Flux Theatre Ensemble

(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?)

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New World Iliads will take place on three nights with each night treating a contemporary war from a mythic perspective. In the same way that Ajax in Iraq re-imagines a war from thousands of years ago, New World Iliads will imagine what our contemporary wars may look like from the same distance: the gods, the heroes and villains; what details will be erased by time and what will remain? How will the art inspired by today's conflicts inform the myths of tomorrow?

Join us on May 16 for ForePlay #1

New World Iliads: Iraq

Liz Duffy Adams

Johnna Adams

Erin Browne

August Schulenburg

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?)

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: 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

(What is Flux Sunday?)

Playwrights: Rob Ackerman (Throwing Gumballs), Johnna Adams (Hripsime), Fengar Gael (The Spell Caster), Brian Pracht (The Misogynist; Or, No More Mr. Nice Guy), August Schulenburg (Deinde)

Actors: David Crommett, Alisha Spielmann, Nancy Franklin, Ingrid Nordstrom, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Heather Cohn, Jane Taylor, Elise Link

The playwrights returned in full force after my solo efforts the week previous; Rob brought the final pages of his momentary epic, Throwing Gumballs; Brian brought rewrites of his much traveled Misogynist; Johnna brought the Armenian verse play and I kept the science fiction coming.

Highlights included:
-Ingrid's hilariously trapped and smiling through the awkwardness portrayal of Julie in The Misogynist, as her suitor Ethan pulls out all the wrong stops
-David and Jane perfectly volleying back and forth the pleasure and recriminations of mentor and protege Malcolm and Nabanita in Deinde
-Heather showing off her acting chops as the enigmatic young sorceress Mayra in The Spell Caster
- Enjoying the final twisting peregrinations of the soul in Rob's epic blink in a man's life, Throwing Gumballs

There is always something special about coming to the end of a play we've worked scene by scene in Flux Sunday - sometimes they feel a little like tuning in to weekly episodes of your favorite TV show - and it is always hard to say goodbye. But then again, rewrites are never having to say goodbye... Read the full story

(All photos by Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Jessica Angleskhan, Zack Calhoon, Jane Lincoln Taylor)

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David Cote's recently raised the excellent question of why playwrights don't review playwrights in a post for the Guardian. Then my colleague Rob Weinert-Kendt expanded the conversation over on the TCG blog, and J. Holtham added some quality cents at 99 Seats.

At around the same time, I was finishing a biography on my constant obsession Virginia Woolf, and was thinking of the Bloomsbury Group in relation to this question of artists reviewing artists. All of the pitfalls out lined in the three posts above were a huge part of the Bloomsbury group - their reviews of each others work, both public and private, were a source of pain and long simmering grudges for all involved.

They also were an essential part of each others processes, and a source of delight and mutual passion. Their connections went beyond reviewing each other, from informally sharing new work over tea to publishing each others work to writing their posthumous biographies (and of course, drinking and sleeping together). And I thought to myself, "Oh, so like Flux Sundays".

And so we are picking up the gauntlet thrown down by the posts above. Flux will be hosting a series of playwrights reviewing each others work, with some twists. Here's how it will work:

• A playwright to review will be selected.
• 3-6 playwrights, and or/other theatre artists, will read at least 5 plays from the selected playwright.
• The readers will then review the playwright's body of work, contextualizing each play within the whole, looking at what makes that playwright's work unique.
• While constructive criticism is welcome, we're interested in readers identifying what the playwright is doing and describing how, rather than telling the playwright what they should be doing.
• These curated critical essays of the playwright's work will be posted on the blog, but we will also actively encourage and link to other readers' participation, i.e., all are welcome.

Over time, we hope to build a forum of critical thought that will illuminate the body of work of participating playwrights; to not only know each other better, but help each other become better; and to invite all readers to a deeper, more sustained relationship with the plays.

Who's up first? We're beginning with two playwrights beloved by the Flux community: Johnna Adams and Adam Szymkowicz.

