Flux Theatre Ensemble

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.

One of the most useful exercises we did at our annual retreat was creating individual lists of core values in order of importance, and then comparing and quantitatively analyzing those lists. Why the italics for in order of importance?

Because the results were truly eye-opening. Previously, when we had talked about our values, we had done so in a way that assumed they were of equal importance. I didn't ask if developing multi-faceted theatre artists was a more important value than long term collaboration, because I didn't think prioritzing values mattered.

It is, of course, essential, because different values can come into direct conflict with each other. An example is the current uproar over the casting of a hearing actor in a deaf and mute role in New York Theatre Workshop and The Acting Company's The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter. For an excellent analysis of this debate, check out Leonard Jacob's take at the Clyde Fitch Report.

Be sure to read the comments section for a perfect example of core values in conflict. If you value aesthetic excellence more than inclusiveness, you are likely to side with those who support NYTW's casting choice. Is it more important to take advantage of opportunities to cast deaf actors and have their experience represented directly on stage; or is it more important to cast the best actor?

The debate is more complex than that, and without knowing the casting process or the core values of the companies involved, I'm hesitant to take sides. But this is exactly the situation where a clear priority of values could help explain difficult decisions to your stake holders.

That is, of course, if you value transparency. And now it's my turn to own up to the fact that this particular post is housed in glass, as Flux is not quite ready to share the fruits of our core value labors. We're hoping to have something to share by January 1st.

When that happens, it will be our responsibility to explain those values in clear language, prioritizing them as best we can, while being realistic with ourselves about the complexity that plagues every decision in a field where resources are scarce, time limited, and outcomes, uncertain.

That said, one of the lessons of our retreat was that it isn't enough to know your core values; you also have to clearly prioritize them to be ready for when the difficult decisions come.

Does anyone know any companies who could serve as models in this regard? Read the full story

Zack Calhoon interviewed me for the interview series, "People You Should Know..." on his blog, Visible Soul. I was honored to be asked to participate in this series, as Zack has already interviewed impressive folks like Leonard Jacobs, Jennifer Conley Darling, Matthew Freeman, and Jessi Hill.

Speaking of Leonard Jacobs, he has a GREAT interview with Jesse Alick, the Artistic Director of Subjective Theatre Company. Jesse talks about faith, political theatre, and Subjective's radical practice of providing free theatre.

If you're still hungry for more interview goodness, Patrick Lee has a great interview with the lauded leading ladies of Viral, Amy Lynn Stewart and Rebecca Comtois. (Have you bought your tix yet for the extension?)

Meanwhile, the mighty mighty Szymkowicz has reached 50 playwright interviews...and Crystal Skillman is on the beat for the 50/50 in 2020. Read the full story

And speaking of discipline, a shout-out to five bloggers who have been on fire lately:

Adam Szymkowicz: is on a tear interviewing all sorts of interesting playwrights

Sean Williams: the multi-faceted Gideon producer is rocking production posts, reactions to shows, and in-depth thinking on larger issues confronting the field; all with candor and warmth

Leonard Jacobs: Twitter tells me Leonard's posted SIX (count 'em!) new posts this morning, including two reviews, a report on the Democracy Restoration Act, and an example of a theatre weathering the recession. Economics, politics, aesthetics - Clyde Fitch is expanding the frame of what arts journalism means in exciting ways.

Createquity: Each post from Ian David Moss needs four additional posts to unpack all the rigorous thinking contained; the business of the arts, from the detailed to the conceptual, he's been bringing it

Bekah Brunstetter: On the other end of the spectrum, the world of Bekah's blog feels a lot like the world of her plays - funny, warm, surprising, strange (oh, and the Atlantic? Awesome)
Read the full story

Two interesting theatre stories from Crain's New York Business -

1.) a look at how an increase in ticket sales for Off-Broadway shows is helping make up for the drop in donations;

And 2.) an article on Leonard Jacobs' new business model for his blog, The Clyde Fitch Report.

For #1, it's great to see a rise in ticket sales, especially for friendly companies like the Women's Project (our Managing Director Heather Cohn is a member of their Producer's Lab). It is, of course, also daunting that this increase is not enough to offset the loss in donations. Still, it's heartening to think that when times are tough, more people go to the theatre rather than less. (That puts us, if memory serves, in the good company of tobacco, alcohol, and pornography as recession friendly comforts.)

