how the pages ride.

And so it was this Sunday, with a plethora of new pages from Rob's Volleygirls, my Ten Black Boxes, and Aaron's We Are Burning. All three seem to be in that lucky place of surging towards unknown destinations, and there were some damn good directors and actors to hand them to.

BUMP SET SPIKE
We continued reading through Volleygirls, tabling a bunch of pages and throwing some juicy Coach, Xavier and Jess scenes on their feet. Coach's love for a game he hates continues to vie with Xavier's precocious passion for my favorite part of this play, and in Zack Calhoon's 2nd Sunday, he embodied both with the help of Jane Taylor as deadly serious athletic director and 1st timer Carissa Cordes as the disciplined team captain Jess who kisses Xavier in spite of herself. Can Flux keep returning the rapid volleys of Ackerman's pages? Tune in next Sunday to find out...

AS FLIES TO WANTON BOYS ARE WE TO THE GODS
Prometheus to be exact, who both suffers the indignities of the Olympians and chronicles those of two human lovers, Will and Lucy, both misbegotten with too much feeling in a world literally on fire. Aaron's play continued apace with great work in David Douglas Smith's subtle portrayal of Will's mysteriously assigned therapist, and Ingrid's delightfully Mom-frazzled Lucy; as well as Richard Watson's increasingly enigmatic Prometheus.

STONE MOUNTAIN OF GEORGIA
Angela Astle drew the daunting task of staging my latest scene of the 60's play Ten Black Boxes. In this scene, the characters we follow year by year are taken over by King's dream speech, and it was scary to turn this sacred text to our own ends. In some places it worked, and in others it jarred; but it worked enough to move forward, thanks in no small part to Jason Paradine's Bobby, Joe Mather's Barry, Kelly O'Donnell's Tegan, Felicia Hudson's Martha and 1st Timer Anthony Willis Jr's George.

And the days go on so the work does too. Read the full story

Here are some beautiful (and occasionally silly) pictures from our tech run of Other Bodies - what night are you coming? You can buy your tickets by clicking on the dates listed below:
Sun 10 @ NOON
Sat 16 @ 8:45
Sun 17 @ 4:15
Wed 20 @ 6:45
Fri 22 @ 3:45
VENUE #18: CSV Cultural and Educational Center - Flamboyan
107 Suffolk Street, (Rivington & Delancey Streets)
F train to Delancey Street or J, M to Essex Street

Read the full story