I can't think of two better playwrights to begin with: Johnna, with her dizzyingly wide aesthetic range (From Rattlers to Lickspittles); and Adam, who has himself given back so much to the playwriting community with his series of interviews.

Want in? Here's how it works: if you'd like to be one of our critical essayists, please write me at gus@fluxtheatre.org, and give me a sense of why you'd be good fit. Let me know if you'd like to read Johnna's work, Adam's, or both. We're looking especially for playwrights to participate, but all are welcome. I'll then send you the plays to read.

And if you're a playwright who'd like to have your work reviewed in this way, please let me know. We'll be focusing first on playwrights already connected to the Flux community, but will hopefully expand as time goes on, perhaps linking it to the Homing Project (yes, that is not forgotten!)

So...are you in? Are you ready to bring the Bloomsbury? Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

So close to catching up with the Flux Sunday report! Due to the J.B. rights issue scramble, we had to cancel Flux Sunday on the 21st and 28th because I was writing (and then rewriting) Jacob's House.

But we returned with a bit of a good bang on the March 7th!

Playwrights: Rob Ackerman (Throwing Gumballs), Johnna Adams (The Anguisher), Katherine Burger (The Guest), Fengar Gael (The Gallerist), August Schulenburg (Denny and Lila)

Directors: N/A (all table reads)

Actors: David Crommett, Brian Pracht, Ryan Andes, Ingrid Nordstrom, Ken Glickfeld, Carissa Cordes, Matt Archambault, Kari Riely, Anthony Wills Jr., Jennifer Stuckert, Alisha Spielmann, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Jane Taylor, Kelly O'Donnell

Highlights included:
- Brian entering into the "Who Can Play Rob" arena with a great read in Throwing Gumballs
- A scene of compassion from Johnna's The Anguisher, with moving performances from Jane and Ken. The diner waitress doing her best to be a good Christian to the enigmatic and horribly scarred drifter is a very promising start to this play...
- Johnna then put on her acting cap for a virtuoso turn as Jabber, the conniving and linguistically gifted con artist side kick of Denny and Lila. I know whose voice I'll be hearing as I continue writing this play!
- But the major highlight of the day was Katherine Burger's The Guest. Because we were reading instead of staging, we were able to tackle the entire second act of this delirious menage a trois of friendship, regret, and desire. Actors took turns playing the three roles: the solid provider Dennis, his allegedly traditional wife Joan, and the object of their mutual desire, the charismatic disaster Amelia. My favorite scene featured Kelly as Joan, David as Dennis, and first timer Kari Riely as Amelia, in the dinner table reveal of just who is sleeping with who. The verbal energy of this scene verges on farce, but the emotional cost of the fall out is never diminished, and the unusual but inevitable denouement was very satisfying.

Only one more Flux Sunday to enter into the annals of history...thanks to everyone who made this one special. Any highlights I missed? Read the full story

So our ForePlay series Divine Reckonings kicks off this Monday the 22nd at Judson Memorial Church, 243 Thomspon Street, at 7:30PM! To sweeten the honey pot further, we've added a kick-off party afterwards with an hour open bar at Down The Hatch, starting at 9PM. Monday is clearly the new Friday.

Here's the skinny:

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(What is Flux Sunday?)

Still trying to play catch up on the Flux Sunday reports, and a rainy day does indeed help. So, cast your minds back to the far gone day of February 14th, where a last minute change of venue has us scrambling to a location where we can only read the plays, and not stage them.

And yet...as you might have hoped...some good work happened. Armenian verse dramas, girls possessed by monkeys, agribusiness, pirate love, and unexpected house guests all paid a visit to this Sunday's Flux.