For #2, I hope this venture of Leonard's works! Read the full story

James' has a nice review of Crystal's play Birthday here, (h/t Leonard Jacob's blogroll). I've been wanting to write about the experience myself, but James had done it so well, I need only add my amen to the chorus, and hope along with Leonard that the play finds longer life. It is a lovely play, full of surprising details that make it stick in your mind much longer than its 40 minute running time. Congrats to Crystal, Daniel and Rising Phoenix! Read the full story

Leonard Jacob's The Clyde Fitch Report has a brand new, very fancy-shiny-sleek-impressive home here.

Check it out!

Also, we've at last updated our Blog Roll to reflect Patrick Lee's less new, but also fancy-shiny new home here.

Gradually, our humble blog emerges from last year's links... Read the full story

So busy have we been with our retreat and prepping for our trilogy, that we never had a chance to properly blog about the process of Other Bodies. Here is a brief round-up:

The most exciting news we've already mentioned: director Heather Cohn's FringeNYC Award!

But there was much else to be proud of and excited by:

1.) The unanimous praise for Vince Nappo's performance as Terry - even when people didn't connect with the play, they always connected with Vince's human and charismatic reading of this very difficult part. Not to mention he's a cribbage lover, and I owe him a game upon his return from Glengarry in Denver.
2.) Leonard Jacobs over at Clyde Fitch not only wrestling with the difficult last third of the play, but actually posting some text from it! I was moved by our post show conversation, and so grateful for this post.
3.) Cat Alder-Josem, our intrepid Stage Manager. A cooler head on a cooler person would be hard to find, and she is going to do great things when she moves to NYC.
4.) A review from Nathaniel Kressen at nytheatre.com that explored the structure of the play in a fascinating way, with my favorite quote being: Time and time again, she (Christina Shipp) shatters and rebuilds the world around us. Nappo is the mirror, and Shipp is the hammer that breaks it.
5.) Christina Shipp's 'Season of Dudes' continued successfully - and just how many actresses could play Bottom, Jeff Matthews and Father Benny? Not too fricking many. Jeff in the airplane, for whatever reason, was my favorite scene in this production...I miss her as him.
6.) NYTR publisher Brook Stowe making my day with this post in his guest stint at Playgoer. When he saw the show, he was kindly enigmatic afterwards, and being one of those rare and good people you never want to disappoint, I spiraled into self-flagellation for failing him as a playwright. Luckily, I am saving some of that torment for the next play...
7.) Michael "Miracle" Davis - when moving from our rehearsal space to the performance venue, we thought we could wheel the set over, only the wheels decided to disagree. Designer Jason Paradine and I then attempted to lift the not-so-light set ourselves, and just as my arms were about to quit, mighty Michael emerged and helped us bring the sucker safely home to CSV. A photographer took a picture of us, and I can only imagine it's posted somewhere in this web of ours with a snappy caption underneath.
8.) Patrick Lee's continued insightful reviewing - he is right about that troublesome second act, but I appreciate him accepting its direction while acknowledging the distance its current manifestation has to go before it is all the way right (if such a destination exists). Patrick is one of my favorite reviewers, and his Just Shows To Go You a daily read.
9.) Well, there's so much more to say - Asa's extraordinary sound design, Jason being Jason, Tiffany and Hannah's tag team on the costumes, Kelly stepping up as an ASM, so many things to be grateful for and learn from that I'll just say THANKS, and caps means I'm serious.
10.) But the biggest thing I (the playwright) have to be grateful for is the chance to fail a little without falling completely. Ultimately, the challenges we faced were of my own creation - too busy with directing Midsummer to properly finish rewriting Other Bodies - and while the designers and actors were remarkable at rolling with the kicks, and I believe it was a good production that mattered to those who wanted to go on its unique journey; I know I could've done better. This play has troubled me more than any play I've written. How lucky am I to be a part of an Ensemble that runs with it anyway, part of a theatre community that is willing to wrestle with a challenging play, part of a country where I can write strange things and have strangers sit with me in the dark and listen.

Thank you to everyone who saw the show, and everyone who made working on it such a joy. Read the full story