Happy St. Crispin’s Day! For all you Shakespeare fans out there:
Category: Theatre
Links Galore
Lots of good links to take you into the weekend:
- Mary Poppins the musical edited slightly for an audience of autistic children and their families to enjoy.
- Congrats to all the 2012 Crystal Kite Member Choice Award winners!
- Rare books at Brown.
- It’s hard to make a living as an artist, especially when art is seen as a luxury or something elite.
- What’s in a name and how do you find the right one to begin with?
- Non-fiction books for fantasy writers. Must get all of these.
- Even though I’m not going to BEA, I’m going through this list of upcoming releases so I can update my to-read list.
More Matter, Plus Art
First there was a podcast of David Tennant in Twelfth Night; now his Hamlet is available to watch online? What an awesome week for Shakespeare (and fans of the Tenth Doctor)!
You can also check out this video on the making of this version of Hamlet. English teachers, take note.
Side note: the scene with Hamlet holding Yorick’s skull is probably one of the best-known images in theater, so it’s easy to forget what’s going on in the scene. I took a Shakespeare class in grad school, and our professor reminded us that Hamlet is holding the skull of probably the only person who ever really cared about him. The skull isn’t just a prop–it’s what’s left of the head of someone he loved. That scene suddenly became so sad for me! Shakespeare knew what he was doing, guys.
(image: The Guardian)
Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
The next time someone tells you that the road less traveled by makes all the difference, you can tell them that Robert Frost didn’t really care what path you took:
“Frost is actually using an old technique known as the “unreliable narrator,” and he isn’t even being all that subtle about it: in spite of the famous quote’s insistence that one road is “less traveled by,” the second stanza of the poem clarifies that both roads are “worn… really about the same.” Oh, and also, Frost himself admitted that he was actually mocking the idea that single decisions would change your life, and specifically making fun of a friend of his who had a tendency to over-think things that really weren’t that big a deal.”
Click through for more misunderstood lines in famous poems/plays/books. And heckle the next graduation speaker to use them incorrectly.
Fund a Summer of Theater
Myths. Monsters. Secrets. Serial Killers. If any of that sounds interesting to you, you should check out Sideshow Theatre Company’s Summer of Theater, in which they will produce two fantastic shows: The Gacy Play and Idomeneus. But it takes a lot to produce one show, let alone two. Enter the Sideshow Summer of Theater Kickstarter Campaign!
I can personally vouch for Sideshow’s awesomeness. They’ve been putting on compelling shows for the last five years and helping young artists find their voice in the Chicago area. By pledging, you’re helping a vibrant arts organization. Plus the literary manager is pretty cute.
And if you’re in the Chicago area (or planning to be) make sure to check out these shows once they’re up and running. Going to see indie theater makes you feel like one of the cool kids.
Urban Legends, Loss, and Facebook
Last weekend, Walt and I went to see Company One’s production of Hookman by Lauren Yee. The synopsis, from Company One’s page:
“Being a freshman in college is hard when your roommate is weird, home is far away, and Hookman is everywhere! What’s Lexi to do when her old high school friend, Jess, gets killed…I mean – has an accident, a car accident, I think? Not even Facebook stalking the dead can calm the creepy feelings spilling out of the shadows in this existential comic horror slasher – a new play by Lauren Yee.”
I never watch scary movies, so I wasn’t sure how I’d like this play. It ended up being fantastic–a nice blend of comic and horror, matched with moving themes of loss, guilt, and growing up. The cast did a great job, especially since most of the dialogue was very grounded in the experience of being eighteen and just starting college. My favorite exchanges came from Lexi and Jess; they really felt like they were old friends who were trying to maneuver the fact that they were now in college on different coasts. Although this wasn’t a play for young adults, it managed to hit an almost YA vibe–it played with genre, wasn’t afraid to be funny, and focused on growing up. (Or maybe I can just connect anything with YA.) If you’re in the Boston area and are an adult/very mature teen, I’d check out Hookman.
Part of the play also dealt with how we find out about death via networks like Facebook. Like other life events, you can find out personal information about people even if you haven’t seen them for years. And if someone dies suddenly, you might find out that they’re gone (via lots of “we miss you, so sad you’re gone, etc.” wall posts) but find no information about what actually happened to that person. I think this is going to become increasing more common, especially for young people who don’t tend to experience the loss of friends very often.
At the Atlantic, there’s an interview with Patrick Stokes about death and Facebook. One part I found interesting was this mention of Facebook walls becoming online memorials:
“What’s interesting about it is that offline we physically create places, specially demarcated places, where we put dead people, but on Facebook these aren’t demarcated—they exist side by side with living profiles. So in that sense, what we have now is not so much like an online graveyard or cemetery; instead we just have these dead people among us.”
This reminded me of Hookman’s look at what it means to survive someone and how we connect. I’m curious to see how teens now and in future generations will deal with having these kinds of memorials among us. It can be a huge help in the grieving process, but I wonder if it would also make it harder to let that person go. Whenever you go online, there’s a reminder that you’ve lost someone. And not necessarily someone you were very close with, either. Are teens going to grow up in a world of virtual ghosts?
Play Time
I spend a lot of time with playwrights, but I don’t have much experience with writing theater for young people. So I was really interested to see this article about World Theater for Children and Young People Day and why youth theater is essential. In particular, it’s essential because it teaches young people empathy:
“As my friend Bill English of San Francisco’s SF Playhouse says, theater is like a gym for empathy. It’s where we can go to build up the muscles of compassion, to practice listening and understanding and engaging with people that are not just like ourselves. We practice sitting down, paying attention and learning from other people’s actions. We practice caring.
Kids need this kind of practice even more than adults do. This is going to be their planet and they’ve got more time to apply that empathy and make a difference. Buddhist roshi Joan Halifax challenges us to actively and specifically teach children (and vote for presidents with) empathy. Why not take your child to the theater to do just that.”
Very true of theater and of art in general. Plays and books for young people provide a safe place to expand ideas and experience alternate ways of being.
A couple of other points I’d add: first, theater is very collaborative. Whereas I’m cool sitting at my desk, typing away on my own, playwrights are more often included on the production process. They work with actors, directors, and other theatrical artists to create a show. Theater can teach kids the importance of collaboration and invention the way other works of art might not be able to.
Second, children’s theater often encourages participation and playfulness. I think it’s fantastic to teach kids that they don’t have to feel self-conscious and that their voice can be heard. It can be exciting for kids to see adults having fun and being silly, too; it encourages the idea that you’re never too old to play.
Again, I don’t have much experience with theater for young people, so I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
The Swelling Pride
A very special shout-out to my husband Walt McGough who was named as a 2012 artist to watch by the Boston Globe. Walt’s shows are really fantastic–from political thrillers about the CIA to whimsical plays about aliens, game shows, and bubble wrap. I’m excited to see what Walt has in store for 2012!
Ice and Mirrors
So excited to see The Snow Queen this weekend at A.R.T.! I love fairy tale retellings and Hans Christian Andersen’s story is one of my very favorites. Check out the trailer below:
What are your favorite fairy tales or retellings?