Playwrights: Johnna Adams (Hripsime), Katherine Burger (The Guest), Fengar Gael (The Gallerist), Kristen Palmer (Sacrifice), Adam Szymkowicz (My Base and Scurvy Heart)

Actors: Paula Roman, Alisha Spielmann, Mariam Habib, Ingrid Nordstrom, Brian Pracht, Nancy Franklin, Michael Davis, David Crommett, Carissa Cordes, Ken Glickfeld, Anthony Wills Jr, Matthew Archambault

Highlights included:

- Mariam and Anthony's powerful showdown as Hripsime and the lusty king Tiridates in Hrispime. Stichomythia fans, it doesn't get better than this.
- Mary's exciting twist in The Gallerist that made Laura's attempt to exorcise the monkey possessing her friend a wee bit more complex.
- Alisha Spielmann's continued channeling of the precocious and mercurial Emmie in Sacrifice.
- David Crommett's perfect capture of Dennis' over-confidence and loneliness in The Guest.
- Johnna's heartbreakingly funny pirate-in-love in My Base And Scurvey Heart. Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

Playwrights: Johnna Adams (The Anguisher), James Comtois (McTeague), Mary Fengar Gael (The Gallerist), Kristen Palmer (Sacrifice), Adam Szymkowicz (My Base and Scurvy Heart)

Directors: Heather Cohn, MFG, August Schulenburg

Actors: Amy Fitts, Brian Pracht, Alisha Spielmann, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Richard Watson, Nancy Franklin, Paula Roman, Ryan Andes, Cotton Wright, Becky Kelly

And then, after two Flux Sundays that pushed the time limit of 3 hours, we somehow how fit our best Flux Sunday in some time into 2 hours (there was a last minute space issue). Woosh!

Part of it was the quality of material - all the plays were strong. Part of it was directors and actors making good choices quickly. And part of it was that weird alchemy that sometimes is kind enough to bubble up mysteriously from the work.

Highlights included:
- Alisha Spielmann's spirited turn as the hyper intelligent teen Emmie in Kristen's Sacrifice
- James Comtois' creep-inducing turn as the scarred but hungry Henry in Johnna's The Anguisher
- Amy Fitts somehow completely believable channeling of a monkey in Mary's The Gallerists
- Nancy Franklin's adorably smitten Miss Baker in James' McTeague - when will she and Old Grannis get together, damn it?!?
- Adam's deliriously funny opening scene of his new pirate play, My Base and Scurvy Heart; which thankfully had Johnna as one of the fierce pirate lasses

Artists who attended, what were your favorite moments? Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

Playwrights: Johnna Adams (The Anguishers) , Mary Fengar Gael (The Gallerist), Kitty Lindsay (The Pipe Cleaner), Isaiah Tanenbaum (The Transendental Etudes)

Directors: Heather Cohn, KL, August Schulenburg, Christina Shipp

Actors: Becky Kelly, Ryan Andes, Richard Watson, Ingrid Nordstrom, Brian Pracht, Gretchen Poulos, Nancy Franklin, Anthony Wills Jr, Alisha Spielmann, Ken Glickfeld, Cotton Wright, Paula Roman, IT

After a week's hiatus, Flux Sunday returned with what can only be described as a vengeance. We looked at 4 plays, staging them all, and welcomed Paula Roman and Alisha Spielmann to the group, as well as enjoying acting stalwart Kitty Lindsay's first pages.

Highlights include:
-The mutual slammings in frustrated desire by Richard and Cotton, orchestrated by Christina in Johnna's The Anguishers
- Ryan Andes' proving that he is the king of Twin Peaks creepy-time naturalism (Opaline anyone?) as the nightmare plumber of Kitty's The Pipe Cleaner
- Becky smiling grimly, but politely, at the imaginary (?) animals in Laura's (played with warm daffiness by Alisha) cages in The Gallerist
- Ken Glickfeld miraculously navigating every bit of ornate direction in my over ambitious attempt to squeeze too many of Isaiah's pages into too short a time with too many actors. Shall we go with the Napoleon theme and say it was my Waterloo?

If you were there, what did I miss in the highlight reel? Read the full story

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(What is Flux Sunday?)

Playwrights: Rob Ackerman (Throwing Gumballs), Johnna Adams (Tumblewings), Katherine Burger (Legends of Batvia), Isaiah Tanenbaum (The Transcendental Etudes), Anthony Wills Jr (Eddie Falls)

Directors: Michael Davis, Kelly O'Donnell, August Schulenburg, Christina Shipp, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Anthony Wills Jr

Actors: Gretchen Poulos, IT, JA, RA, Nora Hummel, David Crommett, AW, Brian Pracht, Ken Glickfeld, KB, Cotton Wright, Richard Watson, CS, Ryan Andes, Katie Hartke, Jason Paradine

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was our first Flux Sunday of 2010.

Highlights included:
-Kelly O'Donnell's brilliantly funny direction of the newly revised final scene of Legends of Batvia, which included a hilarious mountain climbing montage
-David Crommett's moving performance as a the big hearted patriarch of Tumblewings, fighting and then affirming a move to a senior center (though as this a Johnna play, I kept expecting the natural rhythm of three generations hunting to be sabotaged through an invading angel or demon).
-The ensembles of Throwing Gumballs and Eddie Falls, who fearlessly navigated two plays of wild physical invention - Flux Sunday was never such a workout

But the day ended without time for us to share the work being done on Isaiah's The Transcendental Etudes, the first time in recent memory we've been forced to end a Flux Sunday without seeing all plays present. It was heartbreaking, and I'm determined to be better disciplined about the balance between reading and staging scenes.

Artists who attended, did I miss any highlights? Read the full story

(What is Flux Sunday?)

Playwrights: Throwing Gumballs (Rob Ackerman), Red Horses (Johnna Adams), Going Out Dancing (Katherine Burger), McTeague (James Comtois), Moving Statues (Corey Ann Haydu), Untitled Russian Project (David Ian Lee), Dark Matter (August Schulenburg), The Sleeping World (Crystal Skillman)

Directors: Angela Astle, Rob Ackerman, Katherine Burger, Crystal Skillman

Actors: Ryn Andes, Matthew Archambault, Carissa Cordes, David Crommett, Nancy Franklin, Candice Holdorf, Ingrid Nordstrom, Gretchen Poulos, Jane Taylor, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Richard Watson, Cotton Wright

Sometimes, I plan things out just right...and then there was this Sunday. We went way over time, though for good reason - we had a ton of great material, and actors and directors who wanted to dig deeper.

Highlights included:

-Isaiah Tanenbaum playing Luke Wilson, a Bengali physicist, an elderly shut-in, a miser, and a friendly barkeep all in one day
-Carissa Cordes as a fierce Bright Wing in Johnna's prequel (!) to Angel Eaters
-Ryan Andes' lovably simple McTeague facing down Richard Watson's drunkenly embittered Marcus (the fight scene hilariously directed by Rob Ackerman)
-Katherine's direction of David Ian Lee and Jane Taylor in her Going Out Dancing - I'd previously seen this play at a much faster clip, which put the epiphany in the hands of the audience: here, the more deliberate pace gave Jane's Anna the full opportunity to realize what was happening, and to a degree, accept it
-Working with Cotton on Crystal's The Sleeping World, where complex emotionally rich moments must move quickly - a surprisingly challenging script for a seemingly naturalistic play
-Matt Archambault and Candice Holdorf got to let their hair down a little in Corey's Moving Statues, and the result were two relaxed, highly present, and engaging performances

Artists who attended, what were your highs and lows? Read the full story

A brief post of gratitude to:

Tim Errickson of Boomerang Theatre Company for mentioning Flux's ForePlay series in his interview with Leonard Jacobs as part of an article for Backstage regarding multi-disciplinary and dark night programming. On that subject, allow me to again voice my admiration for Electric Pear's multi-multi-disciplinary Synesthesia project, and welcome Thesia Arts, a new company dedicated to multi-disciplinary work.

Our beloved playwright Johnna Adams giving The Lesser Seductions of History a shout-out in her interview with Zack Calhoon at Visible Soul. It's a great read with insight into her process and good news about her amazing play Sans Merci (aka the play that destroys me in the good way).

Our fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas for their continued support, and a big congratulations for exceeding 10,000 Members! Their Membership growth over seven years has been impressive, and from my perspective, that growth has come from providing genuinely necessary benefits, practicing generosity, and decision making based in the metric analysis Adam describes.

Of course, thank you to everyone who has made our first two weeks of The Lesser Seductions of History go so well (only one week left!)

And on a more personal note, my mother (in town to see The Lesser Seductions of History) brought me a signed copy of Mary Oliver's latest book of poetry, Evidence. And what better way to end a brief post of gratitude than with a section from "At The River Clarion", a haunting poem from that book:

4.
There was someone I loved who grew old and ill.
One by one I watched the fires go out.
There was nothing I could do

except to remember
that we receive
then we give back.

Read the full story

I just finished a read through of Rami Metal's lovely play, Lullabye (thank you Mark, Polly, Matt, Lynn, Marnie and Christina) and was reminded of just how many good plays are out there that need doing here in NYC. The idea that most new plays are bad may be true, but it is more true that there are way too many great new plays that aren't being done in NYC, or at all.

Well, Flux can't do them all. So here is a completely subjective but passionately felt list of plays that your company should be producing now.

Please add to this list in the comments section, and while you're at it, why not send those plays to me at gus@fluxtheatre.org? Here's the kind of plays I like.

So...what plays do you need and want to see in NYC now? Here's me:

Lydia by Octavio Solis: This play has been done at Denver Center Theater Company, The Mark Taper Forum and Yale Rep, was featured in the December 2008 American Theatre magazine, and yet somehow has not graced an NYC stage. The ending of the first act is haunting; the end of the second, corrosively beautiful. I want to live in a city that does this kind of play first, not last; get on it, bigger NYC theatres!

Sans Merci by Johnna Adams: If you've seen the various readings, you know why I'm so crazy about this play. The mother and lover of a political activist meet to sort out the meaning of her violent death. It is sweet and hopeful, brutal and sad - the scene where they decide who gets to keep her last things is unforgettable.

Incendiary by Adam Szymkowicz: This play about a pyromaniac fire chief manages to be both screamingly funny and oddly moving; it combines the humor, speed and style of Hearts Like Fists with some of the awkward longing of Pretty Theft; this is the kind of play that could be a break out hit for any company smart enough produce it.

Ajax In Iraq by Ellen McLaughlin: You've already heard me rave about this play; so what are you waiting for, theatre-company-with-greater-resources?

Narrator One, by Erin Browne: Read all about it here. Erin's play is the kind of romantic comedy that's actually both romantic and funny. It also has a bitter undertow and some sparkling meta-theatrics to make your mind as well as your heart buzz and burn.

This Storm Is What We Call Progress, by Jason Grote: Speaking of making your mind buzz and burn, Jason's dizzying dagger of a play looks at both the need and the cost of power. Read the take on our Food:Soul here, then read about Rorschach Theatre's well-recieved DC production here. Then get producin'.

Lullabye, by Rami Metal: This rhythmic and lyrical play weaves three generations of a haunted family as they attempt to let go of various ghosts. The language of the play is both raw and poetic, and will need a brave and capable company of actors to make its moving heart sing. We just put together a joyous read-through of it, and maybe you should, too.

Miss Lily Gets Boned, by Bekah Brunstetter: A play about elephants, people and how loss and loneliness makes both species run a little mad; try to see it at The Lark, though I think the reading's got a wait list yards long. It is a wild and funny piece of bewildered wanting.

Texas Toast, by Katherine Burger: Oh man I love this play! A loving liberal couple falls apart when the husband brings back a statue of Kali from Thailand along with the guilt of an irreconcilable secret. Their disintegration is hastened by the vitality and hunger of a charismatic and destructive Texan couple that befriends them. There are five beautiful roles in this unsettling and funny play for any company tough enough to take them on.

Blue Beard, by Matthew Freeman: This haunting and spare look at the classic myth of the Red Door has that rare gift some plays have of making an entirely new world seem real; it is a beautiful and brutal nightmare of a play that the right company could knock out of the park.

Of course, I could go on (and will later), but that's a good start for now. Please put in the comments section plays unproduced in NYC that you want to see. Read the full story